Why is every second person in Australia suffering from a chronic or recurring illness? Orthodox medicine tend to look for a germ as the cause of a particular disease (though not always for chronic or degenerative diseases), and where no germ can be found,the cause may be given as unknown.

Natural Health sees a completely different picture. It recognize that almost all illnesses today are diseases of civilisation – which means diseases of lifestyle – the underlying causes of our vast range of health problems, plus premature aging, become perfectly clear.

The basic causes of all illnesses are to be found in everyday living: modern diet, stress,
lack of exercise, pollution in air and water and man-made chemicals are the five key areas.

There is an almost inevitable progression from modern lifestyle to deterioration within the body….to disease. Understanding this enables us to gain control of our physical and mental well being.

For many people, at the top of the list of these lifestyle aspects is the typical modern way
of eating, which is too concentrated, supplying an excess of fat, protein and refined carbohydrates, deficient in fiber, vitamins and minerals. And contains food additives,pesticides and stimulants such as coffee, tea, salt, pepper and alcohol.
(Alcohol depresses the mind but stimulates elimination.)

The inevitable result of this kind of eating is that toxic waste-products of metabolism are formed more rapidly than they can be eliminated by the liver and kidneys and so build up in the body. This condition is referred to in Natural Health as ‘toxaemia’ or ‘acidoses’ – because the wastes tend to be acidic in nature and so tissue fluids become more acidic than they should be.( In conventional medicine the word ‘toxaemia’ is used to relate to specific conditions.

Synthetic chemicals, including air and water pollutants, pesticides, food additives and drugs, are often toxic and contribute to toxaemia.

Lack of exercise means that circulation is sluggish and is not given the regular boost that is needed to flush waste products out of the tissues and to the eliminative organs for detoxification and removal from the body. Poor tone of muscles and organs results from lack of exercise as surely as night follows day.

Stress and inadequate sleep devour vital nerve energy and leave insufficient available for normal activities that include digestion, assimilation of nutrients and elimination of wastes. As a result, waste products build up even more quickly and the toxaemia increases further.

The effects of negative attitudes such as anger, resentment, bitterness, intolerance and greed may be likened to putting grit in the bearings of an engine – our system wears out sooner. In contrast, positive attitudes such as love, kindness, tolerance and generosity oil the bearings for smooth running. Negative attitudes indirectly contribute to toxaemia.

In coping with the demands of everyday living – plus the toxins – overworked organs and tissues become exhausted or, more correctly enervated ( depleted in nerve energy ) Enervation diminishes elimination, which further increases the toxaemia, so a vicious circle is created. The combination of toxaemia and enervation is the basic cause underlying most diseases. There are no doubt other specific causes, but the toxaemia that is just about dominant in Western society is almost always a prerequisite.