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 Preface
Acknowledgement
CHAPTER 1. CHAPTER 2. CHAPTER 3. CHAPTER 5. CHAPTER 6. CHAPTER 7. CHAPTER 8. CHAPTER 9. ELIMINATION A B CHAPTER 11. CHAPTER 12. BODY/MIND & SPIRIT CHAPTER 14. CHAPTER 15.
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Chapter 2. THE FLOW SYSTEM
The flow system includes the daily intake,
processing and elimination of nutrients, water, air, waste products and unfortunately a
large amount of toxins. It is our internal environment, our „milieu interne". It
is through this system, that we are directly connected to the great In order to understand the flow system, you may study the basic health diagram1 . As you see, the flow - of nutrition, water, air and toxins - begins at our environment and agriculture. It subsequently makes its way via the food industry, the (health) food store and kitchen to our plate, where it is eaten by us. Hence, the soil and nutrition to be the first stage. Following this, it is taken into our bowels for digestion - stage two - transported through the blood-circulation - stage three - and taken into the cells via the basic membrane of the capillaries and the connective tissue. There it is burned - energy production, stage four - and assimilated - building stones for the regeneration of the cell, stage five - after which the mostly acid waste products are subsequently passed once again from the cells via the connective tissue, followed by detoxification - stage six - by the lymph-system and the liver, after which again transport through the blood-circulation with the final elimination - stage seven - via the lungs, kidneys, intestines, the skin, mucous membranes and the menstruation. Eventually, everything is once again returned to the environment. On this basic metabolic level, we define health as the dynamic equilibrium between input, processing and output of nutrients, waste products and toxins respectively. More detailed, our food is first mixed with saliva - provided we are chewing well - where alpha-amylase is pre-digesting carbohydrates. The function of the stomach is to mechanically mix the food mass, providing it with pepsin through which proteins are broken down. Protein is broken down to polypeptides. Pepsin comes from HCl-activated pepsinogen, both secreted by the stomach. Furthermore, the stomach is responsible for the secretion of „intrinsic factor" which takes care of the vitamin B 12 resorption in the intestines. By secreting HCl the stomach simultaneously is providing the blood with a permanent "alkaline buffer", which o.a. maintains the alkaline secretions of major digestive glands. The stomach doesn’t digest either fats or carbohydrates. In the first part of the intestines - the duodenum - the pancreatic enzymes are released, together with the bile. The pancreatic enzymes have different functions: lipase is digesting fat, peptidase - e.g. trypsinogen, trypsin - are taking care of the protein-digestion, while amylase is breaking down the carbohydrates. Trypsin is breaking down the polypeptides into peptides, while further digestion into amino-acids takes place in the next sections of the intestines. The contribution of the gallbladder is to provide bile, through which fats are emulsified, in such a way, that they can be broken down by the lipase. Without bile no digestion of fat would be possible, the resorption of vitamin A, D, E and K impaired, since they are fat-soluble. The mucous membranes of the duodenum and what comes after - the jejunum and the ileum - are responsible for the actual resorption. Through the villi - fingershape protrusions - the surface of the mucous membrane is enormously enlarged, containing a network of capillaries and lymph-vessels. Here glucose, amino-acids and fatty acids, the end-products of digestion - the results of the activity of the pancreas and the enzymes of the intestine itself - are absorbed. The first two enter the capillaries on their way to the liver via the portal vein, together with the short-chain fatty acids, while the long-chain fatty acids enter the lymph-vessels and hence directly in the greater bloodcirculation. Short-chain fatty acids are burned or transferred into tryglycerids. Glucose is stored in the liver as glycogen, while amino-acids, after being transported to the liver, are made up into bodily proteins. The liver has a great say in the breaking down and building up of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. It produces more than 95% of all blood-protein: albumin, globulin, prothrombine, fibrinogen, transferrin and plasminogen. Excess of albumin is transferred into other amino-acids through transaminases. With the help of adrenaline, glucagon and cortisone, glycogen is released to the blood as glucose, in all situations in which the body needs it. Insulin on the other hand, supports the storage of glycogen. If necessary, the liver is able to produce glucose out of protein and fats (gluconeogeneses). A great deal of the fats is also transferred in the liver. Part of it as cholesterol, which then is added to the bile. For the further course of events, see the corresponding chapters of „Transportation", „Combustion", „Assimilation", „Detoxification" and „Elimination". 1) Agriculture/Nutrition-Digestion-Transportation-Combustion-Assimilation-Detoxification-EliminationThe sad thing is, that most of us have an disturbed metabolism. The intake is often far too high - most of us eat twice or three times too much - so much in fact, that the digestion and metabolism are permanently overburdened and in the long run cannot longer cope with it anymore. We drink far too little, with the poor flushing of the flow system as a consequence. In our affluent societies, we have a protein overnourishment, which according to latest scientific research (Prof. Dr. L. Wendt) is the major cause of clogging of the capillary wall, impairment of permeability for nutrients on their way to the cells, deficiencies, the increase of „risk factors" in the blood, hypertension, arteriosclerosis, heart attacks and strokes as a consequence. We burn up and assimilate poorly, as a result of a sedentary life, our stress, suppression of fever and a vitamin, mineral and trace-element deficiency, while our chronic indigestion - rotting of proteins and fermentation of carbohydrates - is responsible for what is called toxic self-pollution from the bowel. Subsequently deficiencies, accumulation of waste products and toxins in our body, poor detoxification and elimination, together lead to an increasing number of immune-deficiency syndromes. The most alarming expression of all this, is the accelerated increase in food-intolerance and allergies due to chemicals, the emergence of chronic illness at an ever earlier age, heart attacks, cancer, dementia and infertility. As we will prove later, a disrupted flow system is the common denominator of most (chronic) diseases. The flow system can be thus sub-divided into seven steps: the soil/nutrition, digestion, transportation, combustion, assimilation, detoxification and elimination. Each stage has its own examination, diagnosis and treatment. Anamnesis, extensive physical examination, screening of lifestyle, humoral pathology and e.g. homotoxicology together provide medically objective findings that are well-matched to the regular approach. The miracle is this: by just treating and optimizing each of these phases, with almost totally ignoring „specific" diseases, like high blood pressure, migraine, ME, RSI, PMS, eczema, bronchitis, colitis, Crohn’s disease, prostate adenoma, glaucoma, sciatica and countless more, all these and other illnesses will be improved or cured „indirectly". This is called flow system therapy. She ought to precede to every other treatment, which then often appears to be not necessary anymore. Another surprising thing about flow system therapy is, that in practice it largely coincides with a healthy life style and self care. Because its „simple" logic, it can easily be taught to anybody who wish to improve his or her own health and that of others. Hence, it should be the basic knowledge of every human being. Ignorance about the flow system on the other hand, is the major cause of innumerable (unnecessary) personal suffering, illness and social injustice. Basic health is for everybody to understand and to put into practice in daily life. It is a matter of becoming conscious, changing one’s lifestyle and self-care, which by its very nature cannot come „from outside". It is everyone’s own responsibility. Once we ourselves have experienced the positive effects of whole food nutrition, good digestion, combined with fitness and optimal detoxification and have, through experience, simultaneously gained more insight, we no longer hand over our basic health to „somebody else". The word (medical) „consumer" in this respect begins to sound strange to our ear. It is only through self-reliance and mutual help, plus by becoming conscious of the environment, that we can look after our basic health. Only where the situation has become too complicated, like severe chronic disease, infectious diseases, terminal cases, emergencies, accidents, rehabilitation or special situations like a difficult childbirth, we then return back to the professional’s help. The introduction of „basic health" also means, that a number of additional great dilemmas in current health-care can be solved: the dependency on technology, the irresponsibly high costs of public health care, the overburdening of health-care workers and the fact that the patient him/herself has little say in it all. What we call „immune-system" is
nothing but a part of the The relationship between flow system and (chronic) disease can be illustrated further through the homotoxicology theory2. When our body is given too much to metabolize, which is the case with most of us, it will initially try to eliminate the surplus waste via the regular ways of elimination, e.g. the normal functions of bowel movement, urine production, gas exchange through the lungs, sweating and menstruation. This is called the elimination phase. If the accumulation is still too high to cope with, then spontaneous diarrhoea, unusually cloudy and/or foamy urine, excessive perspiring or severe menstruation is produced. If even this does not suffice, the body opens its so-called emergency valves: a cold, flow of tears, dirt in the eyes, film on the tongue, sputum, pimples, crural ulcer or vaginal discharge. These symptoms have a clear function. They help the body in getting rid of its waste. It is the same problem we are facing with our environment nowadays. Internal and external ecology appear to be surprisingly similar, based on the same principles3. Once we have understood the mechanisms of our bodies’ self-management, grasping the logic of it, we will then start co-operating with its „symptoms" and support our bodies' attempts to detoxify instead of suppressing them. In actual practice this means the major importance of detoxification and elimination such as described in this book. With our flow system - internal environment - we
are directly If the body does not succeed in getting rid of the necessary amount of toxins via the emergency valves, inflammation and fever are called in. It is called the reaction phase. Nearly every inflammation is an attempt of the body to get rid of a surplus of waste and/or toxins and is therefore necessary. The bacteria or viruses are „secondary". They got the chance to grow, only because of a pre-existing breeding ground, a deteriorated „milieu interne". Hence Pasteur already said: „the bacteria is nothing, the bodies’ internal environment is everything". Fever requires more energy than elimination and is therefore only resorted to, when really necessary. It will only appear, when elimination proves not to be sufficient. Fever is burning waste like an oven does, stimulating the immune-system, through which micro-organisms are killed and health is restored. This explains why, apart from exceptional cases, as in very low resistance, severe diabetes and asthma for instance, fever should never be suppressed. Since elimination is the key to every spontaneous cure - „the way of the body" - the best way to assist the body is to promote detoxification and elimination in such a way, that fever is no longer necessary, has become superfluous. In actual practice, this proves to be exactly the case. A CASE HISTORY I remember a severely ill child with a soaring throat-infection and a fever which ran as high as 40.5 degrees C. By giving it a water-enema alone - which generated the elimination of an enormous amount of feces - the temperature was lowered to 38.2 degrees C. within half an hour. Unfortunately, fever and inflammation frequently prove not to be sufficient and altogether be able to eliminate toxins. There are plenty of reasons for this. The first is permanent over-eating - of animal protein in particular - and the drinking of coffee and tea - acidification - which have an immediate adverse effect on the clean-up. The input is much too high and the detox and elimination-systems are permanently overburdened. Additionally, the standard medical approach plays a decisive role here. Fever-lowering medication and antibiotics suppress and disrupt the combustion-process and thereby impede the detoxification of the body. Waste-products and a mass of bacterial toxins - „killing fields" - are left behind and accumulate further. The immune-system, supposedly to be supported, turns out to having become weakened. It couldn’t finish its job, because of the lacking of proper „exercise". Like muscles, the immune-system has to be regularly trained. If the immune-system is prevented to finish its job time after time, then it will become insufficient. Of course, in life-threatening situations, antibiotics have to be administered without hesitation. In most cases, however, the common overkill causes more damage than good. The infection often lingers and becomes chronic, with immune-deficiencies and increasing life-threatening conditions world-wide. Infectious diseases, even those who are not particular vicious in itself - as is the case with AIDS - will get their chance. At a later stage, the immune-deficiency may become the „breeding ground" for chronic disease, such as asthma, coronaries, psoriasis, rheumatism and cancer among others. Still not to speak of the increasing danger of antibiotics resistant superinfections! Disease is dynamic and progressing. It follows a logic course of events. The flow system, as the dynamic equilibrium between input (nutrients, water, oxygen), processing (metabolism) and output of waste products and toxins, is the base of it. In case these basic functions are not working properly, disease will start. Its six stages are: elimination, reaction, dumping, impregnation, degeneration and neoplasm (cancer) phase. With chronic disease (migraine, asthma, arthritis etc.) you are already at stage four. E.g. with the „early diagnosis" of cancer, you are at the final phase. It is therefore (much) later than you may realise The body has but one possibility left to prevent the toxins from entering the cells and thereby creating irreparable damage, namely by storing them in the least important tissues, in connective and fat tissue, in tendons and joints, along the bloodvessels and in the skin. These tissues are the dumping-places of an overburdened flow system. Unlike the elimination and reaction phases, this phase shows few symptoms. Telltale signs are deposits in the skin - dry skin and hair, pale, swollen or „damp" face, absence of sweating, liver freckles or old-age spots - stiff and painful joints and muscles, circulatory disturbances like cold hands and feet, fibroids and prostate-enlargement. In the dumping phase, you thus have hardly any symptoms, however, you are one step closer to chronic disease. It is the example of the fact, that the seriousness of disease does not necessarily correspond with the occurrence of symptoms. In the previous stage - reaction phase - with its much more „dramatic" symptoms like fever and inflammation, you are much more close to health, since these processes have a spontaneous tendency towards elimination. In moving from the dumping phase towards the elimination phase, the symptomless condition temporarily can turn into an acute - reaction - phase, which is then a sign of improvement and cure. Its notorious example being the female breast, the waste bin of the consumers society. Accumulated waste is responsible for the dramatic increase in breast disorders, not to speak of toxic residues - dioxin - in the mother milk. Once boundaries are crossed, however, the toxins enter the cells. They have exceeded the so-called „biological limit". Prior to this, the toxins were still circulating in the body fluids, connective and fat tissue, without effecting cells and organs. These include the elimination, reaction and dumping phases. In these stages, through proper measures total recovery is the norm. However, once the „biological limit" being exceeded, cells will be penetrated, causing relative to permanent damage. It is the beginning of cellular chronic disease. It is sub-divided in the impregnation phase in which toxins are damaging the cell, the degeneration phase in which the vital functions of the cell are collapsing and finally the neoplasm phase, in which the cell turns into a cancer cell or tumor. The ongoing rising statistics of breast cancer do not need further comments. One of the major medical errors of our days: If the body is a system aimed at self-preservation, which we think it is, many symptoms have to be considered as functional, rather than just aberrations from the „healthy norm", which in regular medicine is synonymous with the absence of symptoms! We therefore have to re-think medicine from its very foundations. Against the background of the environmental crisis with its countless new health problems, disorders and tragedies, it seems only logic, that we have to face the challenge. In fact, that’s exactly what we are doing here rightnow. The flow system has already proven its logic, effectiveness and successes. You just may benefit from the work which has already been done before you. You will not be disappointed. The flow system, by the way, is regulated „from above" by the autonomic nervous system, the hormonal system, the brain, our psyche and Consciousness in relationship with our environment. Optimizing your basic functions is where flow system therapy is all about. Every chapter therefore starts with the „Criteria of a healthy....." and „What is wrong". They serve as a reference for you to know about your personal situation. After having read a particular chapter, you will know about your priorities with regard to this particular basic function. You may easily then realize the shortcomings in your lifestyle. It is wise to first put the main issues of the various chapters into practice. For instance, in the chapter nutrition the emphasis is laid on „organic food", „excess of alkaline", „raw salads" and „proper adjustment to your digestion". Do this with every chapter, in such a way, that your approach always includes some of the main recommendations. So what you first put into practice are the priorities of every chapter. The synergistic effect of simultaneously improving „all" basic functions of the flow system, is the secret to your success. Take care to also limit your efforts though, in order not to overload yourself. Your program should fit easily into your already existing lifestyle. It should bring you more energy, rather than the stress of doing too much. In the first couple of days take some „flare-up" symptoms - a temporarily „worsening" of your condition - into account. It is due to the „waking up" of your immune-system, hence usually a good sign. After having done this for a time - two months for instance - you may do a new „check-up". Look which complaints or symptoms have disappeared, improved or are still there or have even worsened. By „going through" the chapters again you may find the missing links in your program. While continuing the basics, you may add (or change) some of the specifics. All the practical advice you will find under „Optimal Vitality Care", at the end of each chapter. Follow your feeling and do the things you like to do. Enjoy them. Become an explorer in self-improvement. The key to health very often lies in a major omission in your lifestyle though, something you don’t like to do. For instance, you have an aversion to bowel cleansing or you „hate" exercise. Well, this may be precisely the thing you have to do. Try it! STATEMENTS4 There was a time when we handed over our body to (medical) science. Health is depending on the natural healing power of the body. This „strategic self-management" serves the survival of the individual. By co-operating with the inner vitality, we are able to optimize health Hence, symptoms usually are the meaningful expressions of the natural healing power, rather than being „aberrations" Illness is the outcome of a multi-factorial process in time, in which
many factors are determining the outcome. It is therefore intimately All reactions, functions, processes and organs are interconnected. The individual is a integrated entity, in which the whole transcends the sumtotal of its parts Are you shaking hands or your hands are, are you being touched or your
skin is, are your feet walking or you are, are you looking or On a basic level, health appears to be depending on the dynamic equilibrium between input of nutrients, water and oxygen, processing and output of waste products and toxins, hence intimately interconnected to the environment Flow system therapy is the leader of modern eco-medicine, it is far
ahead, while firmly rooted in the tradition: European, Indigenous, Health also can be defined as „the ability of giving a meaningful
and creative answer to problems from within and without". Suffering then, is
„the inability to find a meaningful and creative answer to The main cause of suffering is the loss of contact with both one’s
true Self (vertical), the body and nature (horizontal). This is because When walking in the park, you are rarely walking in the park, when sitting in the chair, you are rarely sitting in the chair. Your mind is constantly occupied. You are never there. Because you are never there, you miss reality, the here and now all the time. The pain of dying isn’t death, but the realization, that you never ever really lived The essence of man is Divine and thus „eternal". The periphery
of man is part of nature and has to follow the laws of birth, growth, Back to the Content |
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