Roads Back to Health
It is often said that we take our health for granted but, if it does let us down, do we understand the many elements of the healing process? More often than not, the temptation is to take the short-cut confrontation of symptoms, gain the quickest possible relief, and return to the lifestyle and habits that may have contributed to the problem in the first place. This book examines the phenomenon of healing in great depth but does it from the naturopathic perspective of creating health. It does not dwell on diseases and people seeking solutions to specific ailments will be disappointed – at least initially.

Douglas Morrison examines all the elements that contribute to our wellbeing, ranging from the spiritual, through emotional, physical, and structural factors to environmental influences. Possibly the only areas which are not given much consideration are the increasingly important genetic and constitutional factors.

His starting point is a system known as Body Electronics which is a way of working with energetic phenomena. The bulk of part one of the book, therefore, is devoted to an examination of energetic influences on healing and mental attitudes to it. The first four chapters of the book discuss the philosophical and spiritual requirements of healing. Although he writes with a conviction borne of personal experience Morrison draws on the views of many authors, many of whom can only speculate as to the state of the human psyche and influence of energy on our health, but often they are presented as facts with little tangible evidence.

He uses various models to illustrate how the different levels of emotion may develop a resistance to harmonious health. These layers create patterns of imperfection but, just as patterns of behaviour can have negative effects, they can also drive an ability to change both at a personal and communal level and he cites Sheldrake’s theories of Morphic Resonance in support of this theme.

It is when he writes about the more material requirements for health that Morrison is on firmer ground and gives more comprehensible and practical advice, discussing the role of food, exercise, sleep, light, air, and water. On this latter topic, as on some others, he is exhaustive. He immerses the reader in all the properties of water, for example, discussing its chemical purity and, more controversially, the ‘memory’ of water. Water apparently retains the imprint of many toxic elements. For this reason water filters may actually increase the detrimental effects by amplifying the energy pattern of the impurities.

Part two of the book is devoted to the role of nutrition. Nutrient saturation is the starting point in the attainment of health. Morrison here provides sound, fundamental guidelines that, unlike many popular health books, allow for the realities of modern living: get rid of the worst first, treat not cheat, promote elimination, ensure good assimilation, and emphasise the constructive in nutrition and not just cleansing, are all guidelines that are easily understood and applied.

He also devotes a chapter and more to the work of one of the twentieth century’s great pioneers of nutritional anthropology, Dr Weston A Price. Price clearly demonstrated the deterioration in facial structure and dental health as a result of the introduction of modern (1930s!) dietary habits to indigenous populations in various parts of the world. The author also pays tribute to others who have done much to increase our understanding of health and nutrition, such as F.M.Pottenger, whose experiments with several generations of cats demonstrated the importance of fresh raw foods, and Dr Johanna Budwig, who successfully treated many cancer patients with vegetable ferments and recognised the value of essential fatty acids long before their role was understood in mainstream nutrition.

This book is a rich compendium of information but, in some areas, Morrison has gone rather too far beyond the ‘fundamentals’ of his subtitle. For example, the detailed descriptions of iris diagnosis and body electronics which make up much of part three of the book are well beyond the scope of the average lay reader. For practitioners wishing to widen their horizons, however, it will be a valuable addition to the library.

Dr. Roger Newman Turner is a practising naturopath