Healing Archives - Dr Ben Reebs

How to Apply The Seventh Law of Healing, The Law of Intention

by Dr. Ben Reebs | Jun 2, 2021 | Chronic Disease, Healing, Health

The mind has an inherent and innate ability to manifest that to which it persistently attends. When we realize that we can facilitate this inborn capacity, we can elevate health and well-being.

“You don’t become what you want, you become what you believe.” —Oprah (1)

“Our intention creates our reality.” —Wayne Dyer (2)

The seventh law of healing is the Law of Intention. The word intention comes from the Latin word for “stretching” or “purpose,” basically meaning “to turn one’s attention toward a purpose.” When we focus our attention on that which we intend to manifest in our lives, we can take advantage of the Law of Intention. Intention can be used in a practical way to enhance the likelihood of a positive health outcome for our loved ones as well as ourselves.

When beginning to work with new clients, I sometimes have to step back and ask myself, “What is my intention in our collaboration as healthcare practitioner and patient?” Is my intention to sign my patient up to a program that will manage their health condition for the rest of eternity, or is my intention to help them resolve their chronic disease so that they no longer have that complaint? In and of itself, neither the former nor the latter intention is wrong. However, when we know why we do what we do, then monitoring the trajectory of health becomes that much easier.

We can know when we are moving toward health, and when we are moving away from health. In other words, if our intention is to resolve a chronic disease, then we can use the Law of Cure, articulated earlier in this book, to help guide us in knowing whether we are succeeding. We can use the laws of nature to guide us in our own healing journeys. We can set the intention that self-healing is a distinct possibility, maybe even an expectation or imminent reality.

Through the Law of Intention, we can set the stage for a self-organizing cascade of events in the human organism that propel us toward greater vitality. We can establish a relationship, not only with ourselves but also with our communities, where intention actually becomes a modality that guides eve

ry step of treatment. Whether consciously or unconsciously, our intention determines our reality. Our intention influences the expression of our genes epigenetically, as well as the genes of those with whom we interact. (3) What we believe about ourselves and our loved ones literally impacts the expression of our DNA. The intention of this book has been to distill the laws of healing into simple language to help explain, in pragmatic terms, how to resolve chronic disease and live a long and healthy life.

Motivational teacher Jim Rohn once said that we are the average of the five people with whom we spend the most time. (4) This also pertains to health, as well as financial success and life fulfillment. We have a great influence. on those around us, particularly those with whom we spend the most time: our family, friends, colleagues, and clients. This ties directly into the intention we bring to our relationships. If you want to know the future of your health, look to the intention of the five closest people in your life for clues.

The mystic Gurdjieff once said, to paraphrase, “Show me someone who can make a good cup of coffee, and I can teach them something.” (5) He was speaking about the intention that people bring to mastering a craft. He was stating that this level of attentiveness and presence. was a necessary prerequisite capacity for developing higher awareness.

In other words, our intention can have an effect on everything. that we do, down to making a good cup of coffee. Masaru Emoto showed that our intention and thought can directly influence the molecular shape of water. (6) Our bodies alone, just like the covering of the earth’s surface, are comprised of over 70 percent water. (7) By extension, then, our intention toward greater health and wellness can begin with our own health as well as the health of our loved ones, and it can be directed toward the earth as well. We can heal ourselves, we can heal chronic disease, and our healing journey begins with the intention to do so.

How Can We Apply the Law of Intention to Benefit Our Health?

When we face certain situations throughout our day, we can ask ourselves what our underlying intentions are. This can include sitting down to eat lunch during a busy weekday: Does the food we are about to put into our mouths align with our intention? We can begin to tune in to the intentions of others, as we can all, at least viscerally, feel the intention of other human beings with whom we are interacting. Is their intention good or bad, favorable or unfavorable for us

The Law of Intention begins with you. What are your own intentions toward yourself with regard to your health and well-being?

Applying the Law of Intention:

Explore the Law of Intention by engaging in the following activities:

1. Sit down and complete a writing exercise regarding. your health and well-being:

a. My life purpose is ___________.

b. Today I intend to ___________.

c. This month I intend to ___________.

d. This year I intend to ___________.

e. Over the next five years I intend to ______.

f. Over the next ten years I intend to _______.

g. Over the next twenty years I intend to ____.

2. Write out the above seven intentions and hang them in your house somewhere where you can see them each day. Each day recite them out loud one to two times.

3. Write three paragraphs about how you see yourself. meeting your own goals with regard to your. health and wellness, and how you will feel in your own body when you achieve these goals. How does your body feel and look in this vision? Be descriptive, using all of your five senses, experiencing it as though it were now. Then, each day, take a minute to read out loud this piece of writing, and see and feel it in your mind’s eye. Be as specific as you possibly can be. Using the Law of Intention, if you can see how you want your body to be in your mind’s eye and experience greater health and wellness with all five of your senses, your subconscious mind will begin moving toward helping you to achieve this goal.

4. Find an accountability partner, group, life coach, health coach, or naturopathic doctor who shares the same intentions for greater health and wellbeing as you do. Commit to spending regular time with them, as they will remind you of the intentions that you have set. They will help to hold you accountable to your life purpose and your life intentions, with regard to your health and wellness, whatever they may be.

5. Please fill in the blank: I’m grateful for my health because __________.

Resources:

Curtin, M. “25 Oprah Winfrey Quotes that Will Empower. You (and Make You Laugh).” Inc.com. February 11, 2019. https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/25-oprah-winfreyquotes-that-will-empower-you-and-make-you-laugh.html.
Dyer, W. W. The Power of Intention: Learning to Co-Create Your World Your Way. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2012.
Weinhold, B. “Epigenetics: The Science of Change.” Environmental Health Perspectives 114, no. 3 (2006): A160–67. doi:10.1289/ehp.114-a160.
Groth, A. “You’re the Average of the Five People You Spend the Most Time With.” Business Insider. 2012. https://www.businessinsider.com/jim-rohn-youre-the-average-of-the-five-people-you-spend-the-most-time-with-2012-7.
Ouspensky, P. D. In Search of the Miraculous. London: Paul H. Crompton, 2004.
Emoto, M. The Hidden Messages in Water. New York: Atria Books, 2005.
US Department of the Interior. “How Much Water Is There on Earth?” Accessed January 24, 2020. https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/how-much-water-there-earth?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects.

How to Apply The Sixth Law of Healing, The Law of Synergy

by Dr. Ben Reebs | May 26, 2021 | Chronic Disease, Healing, Health, Herbal Medicine, Nutrition

The whole body is greater than the sum of its parts. When we utilize the combined, cooperative forces in the body, we can align with the laws of nature.

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.”

—Nikola Tesla (1)

“Synergy is the only word in our language that means behavior of whole systems unpredicted by the separately. observed behaviors of any of the system’s separate parts or any subassembly of the system’s parts. There is nothing in the chemistry of a toenail that predicts the existence of a human being.”

—Buckminster Fuller (2)

The sixth law of healing is the Law of Synergy. Synergy is a concept refined by the inventor Buckminster Fuller, who coined the term “synergetics.” The Law of Synergy says that, when combined, two different forces, agents, or substances can have a shared action whose effects are greater than merely their sum. The concept can be applied to health and wellness, where two medical treatments or two physiological systems in the body, when combined, can have a shared action which exponentially amplifies health effects in the body.

The Latin phrase for “treating the whole person” is tolle totum, which is a basic tenet held by naturopathic. doctors. It means just that: treat the whole person, not just a part of the person. In other words, when treating a lower respiratory infection, don’t just treat the lungs, but other systems as well, such as the gut, the immune system, and the upper respiratory system, such as the nose and nasal passages.

Naturopathic doctors have many tools in their toolbox, such as clinical nutrition, herbal medicine, physical medicine, and homeopathy. They know that the combined effects of their different modalities, as part of a holistic treatment plan, can produce far more potent and beneficial health effects than one modality used by itself and targeted at one organ system. This, of course, does not take away from a healthcare practitioner who has mastered and specializes in one treatment modality, disease, or area of physiology. Take the analogy of a carpenter’s toolbox. Imagine a carpenter who was limited to the use of just one tool, a hammer; no tape measure, no level, no screwdriver, no other tools. If all this carpenter had was a hammer, then everything would probably look like a nail! We all know that proper carpentry can only synergistically occur if multiple tools are applied. The effects of their application, with the oversight of a general contractor, exponentially lead to a house! One hammer cannot build a house. In the same way, one treatment modality, such as clinical nutrition alone, cannot reverse chronic disease as effectively as using multiple tools and modalities together.

The Law of Synergy can also be understood by studying certain herbs that share synergistic properties, such as the combination of turmeric with black pepper, (3) to activate anti-inflammatory and detoxifying effects in the human body; or frankincense and myrrh, used since 1500 BCE, which have been shown to have enhanced antimicrobial efficacy against select pathogens; (4) or the combination of the herbs gentian with skullcap, to optimize digestion and nutrient absorption, developed by O.G. Carroll, ND. (5)

The root meaning of the word healing is “wholeness.” In other words, the word heal essentially means “to make whole.” The whole person must be treated in order for the restoration of normal structure and function to occur, and for chronic disease to be reversed. When the Law of Synergy is applied to the human organism, healing is more likely to take place. The best way for the body to heal itself is by treating the whole person. Treating the whole person, hence, is a synergistic concept with profound implications.

When we introduce a drug into our bodies, how does it know where to go? The answer is that it does not know where to go and even though we are taking it for one thing, such as an anti-migraine drug for a headache, the anti-migraine drug is affecting our whole body. Over time and because of this, drugs can cause multiple systemic side effects, such as glucocorticoids potentially inducing weakened, more porous bones (osteopenia or osteoporosis),6 antipsychotic medications dysregulating blood sugars (prediabetes or diabetes), or biologics weakening our immune system (immune-compromise). (7)

There is an idea that comes from chaos theory, called the Butterfly Effect, which states that small changes—the flapping of a butterfly’s wings—can cause large changes, like a hurricane on a different continent. This notion can be directly applied to the human body, in the context of the Law of Synergy. A small change in the biology of our bodies can lead to large changes which may ultimately progress to a disease state or a restoration of health.

The body is a complex interplay of different parts: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. All of these parts add up to make a totum, a whole person, and the whole is cumulatively much greater than simple mathematical addition of its constituents. This notion was taken up in Gestalt psychotherapy, where the whole self is seen as possessing a kind of reality of its own. The Law of Synergy tells us that a butterfly can cause a hurricane or a rainbow to appear on the horizon, and that butterfly is living within your own body. That horizon is your health and your vital force is the butterfly.

How Can We Apply the Law of Synergy to Benefit Our Health?

We must approach the whole person, acknowledging all levels in order to benefit the whole, as opposed to a reductionistic, isolationistic approach where merely a lab value or an organ system is differentiated and treated. As human beings, we are much more complex than a lab value, and disease impacts the whole organism multifactorially. The Law of Synergy tells us that we must be specialists not just in disease but also in health. Health is much more than merely the absence of disease. Health can be defined as the presence of fully functioning systems harmoniously interrelating on all levels: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

Applying the Law of Synergy: Explore the Law of Synergy by engaging in the following activities:

1. List five pairs of things that have synergy in your life. This could be something as simple as two flavors, like salt and vinegar, or following an intense workout with sitting in a steam room. Feel. free to get creative with this exercise.

2. Become aware that whatever you do to your body affects the whole organism. If you introduce a drug into your body, be aware that this drug can produce multiple synergistic side effects.

3. Become aware that you can stack certain diet and lifestyle activities, actions, or modalities in your own life that have a synergistic effect on your health and wellness. Find ones that resonate with you and that make you feel alive. For example, you can stack intermittent fasting (IF)8 with high-intensity interval training (HIIT) (9) and a modified Weston A. Price–style diet (10, 11) to amplify their combined health benefits. Or you can stack spending time in a sensory-deprivation float tank with martial arts and avoiding your food intolerances to experience greater health and wellness. You can find synergies between different diets and lifestyles that resonate with your body and your genes by working with the help of an integrative medicine practitioner.

4. Seek out a naturopathic doctor or another skilled, medically trained physician to help guide you on your healing journey. Choose different modalities and therapies, with the help of your naturopathic doctor, whose synergistic effects will benefit the totality of your body.

5. Please fill in the blank: I’m grateful for my health because __________.

Resources:

Tesla, N. My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla. n.p.: Merchant Books, 2019.
Fuller, R. B., and J. Snyder. Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth. Zürich: Lars Müller Publishers, 2018.
Manap, A. S. A., et al. “Synergistic Effects of Curcumin and Piperine as Potent Acetylcholine and Amyloidogenic Inhibitors with Significant Neuroprotective Activity in SHSY5Y Cells via Computational Molecular Modeling and in Vitro Assay.” Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience 11 (2019): 206. doi:10.3389/fnagi.2019.00206.
Rapper, S. D., et al. “The Additive and Synergistic Antimicrobial Effects of Select Frankincense and Myrrh Oils—A Combination from the Pharaonic Pharmacopoeia.” Letters in Applied Microbiology 54, no. 4 (2012): 352–58. doi:10.1111/j.1472-765x.2012.03216.x.
Kronenberg, L. D. “The Carroll Food Intolerance. Evaluation and Its Applications.” Naturopathic Doctor News and Review. March 17, 2011. https://ndnr.com/autoimmuneallergy-medicine/the-carroll-food-intolerance-evaluation-and-its-applications/.
Panday, K., A. Gona, and M. B. Humphrey. “Medication-Induced Osteoporosis: Screening and Treatment Strategies.” Therapeutic Advances in Musculoskeletal Disease 6, no. 5 (2014): 185–202. doi:10.1177/1759720×14546350.
Henrickson, S. E., M. A. Ruffner, and M. Kwan. “Unintended Immunological Consequences of Biologic. Therapy.” Current Allergy and Asthma Reports 16, no. 6 (2016): 46. doi:10.1007/s11882-016-0624-7.
Ganesan, K., et al. “Intermittent Fasting: The Choice for a Healthier Lifestyle.” Cureus 10, no. 7 (2018): e2947. doi:10.7759/cureus.2947.
Alansare, A., et al. “The Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training vs. Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training on Heart Rate Variability in Physically Inactive Adults.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 15, no. 7 (2018): 1508. doi:10.3390/ijerph15071508.
Price, W. A. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. Lemon Grove, CA: Price-Pottenger, 2016.
Fallon, S., et al. Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats. Brandywine, MD: NewTrends, 2005.

How to Apply The Fifth Law of Healing, The Law of Resonance

by Dr. Ben Reebs | May 19, 2021 | Chronic Disease, Healing, Health

The body emits frequencies that constantly interact with forces within and without its environment.

When we realize that we can enhance their resonance, we can align with the laws of nature.

“By similar things a disease is produced and through the application of the like is cured.”

—Hippocrates (1)

“Nature marks each growth…according to its curative benefit.”

—Paracelsus (2)

“Everything’s physical manifestation reflects its inner essence.”

—Jacob Boehme (3)

The fifth law of healing is the Law of Resonance. This law is based on the observation in physics that two phenomena have the potential to vibrate together, on the same wavelength, in resonance. (4) At its very basis, according to quantum mechanics, the universe is merely vibratory energy interacting as frequencies of light and sound. (5) This orchestra is occurring on a molecular and submolecular level during every moment of our existence.

The Law of Resonance is readily observable in the physics of musical instruments. Each instrument, such as a Taylor guitar, can vibrate at certain natural frequencies. This is called its harmonics. These harmonics are determined by the instrument’s materials, such as type and age of wood, and the environment to which it has been exposed or lack thereof.

If a Taylor guitar is vibrating at a harmonic of another instrument—say, a violin—and that vibration carries through the air to the other instrument, the violin will begin to vibrate at only the harmonics shared in common with the guitar. This is the Law of Resonance.

The word resonance comes from resound, which means “to echo or sound together.” An example from nature is hearing the sounds of the ocean when you put a seashell to your ear. Background frequencies in the air resonate with the natural harmonics of the seashell, causing the notes you hear; but you can only hear the notes your ear shares in common with the seashell! In other words, the seashell is merely amplifying certain natural frequencies silently present in the air. There is even an ancient philosophy that the movements of the celestial bodies contained mathematical proportions which actually were considered a type of music. Ancient astronomers called this the “Music of the Spheres.” The Law of Resonance encapsulates this idea.

The Law of Resonance can also be explained by a field of medicine which emerged in Greece around the first century: the Doctrine of Signatures. Also known as the Law of Similars, with evidence of its practice dating as far back as 1500 BCE, (6) the Doctrine of Signatures was later adapted and articulated in depth by Paracelsus in the 1500s. (7) This worldview states that every natural phenomenon—both within and without the body—has a signature which shares energetic patterns in common with other phenomena. For now, let’s call these patterns harmonics. In other words, certain substances, such as plants or minerals, for example, have harmonic signatures which resonate with certain organs, tissues, and even diseases. Herbalists, shamans, and healers in every culture have been using the Doctrine of Signatures for millennia, as part of ancient natural healing practices. (8, 9) Science continues to discover and isolate plant properties which confirm benefits long known by herbalists who have applied the Law of Resonance for centuries.

For example, as little as eight ounces of beet juice daily can lower systolic blood pressure by an average of four to five points in healthy subjects. (10) Beet juice resembles blood in its color and is rich in nitric oxide–producing properties which vasodilate the vasculature. Milk thistle contains properties, such as silymarin, which are protective of the kidneys. (11) The spiny shape of a milk thistle appears protective. Farmer’s market carrots are a rich source of properties which nourish the eyes such as beta carotene. (12) When you slice a carrot crosswise, it looks a little like a human eye. Walnuts are rich in properties like vitamin E and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), which nourish and protect the brain. (13) Walnut meat resembles the human brain. Yams are rich in fiber, nutrients, and properties, such as diosgenin, which can improve hormone health and are much lower on the glycemic index than potatoes, particularly when boiled. (14, 15) The yam in shape somewhat resembles the pancreas.

These are crude (even humorous) examples, and are used to illustrate the Doctrine of Signatures, which is a branch of the Law of Resonance. Basically, natural phenomena—such as a plant, mineral, or even an animal—are comprised of parts which contain energetic signatures, much like harmonics, that can give information about how it can potentially be used as medicine to restore normal structure and function in the human body. One should always consult their naturopathic doctor or another qualified healthcare practitioner before applying the Doctrine of Signatures to treat disease.

Homeopathy is a system of medicine which embodies the application of the Law of Resonance, as certain substances resonate with certain disease states or symptom pictures. The founder of homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann, MD, adapted the Doctrine of Signatures from the work of Paracelsus and developed it. (16) In homeopathy, a substance, such as a drug or plant, capable of producing morbid symptoms in healthy people will cure those same symptoms in diseased people when diluted serially. (17) The original signature or harmonics of the substance, as evinced by symptoms it would cause in a normal person at normal doses, is being used to treat that particular harmonic signature or pattern which is presenting in an imbalanced person.

For example, take the toxic nightshade belladonna. A tincture of belladonna, in a high enough dose, can cause symptoms such as dilated pupils, blurry vision, light sensitivity, elevated heart rate, throbbing headache, flushing, and dry mouth, with symptoms escalating to include hallucinations, delirium, convulsions, and possibly even death. These symptoms are mainly due to an active chemical called atropine, which is used in emergency medicine.

According to the Law of Resonance, the signature of belladonna, when prepared and used homeopathically in low doses (diluted and potentized), resonates with the disease state or clusters of symptoms which it creates in people in high doses. By applying the Law of Compensation, it can be used to treat those imbalances in the human organism. However, this is not something to try at home. Always consult your doctor first before you treat your chronic disease using this method.

Paracelsus was famous for saying that the difference between a medicine and a poison is the dose. What he failed to mention was that the main difference between a medicine and a poison is in how it is used or applied. This book hopefully demonstrates that, according to the laws of healing, the difference between a medicine and a poison is hidden in its application. And its application is hidden in why you do it, but that is a topic for a later chapter.

How Can We Apply the Law of Resonance to Benefit Our Health?

From the perspective of the Law of Resonance, each organ of our body contains natural harmonics which are producing vibrations both within and without our environment. The condition of our bodies determines the frequencies which we are emitting, as we are constantly interacting with the influences, such as air, water, light, the food stuffs and drugs we put into our bodies, and even EMFs emitted from our cell phones which can cause deleterious side effects, ranging from disrupted sleep to even affecting the code of our DNA. (18)

The new science of epigenetics tells us that the human genome is like a piano upon which our environment plays. Our environment, such as the foods we eat, can literally turn on and off certain genes, such as cancer causing genes called oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, (19, 20) like fingers pressing notes on a piano keyboard. (21) The Law of Resonance tells us that the notes played on our piano are also resounding loudly with stuff inside us and stuff outside of us, every waking moment of our existence, from embryo to end of life. Not only are we what we eat, we are what we eat ate. We are what we think, feel, and believe; we are what we do; and our feelings and our thoughts are interacting with the universe. (22, 23) Whether you ascribe to religion, science, or both, nothing can deny the fact that our genes are being turned on and off—that is, expressed or repressed—in our bodies by our environment. (24)

It’s time to start choosing some of the notes that you want your piano to be playing, particularly if you want to live a long, healthy life free of chronic disease. We are cocreators in the destiny bequeathed by our environment combined with our genes. We are rewriting our code every second of existence, that is, our nurture is writing our nature. What song do you wish to sing? What song do you want to listen to? Is it the Music of the Spheres that you hear or is it something else? What do you most resonate with in your life?

Applying the Law of Resonance: Explore the Law of Resonance by engaging in the following activities:

1. Sit down for ten minutes and do a writing exercise, answering the following questions: What five things do you resonate with most in your life? How do these things or activities which you resonate with make you feel in your body, as opposed to ones that don’t? Let it be a free-flowing exercise. You can write down a laundry list, or you can write down whole sentences. The things which you resonate with the most are life-giving, and you should seek them out, as they usually will fill your cup rather than empty it. As much as possible, let go of things in your life that you don’t resonate with.

2. Seek out alternative healthcare practitioners trained in healing arts which apply the Law of Resonance. This could be a naturopathic doctor who uses “holistic counseling,” (25) a chiropractor who uses cranial osteopathy, an acupuncturist who uses Chinese herbs for their energetic properties, or a massage therapist who uses craniosacral therapy.

3. Spend time in nature and pay attention to how it makes you feel in your body.

4. Please fill in the blank: I’m grateful for my health because __________.

Resources:

Hippocrates et al. Hippocrates. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012.
Paracelsus, and A. E. Waite. The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Aureolus Philippus Theophrastus Bombast, of Hohenheim, Called Paracelsus the Great: Now for the First Time Faithfully Translated into English. Eastford: Martino Publishing, 2009.
Boehme, J. The Signature of All Things and Other Writings. Cambridge, UK: James Clarke, 1969.
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University. “Resonance.” HyperPhysics. Accessed November 30, 2019. http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Sound/reson.html.
Capra, F. The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism. Boston: Shambhala, 2010.
Theriault, P. “Homeopathy: Correcting the Record.” Naturopathic Doctor News and Review. March 5, 2019. https://ndnr.com/homeopathy/homeopathy-correcting-the-record/.
Paracelsus, and A. E. Waite. The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Aureolus Philippus Theophrastus Bombast, of Hohenheim, Called Paracelsus the Great: Now for the First Time Faithfully Translated into English. Eastford: Martino Publishing, 2009.
Wood, M. “The Doctrine of Signatures.” Natura Sophia. 2011. http://www.naturasophia.com/Signatures.html.
Bennett, B. C. “Doctrine of Signatures: An Explanation of Medicinal Plant Discovery or Dissemination of Knowledge?” Economic Botany 61, no. 3 (2007): 246–55. doi:10.1663/0013-0001(2007)61[246:dosaeo]2.0.co;2.
Coles, L. T., and P. M. Clifton. “Effect of Beetroot Juice on Lowering Blood Pressure in Free-Living, Disease-Free Adults: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial.” Nutrition Journal 11, no. 1 (2012): 106. doi:10.1186/1475-2891-11-106.
Rani, R. “Drug and Diabetic Nephropathy.” Diabetic Nephropathy (2012): 57–82. doi:10.5772/36769.
Rasmussen, H. M., and E. J. Johnson. “Nutrients for the Aging Eye.” Clinical Interventions in Aging 8 (2013): 741–48. doi:10.2147/cia.s45399.
Poulose, S. M., et al. “Role of Walnuts in Maintaining Brain Health with Age.” The Journal of Nutrition 144, no. 4 (2014): 561S–66S. doi:10.3945/jn.113.184838.
Kalailingam, P., et al. “Efficacy of Natural Diosgenin on Cardiovascular Risk, Insulin Secretion, and Beta Cells in Streptozotocin (STZ)-Induced Diabetic Rats.” Phytomedicine 21, no. 10 (2014): 1154–61. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2014.04.005.
Wu, W., et al. “Estrogenic Effect of Yam Ingestion in Healthy Postmenopausal Women.” Journal of the American College of Nutrition 24, no. 4 (2005): 235–43. doi:10.1080 /07315724.2005.10719470.
Morrell, P., and S. Cazalet. “Hahnemann and Paracelsus, by John H. Clarke, M. D.” 1999. http://www.homeoint.org/morrell/clarke/prefacemorrell.htm.
Kent, J. T. Lectures on Homoeopathic Philosophy. New Delhi: National Homoeopathic Publishers, 1980.
Pearson, H. “Mobile-Phone Radiation Damages Lab DNA.” Nature (2004). doi:10.1038/news041220-6.
Winters, N., and J. H. Kelley. The Metabolic Approach to Cancer: Integrating Deep Nutrition, the Ketogenic Diet, and Nontoxic Bio-Individualized Therapies. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2017.
tengler, M. Outside the Box Cancer Therapies: Alternative Therapies that Treat and Prevent Cancer. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2019.
McIntosh, D. “The Epigenetics of Childhood Trauma.” Psychology Today. September 18, 2019. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psyched/201909/the-epigenetics-childhood-trauma.
Sathyanarayana Rao, T. S., et al. “The Biochemistry of Belief.” Indian Journal of Psychiatry 51, no. 4 (2009): 239–41. doi:10.4103/0019-5545.58285.
Lipton, B. H. The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2016.
Wallach, J. D., et al. Epigenetics: The Death of the Genetic Theory of Disease Transmission. New York: SelectBooks, 2014.
Block, M. D. Holistic Counseling: Introducing the Vis Dialogue. Alresford, UK: Psyche Books, 2016.

How to Apply The Fourth Law of Healing, The Law of Compensation

by Dr. Ben Reebs | May 4, 2021 | Chronic Disease, Detoxification, Healing, Health, Nutrition

The body responds to every event or agent with first, an observable, ephemeral effect, and second, a reaction which is persistent and runs directly contrary to the primary effect.

“Cold things warm, warm things cool, wet things dry, and parched things get wet.”

—Heraclitus (1)

“Every agent affecting the human organism produces two effects: a first, apparent, temporary effect, and a second, lasting effect. The secondary, lasting effect is always contrary to the primary, transient effect.”

—Henri Lindlahr, MD, ND (2)

The fourth law of healing is the Law of Compensation (otherwise known as the Law of Dual Effect). The Law of Compensation was first articulated by Henri Lindlahr, MD, ND, one of the pioneers of naturopathy in the United States, in his seminal work, Nature Cure, first published in 1913. (3) The Law of Compensation states that every action in the body, elicited by an agent such as a drug, first produces a primary effect which is apparent and temporary. However, an opposite, secondary reaction, or a “dual effect,” then ensues which is persistent in its duration and its action runs counter to the primary effect.

The Law of Compensation can be observed in the application of cold to the body. For example, let’s say you suffer a high ankle sprain and your doctor has you follow. the RICE protocol: rest, ice, compression, and elevation. The general recommendation is to leave the ice pack on your ankle ten to twenty minutes, but let’s say that because. you’re watching Netflix, you forget and leave it on for thirty minutes. Well, the initial application of cold produces vasoconstriction, meaning the blood vessels in the superficial layers of your ankle constrict as blood is driven into the interior and inflammation is calmed. This is the primary, transitory effect: inflammation is lowered, pain is reduced.

But a secondary effect will occur which is the opposite, that is, runs contrary to the initial effect, and is persistent in nature. Your ankle becomes swollen again, as your blood vessels respond with vasodilatory effect, blood is brought to the surface, and inflammation—an essential part of the healing process—rears its fiery head. Almost completely ignored by conventional medicine, this is the secondary, persistent reaction. (Of course, if you leave the ice on even longer, you could cause nerve damage and occlude blood flow altogether.)

Because the body is complex (and rich in confounding factors), as particularly evidenced in the nutritional sciences, (4) it would be difficult to produce a randomized control trial (RCT), which proved (or disproved) the Law of Compensation. However, because the body is intelligent and ordered, it has mechanisms in place which will compensate for any event, so as to maintain balance and prevent death and damage from occurring in the organism.

Organisms continually adapt to their environment so as to maintain homeostasis. This notion that our internal biological systems are tightly regulated was first described by the French physiologist Claude Bernard, MD, in 1865. (5) Then the concept of I was coined in 1926 by Harvard physiologist Walter Cannon, MD, and popularized in his book, The Wisdom of the Body. (6) When the body is in health, homeostasis persists, but when the body becomes diseased, a “compensatory homeostasis” can become the norm. (7)

When sailing in a sailboat, if you desire to sail into the wind so as to maintain a certain course, you must turn your bow toward the wind. You will experience a sudden change in the blowing of the wind from one side to the other of your vessel. This action, called tacking, maintains homeostasis of the sailboat, and often one will have to jibe, in the opposite direction, in a series of zigzags to remain on course. Your health is like a sailboat continually tacking and jibing its sails to the changing wind currents of the environment while maintaining a course of optimal health.

The majority of conventional medicine is focused on the primary, transient effect, while the secondary effects are mostly ignored. In no area is this more apparent than in pharmacology. The Law of Compensation can be partially understood in its action by reading what side effects can be caused by a certain medication. A side effects list is like a symptom picture of potential compensation in the body for that particular pharmacological agent. Primary effects are the action which the drug has in the body, and secondary effects are the body’s compensatory response to the primary action. Have you ever wondered why you have to keep taking a drug in order for it to work? It’s because the body responds to cancel out the drug’s therapeutic effects, firstly by lowering its concentrations in the blood (depending on its half-life), and so the drug must be continued to maintain its suppressive action.

For example, if a patient takes Adderall for their ADHD, it will act as an amphetamine-inducing stimulant and raise their heart rate. Then, the body will attempt to lower the heart rate and downregulate metabolism so as to normalize function. With regular use, the body even begins to anticipate the drug’s action and lowers the heart rate before administration. Over time, a person may need to have their Adderall dosage adjusted in order to maintain its same effects. (8)

Take another example: Let’s say you have a fever of 102 and you take two 500 mg tablets of Tylenol (acetaminophen) to suppress it. At first, the agent has anantipyretic action in the body which inhibits the synthesis of inflammatory compounds called prostaglandins. This production, which is mediated by a group of enzymes called cyclooxygenase (COX), is inhibited and so the fever is suppressed. This is the primary action of Tylenol. Then, once the medication begins to wear off after a few hours, the body often responds with a fever again, but this time it persists and may be even higher than 102. This is the secondary reaction. You then follow the recommendation on your bottle of Tylenol and take 1,000 mg every six hours, with the daily recommended. upper limit dosage being 4,000 mg.

It is commonly thought that the return of the fever, after Tylenol has worn off, is due to the persistence of the infection, but a case can be made that the Law of Compensation is actually in effect. The fever is the body’s response to the infection, and the dual effect is the return of the fever once the medication has worn off. In other words, the body compensates to the action of the Tylenol by instigating the return of the fever to maintain physiological function. Because the fever is a necessary part of the body’s healing capacity, it returns, perhaps even stronger, and is more persistent.

Even though it is recommended that Tylenol be taken for no more than ten days straight (or a proton pump inhibitor, like Prilosec, for no more than two weeks), in many cases, people become chronic users of these medications well beyond their recommended safety usage. Eventually, the cumulative side effects of having taken these drugs may be diagnosed as a new disease or condition. Some classic side effects include the drowsiness associated with Benadryl, (9) the muscle cramps associated with statins, (10) or the fatigue associated with proton pump. inhibitors like Prilosec. (11) If the use of these medications is chronic, these side effects can eventually exacerbate the risk of the onset of a new disease. For example, a 2015 Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) review found that chronic anticholinergic use (such as Benadryl) had a 54 percent increased association with dementia. (12) Also, the chronic use (meaning greater than a year) of proton pump inhibitors (PPI) is associated with an increased risk of fracture, likely due to hypocalcemia and hypomagnesemia. (13)

Knowing this, let’s go back to the example of the atopic triad, where the child with eczema who takes steroids for a period of time ends up with seasonal allergies that progress to asthma. Now, the child is diagnosed with two new. diseases (seasonal allergies and asthma), which according to an understanding of the laws of nature, signify a disease progression due to the secondary effects of chronic steroid use to suppress eczema. More pharmacology, with new side effects, usually including more steroids, is conventionally prescribed for the onset of these new diseases.

The Law of Compensation is why most modern pharmacology will work for a little while, or seem to, but then it will require a higher dosage or the overlay of new polypharmacy to maintain or amplify its effects or counter its side effects. This is the Law of Compensation in full effect. Understanding that it is an underpinning of homeostasis helps to guide the naturopathic doctor in restoring normal structure and function in the human organism, as well in preventing the development of chronic disease.

Another example of the Law of Compensation is the sexual arousal that can occur for couples when watching a scary or suspenseful movie, as evidenced by the biphasic nature of the nervous system. When watching a scary or suspenseful movie, the sympathetic nervous system is activated (“fight or flight”) by certain intense scenes, and hormones such as adrenaline, dopamine, and cortisol increase. Then, as things calm down, the parasympathetic nervous system (“rest and digest”) begins to take over, but it is much more persistent. The parasympathetic nervous system calms down the couple, and they both hold each other close and become “turned on” while oxytocin courses through their veins. Hollywood understands and applies the Law of Compensation well in these genres when it comes to the biphasic nature of the nervous system.

The field of hydrotherapy, revered and applied for centuries by all cultures over millennia, was developed and refined by Father Sebastian Kneipp, a forefather of naturopathic medicine, in Germany in the 1800s. (14) He understood that the secondary effects of the application of cold and hot water, in a methodical way, could produce lasting health in the human organism by preventing and reversing the development of chronic disease. (15)

Another example of a modality which applies the Law of Compensation is the field of homeopathy, originally based on the idea that ‘like cures like,’ founded by Samuel Hahnemann, MD, also in Germany in the 1800s. By using minute doses of potentized substances, to the point which they are actually often no longer present on a molecular level (in other words, they are below Avogadro’s constant from a chemical perspective), the primary, transient effect is tamped down. (16) Meanwhile, the secondary, lasting effect, in theory, is produced by enhancing the natural, vital healing mechanisms in the body. This enhancement is called potentization, (17) but its mechanism is poorly understood. (18)

How Can We Apply the Law of Compensation to Benefit Our Health?

Well, we can generally benefit from the knowledge that every agent, most notably drugs, but also including food, air, and water, produces primary and secondary effects which can affect our deeper, more important organs and biological systems.

However, this is not something to try to manipulate at home. Rather, it is a law of healing ever-present in the human body, one that can be addressed by engaging the help of a trained, licensed naturopathic doctor or a skilled integrative health or functional medicine doctor.

Applying the Law of Compensation: Explore the Law of Compensation by engaging in the following activities:

1. Exercise a minimum of four times per week, for at least thirty minutes at a time, engaging in a combination of workout programs suitable to you, such as high-intensity interval training (HIIT), yoga, dance, qigong, and/or cardiovascular exercises. In fact, by strengthening your musculoskeletal organ system, you can improve the outcome of most disease processes. (19). Exercise is perhaps the number one way you can regularly experience the Law of Compensation in your day. You engage in strenuous labor, such as weight lifting or high-intensity yoga, for a period of time, which pumps hormones such as cortisol, growth hormone, and testosterone in your blood and induces muscular contraction and sweating. This is the primary effect. Then, you derive the persistent benefits of relaxation and enhanced mental clarity the rest of your day, which is the secondary effect.

2. Become aware of the subtle or sometimes not-so subtle secondary effects of modern pharmacology, which can produce nutrient deficiencies, raise toxicity in the blood and tissues, as well as lead to a lowered vital force. Become aware of substances whose secondary effects may lower your immune system, compromise metabolism, and produce side effects which may lead to the diagnosis of a new chronic disease.

3. Seek out therapies and modalities which gently enhance your vital force and treat you as a whole person, rather than suppress your symptoms with drugs and therapies which potentially could drive the disease or condition deeper into your body, thereby worsening your condition.

4. Please fill in the blank: I’m grateful for my health because _________.

Resources:

Heraclitus, H. B. Fragments: The Collected Wisdom of Heraclitus. New York: Penguin Books, 2003.
Lindlahr, H. Nature Cure: Philosophy & Practice Based on the Unity of Disease & Cure. Charleston: BiblioBazaar, 2006.
Lindlahr, H. Nature Cure: Philosophy & Practice Based on the Unity of Disease & Cure. Charleston: BiblioBazaar, 2006.
Boudreau, C., and H. B. Evich. “How Washington Keeps America Sick and Fat.” Politico. November 4, 2019. https://www.politico.com/news/agenda/2019/11/04/why-we-dont-know-what-to-eat-060299.
Bernard, C. An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine. New York: Dover, 2018.
Cannon, W. B. The Wisdom of the Body. New York: Norton, 1967.
Fan, X. J., H. Yu, and J. Ren. “Homeostasis and Compensatory Homeostasis: Bridging Western Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine.” Current Cardiology Reviews 7, no. 1 (2011): 43–46. doi:10.2174/157340311795677671.
Lecklitner, I. “What a Lifetime of Adderall Does to Your Brain.” MEL Magazine. 2018. https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/what-a-lifetime-of-adderall-does-to-your-brain.
Zhang, D., et al. “Next-Day Residual Sedative Effect After Nighttime Administration of an Over-the-Counter Antihistamine Sleep Aid, Diphenhydramine, Measured by Positron Emission Tomography.” Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology 30, no. 6 (2010): 694–701. doi:10.1097/jcp.0b013e3181fa8526.
Parker, B. A., and P. D. Thompson. “Effect of Statins on Skeletal Muscle.” Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews 40, no. 4 (2012): 188–94. doi:10.1097/jes.0b013e31826c169e.
Novotny, M., B. Klimova, and M. Valis. “PPI Long Term Use: Risk of Neurological Adverse Events?” Frontiers in Neurology 9 (2019): 1142. doi:10.3389/fneur.2018.01142.
Gray, S. L., et al. “Cumulative Use of Strong Anticholinergics and Incident Dementia”. JAMA Internal Medicine 175, no. 3 (2015): 401. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.7663.
Florentin, M. “Proton Pump Inhibitor-Induced Hypomagnesemia: A New Challenge.” World Journal of Nephrology 1, no. 6 (2012): 151. doi:10.5527/wjn.v1.i6.151.
Kirchfeld, F., and W. Boyle. Nature Doctors: Pioneers in Naturopathic Medicine. Portland: NCNM Press, 2005.
Kneipp, S. My Water-Cure: As Tested Through More than Thirty Years and Described for the Healing of Diseases and the Preservation of Health. Memphis: General Books, 2010.
Lindlahr, H. Nature Cure: Philosophy & Practice Based on the Unity of Disease & Cure. Charleston: BiblioBazaar, 2006.
Fiddian-Green, R. G. “‘Succussion’ and ‘Potentization’ of Homeopathic Products.” The British Medical Journal (2019). https://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/11/02/succussion-and-potentization-homeopathic-products.
Khuda-Bukhsh, A. R. “Towards Understanding Molecular Mechanisms of Action of Homeopathic Drugs: An Overview.” Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry 253 (2003): 339–45. doi:10.1023/A:1026048907739.
Moore, T. “Muscle as Medicine: A Most Naturopathic Anti-Aging Medicine.” Naturopathic Doctor News and Review. May 1, 2017. https://ndnr.com/anti-aging/muscle-as-medicine-a-most-naturopathic-anti-aging-medicine/.

How to Apply The Third Law of Healing, The Law of Cure

by Dr. Ben Reebs | Apr 28, 2021 | Chronic Disease, Detoxification, Healing, Health, Nutrition

The direction of healing proceeds in the body in four universal ways:

From above downward, from within outward, from most important to least important organs, and in reverse order of symptom occurrence.

“The highest ideal of cure is the rapid, gentle and permanent restoration of health; that is, the lifting and annihilation of the disease in its entire extent in the shortest, most reliable, and least disadvantageous way, according to clearly realizable principles.”

—Samuel Hahnemann, MD (1)

The third law of healing is the Law of Cure. Cure simply means the restoration of normal structure and function in the organism, a return to health. There can be no cure if there is no disease or dis-ease, just as there can be no normal without the reality of possible abnormality.

The body is exceedingly intelligent, operating in predictable ways that can tell the skilled practitioner in which direction healing is proceeding. There are four universal ways in which healing progresses in the body. Constantine Hering, MD, lived in the 1800s and first summarized these four directions, known as Hering’s Law of Cure. (2)

The Law of Cure

The direction of healing proceeds in the body in four universal ways: (3)

From above downward
From within outward
From more important to less important organs
In reverse order of symptom occurrence

Caution: By the way, these directions should not be used to diagnose disease or healing in yourself. They are subtle signs, not hard-and-fast rules, and require years of medical training and practice to observe. Also, these potentially observable signs and symptoms of healing can be subtle and must be taken into account only when treating the totality of the person. You should work with an integrative medicine practitioner, such as a naturopathic doctor trained by an accredited naturopathic medical school, and even better, one who is also affiliated with the Naturopathic Medicine Institute (NMI).

The First Direction of Healing: From Above Downward

The first direction described in the Law of Cure is that healing or cure will move in the body from above to below, or from the top down. This means that a presenting symptom or a condition may move vertically down in the body, in the direction of the head to the toes. A simple example would be a chronic rash on the chest that moves down, for example, to the groin area, and eventually to the legs. When it resolves, it will do so in its original area(s) first, as it moves inferiorly. Another example of a potential sign or symptom of the first direction of healing would be arthritic pain moving down from the neck to the fingers.

The First Direction of Healing: From Above Downward

The Second Direction of Healing: From Within Outward

The second direction, which can be more complex, is that healing or cure moves from within outward. In other words, the signs and symptoms of healing can move from a deeper layer of the body to an area more superficial. This could be seen in an infection resolving in a deeper layer of the skin first, while maintaining its appearance on the surface of the skin. The dermis heals before the epidermis. A more complex example would be a respiratory condition like asthma improving or resolving, while external symptoms, such as a rash on the arms, appear to worsen.

The Third Direction of Healing: From More Important to Less Important Organs

The third direction is the progression of healing or cure from a more important organ to a less important one. The body protects its most important organs with more resources than the less important ones, in much the same way that a military expedition is organized to protect its higher officers more than its armed forces on the periphery. The organs are ordered in the body, from most important to least important. The brain and the heart are the most important, and organs such as the lungs and the urinary tract are of less importance. You can barely exist, at least consciously, for a minute without your brain or your heart fully functioning appropriately, but you can exist much longer with a barely functioning digestive tract.

The third direction of the Law of Cure explains why conditions like lower respiratory tract and urinary tract infections are much more likely to occur than brain infections or heart infections. An example of the third direction of the Law of Cure would be a chronic respiratory infection improving, but then a patient presenting with an eczematous rash, signaling that the process is moving from the lungs to the skin. A direction of healing is proceeding. In this example, the skin is seen to be of less immediate importance than the lungs.

Of course, the reverse can also be true, signaling a worsening of the overall condition of the organism: disease can progress from the skin, for example, to the lungs, such as in what is often seen in the atopic triad. The atopic triad is a three-fold presentation of disease, where a child with eczema subsequently develops seasonal allergies and asthma after using steroids for a period of time, showing a progression rather than a remission of disease. (4)

These signs and symptoms are mere guideposts used by the skilled health practitioner to inform their treatment of the individual, to know if a person is on the path of cure. The Law of Cure is not a hard-and-fast rule that can be readily understood by the layperson and used to diagnose and treat a disease. The Law of Cure embodies a principle which informs clinical case prognosis and provides information about how to understand whether disease or cure are imminent. Always talk with your doctor about your condition and allow them to be your healthcare collaborator and guide. In other words, don’t try this at home.

The Fourth Direction of Healing: In Reverse Order of Symptom Occurrence

The fourth direction of healing is the reversal of symptoms occurring in the order in which they first appeared in the body. An analogy to the progression or remission of disease would be taking a walk into a park and having to exit the park the same way in which you entered in order to return to your car in the parking lot. If you are to return to health, you often have to circle back whence you came; this can often show up as the reoccurrence of symptoms experienced long ago, as healing and cure proceed in the body.

Let’s move back to our example of the atopic triad, which is the three-fold presentation of eczema, allergies, and asthma in a child.Eczema, or atopic dermatitis, in a child often progresses to a condition where chronic hay fever or seasonal allergies then ensue, leading to eventual onset of chronic asthma, a process known as the atopic march. (5) In fact, up to 80% of children with eczema also have asthma or allergies. (6) An example of the direction of healing occurring in the child would be the asthma resolving or improving but then the reappearance of chronic eczema on the child’s skin, even though the child has not had this condition, with that particular presentation, for a few years. The lungs are more important than the skin for immediate survival, so this example also combines more than one of the four directions of healing.

Another example comes directly from one of my patient’s reports. She spent several weeks detoxifying for hours daily in an infrared sauna, when an old severe sunburn that she had experienced many years ago, reappeared on her torso, with exactly the same presentation as from the past. Over the course of several days, the burn from the past resolved and her skin and scarring cleared for the first time in years.

Again, these are crude, anecdotal examples to attempt an explanation of the Law of Cure, purely for illustration, but you must always work with your doctor, as each individual is unique and this potentially observable language of the progression of cure in the human body should not be used to diagnose and treat oneself or one’s family members, but should be applied and observed with the help of a naturopathic doctor or skilled integrative medicine practitioner. The directions of the Law of Cure can serve as guideposts along our healing journey as we resolve chronic disease in our bodies.

How Can We Apply the Law of Cure to Benefit Our Health?

Well, first of all, we must work with a trained practitioner; but we can also generally benefit from the knowledge that conditions affecting our more important organs, such as our brain or our heart, are usually more likely to be more serious than conditions affecting, for example, our urinary tract or our lungs.

We can seek out the help of naturopathic doctors to work with and enhance our body’s healing mechanisms, rather than suppress our symptoms with polypharmacy and potentially drive the disease deeper into our bodies.

Applying the Law of Cure:

Explore the Law of Cure by engaging in the following activities:

1. Write a letter to yourself about what your life would be like if you were free of chronic pain or chronic disease. How would things be different? Describe what it would be like using all five of your senses.

2. Pay deep attention to your symptoms and to the way they change over time. Journal about your health, if you want to.

3. Pay particular attention to the condition of your skin and realize that the skin is like a mirror of our internal health. Work with a naturopathic doctor to develop “clear skin from within,” as skin expert Trevor Holly Cates, ND, would call it. (7)

4. Take an inventory of the various diseases, illnesses, and injuries that you have experienced over your life.

5. Seek out a naturopathic doctor or another skilled, medically trained integrative healthcare practitioner, such as a functional medicine doctor, to help. guide you on your healing journey.

6. Please fill in the blank: I’m grateful for my health because __________.

Resources:

Hahnemann, S., and C. Hering. Organon of Homoeopathic Medicine. Charleston: BiblioLife, 2010.
Hahnemann, S., et al. The Chronic Diseases, Their Peculiar Nature and Their Homoepathic Cure. New Delhi: Jain, 1896.
Saine, A. “Hering’s Law: Law, Rule or Dogma?” Canadian Academy of Homeopathy. Accessed November 24, 2019. https://www.homeopathy.ca/articles_det12.shtml.
Zheng, T. “The Atopic March: Progression from Atopic Dermatitis to Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma.” Journal of Clinical & Cellular Immunology 5, no. 2 (2014): 202. doi:10.4172/2155-9899.1000202.
Hill, D. A., and J. M. Spergel. “The Atopic March: Critical Evidence and Clinical Relevance.” Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology 120, no. 2 (2018): 131–37. doi:10.1016/j.anai.2017.10.037.
Eichenfield, L. F., et al. “Atopic Dermatitis and Asthma: Parallels in the Evolution of Treatment.” Pediatrics 111, no. 3 (2003): 608–16. doi:10.1542/peds.111.3.608.
Cates, T. Clean Skin from Within: The Spa Doctors 2-Week Program to Glowing, Naturally Youthful Skin. Beverly, MA: Fair Winds, 2017.

How to Apply The Second Law of Healing, The Law of Disease

by Dr. Ben Reebs | Apr 19, 2021 | Chronic Disease, Detoxification, Diet, Healing, Health, Hydrotherapy, Minerals, Nutrition

When nature’s laws are violated, three conditions in the body lawfully ensue which promote the development of chronic disease: toxicity, deficiency, and a lack of vitality.

“The primary cause of disease…is violation of Nature’s Laws [whose] effect[s] are identical with disease, because they tend to lower, hinder or inhibit normal function…and because they engender and promote destruction of living tissues.”

—Henri Lindlahr, MD, ND (1)

“What would it benefit a physician if [s]he discovered the origin of the diseases but could not cure or alleviate them?”

—Paracelsus (2)

The second law of healing is the Law of Disease. Your body is actively engaged in a dynamic exchange with the environment at all times, and when the environment is compromised, disease or dis-ease will occur.This shows up in three main ways: toxicity, deficiency, and a diminished vitality.

Imagine that your health rests upon a three-legged stool. If any one of the legs was to break, then you would topple over and hit the ground. In this analogy, hitting the ground is equivalent with being diagnosed with a chronic disease. Another name for this three-legged stool is the Triangle of Optimal Health.

The Triangle of Optimal Health

By turning our three-legged stool inside out upon itself, we have the Triangle of Chronic Disease. Your health is an expression of the status of these three pillars as: a lack of toxicity, adequate nutrient status, and a strong vitality. When one of them tips over, imbalance ensues and most likely a disease will be diagnosed by a physician.

The Triangle of Chronic Disease

Nontoxicity

The first leg of our three-legged stool is nontoxicity, but a nontoxic lifestyle is becoming more and more challenging to achieve in our world. 100 years ago, the word toxemia was used generically to mean “toxicity in the blood,” as expounded upon by physician John Henry Tilden, MD, in his book Toxemia Explained in 1926. (3) According to the theory of toxemia, when the blood is impure, the tissues and organs are also awash in impurities. With increasing toxicity, oxygen and nutrients are inadequately delivered via the blood, as binding sites for enzymes, hormones, nutrients, and cofactors are disrupted, and oxidative damage runs rampant. (4) Studies show that white blood cells and platelets decrease with exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), organochlorine pesticides (OCP), and solvents; red blood cells become stippled with arsenic and lead poisoning; liver enzymes such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT) increase with cadmium, lead, and mercury exposure. (5)

On a day-to-day basis, our bodies are exposed to thousands of manmade chemicals. We have specific organs of elimination, such as the liver and kidneys, which are dedicated 24/7 to cleaning our blood and efficiently removing toxins from our bodies. In fact, pharmaceuticals are profiled based on their degree of potential liver and kidney toxicity, i.e., hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity, respectively. (6) It is especially important that we support our organs of elimination, as they have to work overdrive simply by virtue of our being alive on the planet in today’s age of toxicity, first described by journalist Rachel Carson in her classic 1962 book, Silent Spring.(7)

Toxins can also sequester in the gut in a thin, polysaccharide-rich matrix to which bacteria and other microbes adhere, called a biofilm, and where some studies indicate that diseases such as Lyme can undergo changes and evade the immune system. (8, 9) These toxins can eventually make their way to the blood. (10)

Nutrient Repletion

The second leg of our three-legged stool is nutrient repletion, which also can be challenging for our bodies to adequately achieve today. Minerals, in fact, are the cofactors of life, and the main source of these nutrients is our food supply, as expounded upon by Joel Wallach, DVM, ND, in Rare Earths: Forbidden Cures. (11) However, studies show declining fruit and vegetable nutrient composition over decades globally. (12) One can compare USDA food tables from many decades ago to today’s to note this trend, although comparison can sometimes be apples to oranges, no pun intended. (13, 14, 15) For example, one study concluded that we have to eat eight oranges today to get the same amount of vitamin A that one orange would have provided our grandparents. (16) The decline in nutrient densities in our agricultural soils and in our food supply correlates with a decline in our blood and tissue saturation, as well. (17)

Our topsoil no longer contains the nutrients it once contained, after decades of serial depletion. (18) The EPA requires that nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus be returned to topsoil in agricultural fertilizer, but other nutrients, such as trace minerals like iron, copper, iodine, zinc, selenium, and chromium, are not considered necessary, though nutritional biochemistry dictates that optimal health relies upon having them in trace amounts in our bodies. (19)

Additionally, studies indicate how modern pharmacology depletes key nutrients in the body. For example, statins can deplete CoQ10, causing mitochondrial dysfunction; (20) metformin can deplete B12, causing anemia and neuropathy; (21) and oral contraceptive pills (OCP) are known to deplete folate, B vitamins, and vitamins C and E along with magnesium, selenium, and zinc, (22) which can lead to a myriad of side effects described by women’s health expert Jolene Brighten, ND, in her book Beyond the Pill. (23) Other drugs can simply cause malabsorption, such as proton pump inhibitors (PPI), which inhibit gastric acid secretion and significantly increase the risk of B12, vitamin C, calcium, iron, and magnesium deficiencies. (24) Therefore, our nutrient status setback is like a stick with its two ends: a nutrient-impoverished food supply and nutrient-depleting drugs.

Selenium is required for a functioning thyroid to produce adequate amounts of thyroid hormone, (25) the body’s main metabolic director. And chromium is required for insulin to push glucose into our cells so that we have stable blood sugars and energy. (26) Without sufficient selenium and chromium repletion in our food supply, it is no wonder that we are living with epidemics of chronic disease, such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (27) and type 2 diabetes mellitus. (28) Though correlation does not equal causation, one need only comb through dozens of studies on PubMed to extrapolate that nutrient deficiencies are root causes of chronic disease. (29) For example, animal studies conducted in poultry nutrition have identified exactly how much chromium is required for a hen to lay healthy eggs (30) and that chromium deficiency induces diabetes. (31) Also, methylation defects called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) (32) in our genes and (subsequent) nutrient deficiencies (33) can drive mental health disorders, such as anxiety and depression.

A Strong Vital Force

The third and final leg to our stool of health is directly connected to the Law of Vitality. The opposite of a strong vital force can be described as a diminished vitality, or a compromised vital force. One of the pioneers of naturopathic medicine, Henry Lindlahr, MD, ND, stated that the effect of a lowered vitality is a root cause of chronic disease. (34) When the homeostatic mechanisms of the body, which are programmed to restore normal structure and function in our organism, do not have enough energy, then after a period of time chronic disease ensues, no matter how hard the body tries to heal itself. Naturopathic doctors and other integrative health practitioners, such as functional medicine doctors, each have their own ways of measuring and assessing vitality: by a combination of reviewing case history, performing a physical examination, running routine and specialty labs, and observing the way the patient responds to certain modalities.

When the vital force is drastically diminished, it sets one up for the onset of chronic disease, such as Lyme disease. (35, 36) In the twenty-four hours after the antibiotic treatment of some active infections—such as syphilis or Lyme—some patients experience fever, chills, myalgia, and skin rashes called Jarisch–Herxheimer reaction (JHR). (37) First described in the early 1900s, this reaction is now popularly known as herxing, and its pathogenesis is mostly thought to be due to the release of toxins in the blood while microbes, such as spirochetes, are dying. (38) This can be akin to the septic shock induced by bacterial infection. (39) The pathogenesis of the Herxheimer reaction is poorly understood, but it illustrates that when the body is releasing toxins, the strength of the vital force will be intimately linked to the degree to which the person’s immune system responds.

Naturopathic doctors refer to some acute reactions or infections as a healing crisis, which means that the body is primed to move through an imbalance by an acute response evolutionarily designed to restore balance, and that the body has sufficient resources and a strong enough vital force. Mark Hyman, MD, an avid proponent of functional medicine, has referred to it as a detox crisis. (40) Jared Zeff, ND, who was voted Naturopathic Physician of the Year in 1989 by the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians, (41) states, “There is no cure for the common cold; the cold is the cure.” (42)

In other words, the onset of an upper respiratory infection, for example, with all of its classic symptoms of cough, nasal congestion, runny nose, and mild fever, is usually just a healing crisis—that is, the body throwing off an imbalance, reducing toxicity, and pushing through to a restoration of normal. It is a kind of spring cleaning of the body, if you will.

How Can We Apply the Law of Disease to Benefit Our Health?

The point of view that chronic disease is a result of toxemia, deficiency, and lack of vitality—informed by an ever-growing body of scientific research—runs counter to the conventional notion that chronic disease is some kind of genetic accident which must be suppressed, and which is generally considered irreversible. A paradigm of disease states that once we are pinned with a chronic disease, we must live with and manage it the remainder of our lives. The unconventional new paradigm of health shows that there are laws of nature governing the development of chronic disease, and that chronic disease is reversible if we harness the healing power of nature.

The Law of Disease, when understood, can help us not only to ward off the development of chronic disease but also to improve its expression and even resolve it. We need to keep the three legs of our seat of health sturdy and upright. Turning the Law of Disease inside-out upon itself, then, it can be said that robust and optimal health—free of chronic disease—expresses itself as a biological ecosystem free of toxicity, replete in adequate nutrients, and strong in its vitality. This is the Triangle of Optimal Health.

When you learn to engage in diet and lifestyle activities which promote detoxification, nutrition, and life enhancing vitality, then you can set yourself up for a life free of chronic disease.

Applying the Law of Disease:

Explore the Law of Disease by engaging in the following activities:

1. Engage in activities which are detoxifying, such as saunas, various forms of hydrotherapy, or regularly being outdoors in nature.

2. Here is a classic home hydrotherapy treatment, called the Warming Socks Treatment or the Magic Socks Treatment, which can help speed recovery from a cold or flu, as well as improve congestion in the head and chest.

The Magic Socks Treatment

You will need one pair of cotton socks (60%+ cotton) and one pair of wool socks (60%+ wool). At bedtime, feet should be soaked in hot water for one minute. After wetting cotton socks in cold tap water, wring out completely until no longer dripping. Place wet socks on feet, and pull dry wool socks over cotton socks. Repeat this procedure for three nights, or until ailments, such as fever and congestion, have cleared or improved significantly. Caution: Those with chronic health conditions or immunocompromise should consult their doctor before starting this treatment.

3. Eat clean, local, organic, nontoxic, nutrient-dense, whole foods whenever possible, such as by shopping at your local farmer’s market. Eat a diet suitable to your constitution and your beliefs, whether it be according to blood type (43) or the Carroll Food Intolerance Method®, a modified paleo or keto, vegan, vegetarian, Weston A. Price style, (44) or some other diet.

4. Drink filtered water by using an advanced filtration system, if possible, in order to remove impurities such as PCBs, pesticides, heavy metals, and other toxins sometimes present in public water supplies.

5. Engage in a spiritual or communal practice which provides you with a deeper sense of meaning, such as by going to church or finding a meditation group.

6. Reduce stress by regularly engaging in activities which calm down your nervous system and induce a parasympathetic state, such as floating in a sensory deprivation float tank or practicing yoga.

7. Work with a health practitioner, such as a naturopathic or functional medicine doctor, who can help you to identify your nutrient deficiencies, unique to your predisposition and biology, so that you can address them with supplementation and foods rich in these nutrients.

8. Please fill in the blank: I’m grateful for my health because _________.

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Marles, R. J. “Mineral Nutrient Composition of Vegetables, Fruits and Grains: The Context of Reports of Apparent Historical Declines.” Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 56 (2017): 93–103. doi:10.1016/j.jfca.2016.11.012.
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About Me

Dr. Ben Reebs, ND, is an award-winning, naturopathic physician with a focus in environmental medicine, which looks at how environmental factors can cause chronic disease. He specializes in chronic infections, autoimmune disease, and digestive health.

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Dr. Ben (“Abendigo”) Reebs, ND
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in the Hawthorne District) ☺

How to Apply The Seventh Law of Healing, The Law of Intention

How to Apply The Sixth Law of Healing, The Law of Synergy

How to Apply The Fifth Law of Healing, The Law of Resonance

How to Apply The Fourth Law of Healing, The Law of Compensation

How to Apply The Third Law of Healing, The Law of Cure

How to Apply The Second Law of Healing, The Law of Disease

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