Naturopathy has taken rapid strides and gained significant acceptance recent years. People are gradually realizing the limitations of allopathic drugs and traditional western medicine. As a result, they are now turning to natural medicines and methods to treat their ailments.

In this book, Dr. H.K. Bakhru explains the details and benefits of a variety of natural therapies. He explains how natural food, natural elements, yoga and more generally, the observance of the lows of nature, can allow patients to overcome their diseases. He also reviews the ingredients of a healthy and nutritious diet

The author affirms that “good health ought to be everybody’s concern, not solely the medical professions.” In following this principle, he uses simple language to explain his treatments and the underlying reasoning behind his theories

This well illustrated book will be beneficial for those who seeking natural cures for their ailments. The book will also serve as a useful guide for those interested in leading simple and healthy lives. In addition, the book will be a very useful reference guide for students of naturopathy and practitioners of nature cure.

Dr. H.K. Bokhru enjoys a countrywide reputation as an expert naturopath and a prolific writer. His well-researched articles nature cure, health, nutrition and herbs appear regularly in various newspapers and magazines and bear the stamp of authority.

A diploma holder in naturopathy, all his current 13 books on nature cure, nutrition and herbs titled, A Complete Handbook of Nature Cure, Diet Cure for Common Ailments, A Handbook of Natural Beauty, Nature Cure for children, Naturopathi for Longevity’, Healing Through Natural Foods, Indian Spices and Condiments as Natural Healers, Foods That Heal, Herbs That Heal, Natural Home Remedies for Common Ailments, Vitamins That Heal, Conquering Diabetes Naturally and Conquering Cancer Naturally have been highly appreciated by the public and repeatedly reprinted. His first-named book has been awarded first prize in the category Primer on Naturopathi for Healthy Living by the jury of judges at the Book Prize Award scheme, organized by National Institute of Naturopathy, an autonomous body under Govt. of India, Ministry of Health.

Dr. Bakhru began his career with the Indian Railways, holding a first class first postgraduate degree in History from Lucknow University in 1949. He retired in October 1984 as

the Chief Public Relations Officer of the Central Railway in Mumbai, having to his credit 35 years of distinguished service in the Public Relations organizations of the Indian Railways and the Railway Board.

An associate member of the All India Alternative Medical Practitioner’s Association and a member of the Nature Cure Practitioner’s Guild in Mumbai, Dr. Bakhru has extensively studied herbs and natural methods of treating diseases. He has been honoured with ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’, ‘Gem of Alternative Medicines’ award and a gold medal in Diet Therapy by the Indian Board of Alternative Medicines, Kolkata, in recognition of his dedication and outstanding contributions in the field of Alternative Medicines. The Board, which is affiliated with the Open International University for Complementary Medicines, established under World Health Organization and recognized by the United Nations Peace University, has also appointed him as its Honorary Advisor. Dr. Bakhru has also been honoured by Nature Cure Practitioners’ Guild, Mumbai with Nature Cure Appreciation Award for his services to Naturopathy.

Dr. Bakhru has founded a registered Public Charitable Trust, known as D.H. Bakhru Foundation, for help to the poor and needy. He has been donating Rs. 25,000 every year to this trust from his income as writer and author.

For people who advocate and recognize the latent healing power of nature like my esteemed friend and fellow practitioner, Shri H.K. Bakhru, naturopathy is a way of life. It is a distinct philosophy and science which strengthens the age-old faith in the correction of bodily disorders and restoration and maintenance of health through elements freely available in nature. It brings home the basic fact that healing is brought about by the inherent curative powers of the body. The simplicity of this method should not deter individuals from its use. The final complete healing will come from within. In short, the naturopath lends intelligent assistance and interprets nature’s laws for the patient.

Shri H.K. Bakhru contributed numerous articles to leading newspapers and magazines on various ailments and their cure through dietetics and nature cure treatments.

A news item appeared in newspapers about a famous French folk singer, Rika Zarai, who had never practiced naturopathy but her faith, based on her personal experience, turned her into an authority on herbs and nature cure. At the height of her career as a singer, Rika met with an accident, when her car went off the road, due to poor visibility on account of fog and she was taken from the wreckage with four broken vertebrae, one of which was pulverized. The attending doctors indicated that she might not be able to walk again without crutches.

To make matters worse, she had a calcium deficiency. On the brink of suicide, she appealed for help to an eminent homeopath. Clay compresses were smuggled into the hospital and she applied them regularly to her back. Her surgeon was outraged when she attributed her remarkable recovery not to his skill but to the clay. With the zeal of a convert, she applied herself to the wider study of natural medicine.

She has authored two books, titled Ma Medicine Natural, and Her Secrets Nature//es. As many as 2, 80,000 copies of the first book were sold. Both the books have challenged the realms of Medical World.

H.K. Bakhru’s book titled ‘A Complete Handbook of Nature Cure’ is a complete guide to naturopathy. This book offers a way which, if followed, will provide renewed energy, increased vitality and greater satisfaction that comes from living a full and useful life.

The author has advocated that the right food could work wonders and has tremendous curative power. Nutrition is the major problem of human life. This book can also be appropriately titled Return to Nature. The aims of naturopathy isto invigorate and stimulate the body’s homeostatic mechanism, to restore health structure and function. One can enjoy perfect health by proper regulation of eating, drinking, breathing, bathing, dressing, working, thinking, and other social activities on a normal and natural basis.

I wish the author Shri H.K. Bakhru all success for the publication of this book.

What, you may ask, is a Public Relations man doing writing a book on nature cure? The answer is simple : good health ought to be everybody’s concern, not solely the medical profession’s business. More importantly, in my own case, I suffered immensely, for many years, largely due to the shortcomings of the modern medical system. In my despair, I earnestly, began my study of natural methods of treatment and cure of disease, as also the ways and means of maintaining good health. Putting the time-tested nature cure methods into practice proved so beneficial in my own case that I took to studying their application for several other diseases as well. What began as mere jottings was gradually expanded into full- length articles on the subject Cure without Drugs, several of which were published in “The Economic Times”. The readers’ response to the series was overwhelming and several of them suggested that the articles be compiled in book form, to benefit more people. Health the Natural Was was the result. This book as well as my second book titled Diet Cure for Common Ailments published three years later, was well received by the press and the public. This fact coupled with the immense popularity of my articles on health, nutrition and nature cure being published in several leading newspapers and magazines, have prompted me to write a comprehensive book on nature cure under the present title for the benefit of the general public.

Experience, they say, is the most convincing teacher, and I would like to begin with details of my own case history as a means of indicating the major health problems that nature cure can overcome. While doing my intermediate arts, at the age of 16, I contracted two serious illnesses—pleurisy and typhoid fever—simultaneously. Having run their course for about 45 days, both ailments left me so debilitated that I had to discontinue my studies for one year, on medical advice.

My recovery was gradual but not complete, as I developed heartburn and breathing problems. At 28 came the worst crisis, when I suffered a stroke in the early hours of an extremely hot day in May after acute heartburn throughout the night. The stroke made the left side of my body extremely heavy and weak, and the attending physician referred my case to a well- known neurosurgeon, suspecting a brain tumour. For nearly two months I lay helpless in the special ward of a reputed hospital, undergoing several tests and at the same time observing around me frequent deaths following unsuccessful brain surgery. Finally, having twice failed to inject air through the spinal cord for taking X-rays of the brain, the specialist decided to make holes in my skull for that purpose and even operate if necessary. Fortunately for me, the specialist had to attend a medical conference elsewhere and, therefore, instructed his assistant to try the newly-introduced method of cerebral angiography, which involved injecting dye through an exposed vein in the neck to enable X-raying of veins in the brain. When these X-rays did not reveal anything abnormal, I was allowed to go, but not before *he harrowing experience had left me a complete nervous wreck.

However, that was not the end of t, I underwent a barium meal examination which indicated “Chronic duodenal, may be chronic duodenal ulcer”. The numerous drugs prescribed for the treatment of this ailment and the continuing weakness and heaviness of my left side made my condition worse still. I endured this for three years, until the pain and heaviness of the left side was miraculously cured by an astrologer: But nothing could rid me of the heartburn, abdominal pain and occasional severe stomach upsets, which continued to necessitate the use of several drugs. Investigations, from time to time, confirmed the diagnosis of duodenal or chronic duodenal ulcer. A barium meal examination, done when I was 39, revealed hiatus hernia with peptic esophageal ulcers.

To add to all of this, at 45, an eminent heart specialist declared me a heart patient following a check-up due to pain on the left side of my chest. The heavy drugging, dieting, etc. that ensued completely ruined my health and resulted in insomnia and a weight loss of 15 kg. Consulting another eminent heart specialist two years later, I was informed that there was no evidence whatsoever of heart trouble, but he confirmed the presence of hiatus hernia and stomach trouble. God alone knows which diagnosis was correct: Then came a host of diseases in rapid succession—spondylosis, myalgia, backache and prostate enlargement, in treating all of which the modern medical system failed to give me any relief, despite taking huge quantities of drugs especially painkillers, antacid tablets and tranquilisers.

AU this time, I was aware of the natural methods of treatment which I had studied from the age of 30 and a few of which I had practiced occasionally. I, however, dared not adopt them wholeheartedly because of my heavy dependence on drugs. Rather late in the day, at the age of 55, I made a determined bid to do away with all drugs and take recourse to natural methods. I began collecting and studying a greater deal of data on the subject and also consulted naturopaths. I made drastic changes in my diet and lifestyle and started rigidly observing the laws of nature. I was rewarded sooner than expected so much so, that for one who narrowly escaped death at the age of 28, I can proudly say that today, at 83, I feel healthier, thanks mainly to taking recourse to nature cure methods. Of course, I do not claim that I have cured all my ailments. But I do maintain that I have been able to control them substantially and have obtained a lot of relief without resorting to drugs. This, I feel, is no mean achievement. I am certain that my own success in controffing several dreaded disabilities will serve as inspiration to those readers who are suffering from various ailments and hold out the hope of their deriving real benefits from the natural methods of treatment outlined in this book.

I have great pleasure in presenting the 4th revised and enlarged edition of my book A Complete Handbook of Nature Cure which was first published in 1991. It proved to be a great success and received very good response from the readers who benefitted by overcoming their health problems through adoption of various natural methods of treatment prescribed in the book. It also evoked great interest among nature cure practitioners and naturopathic institutions, many of whom prescribed it as a textbook or a reference book for their dp1oma courses. The book has already gone into twenty-five Jaico Impressions indicating its great popularity.

Naturopathy has taken rapid strides in India in recent years. More and more people are now turning to this system of medicine to treat ailments. They are gradually realizing the limitations of the modern medical system and adverse side effects of allopathic drugs. They are becoming increasingly aware that many of our common foods contain valuable natural drugs which can help maintain good health and prevent and treat diseases.

It is gratifying to note that the Government of India has taken cognizance of this growing trend towards Return to Nature. It has established an autonomous body under Ministry of Health called National Institute of Naturopathy which is doing commendable work in the field of Naturopathy it has initiated several steps to popularize this system of medicine. The institute also organized Book Prize Award scheme to encourage authors and publishers to write books on Naturopathy and Yoga. It is heartening to note that my book Complete Handbook of Nature Cure has been awarded first prize under this scheme for the year I 99798 in the category primer on Naturopathy for Healthy Living by the Jury of Judges.

This decision of the Jury of Judges and encouragement given by the National Institute of Naturopathy, along with acclamation won from the readers, have prompted me to revise this book to help further promote the cause of nature cure. This revised and enlarged edition contains six important additional topics under Nutrition and 50 additional diseases which were not covered in the original book.

My sincere gratitude to Dr. P.K. Bolar, an eminent naturopath and former Executive Director, Indian Institute of Drugless Therapy, for his foreword. I am also grateful to my wife, Draupadi, for her painstaking efforts in going through the typescript of the book and carry out corrections of typographical errors—a task which I possibly could not undertake due to sharp deterioration in my eyesight on account of degeneration of retina of both the eyes.