Many thousands years ago, when there were no medicines of any kind, wise people from all civilizations of the world did observe certain things about health and disease. Two observations stand out most prominently.

1. If one lives against the laws of nature, one will eventually fall sick.

2. Nature and the human body have a tremendous capacity to self heal.

Let’s understand these two concepts a bit deeper.

The primary cause of all diseases, according to nature cure, is conscious or unconscious violation of Nature’s Laws. This violation may be in thinking, breathing, eating, drinking, working, resting as well as in moral, social and sexual conduct.

According to this philosophy it is not the germs that initiate the problem. The soil has to be bad to allow the germs to flourish.

Also, whether it is a boils or diarrhoea or phlegm, it is simply the body’s natural mechanism to get rid of the toxins. Simply suppressing the symptom usually leads to more serious disease.

The human body has a tremendous capacity to self heal. Not all headaches and diarrhoeas or coughs need a medication. Than can go away on their own or with a little help from physical methods like rest, fasting, steam inhalation or heat foment action. Fevers can be brought down by cold water therapy.

These, then, are the two guiding principles of naturopathy.

There is no doubt that naturopathy helps in asthma. But the path is not easy to do and to sustain. Somebody who is diligent and patient would certainly gain.

The various methods used in Naturopathy to help asthma patients are:

1.Diet: Naturopathy divides all foods into acidic and alkaline. All fruits, vegetables and milk are considered alkaline. Meat, eggs and cereals are considered acidic. A predominance of alkaline diet is considered good for an asthmatic.
Furthermore, phlegm producing foods like ghee, banana and rice are not recommended.

2. Fasting: naturopathy lays a lot of stress on fasting to clean the bowels of toxins.

3. Use of water: plenty of hot fluids are recommended to keep the body hydrated. Steam baths to the upper body, alternating hot and cold baths, wrapping the chest area with hot water and blankets, all have been employed. Jal neti and dhauti are special kriyas to cleanse the nasal passages and sinuses. Many chronic sinusitis patients report a great deal of improvement with these.

Many Naturopathy Retreats have opened up nowadays and are popular with patients. Especially rich patients. The methods employed are good. The difficult part is for the patient to continue with them when he or she is struggling with so many other things in life !