Laws of Life

Introduction

All life is subject to laws. Fixed material relationships provide the balance necessary to our survival and sustenance. They also dictate the conditions, primordial requisites and limitations within whereby we are able to flourish abundantly and live healthfully on our planet.

Life is a continuum. It is governed by immutable laws. These laws are unvarying. They must meet certain criteria to be termed laws of nature. These criteria are:

First, the principle, relationship or law must be fixed or constant—the same in all places and at all times, universally applicable under all conditions.

Second, it must be governed by universal order, harmonious with all other laws, reliable and predictable.

Third, it must be inherent in the nature of things as an integral factor, necessary to the completion of the sequence of natural process; that is, nature as we know it could not be sustained without it.

Fourth, it must be all-encompassing, excluding nothing. All aspects of nature must be governed by it.

And fifth, it must describe succinctly and accurately the normal sequence of developments and be the guiding principle in fundamental relationships.

All of these criteria are necessary to the formulation of a law of nature. All the laws of nature meet these criteria in every sense.

Understanding nature's laws and intelligently employing them in our everyday lives is the essence of Natural Hygiene/Life Science. The better we are acquainted with natural laws and how they affect us constantly, and the more harmoniously we observe and follow them, the higher level of health we enjoy, and the more effectively we resist adversity as it confronts us.

Natural Hygiene/Life Science is the study of the primordial requisites of life and the understanding and correct application of the laws of nature in order to most advantageously meet the needs of life and preserve it and its integrity in the most vital and abundant sense on all levels. What we do or don't do now and from now on determines, and will continue to determine, our quality of life and our level of health.

Here are the laws of vital relationships, the fundamental and secondary principles of Natural Hygiene/Life Science, as formulated in accordance with universal law and comparative studies of biology, biochemistry, anatomy and physiology. These laws determine life as we know it; those laws of nature govern us and provide for us the capacity for natural defense. A disease-free existence with perfect health is possible if we let nature be our guide and live in harmony with her mandates.

All the laws of vital relation are built on two fundamental principles; the Law of Identity, as first set down by Aristotle in the third century B.C., and the Law of Self-Preservation or Law of Homeostasis also known as Life's Great Law. All other principles among the laws of vital relation are built upon these fundamental principles and are known as secondary principles, mostly being built upon Life's Great

Law, which in turn, may be said to be built upon the Law of Identity as a fundamental extension of that primary law.
 

Nature's Laws For Healthful Living

Fundamental Principles


The Law of Identity

Every living thing that exists exists as a particular something, with specific qualities, attributes, potentials, and limitations inherent to the organism; a living organism is what it is and cannot act contrary to its nature.

What this basically means, without entering into a lengthy discussion of comparative biology, biochemistry, anatomy and physiology, is that all biological, biochemical, anatomical and physiological features of man definitely place him in the class of frugivores as a primate of the highest order, as indicated by the number, structure and dental formula of the teeth; the length and structure of the digestive system, the position of the eyes, the functions of the skin, the character of the nails, the salivary characteristics, the relative size of the liver, the number and position of the mammary glands, the position and structure of the reproductive organs, the character of the human placenta, the nature of having two hands and two feet, the method of physical transportation and many other factors, all indicating unquestionably our constitutional nature and biological heritage as a frugivore, whose natural diet consists primarily of fruit. By our very nature as a frugivore, we cannot function properly contrary to that nature. Frugivores may partake of some green leaves and other plant parts with advantages. Man may in accordance with his constitutional nature, add green vegetables and nuts to the fruit diet, thereby improving it according to most Hygienists.

There are other important factor elements necessary to human life which contribute to our well-being. They are essential to the functional integrity and systemic harmony of the human organism. They are: Pure air, pure water, cleanliness, rest and sleep, body temperature, exercise, sunshine, relaxation, mental and emotional poise, pleasant surroundings, creative freedom, self-discipline, and other important factors.


The Law of Self-Preservation

(or Homeostasis), which is also known as Life's Great Law states:

Every living cell is endowed with an instinct of self-preservation, sustained by a vital force inherent in the organism, the success of those work is directly proportional to the amount of inherent force available and inversely proportional to the degree of its activity.

What this means, in a "nutshell," is that if you provide the proper conditions for living organisms, they will automatically proceed in the direction of perfect health. How well they will do depends on how much vital energy is in reserve and how little of it is being expended in activity. Instinct is defined by natural law as "an innate propensity to act without conscious direction," and every living organism endowed with certain instincts, drives, sensations, inherent desires, and indications which can also register as discomforts, which impel it to act in its own self-interest.
  
All secondary principles which are set down as laws of nature with respect to human life are basically elaborations, or secondary principles hinging upon this fundamental principle of self-preservation, serving to guide us in the fulfillment of these fundamental principles.
 

The Law Of Order

The living organism is completely self-constructing, self-serving, self-maintaining, self-directing, self- repairing, self-defending and self-healing. These are biological processes, extensions of the normal physiological mechanisms that renew and repair the organism on a daily basis, and are achieved by the organism's own forces and processes in a lawful and orderly manner.
This law is basically self-explanatory and needs no further elaboration.
 

The Law Of Action

In the relations between the living organism and lifeless matter, the former is active and the latter passive, always; (R. Trall) therefore, whenever and wherever action occurs in the living organism as a result of extraneous influences, the action is ascribed to the living organism which alone is empowered with the ability to act, and not to any lifeless material, agent or influence whose leading characteristic is inertia.
This means that if you provide the wrong conditions for living things, such as pollutants or poisonous substances taken into the body from without, you will provoke defensive action and instinctive efforts of the organism to defend itself on the cellular, organic, and systemic levels as a unit. This principle goes hand-in-hand with our next law.
 

The Law Of Power

The power employed, and consequently expended, in any vital or medicinal action, is vital power, generated from within; it is the living organism that acts, it is vital power that produces the action, and no healing power whatsoever resides in any substances outside the body.

No amount of salts can "move" the bowels of a dead man. The giving of salts to the dead produces no effect. Yet, if salts were the cause of the movement, we should get a movement. Bowels do not move, whatever the occasion or condition, where life is lacking. Dead bowels cannot be made to act. The more vigorous a person is, the more vitality he possesses, the more vigorous will be the response to the salts, on the part of the bowels, while if the person is very low, the response may be hardly perceptible. In the relations between living and lifeless matter, the living matter is active, the dead matter is passive. The action of living matter is in proportion to the need for action and to the amount of power of action that is present.

Power is felt only in its expenditure, never when it is passive. One therefore, feels stronger while he is growing weaker, and feels weaker when he is actually growing stronger, through recuperation of power. The man who has had a drink of alcohol is led to believe that he is strengthened by it, while, in reality, the alcohol has only occasioned the expenditure of the power he possesses. In this way strychnine may "strengthen" the heart until it exhausts this wonderful organ. A cold plunge or a short hot bath produces a general feeling of strength and well-being by occasioning the expenditure of power which they do not and cannot give.

The thing which seems to give strength is the thing which is taking it away, the thing which appears to be curing the patient is the thing that is hastening his death, the very agents which seem to be "supporting" and "sustaining" life are the very things that are undermining the foundations of life.

This law further clarifies the source of all activity within the living organism, that being vital power, which is distributed, utilized, and conserved in accordance with other laws which will be elaborated upon as we continue.
 

The Law Of Compensation

In order to expend vital energy on the one hand, nature must conserve and regenerate on the other.

This law means that there must be a balance maintained between energy expenditure and energy replacement. This balance is automatically observed by the body under ideal conditions. Therefore, it stands to reason that the more we drive the body, the less power it will have for overall efficiency, that is, for basic functional needs.
 

The Law Of Selective Elimination

All injurious substances which gain admittance by any means into the living organism are counteracted, neutralized, and expelled by such means and through such channels as will produce the least amount of harm to living structure.

Examples of this law are illustrated by the apparent actions of drugs which are introduced into the body and, depending on the composition of the drug, seem to affect certain parts of the body in a particular way. Actually, as we have discussed earlier, the body is acting on the drug according to its chemical character, using the point of least resistance for counteractive and eliminative measures, depending on what part or parts of the body can do so with the least ill effects.

Emetics do not act on the stomach, but are ejected by the stomach. Purgatives do not act on the bowels, but are expelled through the bowels. Diaphoretics, instead of acting on the skin, are sent off in that direction. Diuretics do not act on the kidneys, but the poisonous drugs are got rid of through that emunctory, etc
 

The Law Of Vital Accommodation

The Law of Vital Accommodation is also known as nature's balance wheel. The response of the vital organism to internal and external stimuli, agents and influences is intrinsic and instinctive, based on self- preserving, self-maintaining, and self-defending abilities which enable the organism to "adapt," tolerate, or accommodate those extraneous influences it cannot utilize, escape, destroy, eliminate, or control in whatever way possible in order to maintain cellular, organic, and systemic integrity and to protect the life of the organism, at the expense of enervation, overall impairment of health, and consequent degeneration within the organism in direct proportion to the amount of influences and the toxic, enervating effects produced by the degenerating influences.

This law means that the living organism can tolerate or accommodate the extraneous influences which enter or come into contact with it. It "adapts" itself to whatever it cannot free itself of. The body tries in every way possible to maintain functional poise, having to sacrifice well-being. Functional vigor is lowered for the sake of survival. When we make compromises, we do so invariably at our own expense. We create conditions; the laws remain constant.

This law cushions the bottoms of the feet of barefoot people, and guards the hands of the manual laborer by a similar cushion.

In the same way there is a hardening and thickening of the delicate membranes lining the mouth, throat, stomach, and intestine of those who habitually employ tobacco, condiments, spices, antiseptic dentrifices, mouth washes and gargles, alcohol, tea, coffee, cathartics, mineral waters, etc., and of the delicate lining of the vagina of those who habitually douche themselves. But this is an expensive business; the business of keeping the system accustomed to the action of irritants so that the sensibilities shall not be kept under torture by these. Such protection does not render them harmless.

The man who habitually indulges in "stimulation" would exhaust and destroy himself with but few indulgences if the organism had no means of curbing its reactions against the "stimulant" and thereby lessening the expenditure of vital power. The first effect of "stimulation" is exaltation of function; if it is long continued, or often repeated, exhaustion with an almost total abolition of function, results. The repeated use of "stimulant" would soon result in death. But its use soon brings a condition in which the organism ceases to respond so readily and violently to the "stimulant." If the former amount of "Stimulation" is to be received from the "stimulant," a larger amount of the "stimulant" must be used.

The first smoke or the first chew of tobacco usually occasions a very powerful reaction against it on the part of the organism. The person is made very sick; there is headache, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, weakness, etc. So long as the physiological powers and instincts are undepraved and unimpaired, they instantly perceive the poisonous character of the tobacco and give the alarm to the whole system. A vigorous effort is made to destroy and eliminate it and the user is forced to throw away his tobacco. But if he continues to repeat the performance, the reaction against it grows less and less with each repetition, until, finally, he is able to use many times the original amount without producing such results. His system learns to tolerate it and adapts itself to its use as far as possible. The system soon becomes depraved and its powers impaired by the use of tobacco, its poisonous character is no longer detected and no alarm is given, rather a craving for the substance is developed. However, the habitual use of any substance that is injurious in itself cannot in any way render it harmless or beneficial and the habitual presence of any such substance is injurious to life, even though no energetic effort is made to resist its action.

Habits, gradually built and long established, cannot usually be suddenly broken. There is no immediate danger to life as a result of sudden breaking off a habit long practiced, but it is often followed by one or more crises more or less severe as the organism seeks to accommodate itself to the changed condition. Because a habit does not seem to be immediately destructive is no evidence that it is not destructive or that it is beneficial. Its secondary effects alone can furnish us with the clue to its influence. A cup of coffee produces an immediate feeling of well-being while no such feeling accompanies the taking of a glass of orange juice. But when the secondary effects of these two substances are viewed, no room for doubt is left as to which of these is really beneficial and which is injurious.

Men live in almost every conceivable climate and under almost every conceivable condition, are subject to all kinds of influences and indulge in many and often very opposite habits. If given time, the body is able to adapt itself to these varying conditions. Only sudden and violent changes become immediately destructive to life. We cannot quickly transfer the Esquimaux to the tropics nor the Hottentot to Greenland. We can suddenly force upon the nonuser the amount of alcohol, arsenic, or opium used by the habitue, only at the expense of life itself.
 

The Law Of Dual Effects

All substances and agents either taken into the living organism or coming into contact with it from without, occasion a twofold and contrary action in time, the reactive or secondary action being the opposite of the active or primary one, and the more lasting.

An example of this would be anything creating the effect of stimulation as a primary action, which would result in a secondary reaction of depression, such as taking a hot shower which gives one a sense of warmth and vigor and thereafter a feeling of "relaxation," which in reality is a level of enervation. The same effect takes place very commonly in the "lazy" feeling created after consuming a very large meal, whereby at first one never feels very stimulated and "energized." This is what we call a "stimulant delusion" and is very common in most current enervating lifestyles.
 

The Law Of Utilization

The normal elements and materials of life are all that the living organism is ever capable of constructively utilizing, whether it is well or sick, and there must always be a normal relation between the living organism, whether in a state of normal or abnormal activity, and the material things that contribute, more or less perfectly, to sustaining biological and physiological phenomena.

This law may seem a very simple one, but it is a very important law to fully understand. What this means is that no substance or process that is not a factor-element in physiology can be of any value in the living structure under any circumstances of life. That which is nonusable in a state of health must be equally nonusable in a state of ill-health. There are two categories of substances that enter or occasion contact with the body: Those that afford nourishment, which is food, and those that have no normal relationship with the body. They may be chemically dangerous or relatively inert but afford no nourishment. These are categorically recognized as poisons. When we are in a condition of disease, only those substances and influences that are not foreign, but usable and necessary factor-elements in a state of health, should be supplied. Only they can be of any advantage to us.

Therefore, when sick or manifesting symptoms, the body is not able to appropriate substances that would contribute to ill-health if taken under normal conditions. Anything which offers no nutritive value or cannot be appropriated into living tissue in the context of a natural food substance suitable to our biological and physiological identity as a frugivore must be correctly recognized as a poison and should be avoided in all instances. A poison has no normal relationship with a healthy body. It is not usable in a state of health nor in a state of sickness. Disease is a biological process—a defensive action instigated by the body in an inherent effort to put right that which has developed into a difficult situation and has become threatening to the life of the organism. As such, it is a normal process of correcting that which has developed into abnormality. The body behaves essentially in the same way in a state of ill-health as it does in a state of health, dealing with adversity as it is confronted with it; therefore, the factors and elements of health are rightly employed for the same purposes in the care of a sick organism as in the care of a healthy one. Keep in mind that we are dealing with changes in conditions and how to intelligently allow the body to effect the proper changes necessary to recover its normal state of health. Only the conditions change; the laws remain constant.
 

The Law Of Special Economy

The vital organism, under favorable conditions, stores up all excess of vital factors to be employed in a time of special need.

Power in reserve is the surest guarantee against "disease." The body seeks always to maintain a certain reserve of power and we can get this power out only by supplying emergencies such as this reserve is stored up to meet. Thus irritants, miscalled stimulants, produce an emergency that call out the body's reserve power in an effort to overcome these. If no stimulants are employed, the body will always have on hand a reserve of power to meet other emergencies of life.

During rest and sleep, the body stores up power. During favorable weather, it stores up power. During unfavorable weather, power is expended in defending the body against the excessive cold or heat, etc. During activity, power is expended in doing work; during repose, power is recuperated for future use.
 

The Law Of Conservation

This law is also known as the law of autolysis. Whenever nutritive abstinence is effected, the living organism's reserves are utilized. They are conserved and economized. Living structures are autolyzed in the inverse order of their usefulness while toxic substances are being eliminated in the inverse order of their chronological accumulation.

This law is also known and understood as the fasting principle; and it goes hand-in-hand with the Law of Special Economy to further illustrate the process by which nutritional reserves are utilized and poisons eliminated during a fast. It is important to understand the fasting process as a kind of disease pathology operating in reverse, while fasting the body effects a remission of toxicosis with the least amount of damage to the living organism. At all times the body protects its systemic integrity most advantageously. It is even more important to understand that fasting does not suddenly cause the body to discharge all the toxic and morbid accumulations in one complete action or reaction. Rather, the toxic accumulations are discharged in proportion to the manner and rate at which they were accumulated.
 

The Law Of Vital Distribution

Vital energy is distributed throughout the living organism according to the particular needs of the cells, organs and systems of the organism, drawn from where it is in greatest reserve and directed to where it is most needed.
      
This law helps us to further understand the hierarchy that exists within all life forms which is further elucidated in the law of order. The body is systematic and ever aware of its needs. It knows how to fulfill them with the least amount of effort and energy. It always acts to preserve its own integrity, operating according to need and drawing from its most abundant energy reservoirs first.

The aggregate power of the organism may be regarded as a reservoir of force, capable of being called in any direction or to any point. So, also, the aggregate nutritive resources (tissues and fluids) of the body may be regarded as a reservoir of food capable of being called in any direction or to any point as need arises. In the distribution of power and nutriment no part is permitted to suffer want so long as they are adequate; but where there is scarcity of either power or nutriment, these are distributed in a manner to assure the preservation of the more vital structures first, and then, the remaining supplies are distributed among the less vital structures.

In emergencies, as in so-called disease, the withdrawal of power from some organs or groups of organs and its concentration in other organs or groups of organs is carried out with strict regard for the highest welfare of the organism.
 

The Law Of Quality Selection

When the quality of nutriment being received by the living organism is higher than that of the present living tissue, the organism will discard lower-grade cells to make room for appropriating the superior materials into new and healthy tissue.

The body always improves its quality and integrity whenever the opportunity presents itself. Whenever we improve our dietary quality, and, of course, our way of life, corresponding improvements are made by the body. This is our way of improving our overall health, by changing our own specific conditions, and laws like this one guarantee benefits.
 

The Law Of Peristaltic Action

Whenever peristalsis occurs, it is always accompanied by reciprocal contraction, with a wave of relaxation running right before the contraction to facilitate the peristalsis, and more or less continued relaxation while ingesting and digesting food.

For those who are not familiar with the term peristalsis, it is that function of digestion which facilitates the transportation of food substances and the accompanying bulk through the alimentary canal, the principal route of the digestive system. This law simply explains the mechanics of that transportive action.
 

The Law Of Limitation

Whenever and wherever the expenditure of, vital power has advanced so far that fatal exhaustion is imminent, a check is put upon any unnecessary expenditure of energy and the organism rebels against any further stimulation, even that which it has been accustomed to, to the point of complete suspension of functions, until prostration and coma may result, with complete loss of reflex reactions, as an instinctive measure in order to preserve the life of the organism.

This is a very important and necessary safety valve which all living organisms will resort to based on a self-preservative instinct which is, as we have said before, inherent in all living things. This is an important law for us to understand and a critical warning signal to all those who would seek to care for us whenever we lose consciousness and our bodies resort to prostration or coma especially as a last-ditch measure the body takes in order to save itself. Much too often people die while in a state of coma because those attending the person do not observe the coma as a critical warning signal to leave the body intelligently alone or, because the body has become so deranged in its functions either iatrogenically (drug or treatment induced) in the hospital or by whatever means, that prostration or coma does not occur until these measures become inadequate in protecting the life of the person. A broad understanding of the laws of life would help to prevent such disastrous consequences wherever crises of this nature occur, and many lives would be saved.


The Law Of The Minimum

The development of living organisms is regulated by the supply of that element or factor which is least abundantly provided or utilized. The element or factor in shortest supply determines the amount of development.

Basically this law is: the least plentiful element or factor of health being in reserve or being supplied to the body will limit how much development will take place. It does not matter how much of a certain element or factor we concentrate on providing ourselves with. All factors and elements are integral and dependent on one another wherever they are necessary to the development of a cellular, organic, or systemic capability. Whenever they must be utilized in conjunction with one another, for instance, if three elements are necessary in a particular natural balance in order to achieve a reparative or developmental goal, the element which is least plentiful becomes the limiting factor for that necessary balance and therefore ultimately determines the amount of development that will result. This is a major argument against the use of dietary supplements, among others which fait to provide us with nutriment in a satisfactory biological form and biochemically correct balance, and it is also a major argument toward the use of natural, whole, unprocessed and unaltered organic foodstuffs which provide us, in accordance with the balance of nature as a symbiotic unity, the correct elemental balance of nutritional essentials necessary for balanced development.
 

The Law Of Development

The development of all or any parts of the living organism is measured in direct proportion to the amount of vital forces and nutritive materials which are directed to it and brought to bear upon it.

Basically this means that the organs, systems and all body parts develop in proportion as they are constructively exercised. Development is achieved through constructive effort. There are three factors which determine vital capacity: size, flexibility, and force; these three elements are interrelated, and, when employed most intelligently, facilitate development most constructively. Therefore, physical development requiring the qualities of strength, endurance, skill, speed, grace or dexterity in their exercise, are limited by our vital capacity. More intensive employment of any of these qualities in our activities will produce greater development in that aspect of our being.

Moderate employment produces moderate results. No at all in time allows atrophy to take place. Energy and a particular physical quality exists only to the degree that it is used, and if not used, it will be lost only to be regained up trio a certain point whereby atrophy has not developed beyond an irreversible stage.

Irreversibility is always tragic, and yet it is inevitable where the body has been damaged or allowed to atrophy beyond the point of recovery. Fortunately, for most of us, this degree of irreversibility is preceded by many warning signs in the form of crises and dysfunctions all along the way. The tragedy lies in our ignorance of the laws of life and how many of us suffer from our ignorance of these laws, largely brought on by a commercially-oriented society that often deliberately miseducates us or fails to properly educate us, mainly from its own lack of education or pernicious self-interest, in order to exploit and control us.

The more we learn how to take control of our own lives and take that control away from those who seek to control us out of their own fear and ignorance, the more we will be able to take responsibility intelligently for our own actions, improve our self-awareness as individuals and as a body of like- minded people, and change our degenerating conditions into a constructive force capable of controlling our own destinies within the guidelines set forth by nature and her laws. Somewhere there is written a quote which reads: "Don't stand by and watch the future happen to you. Go out and shape it yourself." We are the designers and builders of tomorrow's world, and what we do today and everyday will determine what we will have to bring tomorrow. As Life Scientists we have the tools nature has provided for us to build a better tomorrow day by day. Another principle which is of worthy consideration states: "out with the old and in with the new," and this begins within ourselves.

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From "Lesson 79-The Laws of Life" of the book "Life Science Health System" by T.C.Fry, hosted at Rawfoodexplained.com