Nature cure is a system of man-building in harmony with the constructive principle in nature of the physical, mental and moral planes of being.” signature=”Henry Lindlahr MD, Philosophy of Natural Therapeutics, pg 18
Priessnitz was a European health reformer who prescribed exercise, fresh mountain air, water treatments in the local streams, and wholesome country food including grass-fed cow milk, black bread, and plenty of vegetables in his treatments. As the nature cure movement of drugless healing gained popularity, it was expanded on by others to include various forms of water cure, natural diet, fasting, colon cleansing, manipulative treatments, earth, air and light cures, magnetic healing and mental and metaphysical healing. Dr. Lindlahr put order to the system of natural living and healing by demonstrating its effectiveness in his institutions as well as writing books to define the fundamental principles of Nature Cure philosophy.

Nature cure practitioners were inspired by nature around them. They realized that people had lost their natural instinct and strayed far from nature’s ways. Therefor they studied and imitated the natural habits of the animal world. They sought to understand the whole being and not just the parts, to see the causes of disease not just the effects and symptoms.
How does Nature Cure view disease?

The fundamental principle of Nature Cure philosophy is that every acute disease is the result of a “purifying, healing effort of nature.” It is the result of nature’s efforts to eliminate from the organism waste material, foreign matter and poisons, and to repair injury to living tissues. (pg 9 & 19) In addition, chronic disease is defined as a lowered vitality due to the accumulation of waste material and poisons, with the consequent destruction of vital parts and organs, so that the healing forces are no longer able to react in order to restore function.

“The three primary manifestations of disease coincide with the three primary life requirements of the cell. Biology teaches us that these are innervation, nutrition and drainage.” (pg 28)

  • Innervation: is life force through the nervous system which can be disrupted by things like over-work, over-indulgence, weakening habits, wrong thinking and feeling.
  • Nutrition: is the selection and combination of food, especially those containing organic minerals for normal composition of blood, lymph, and other body fluids, which can be obstructed by waste materials and clogged lymphatic circulation.
  • Drainage: accumulated waste materials, morbid matter and pathogens interfere with perfect drainage of metabolic wastes from cells and tissues.

“Anything that interferes with these essentials cause disease; anything that promotes them establishes health.” (pg 32)

What is the relationship of Homoeopathy and Nature Cure?

Dr. Lindlahr comments on how the theory and practice of Homeopathy agrees with and corroborates the laws and principles of Nature Cure:

“Similia similibus curantur” is only another way of stating the fundamental law of Nature Cure: Every acute disease is the result of a cleansing and healing effort of nature. If a certain set of disease symptoms is the result of a healing effort of nature, and if I give a remedy which produces the same or similar symptoms in the system, am I not aiding nature in her attempt to overcome the abnormal condition? In such as case, the indicated homeoeopathic remedy will not suppress the acute reaction, but will help it along, thus accelerating and hastening the curative process.” (pg 181-182)

Lindlahr, Henry MD, Philosophy of Natural Therapeutics, CW Daniel Company Limited, Essex, England, 1975.