Ask The Doctor

Ask the Doctor

Biography

Dr. Karen Keeping has practiced health by healthful living for the past 16 years. She changed her diet and lifestyle in 1984, and soon after became interested in a career helping others help themselves. Her own transformation from disease to health allowed her to understand fully the significance of the healing power of the body. Dr. Keeping was introduced to the principles and practices of Natural Hygiene by Jo Willard, and then moved on to study at the professional level with Dr. D.J. Scott in Ohio, where she was trained and certified in the supervision of Therapeutic Fasting. Dr. Keeping is a summa cum laude graduate of the National College of Chiropractic. Her Primary Care Practice includes specialties in Therapeutic Fasting, Cranial Adjusting and teaching her patients about the health benefits of Natural Hygiene.

Q: I am planning a trip to the Caribbean on a cruise next spring and would like to know if there is any way to prepare for the increased intensity of the sunshine.

A: You pose a very good question. Since you are writing to us at Natural Hygiene, I will assume you are educated in the Natural Hygiene lifestyle. The best way to prepare for any time in the sun is by applying what you've learned about eating and transfer that information to the other requisites for health, namely sunshine.

Sunshine and food have a lot in common, since they are both components of the nutritive process. Just as food is primarily for nutrition and should be chosen to line up with an individual's tolerance for that food, so is sunshine primarily for nutrition and exposure should also be within a person's tolerance. The sun is where we get our Vitamin D. In fact it is through the ultraviolet rays of the sun that the Vitamin D need is met. With that in mind, care should be taken so that exposure occurs before and after the sun is high in the sky.

The amount of exposure may be progressive, but never excessive. A diet over time that has been high in beta carotene changes the color of the skin and as a result may temper the absorption of the UV rays to the point that a person who once burned upon exposure to the sun may now tan more easily.

Send me a postcard from Aruba and have a great time!

Q: I've asked this question of a lot of people and I never get the same answer. Why do hygienists drink distilled water and not spring or mineral water?

A: You pose a very good question. While attending chriporactic school, this question finally was answered for me. Because a fluid medium provides nutrition to the cells, the body can function as it should. The medium contains the digested, then assimilated proteins, fats and carbohydrates broken down into their simplest forms. Some are taken up by the cells for immediate use and some are stored for future use.

Different nutrients are taken into cells for use or storage by carriers that actually transport the needed nutrient across the cell membrane. Minerals and coenzymes function within the cell as well to help our cell factories provide energy, etc. for optimal performance.

Minerals are moved across the cell membrane because of the ionic charge they carry with them, either positive or negative. That is why you often see electrolytes written in abbreviated form, such as Cl- or Na+, chloride and sodium, respectively. They become charged minerals biochemically.

The question is how can minerals from the ground such as the ones found in mineral or spring water become charged so the body can use them? The answer is that they can't. The only way minerals found in dirt, rocks, or water (inorganic minerals) can be usable by the body is for them to be changed into usable form (organic mineral).

This process is accomplished by plants. Their "digestive" systems transform inorganic minerals into organic minerals as they grow and use the dirst as part of their nutritive process. When we eat vegetables we are feeding our electrolyte needs according to God's design. The reason hygienists drink distilled water is because distilled water is just water! And that is what water should be. Don't believe the tale that distilled water leeches minerals from the body. That thought is totally unscientific, unproven and utter nonsense.

If you don't have a distiller at home or a sophisticated water purification system that produces distilled water, go to your local grocer and ask him/her for distilled water even if you don't see it on the shelves. They can order it as easily as mineral or spring water and the price is usually the same.

Q: I recently changed my diet to a more health conscious one including lots of fruits and vegetables. I am a (male) high school senior and on the tennis team. We practice every day after school and will be having matches soon. I find I am experiencing fatigue and thirst with this amount of exercise. Is there a replacement that can be used for sports drinks? I have also switched to more fruit to try and increase energy, but it doesn't seem to be working.

A: Congratulations on your new way of life. Sports drinks are often nothing more than sugar and minerals combined to replace the fluids lost through exercise. A wonderful alternative is fresh romaine and celery juice mixed with fresh orange juice. This combination provides electrolyte replacement and sugar just like the sports drinks, without the chemicals. The minerals in this beverage are organic in form, meaning they are ionic in nature (charged) and easily assimilated; not inorganic (uncharged), thus not readily assimilated. The formula "needed calories equal to expended calories" is the way to go when expending a great deal of energy during sports practice and competition.

Fruit is definitely not a good replacement for vegetables, yet it does compliment a whole foods diet. The old Natural Hygiene adage "more vegetables than fruit, more raw than cooked", works well. However, in order to meet the caloric formula during times of stress to the body (practice and competition), cooked vegetables with potatoes and yams as well as grains (oats, quinoa, brown rice, etc.) and sometimes legumes (beans) may be included successfully, if tolerated well by the individual. Eating food that does not agree with you, even good wholesome organic food, may set the stage for food sensitivities that are destructive (disease producing), rather than constructive (health building) in nature.

Q: I have a five-year old male dog and was wondering if it was okay to feed him vegetables. My husband and I eat Hygienically.

A: This is a great question and one that can be addressed quite simply. Natural Hygiene teaches that when it comes to food, a person should eat within their tolerances, according to their biological predisposition. Dogs are no different and do especially well on diet full of vegetables and grains, with some fruit. Most do need some animal protein, however, due to the fact that they are carnivores, (biological disposition). Raw, flat, red marrow bones are well tolerated by our friends. When my dog was young he used to chew them down to nothing and they would pass in the stool as fine sand after all the nutrients had been extracted. The younger dogs often do better on raw food, primarily vegetables, and raw meat from a good organic source. As they get a little older, some may need some steamed vegetables and some grains. You will have a wonderful time transitioning over your pet to a diet that is more in tune with your own. When my dog was transitioned over he was around the same age as your dog. He fasted himself for five days during an acute illness and when he told me he was ready for food I broke his fast with carrot juice. This dog was a "Natural Hygienist." He stayed on all raw food for approximately two years and then went on to eat steamed vegetables and raw meat. My friend will be sixteen in December and the healing power of the body never ceases to amaze me. We are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Natural Hygiene, Inc. sells a wonderful book on the Hygienic care of animals. Call Janet Mulford (508) 990-0146 with your book order today!