Staying Healthy​—The Natural Approach

By Awake! correspondent in the Federal Republic of Germany

AFTER she quit smoking, Shirley started putting on weight. Her husband, determined that she keep her girlish figure, decided that they should take up jogging to stay fit. Thus, along with millions of others in recent years, they began a program to improve their health.

Like people in other lands, Germans today are very health conscious. This is reflected in the approximately 4,200 bodybuilding and fitness clubs found here in Germany. Almost half of the members are women, so it is not surprising that for three years in a row the world’s top female bodybuilder, or “bodystyler,” has been a German.

For those who would stay fit by adhering to the dictum “you are what you eat,” Germany offers over 2,700 health-food shops and another 1,000 so-called bio-shops, stores that sell biologically grown food produced without the use of chemicals or chemical fertilizers. And, of course, the country also has its share of citizens who believe vitamin pills are important to their health.

These various means of maintaining health are based on the natural approach of preventing disease rather than curing it. But what if the natural approach to prevention fails? Then many Germans will resort to a similar natural approach to curing.

Body, Heal Yourself!

Alongside the orthodox or classical forms of medicine, Europe offers a variety of herbalists, naturopaths, and other practitioners who recommend alternative methods of treatment. The natural remedies they prescribe, instead of being directed at relieving symptoms, aim to strengthen and to support bodily functions and defense systems so that the body can heal itself.

A journalist recently wrote: “More and more patients are turning to the curative powers of plants.” However, in this connection it must be observed that many natural remedies, such as digitalis, which comes from foxglove leaves, can now be produced synthetically. In fact, the synthetically produced drug may have even greater value. Not all natural substances, of course, are harmless. For example, consider opium and hemlock as well as poisonous mushrooms.

Nevertheless, it is only fair to say that the dangers of many of the modern medical therapies are only now becoming more fully appreciated. Often their dangers are more pronounced than those of the naturally occurring remedies, a notorious example being the drug thalidomide. Medications usually have some side effects, so the harm of such side effects needs to be carefully weighed against the potential benefits.

It is said that today every third medicinal preparation sold in Germany is made of natural components rather than of chemicals. This trend has found support from a former first lady of Germany. Dr. Veronica Carstens, herself an internist, says: “I have nothing against classical medicine. But I find natural means of treatment an excellent supplement to classical medicine.”

Dr. Carstens strongly encourages doctors to become familiar with both kinds of treatment and to break down the barriers that have long existed between the two. Apparently this has had results. A University of Freiburg study made at the start of this decade revealed that 60 percent of all German general practitioners occasionally or even regularly prescribe natural remedies when they feel that classical medication is unnecessary. This figure might, in fact, even be increased to nearly 100 percent, in that most medical practitioners recognize the value of whirlpool therapy where soft tissue, muscle, and tendon injuries occur.

Thus, today the reported curative properties of goldenrod, nettles, garlic, balm, juniper berries, and suchlike are being promulgated. Used in teas or as compresses or utilized in extracts or tinctures, they admittedly will not bring the instant relief that so-called miracle drugs sometimes do, but at least one does not need to worry as much about untoward side effects. This is in harmony with the medical principle “primo non nocere” (“first do no harm”).

Water​—What Could Be More Natural?

The use of water in either recuperative or preventive therapy, as at health resorts or spas, is also a natural approach to staying healthy. In this, according to the German weekly newsmagazine Der Spiegel, the Germans “are far ahead of everyone else, for nowhere else can such a variety of spa cures be found, therapeutic, recuperative, and preventive.” Note that in Germany as regards spas, the emphasis is on health, not on recreation or vacationing. That is in keeping with their origin. Spas got their name from Spa, Belgium, a famous health resort noted for its natural mineral waters.

During 1985 almost one in every eight persons living in Germany spent some time at one of these health resorts. Some financed their stay themselves, but the comprehensive health insurance programs available in Germany enabled many more to enjoy their treatment at nominal cost. Of course, eligibility for therapy paid for by health insurance is limited, as is the frequency with which it may be taken.

One particularly popular treatment that stresses the use of water is the Kneipp therapy. It was developed by Sebastian Kneipp more than a hundred years ago in a small city southwest of Munich. The Kneipp therapy is now offered by dozens of spas throughout Europe, and even Japan will soon have its first Kneipp health resort. This is not surprising in view of the emphasis put on physical fitness in Japan, as noted in the February 22, 1987, issue of Awake!a

Hydrotherapy, on which the Kneipp therapy is based, is “the treatment of disease or disability by the external application of water,” and it can take various forms: whirlpools, showers, baths, underwater exercises, massages, hot and cold compresses, to name a few. The Kneipp therapy is based on the premise that water is effective in (1) dissolving or breaking up poisonous deposits that prevent proper blood circulation, (2) eliminating these poisons, and (3) strengthening the organism.

Thus, the Australian Family Physician in its December 1984 issue stated that ‘hydrotherapy, or exercise in heated water, is a technique used in the treatment and management of rheumatic, neurological and orthopedic conditions.’ And the Russian medical journal Akush Ginekol, 1982, reported on ‘the normalization of female reproductive function after treatment at a health resort.’

The Kneipp therapy is said to be particularly effective in treating heart and vascular diseases and malfunctions of the nervous system. It has also been very effective in treating back pains by means of whirlpool equipment or simply exercising in a tub of hot or cold water. In fact, it might be said that Kneipp was many decades ahead of his time, since modern medicine recognizes the value of hydrotherapy, as any issue of Indexus Medicus will show.

Die Kneipp Kur (The Kneipp Cure), by Lothar Burghardt, says that “after treatment at a health resort, the number of days of absence due to illness dropped by more than 60%. This means savings in sickness benefit payments . . . and rising productivity. Following treatment at a health resort, consumption of medicine dropped substantially (by about two thirds). . . . Economic and social scientists in various countries have, quite independently of one another, discovered that for each Mark invested meaningfully in health resort treatment, three Marks are saved in potential sickness.”

A former chief medical officer, Fritz Allies, observes: “The costs of the stay at a health resort are normally covered by the patient’s health insurance company or by the German pension fund, and may run into many thousands of DM [deutsche mark] for each patient. The outlay is expected to pay for itself in the course of time. It is hoped that the patient will be more capable of work as a result of the treatment and hence able to pay health insurance contributions, instead of receiving sickness benefits or an early pension.”

Insurance companies can hardly be viewed as gullible or prejudiced when it comes to therapies promising health benefits. Thus, the DAK Magazin, published by a prestigious German insurance company, stated in its March 1987 issue: “The DAK health resort treatment of four weeks of active health training brings almost unbelievable improvement in the sense of well-being.”

Giving similar testimony is the German medical journal Münchener Medizinische Wochenschrift, which reports: “Two years ago we examined at random 100 discharge reports completed following health resort treatment. In 88% of these cases, health resort doctors verified a positive outcome.”

A Word of Caution

Eating properly and in moderation, getting sufficient rest and exercise, plus breathing plenty of fresh air, are great helps in staying fit. Health resorts, which attempt to provide an environment free from stress and strain, generally offer such benefits and more. Sometimes a stay at such a health resort even helps in changing life patterns, as when the tobacco habit is overcome. “A cure,” says Rita Süssmuth, minister of health of the Federal Republic of Germany, “is for many people a turning point in dealing with themselves and may lead to a better, a more health-oriented life-style.”

Yet, it must be admitted, every method of trying to stay fit has its potential dangers. Some medicines, whether chemical or natural, may cause undesirable side effects, even when properly administered. Ill-advised diets can lead to unbalanced nourishment. And too much exercise, or the wrong kind, can cause tennis elbow, jogger’s ankles, or aerobic back​—not to mention the time wasted.

Visiting a health resort to undergo treatment also poses the danger of bad associations. Being away from home and family with more spare time to spend than usual, a person can easily be tempted to spend it unwisely. This is illustrated by what one woman said about her stay at a health resort: “If three weeks without work​—and your husband—​isn’t a vacation, then what is? A little romance is part of the treatment.”

Persons desirous of maintaining Christian standards of morality and conduct, however, have found that openly talking to others about God’s Kingdom tends to protect them from those with questionable views or motives. In fact, time and again Christian witnesses of Jehovah receiving treatment at a spa have had great success in witnessing and in placing Bibles and Bible literature. The wisdom from above would indicate that married persons not go to a spa unless accompanied by their mate.

However, whether at home on a sickbed or at a hospital or a spa, it certainly is much more pleasant to dwell upon the joys of future health than to brood over the discomforts of present ailments. “Pleasant sayings are a honeycomb,” says a Bible proverb, “sweet to the soul and a healing to the bones.”​—Proverbs 16:24.

Balance Is Needed!

“The trouble about always trying to preserve the health of the body is that it is so difficult to do without destroying the health of the mind.” So wrote the English author G. K. Chesterton a half century ago. Those words might be paraphrased to say that giving too much attention to one’s physical health is bound to have a deleterious effect upon one’s spirituality.

Yes, it is so easy to go to extremes. Most people do not pay enough attention to their health, and among those who do, there are always those who go overboard. The key is to keep balanced. That means being realistic. Remember, too, that what works for one may not work for another, for which reason it has been said that ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison.’ One should also remember that, at present, perfect health is an impossibility. Do not become unbalanced, a sort of ‘health apostle,’ preaching your approach to staying healthy as the last word in staying fit or by making it the most important thing in life.

Mankind’s Creator, Jehovah God, assures us that in his incoming new world “no resident will say: ‘I am sick.’” (Isaiah 33:24) But to gain life in that new system, we must first exercise faith in God and make an approach to him through the ransom sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ. (Acts 4:12; Hebrews 7:25; 11:6) How happy will be those who live to see that time, when staying healthy will be the most natural thing in the world!

[Footnotes]

[Blurb on page 26]

“The costs of the stay at a health resort are normally covered by the patient’s health insurance company or by the German pension fund”

[Pictures on page 24, 25]

Therapy at German health spas

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Kurverwaltung Bad Salzschlirf

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Kurverwaltung Bad Camberg

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Kurverwaltung Bad Camberg