It has been definitely proved that although character traits and limitations are transmitted from parent to offspring, disease, as a rule, is not. Nature has seen to it that a new generation should always have a good start in life. We all know how a pregnant woman, lacking calcium in her blood, will lose some of her teeth in order that the foetus may build bones out of the needed material.
Many other similar adjustments are made in a woman's body at the time of pregnancy so that the child may be born physically normal in spite of its mother's limitations. From the moment food begins entering the child's body the latter develops either normally or not, both physically and mentally, all according to what is given it to eat — proper or improper food. A vivid proof of this contention is a comparison between breast-fed and bottle-fed babies. Whereas the former are known for their sturdiness and absence of sickness, the latter are sickly most of the time and do not develop as well.


Not only in growing children, but also in adults, nutrition is an important factor in maintaining health. We must eat the right foods in order to be well — we all know that; conversely, when we eat the wrong foods we encourage disease.

What becomes of the food after we eat it? First, it is broken up into small particles and mixed with saliva in our mouth and sent to the stomach. There it is mixed with various digestive juices, then sent to the small intestines where it is mixed with additional secretions from our organs and glands — the liver, pancreas and spleen. Now in the form of a smooth creamy liquid it begins to be absorbed through the walls of the small intestines into our lymphatic system, and then into the blood. The latter carries the assimilated food to every cell of our body where it is used for building muscles, nerves, bones, to repair tissues, and to be burned up to produce energy, and do other necessary work in the body.

The various glands in our body manufacture their juices from certain elements in the foods, mainly from minerals. When the foods consumed by us lack these elements lesser quantities of juices are produced. Foods eaten later on get less juices than are needed for complete digestion with the result that these foods are not digested properly and enter our blood stream in a less-assimilable, partly undigested, and fermented form. This upsets the blood balance and impedes its proper functioning because, in order to do its work properly, the blood has to have a certain consistency and content. Trying to rid itself of the harmful ingredients the blood deposits them in various parts of the body. Continuous overloading of the blood with foods causes continuous depositing of the unwanted matter. Gradually, these deposits are built up into boils, pimples, rashes, tumors, and similar external and internal growths. On the other hand, when it lacks some necessary ingredients for its proper work, the blood takes them away from various parts of the body, thus causing deficiencies and eating away parts of organs, as is the case in tuberculosis, cancer, ulcers, et cetera.

What is the purpose of nature in doing that? You see, nature is very clever and highly efficient. In order to maintain life (even in an inferior shape) it will sacrifice the less important for the sake of the more important. Should blood circulation stop for a few moments death will follow; whereas, even a diseased body can survive and carry on for various lengths of time, sometimes for many years.
Given the right opportunity our body can readjust and remedy itself by the reverse process to the one of creating disease. Better foods containing needed minerals and vitamins will supply our glands with the necessary ingredients for the manufacture of sufficient quantities of digestive juices which will properly digest the foods eaten by us, supply our blood with enough elements to build new healthy cells, and wash away bit by bit all accumulated growths of dead cells in the body. These are the natural processes of building health and overcoming disease which is brought on by incorrect foods and overcome by the use of the right ones. There are additional factors influencing these processes—such as living and working conditions, amount of rest and sleep, proper mental attitude, and the like, but they all hinge on, and are closely connected with, the main factor of health or sickness — which is the food we eat.

Our blood travels continuously over each cell of the body every few seconds. It brings to the cells food for nourishment and oxygen to burn up wastes. It picks up the latter, carries them to the lungs, and other channels of elimination, where they are expelled.

The blood nourishes the hair on our head as well as the nails on our toes, our kidneys, nerves, stomachs — every nook and corner of our body. It is easy to conclude that when there is disease in the body the blood carries it around. All diseases are in the blood stream and so also all diseases are one — a disease of the blood.

To get rid of a disease we must give the blood a chance to purify itself by not adding any more waste material to that already accumulated, and, on the other hand, by bringing in only those materials which will build a healthy body. Little by little our blood will carry out all dead and diseased tissues, dispose of them through various channels of elimination, and thus rid the body of abnormal conditions.

Once we understand the basic cause of all diseases we will be able to treat every one of them successfully by one and the same method of procedure; namely, cut out all harmful foods and substitute a diet of foods that will build health and longevity. What these foods are we shall learn in the succeeding articles of this book.

In conclusion, we should like to dispel an erroneous notion deeply seated in the minds of the majority of people that each person inherits a predisposition to certain diseases which his parents were afflicted with. In reality, it is not the disease which is inherited by the individual; but he is conditioned to a mode of living, and mainly to a mode of eating. The kinds of food, and the ways of preparing them, are transferred from one generation to another in the same family. As a rule, a daughter will imitate the ways of cooking and the use of the same types of food as her mother used to prepare for the family. A son who liked certain dishes his mother excelled in will prevail on his wife to prepare the same for him and his children. National and regional limitations and customs also play their part in molding a family's eating habits.

In this way, similar foods and living habits create similar conditions of health. That is why a son, in time, will acquire the same sicknesses his father was suffering from, while a daughter will similarly be predisposed to her mother's ailments. Rational living is the only thing that will predispose every person to normal health with no diseases of any kind to contend with.