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Already the very dawn of civilisation with the invention of farming and mono-cropping agriculture as well as urban civilization didn’t improve the daily lives of most human beings, but shortened life spans, inflicted chronic malnutrition and caused disease.
The unreasoned, ever so higher “growth-oriented” economic expansion by the humankind has always led to catastrophes in the world history. It happened already in Europe in the 14th Century when more and more fields were farmed in places where crops had not been grown before. People abandoned the traditions of their ancestors, the quality of arable land was neglected. An “agriculture boom” started in Europe, but it developed extensively – just by sowing rye and barley wherever possible, including in soils not suitable for these crops. As a result the newly sown crops perished due to bad weather conditions and famine broke out. Since crops were sown in a rash manner – also in poor soils – and started to dominate as a monoculture, it contained less and less of the minerals necessary for the organism, which made the human health poorer and prepared favourable ground for epidemics. And the Black Death celebrated its victory.
There are always some objective “external” conditions that cause misery of the society: the climate, invasion of an “enemy”, etc. Very seldom people blame their own foolishness and insatiability, greed for power and riches, along with losing the sense of proportion. It was sensed in the Middle Ages and extensive disasters were explained as reward for the sins of humankind.
The essence of the health of the entire society is a chain of actions and consequences. You are what you breathe, drink, eat, think, speak, write and do. Everything depends on our system of values and ideals.
Arabs saved the heritage of the ancient world also in the field of medicine. They understood the importance of eating habits in maintaining the human health. Crusaders were surprised by the ability of an Arab doctor to heal a mentally ill woman to which the Arab doctor replied: “I put the woman on a diet and kept her humour moist”.
Different possibilities [Peter Jenschura and Josef Lohkämper]
• Abundance of minerals • Keeping silent and
silence• Truth • Harmony• Peace • Strictness• Discipline • Responsibility • Love
• Noise • Lies • “Freedom” instead of
discipline• Acids in food and
pleasures (“sweets” are especially acid)
• Medicines• Tobacco and drugs• From love to sex• Conflict • War
Modern hell of illnesses
“Welfare” states
• Modern lifestile diseases.• Food allergies among
children.• Hypertension, diabetes and
obesity.• Strokes.• Environmental Allergies.• Victims of cosmetic surgery
(obsession with beauty).• Victims of false and
misleading news.
“Third World” states
• Famine and malnutrition on the countryside.
• Diabetes in urban areas.
Nihil novum sub sole
PAST
• Expansion of the church, cloisters, spiritual knight orders, feudal seigneurs and trade-oriented towns.
• European Christians who sailed to the coasts of the Americas, Asia and Africa came from the society that was already a colonizing society [Robert Bartlett].
• What could the comers who were oppressed by religious contradictions, despotism and servitude bring but illnesses and stress?
PRESENT
• Modern food industries export obesity epidemic.
• The North Amercan Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) opened Mexico to a flood of cheap junk food and soda pop. Mexicans drink 43 gallons per capita annually. Result: weight gain and illnesses.
OBESITY
PAST
Because of the high consumption of food intake by the higher classes, obesity was a problem. Monks were especially known to be obese and suffer from obesity-related health problems such as arthritis. [Simon Newman]
PRESENT
“Once the evil expands, so does the saving.” [Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 – 1843)]
Europeans tried to escape
Hospitals were open all over Europe already in the Middle Ages. In Livonia Teutonic Knights actively worked with this. The statutes of the Teutonic Order contain a clause regarding care for the sick. It is known that even the city of Wenden had a “hospital for the poor” that owned its own parcel of land in 1562 and was served by peasants.
There was a trend all over Europe to try to master the knowledge of Arab medicine. For example, there are data regarding the “Arabism” in medicine that dominated at the beginning of the 16th Century in the Cathedral school of Riga.
At the beginning of the 20th Century in Riga [Zaķusala (Hare Island)] there was a vegetarian sanatorium
Alternative-1: to survey the experience of ancient self-sufficient communities
Āraiši in Latvia Ghagah Island in UAE
Nihil novum sub sole
• Ancient pre-Christianity healing traditions existed everywhere. For example, in ancient Livonia there were many healers and “sorcerers”.
• * Bedouin society was self-sufficient.
• * Bedouin society had a friendly attitude towards nature.
• * The traditional way of life was calm and harmonious, in spite of the dangers and difficulties.
• * Diet, physical activity and organic food had an important role in Bedouin society.
• * Bedouins knew the plant world, Herbal Medicine.
• * Bedouins knew how to survive in difficult circumstances.
Basic education concerning nutrition and organism
Modern education is without any
meaning whatsoever if it does not teach the youth the fundamental
knowledge of nutrition and organism. One can become a victim of harmful
food and harmful substances that give “pleasure” only as a result of foolishness and misinformation.
If you have one fish tank full of beautiful fish, you will never throw toxic acid waste to it. So if the water is dirty, what
would you do? Treat the fish or change the water?