Forward From The Publisher

{mosimage}You hold in your hands a unique encyclopedia, the likes of which has never before been published in North America. This monumental work is the culmination of over five years of careful research involving both medical and naturopathic doctors, as well as a number of international alternative health experts and advisers. From this wide spectrum of health information, our editors have compiled an easy-to-use, authoritative self-help guide for all aspects of natural healing. Integrating age-old evidence and documented health wisdom with the most up-to-date scientific information, the Encyclopedia of Natural Healing is the most complete source of pertinent information for the health-minded reader.

Natural healing requires re-visioning. It cannot be viewed through the magnifying glass of modern medicine that sees everything in small, unconnected parts. Some alternative healing methods are vehemently attacked by orthodox medicine because they are seen to lack a basis in “science” or because they have not undergone clinical double-blind studies. Thousands of people, often over thousands of years—have shown traditional therapies work very well. Reports often verify tremendous success for patients on whom orthodox medicine has given up.

But then the goals of orthodox medicine differ fundamentally from those of natural healing. Orthodox medicine focuses on treating symptoms. Potent drugs are employed that often produce a whole list of dangerous side-effects. Mainstream medicine looks for the miracle drug, the one-shot “magic bullet” that will eradicate certain targeted diseases.

Natural healing, on the other hand, aims to treat the underlying cause rather than the symptoms. The goal is to restore balance to the whole system using gentle methods that work with and not against the body.

Through clever marketing and by pouring billions of dollars into advertising, the pharmaceutical industry has made us believe that health comes about through chemical drugs. Physicians write countless prescriptions every year for antibiotics, tranquilizers, diet drugs, sleeping pills—almost anything, it seems, that our drug-dependent society demands. But the dire consequences of this free-flow of medication are becoming more evident with each report of unforeseen side-effects and the rampant spread of bacteria that have grown immune to antibiotics.

The safety record of natural medicines including herbs, homeopathics, vitamins and minerals, tissue salts and enzymes, when compared to pharmaceutical drugs, is excellent. All suggested herbal medicines have been compared with current scientific literature to ensure that they are safe when taken at the recommended dosage or as directed on the manufacturer’s label. Our herbalist contributors have favored herbs most commonly available in North America.

The old saying, “You are what you eat” is valid now perhaps more than ever. At present we confront a great variety of nutrition-related health problems throughout the world. Malnutrition resulting in disease is rampant in Third World countries. Here in the industrialized world, people eat far too much manufactured and packaged food containing chemical preservatives for long shelf-life and lacking fiber and enzyme-rich, raw ingredients. Worst of all is the consumption of too much denatured, hydrogenated, modified and refined fat, sugar and white flour.

The Western obsession with animal protein and packaged foods, on a daily basis, has made our population overfed and yet undernourished. The result is a greater incidence of degenerative diseases such as arthritis, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, cancer and others.