I did the natural hygiene thing for quite awhile.  The vegetarian part of it
goofed me up in a number of ways. I think the long term lowfat/protean part
of the program causes eating disorders and other problems.

However, therapeutic water fasting can and does frequently work.  I
personally knew a couple of people who had rheumatoid arthritis who went into
remission via fasting and dietary changes.

I find Dr. Bernarr's posts tedious and preachy. He speaks like a priest of
the church of Natural Hygiene.  However don't be too quick to dismiss his
fasting ideas. Under certain circumstances water fasting can work wonders.  I
know from personal experience that it works in many cases. The problem that
many people have is not the fast, but breaking the fast.  People usually
break it on fruit because it is supposedly "easy to digest."  The problem is
that is usually causes the insulin levels to go off the scale and most people
can't control their food intake. Binge eating afterward is a problem.
However in a controlled environment it can be mitigated.

Fasting for weight loss is a very bad idea. It will almost always come back
plus.
However, in acute or chronic disease it can be a life saver.

You need to find a doctor who specializes in water fasting. In a chronic or
acute disease state, home fasting is probably not a good idea.  You do need
guidance if you try it. The problem is that most of the Doctors who really
understand fasting subscribe to a vegetarian diet. There are a few who are
sympathetic to Paleo ideas.

In other words don't let Doctor Bernarrs appearance of a holier than thou
attitude get in the way of a possible solution to your sons problem. He is
not as clap trappy as he appears.

-David



> As a newbie to the list, I'm glad I read through the archives and became
> "acquainted" with Dr. Bernarr before receiving his post today purporting to
> address my son's juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, otherwise the pain I felt
> from his inane comments might have been a bit overwhelming.  Ardeith hit
> the
> nail on the head with her observation that Bernarr blames the patient for
> the disease.  As for Bernarr, he couldn't be further from the truth about
> the causative agents of my son's disease.  Perhaps if he were ever to come
> down (and "down" is a good word to describe this disease) with RA/JRA, he
> would then undertake to learn ALL of what little is actually known about
> it,
> instead of promulgating--and passing off as science--a bunch of clap
> trap......or just plain crap.