Section 5
Gastro-Intestinal

# LIVER, NUTRITION OF

CARING FOR YOUR LIVER—There are few organs in your body as vital as the liver. It not only is the largest organ, it also performs more different functions than any other organ in your body.

Only God could make the liver. That relatively small structure (it only weighs four pounds) does literally thousands of different things; all of them are quite complicated, involving complex chemical changes. The liver is truly a special gift from God.

There are six fundamental things which tend to damage the liver:

1 - Overeating. This is an excellent way to ruin your liver. Just eat all you want, and you will wear it out.

2 - Eating and drinking the wrong things. Here are some of those items which your liver does not wish to face: refined white flour-products, processed foods, junk foods, white sugar products, imitation foods. Beware of potato chips and corn chips.

What is an imitation food? It is a food made to appear like the original, yet which has been stripped of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and most everything else that might be worthwhile while carbohydrates, sugar, fats, protein, synthetic colors, flavors, and odors are there to give the appearance and taste of real food.

3 - A low protein, high carbohydrate and fat diet. To make it even worse, make sure it is full of saturated or hydrogenated fats. All kinds of snacks in the stores consist of this. Fried foods may be a devilish delight, but they only add to the eventual misery.

4 - Take the specialty food poisons: alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, theobromine, and hard drugs.

5 - Take medicinal drugs. Select from over-the-counter items or those which are prescribed. They will provide you with a real witch's brew of physical horror, much of it not known and realized until later. With hardly an exception, medicinal drugs are poisons. The liver has to work overtime in order to try to excrete these dangerous chemicals.

Some substances which are called "drugs," such as charcoal, are not drugs. They are natural substances which help your body. It is true there are some poisonous herbs, but these will be readily found in the drugstore. The rest, found in the meadow and forest, are for the healing of the nations.

6 - Associate closely with insecticides, preservatives, and other cumulative poisons. Some poisons directly damage the liver (alcohol, oral contraceptives, caffeine, etc.); others damage organs which the liver relies on for help (the pancreas, kidneys, etc.).

Here are some dietary suggestions:

Do not use nicotine, alcohol, caffeine, fish, fowl, meat, salt, soft drinks, sugar foods, tea, or fried foods.

Avoid foods which tend to constipate. When there is a backup in the large colon, toxins are reabsorbed into the system, and the liver labors to eliminate them.

Make sure you obtain foods high in potassium. This includes rice, bananas, blackstrap molasses, wheat bran, almonds, seeds, kelp and dulse, brewer's yeast, prunes, and raisins.

Drink lots of water; and, if at all possible, drink only pure water. Drink a little every hour.

Emphasize raw foods in your diet.

Drink fresh vegetable juices, especially carrot and beet.

Only eat raw nuts and seeds. They must be fresh and not stale!

Use only cold-pressed vegetable oils,—and no other type of oils and no grease (margarine, butter, shortening, or meat fat).

Vitamin K is important, to help prevent cirrhosis of the liver.

Do not take too much vitamin A. For the same reason, do not eat fish more than twice a week. Avoid cod liver oil. Better yet, stop eating fish. Meat eating is also harmful to the liver. Anyone taking over 50,000 IU of vitamin A for over a year should either reduce intake or switch to natural beta-carotene, which is safe.

Do not drink milk or eat pastries, stimulants, white rice, black or white pepper, fried or fatty foods, cheese, and refined or processed foods.

Never eat raw or undercooked fish, meat, or poultry. There is a serious risk of infection from doing this. Meat eating is a major source of bacteria parasites, viruses, and various malignancies.

When taking supplements, either chew them up well or take them with a glassful of water.

Use celandine and silymarin (which is milk thistle extract) every day to help maintain good liver function. But do not use celandine during pregnancy.

The lemon and the liver are sweethearts. The lemon is one of the best friends that the liver has.

Coenzyme Q10 helps supply oxygen to the liver.

Lecithin helps prevent fatty buildup in the liver.

In addition to taking care of your liver, treat your kidneys well also. Poor kidney function results in damage to the liver. Drink water! (See "Kidney problems.")

Do not use harsh laxatives. But do keep the colon clean.

Take no drugs if you want your future years to be happy ones.

Be good to your liver, and it will help you in years to come. It is a well-known fact, among natural healers, that, if the liver is all right, cancer can be eliminated. But if the liver is too far degenerated, the hoped-for solution may not be achieved.

ENCOURAGEMENT—The knowledge of God is as high as heaven, yet He can reveal to you all you need, just for today, if you will but give your life daily into His hands.

HEPATITIS

SYMPTOMS—Weakness, nausea, headache, vomiting, fever, muscle aches, loss of appetite, drowsiness, dark urine, joint stiffness and pains, abdominal discomfort, diarrhea, constipation, light-colored stools, and often jaundice (a yellowing of the skin, which will first be noticed in the eyes and mucous membranes). Skin rashes and itching may also occur; the latter is caused by excess bile salts under the skin.

CAUSES—Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, and may be caused by a virus, bacterium, or toxic substance. But, in most instances, the cause is viral. There are actually several main types of hepatitis:

Hepatitis A (infectious hepatitis): Transmitted by contaminated water, milk, or food, it has an incubation period of 15-45 days. The contagion is highest just before illness begins, so food workers can transmit the disease. Hepatitis A is contagious from 2 weeks to 1 week before the illness starts. It is easily spread by person-to-person contact and through contact with food, clothing, linens, etc. It can be transmitted from animals. Eating shellfish is a good way to get it, even if the waters they live in pass national standards. Recovery generally occurs within 4 weeks. Chronic cases are less likely to occur.

Hepatitis B (serum hepatitis): Found throughout the world and spread as HIV is—through contact with infected blood (contaminated needles, syringes, blood transfusions) and sexual contact. Six cases have been traced to contaminated acupuncture needles. About 5% of all Americans and 85% of gay men have it. Hepatitis B is very serious. It has an incubation period of 28-160 days (2-6 months), and recovery may require 6 months. All during that time, it can be passed from one person to another. In increasing numbers, cases are reverting to chronic active hepatitis, which can result in liver cirrhosis and death. Hepatitis B is the ninth major killer in the United States.

Hepatitis C: Contracted in the same manner as HIV and hepatitis B, hepatitis C may take 6 months to produce symptoms, yet all that time it can be spread from one person to another. Between 20-40% of all hepatitis cases are of this type. It accounts for 90-95% of all hepatitis transmitted by blood donations.

Hepatitis E, hepatitis non-A, and hepatitis non-B also exist, but are of lesser significance in North America. Hepatitis E is found worldwide and is in epidemic proportions in Africa and Asia, and is becoming a serious problem in Mexico. It is generally contracted from drinking sewage-contaminated water. Such water should be boiled before using.

All of the above are primarily viral forms of hepatitis. But there is also one which is caused by toxic chemicals. It is called toxic hepatitis. The amount to which the liver was exposed to the poisonous chemicals, fumes, drug, etc., determines the amount of damage to that organ.

Overall, there are 40,000-70,000 reported, new cases of hepatitis each year in America. But the experts suspect that there are probably ten times that many which go unreported. It most often occurs in young adults, and is highest in teenage girls.

Hepatitis A is decreasing, and hepatitis B is rapidly increasing. It is fourth among the 30 leading communicable diseases.

TREATMENT—

• Give the patient the type of care for any infectious disease, except that one should keep in mind that some of these hepatitis cases can be highly contagious.

• Give hot fomentations over the liver area for 15 minutes, followed by a cold sponging, concluded by a shower. Do this 4 times each day.

• Most cases of hepatitis are self-limiting and will heal with rest and supportive care.

• Avoid sugar, fat, and alcohol.

• Vitamins B₁₂ and C are important.

• He should have bed rest until the acute stage is past; also he should have initial liquid fasting, followed by a light diet. The patient often has a poor appetite and does not feel like eating, even though he should.

• Drink plenty of water, avoid constipation. He should bathe frequently, and wash his hands with soap after every bowel movement. The toilet seat should also be washed after each usage.

• He should not prepare food for others, and his own utensils should be sterilized after each of his meals.

• His linen and clothes should be washed separately.

• In China, 10% of the population have hepatitis at any one time. That is 100 million new cases each year. As one might expect, the rate of liver cancer is quite high there.

• A word to the wise: Gay men often take jobs working in restaurants; yet they have a high rate of hepatitis B and C infections, both of which do not reveal symptoms for weeks or months, during which they can, and do, transmit the infection to customers through food they handle. Something to think about the next time you want to eat in a restaurant or café.

ENCOURAGEMENT—Only those who read the Scriptures, as the voice of God speaking to them, are the true learners. They tremble at the Word of God; for, to them, it is a living reality.

JAUNDICE—1

SYMPTOMS—The whites of the eyes yellow, then the mucous membranes, and then the skin generally.

CAUSES—When, for various reasons, the liver cannot handle the load placed upon it, bilirubin builds up. This is a yellow-brown substance which results from the breakdown of old red blood cells. The liver must constantly remove bilirubin from the blood; and, if this is not done, bilirubin begins collecting in tissues all over the body, the urine is darker, and the stools are lighter because the bilirubin it usually contains is not present.

But red blood cell destruction can also cause it. Blood tests identify whether the problem is obstruction or RBC destruction.

Jaundice is not itself a disease, but rather a symptom of one. It can point to pernicious anemia, hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver, and hemolysis (which is an abnormal destruction of red blood cells). Jaundice can also be caused by a blockage of the bile duct system in the liver, because of gallstones or a tumor. More rarely, it is caused by a parasitic infestation, such as tapeworm, hookworm, a flea, or mosquito carrying a viral infection.

TREATMENT—

• Eat only raw fruits and vegetables for a week. Then eat 75% raw foods for a month. Take fresh lemons daily during that time.

• Both alcohol and tobacco are very hard on the liver.

• Drink fresh vegetable juices.

• Treatment includes exposure to ultra violet light in order to speed up elimination; vitamin C, to bowel tolerance; and vitamins A, E, and selenium.

• Silymarin, extracted from the milk thistle, helps repair damage to the liver. It is well-worth taking.

• Go on a liver flush. This is done by drinking apple juice alone for 3 days, followed by drinking a cup of olive oil and a cup of lemon juice.

• Helpful herbs include burdock root, agrimony, celandine, red clover, licorice, dandelion, and chionanthus.

—Also see "Jaundice—2."

ENCOURAGEMENT—All knowledge gained in this life, which will fit us to live with the angels in heaven, is knowledge worth gaining. Live to be a blessing to others.

JAUNDICE—2 (J.H. Kellogg, M.D., Formulas)

GENERAL—Cold Mitten Friction, Cold Towel Rub, rest in bed, aseptic diet.

PAIN—Fomentation over stomach and liver for 15 minutes every 2-3 hours; during interval between, Heating Compress at 60⁰ F., renewed every 30 minutes. Copious Hot Enema at 110⁰ F., twice a day. After discharge of hot-water, an enema of one pint water, at 70⁰ F.; Hot Trunk Pack; Hot Full Bath, at 104⁰ F., for 10 minutes; Cold Towel Rub or Wet Sheet Rub.

FEVER—Sweating Wet Sheet Pack, Steam Bath, Radiant Heat Bath, copious water drinking.

HEADACHE—Hot and Cold Compress to head, evaporating Compress to head, Cold Compress to head, Hot Sponging of back of neck.

ITCHING—Neutral salt bath, Hot Sponging.

CHILL—Hot Water drinking, Dry Pack.

—Also see "Jaundice—1."

INFECTIOUS JAUNDICE (Weil's Disease, Leptospirosis, Spirochetal Jaundice)

SYMPTOMS—Sudden fever, chills, anemia, jaundice, sometimes abdominal pains, and occasionally aseptic meningitis.

Within a few hours, fever, extreme thirst, and severe aching of the limbs develop. Blood vessels in the eyeballs markedly enlarged. Jaundice appears in about half the cases. In locations where the disease is common, mortality is about 10-20%.

This disease can easily be diagnosed as something else. It is important to determine the true nature of the infection early.

CAUSES—This is an infectious disease caused by the leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae, a spirochete bacteria. Rats, dogs, and various wild animals carry it. People are infected when urine-contaminated water (generally from rats) penetrates cuts on their fingers or during butchering and skinning of infected animals. The rats are not harmed by the disease.

Leptospire is a parasite which travels to the liver and greatly multiplies there, but can also be found in the blood (in the early stages) and in the urine (later). Blood tests or urine cultures are necessary for diagnosis.

TREATMENT—

• Give him bed rest, keep his bowels open, using daily enemas if necessary.

• If he can take food, give him a liquid diet. Plenty of water is also needed.

• Carefully dispose of all his discharges, so as not to contaminate anything.

• Do everything possible to exterminate rats.

• Avoid swimming in, or contact with, water that may be contaminated with animal waste.

ENCOURAGEMENT—Christ has a treasure house full of precious gifts for every soul willing to receive it. But only by dedication, submission, and obedience in Christ's strength—can we have it.

CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER—1

SYMPTOMS—Upset stomach, fever, constipation or diarrhea, weakness, weight loss, poor appetite, vomiting, enlarged liver, and red palms. Fluid collects in the abdomen. Possible mild jaundice. Large veins often seen over the abdomen, especially about the navel and across the body near the diaphragm. Enlarged veins in the rectum, intestines, stomach, and esophagus.

In the later stages, anemia, edema, and easy bruising, due to bleeding beneath the skin.

CAUSES—Cirrhosis is a hardening of the liver, because of too much connective tissue and a degeneration of the active liver cells.

It can be caused by certain poisons, chief among which is alcohol. Certain infectious diseases can cause special types of liver cirrhosis, of which viral hepatitis is outstanding (see hepatitis). This is especially true of syphilis (which see), which produces nodes in the liver. Malnutrition, caused by lack of food or eating junk food, can also lead to cirrhosis.

The liver cells harden and scar, causing them to no longer function normally, due to the scarred tissue. This prevents the blood from passing properly through the liver.

TREATMENT—

• Eat a good nourishing diet and go off all meat, tea, coffee, or spices.

• Silymarin helps the liver.

• Helpful herbs include burdock, celandine, barberry, echinacea, goldenseal, fennel, red clover, and thyme.

• Follow the program for hepatitis and jaundice, both of which see.

—Also see "Cirrhosis of the Liver—2."

ENCOURAGEMENT—God has provided abundant means for successful warfare against the evil that is in the world. The Bible is the armory where we may equip for the struggle. The shield of faith must be in our hand, the helmet of salvation on our brow.

CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER—2 (J.H. Kellogg, M.D., Formulas)

DIETARY CONSIDERATIONS—Avoid tea, coffee, tobacco, alcohol, condiments. Use an aseptic diet.

ORGANIC CHANGES IN LIVER—Local applications to liver: Alternate Douche; Alternate Compress; Revulsive Douche; flannel-covered Heating Compress. Follow these local applications by a general Douche or a Wet Sheet Rub.

PAIN—Fomentation; Revulsive Compress or Revulsive Douche, with Hot Leg Bath or Hot Leg Pack, followed by Compress over liver, twice daily.

JAUNDICE—Wet Sheet Pack, followed by Wet Sheet Rub; Radiant Heat Bath, followed by Graduated Shower or Wet Sheet Rub.

DROPSY—Revulsive Douche to legs and abdomen; Trunk Pack.

GENERAL WEAKNESS—Carefully graduated tonic baths (Tonic Frictions); Neutral Bath; Sunbaths; out-of-door life.

CONTRAINDICATIONS—Avoid Cold Full Baths and very cold general or prolonged Cold Douche.

—Also see "Cirrhosis of the Liver—1."

# LIVER FLUSH

WHAT IT IS—The liver filters the blood and excretes much of that waste through the bile, which it sends into the gallbladder. When some oil or fat is in a meal, its presence signals the gallbladder to contract and squeeze out some bile, which helps prepare those oils and fats to be properly absorbed by the body.

A liver flush occurs when much of the bile is flushed out of the gallbladder. However, there is the possibility that gallstones may be in the bladder. So phase one of the liver flush is to melt down those stones; and then, in the concluding phase, the bile and the stones are jolted out of the gallbladder into the small intestine.

HOW TO DO IT—There are several ways this can be done:

1 - This method is used for the purpose of flushing out gallstones, after first softening them:

Take 3 tbsp. of olive oil with the juice of a lemon before bed and upon awakening. Stones are often passed and eliminated in the stool with this method. Look for them. You can use grapefruit juice instead of lemon juice.

2 - Here is a more involved three-day pattern for more effectively flushing gallstones:

Go on a liver flush by drinking apple juice alone for 3 days. On the third day, the juice is followed by drinking a cup of olive oil and a cup of lemon juice.

3 - This method is used for cleaning out the liver and gallbladder rather than eliminating stones:

To cleanse the liver and gallbladder, drink as much pure apple juice as possible for 5 days. Add pear juice occasionally. Beet juice also cleanses the liver.

4 - Here is a more complicated formula for doing the same thing:

On two evenings, drink 1 cup of a mixture, composed of equal parts of fresh lemon juice and olive oil (2 oz of each). On the third evening, take a double dose (4 oz of each).

On the following morning, take an enema, then a second enema to which 1 cup freshly brewed coffee has been added. This coffee enema should be retained for as long as possible—up to 20 minutes. Repeat this coffee enema in the evening.

The above treatment tends to cleanse the liver of toxins and impurities. Coffee, although never suitable for drinking orally, has the peculiar quality of cleansing the liver when taken in enema form. As such, it is widely used to purify the liver so it can resist cancer and throw it off. It is well-known, among natural healers, that the body can eliminate cancer if the liver is in good condition. (See cancer.)

In no other way is coffee ever useful inside the body; but, as medicine to cleanse the liver, it has been used with marked success.

5 - This is a still more involved regime for restoring the functioning capacity of the liver and gallbladder. Slightly different than #2, above, it should not be used on anyone below the age of 25 or who has large gallstones:

On Tuesday through Sunday noon, drink as much apple juice or apple cider as you are able, in addition to your regular meals.

At noon on Sunday, eat a normal lunch.

Three hours later, dissolve 2 tsp. of disodium phosphate in an ounce of hot water, and drink it. It may not taste good, so follow it with a little freshly squeezed grapefruit juice.

Two hours later, repeat the drinking of the disodium phosphate and the grapefruit juice.

That evening, only take citrus juice for supper.

At bedtime, either (1) drink a half cup of unrefined olive oil, followed by a small glass of grapefruit juice or (2) drink a half cup of warm, unrefined olive oil blended with a half cup of lemon juice.

Go immediately to bed and lie on your right side with your right knee pulled up close to your chest for 30 minutes.

The next morning, one hour before breakfast, drink 2 tsp. disodium phosphate, dissolved in 2 oz of hot water.

Eat your meals as usual. The cleansing regime of the liver and gallbladder is completed.

In case there is slight to moderate nausea when taking the olive oil and citrus juice, this should be gone by the time you go to sleep.

But if the oil induces vomiting (which only happens rarely), you need not repeat the procedure at this time. Drink a cup of strong peppermint tea, to help relieve the nausea.

You may find small gallstones in the stool the following day. They look light green to dark green, are very irregular in shape, are the size of grape seeds to cherry seeds, and feel like gelatin. If there are a large number of them, repeat the liver flush in two weeks.

ENCOURAGEMENT—We see in the Word of God warnings and promises, with God behind them all. We are invited to search this Word for aid when brought into difficult places. If we place God and the Bible first, we will have divine help in meeting all our problems.