Like Cures Like. Does it really?

[surfsteve]

I am starting this thread to get to the bottom of the saying "like cures like". For me I would like to find out if eating raw kidney would be specifically good for my kidneys. I strongly dislike the taste of kidney and am almost hoping it isn't true, even though I believe it. It would be easy to dismiss the notion and state that it is absurd to think if I had a problem with my left arm that eating the left arm of animals as opposed to the right would cure my left arm. Obviously this isn't a fair assessment. I'm just trying to make a point by carrying it out to the extreme.

Upon googleing the term, like cures like, is mentioned in the context of homeopathy in about half of the search results. Homeopathy is complete bunk in my mind.

What do you guys think? Is there any validity to the saying or is it bunk?

[surfsteve]

Apparently I have taken the saying out of context and there is no foundation to suggest that eating kidney would make my kidneys stronger. What they are actually saying is that taking whatever caused your illness in the first place when taken in very small doses will cure it. In other words if you have poison ivy, taking a homeopathic dose of poison ivy would in theory cure it. If this were applied to the kidneys it would have nothing at all to do with eating raw kidney and would apply to taking very small doses of the things that caused your kidney problems in the first place. Yet still in the back of my mind I feel like eating raw kidney would be good for my kidneys.

According to homeopathic understanding, that which a substance is capable of causing, it is also capable of curing. The name homeopathy, coined by its originator Samuel Hahnemann, is derived from the Greek words for 'similar suffering' referring to the 'like cures like' principle of healing.

http://www.homeopathyschool.com/why-study-with-us/what-is-homeopathy/like-cures-like/

Funny. I can actually see homeopathy working on a psychological level for the emotions. I mean if you are a mean person and someone is mean back to you it might make you think and change your tune but on a physical and oncological level I just don't see it working that way though I suppose it could be possible.

[TylerDurden]

I tried homeopathy  for a time years before going rpd. It seemed to cure some of my symptoms temporarily but the effect was never permanent. So, no idea as to homeopathy's claims.

As regards "like cures like", it makes sense from a palaeo perspective. I mean, if your liver is diseased, then, logically, eating the raw liver from a healthy animal would help you as the nutrients of that healthier liver would help sustain your own liver. It's not the whole story, I'm sure, as I think it's better to just try to eat as much of the whole body as possible. For example, if I had been able to get hold of raw glands like raw thyroid/raw adrenals at the start of going rawpalaeo, I reckon my health-recovery would have been much faster.

There is also the phenomenon of "hormesis", where microscopic doses of a toxic substance encourage the human body to become healthier:-


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormesis

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1475491615000065

 One thing I should mention is that newbies on RPD diets usually report gaining health at a faster rate if they eat a lot of raw organ-meats as part of their diet. No doubt, this is due to the fact that raw organ-meats are richer in nutrients than raw muscle-meats.Not quite relevant, but worth mentioning....

[surfsteve]

I was actually over reacting to the post before yours.

I didn't realize that opioids were created when meat was cooked and was under the impression that they were either in foods or they were not and that cooking only made foods that were high in them easier to eat. I'm interested in learning more about that.

[surfsteve]

As far as I can tell the notion I have in my head that like cures like and applying it to eating a particular organ will cure that organ has no merit. When I googled “eating liver is good for your liver” in quotations I only got 9 results. Googling “eating kidney is good for your kidneys” was even worse yielding only two results.

I don't know why I have such an aversion to eating kidney. Despite all the evidence and my aversion to raw or even cooked kidney I still have it in my mind that there is something to the idea and have gone ahead and ordered 10 pounds of ground kidney from my butcher. I figure I have nothing to loose and at 99 cents per pound, if worse comes to worse I can give it to my dogs.

Both homeopathy and hormesis are based upon the science of small doses of something harmful is beneficial but my instincts tell me that eating a particular organ (which is not harmful) is beneficial to that organ.

I do recall that eating raw glandulars is supposed to cure problems with the corresponding gland so I don't think applying it to organs is all that wild of a speculation. Though even if I some how develop perfect kidneys there would still be no proof that it worked because I am also taking tons of herbs and eating lots of fruit that is supposed to be beneficial. Not to mention that whatever happens could also be due to the placebo effect.

[surfsteve]

Glandular Therapy

One of the basic concepts of glandular therapy is that the oral ingestion of glandular material of a certain animal gland will strengthen the corresponding human gland. The result is a broad general effect indicative of improved glandular function. Thus, glandular therapy increases the tone, function, and/or activity of the corresponding gland. This principle is a mainstay of oriental therapy.

Prior to the 1940s, glandular extracts were in wide use all over the world including the western world, and a considerable amount of research was in progress to support their use. With the development of antibiotics, and the advent of "modern" technological medicine, the research was concentrated on developing more and more antibiotics and other pharmaceutical drugs that was more profitable to the drug companies. The research in glandular therapy came to a halt as a result.

Typical extracts drawn from animal sources include extracts from the:

    Pituitary

    Thyroid

    Adrenals

    Pancreas

    Heart

    Liver

    Kidney

    Thymus

    Other glands and organs.

http://holisticonline.com/glandular-therapy.htm

[surfsteve]

Here is another article saying that glandular substances nourish and heal the corresponding glands. I have a problem with this article because it starts out promoting glandulars, then it condemns modern medicine for finding out what substances in the glands are responsible and either extracting them or synthetically producing them while at the same time promoting glandular extracts instead of the actual glands.

Ignorance and Arrogance

With the development of antibiotics and the advent of "modern" medicine, researchers have since concentrated on developing pharmaceutical drugs that are more profitable to the drug companies. It seems that man, in his ignorance and arrogance (and greed), has decided that science can ascertain all aspects of nutritional physiology and extract the beneficial "active ingredient" from glandular substances.

Benefits of Glandular Therapy

Glands produce messenger proteins (hormones) that regulate bodily functions such as metabolism, immunity, growth and sexual development. The whole body suffers when they malfunction. Glandular and organ extracts are indicated when a patient's endocrine system is under producing a specific hormone or when an organ is weakened or diseased, such as is often the case with cancer patients or individuals with suppressed immunity or thyroid insufficiency.

https://www.logosnutritionals.com/healthinfo/articles/naturalhealthgener/glandulartherapyan/

Apparently it's only ignorant and arrogant when modern medicine does it but not when it comes from a source that says natural on the bottle. Does anybody else see a problem here?

[TylerDurden]

Be careful. If you can get hold of genuinely raw, unprocessed glands from such sources as NorthStar Bison etc., then that's fine. Getting hold of processed glandulars is, imo, a waste of time. Some time  after going RPD, I was annoyed at not being able to get hold of raw glands due to stupid draconian EU regulations, and bought some of Dr Ron's processed, dried glandular supplements. They were useless , though.

[surfsteve]

By unprocessed do you mean grass fed? If so I'm afraid I have to disagree. I don't believe grain fed organ meats and glands are any worse than grass fed muscle meats.

I'm sure grass fed is better but I suspect it's over hyped though I may be wrong. I've read as much as I can on the subject and it really depends upon who you ask. I find that both sides tent to exaggerate excessively. 

If by processed you mean dried extracts I have nothing to worry about because I buy all my organ meats and glands fresh. Funny story. I tried to buy them in supplement form and they were way to expensive so lucky for me I have nothing to worry about. I suppose there are some glands that they don't sell at the butcher shop and can only be found in supplement form.

[TylerDurden]

I meant unprocessed as in raw, not dried,extracted etc.

[a_real_man]

It seems like common sense that the glandular therapy should have some merit. Say you have an organ X which is built up from minerals Y and uses vitamin Z. Unfortunately for you, you are lacking in Y and Z, which is why your organ is ill. When you ingest another organ x~X of the same type, presumably it is also made up of Y and Z and you are now able to acquire Y and Z to cure your own organ X.

[surfsteve]

Wow. It seems like a lot of us are on the same page here. I wonder why that interpretation of like cures like isn't more popular.