Healing the human body

Table of Contents

“It is far more important to know what person the disease has than what disease the person has.” Hippocrates, 460–370 BC

The incredible human machine that has evolved amazing complexity, over thousands of years, works in harmony with all the organic and inorganic elements that surround it. It is also made up of all these things and uses many of them to carry out its internal processes.

However, it can become overwhelmed; we often tend to poison it and spend a great part of our lives recovering from ailments that have been induced by toxic overdose, nutrient deficiencies and infections which, mostly, have been self-imposed.

In a healthy person, if the skin is cut open it will heal automatically. If part of the liver is lost, it regenerates itself. If a bone is fractured or broken it will begin healing itself immediately.

Healing occurs naturally if the body is taken care of through its being given the right nutrients and through its not being repeatedly subjected to synthetic unnatural chemicals, heavy metals and damage.

Natural selection ensured that only people who possessed the self-healing powers to bounce back from illnesses and injuries could survive to the present day.

Human cells

A cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all living organisms, the building block of life. All organisms are composed of one or more cells. Cells emerged on earth at least four billion years ago. The main purpose of a cell is to reproduce in order to ensure survival of future generations.

All cells existing today are the product of a continuing process of evolution. Just as bacteria have in recent years evolved to become resistant to antibiotics, the human body cells are evolving to survive the worst damage that nature can impose.

The human body is made up of over 200 types of specialised cells, an estimated 10 trillion or 100,000,000,000,000 in all. Each cell is an amazing world in itself. The inherent nature of a cell is to regenerate to make good any damage, to reproduce through cell-division (mitosis) to sustain growth and maintain the same number of cells in the body. The human body experiences about 10,000 trillion cell divisions in a lifetime.

Cells that are damaged beyond repair are programmed to self-destruct through a process called apoptosis, which makes cell damage irrelevant. When this vital process fails, due to lack of nutrients, excessive consumption of sugar, alcohol, coffee, meat protein, processed and refined foods and food additives, pesticides, powerful medications and toxic build up in the system, the result can be cancerous tumours.

The body also has stems cells which act as a maintenance system. Stem cells divide through mitosis and self-renew to produce more stem cells. Stem cells can differentiate into diverse specialised cell types such as chondroblasts which produce a special secretion called chondrin which actively builds and repairs cartilage.

As the chondroblasts mature they turn into chondrocytes which replace the damaged tissues, effectively repairing the wear and tear of the cartilage.

Cells have different life spans and millions die every minute with or without damage. Cell damage and cell death therefore do not cause illness, because the cells naturally reproduce to provide a fresh start. These and other cellular functions are the natural processes that keep the body healthy.

The cells will continue to repair or destroy themselves as required and will reproduce to replenish themselves, as long as they are supplied with the essential nutrients to enable them to do this. Illness develops when cellular functions break down.

Time it takes to repair and regenerate the human body

Bone repair 6-8 weeks
Brain and nerve tissue every 1-12 years
Corneal abrasions 24-48 hours
Fingernail renewal 6 months and toenails 18 months to regenerate completely after injury.
Heart 4.5-5 years
Kidneys and adrenal glands 6 – 8 months
Liver every 365 days
Muscle strains repair 4-8 weeks and complete tears 6–9 months
Muscle recovery after exercise 24-72 hours.
Pancreas 6-12 weeks
Skin every 28 days
Thyroid 3-6 months

NOTE: The retina and optic nerve in the eyes lack the ability to heal or regrow after damage.

Human nutrition

In order to carry out these repairs and regenerations, the correct nutrients must be ingested as fuel. Some nutrients can be made by the body or by the intestinal flora whilst others are considered ‘essential’ as they must come from the diet.

The body stores some nutrients whilst others need to be consumed on a daily basis. Some nutrients are fat-soluble which means they can only be absorbed when consumed with some oil or fat.

Nutrient storage

Human bodily stores for different vitamins vary widely; vitamins A (retinol), vitamin D and vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) are stored in significant amounts in the human body, mainly in the liver. However, an adult human’s diet may be deficient in vitamins A and D for many months and B12 in some cases for years, before developing a deficiency condition.

Substances stored by the liver

Copper (from 3.9 to 21 days)
Glucose (in the form of glycogen)
Iron (stored for many years in a protein called ferritin and released as needed to make new red blood cells)
Vitamins A (1–2 years supply)
Vitamin D (1–2 months’ supply)
Vitamin B12 (1–3 years supply)
Vitamin K2 (produced from vitamin K1)

Because water soluble vitamin C and most of the vitamin B complex dissolve in water upon entering the body they cannot be stored for later use. They are eliminated in the urine meaning a constant daily supply is required. Vitamins B3 (niacin and niacinamide) is not stored in the human body in significant amounts, so stores may only last a couple of weeks.

These vitamins are all essential for many important cellular processes involving the nervous system, the immune system and the production and maintenance of neurotransmitters, antibodies, hormones, cells, messenger proteins, tissues, bones, skin, teeth and blood vessels. They are also essential for the utilisation and manufacture of many other organic nutrients and non-organic minerals.

Mineral storage in the human body

Magnesium is stored in the body for around 12 to 48 hours, mostly in the bones and soft tissues, with a smaller amount in the blood and muscles. The body excretes excess magnesium through the urine within about a day to maintain stable levels. Intense exercise can cause loss of magnesium so extra will be required.

Manganese is stored in the bones for 8-9 years and in the brain, kidneys, liver and pancreas for between 4 and 40 days. Intense exercise can lower manganese levels due to metabolic demand so extra will be required.

Phosphorus is stored throughout the body with 85% in the bones and teeth and the remaining 15% in soft tissues and the blood.

Potassium is stored long term in the blood and muscles cells. Intense exercise can cause a loss of potassium from the muscles so extra is required.

Zinc is found throughout the body but needs constant replenishing as excess is released through the stool and not stored. Alcohol, some medications, intense exercise and diarrhoea cause the body to excrete zinc so extra is required in those cases.

Importance of the intestinal flora

A vast range of nutrients are required as fuel for the natural healing process. Many nutrients such as vitamins and minerals rely upon the presence of the others to work efficiently. Many also rely upon the multitude of commensal bacteria that reside in the intestines.

What processes are intestinal bacteria responsible for?

Constructing various vitamins and helping with the absorption of many minerals.
Lowering the levels of toxins and toxicity from nitrites added to processed foods
Producing enzymes which enable digestion of various types of food
Manufacturing natural antibiotics which help control or destroy the harmful bacteria
Manufacturing short-chain fatty acids, most are absorbed into the bloodstream, but some are used to feed the cells of the colon.
Crowding out the pathogenic bacteria that cause acid indigestion, leaky gut, salmonella, stomach ulcers and lead to cancers of the colon and various organs in the intestinal system
Protecting the intestinal mucosa tissues from harmful fungus or yeast infestation – mainly by crowding out the yeast and fungus organisms and preventing them from adhering to the tissue where they could grow and spread.

What nutrients do friendly bacteria produce in the body?

Short-chain fatty acids
Vitamin A
Vitamin B1 (thiamine)
Vitamin B3 (niacin)
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)
Vitamin B7 (biotin)
Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin)
Vitamin K2. The beneficial bacteria in the colon can produce at least half of the estimated requirement of 100 mg per day of vitamin K.

Gut bacteria also promote further absorption of some minerals that have escaped the small intestine, including calcium and magnesium and vitamin K2 which is vital to direct calcium to the bones and is needed in conjunction with vitamin D.

Buy vitamin D3 with K2 and coconut oil on Amazon

This is why it is very important to consume both prebiotic and probiotic foods throughout life and especially when suffering from any kind of infections or health disorders or recovering from alcohol damage.

NOTE: Vitamin B12 is manufactured in the colon by bacteria but because it is below the ileum where B12 is absorbed into the blood stream this B12 is only used by the bacteria themselves or excreted. Drinking alcohol causes the body to excrete the B vitamins, including vitamin B12.

Many illnesses can develop from an imbalance of intestinal flora. It has been discovered scientifically that even degenerative diseases may be caused by this such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease. Therefore it is vital to take care of our individual balances of these beneficial microbes. See>> Feed your friendly bacteria

Nourishing the body

The many colours of fruits and vegetables need to be consumed to gain the benefit of the antioxidant pigments that give them their colours. Plants have evolved far longer than humans and learned to fight off pathogenic bacteria, fungi and viruses. These chemicals, that plants manufacture naturally, work together to protect the plants and, when ingested, can do the same for humans and other animals.

There are thousands of phytonutrients that work together to provide this protection, and scientists have yet to discover exactly how they rely upon each other. Therefore, extracting what is believed to be the active ingredient that provides this protection, without the cofactors, is only going to allow the pathogens to mutate and become resistant.

More and more vital micro processes and interactions between the multitude of organic nutrients and minerals that exist within the human body are being discovered day by day. Many scientists thought that certain minerals had no obvious role in the human system, but this has been proved otherwise in recent times.

This means that the true knowledge about all human fundamental cell processes is not yet fully understood, therefore, a wide and very varied diet is very important in order to ensure any lack of a certain element does not go on for too long before these vital micro processes begin to break down and ill health is the result.

One example is how cobalt, nickel, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin B12 and vitamin B15 work together to keep the heart, brain and circulation in perfect working order. If any other these elements are lacking, there will be adverse consequences which often get misdiagnosed.

Knowing what to consume, how much and how often is the dilemma. Added to this are lifestyle factors, age, size and shape of the body and genetic hereditary complications plus the cost of nutritious organic whole foods.

Nutritional hacks

Consume smaller and more varied portions of food.
Ensure plenty of fibre is consumed regularly throughout the day.
Include all the colours of fruits and vegetables. See>> Colour codes of nature
Include healthy oils like hemp seed oil with all meals to ensure absorption of fat-soluble nutrients
Minerals have been seriously depleted from intensely farmed land so include mineral water, sea vegetables, alfalfa, hemp seeds, algae and non-refined pure Himalayan pink salt crystals in the diet.
Drink plenty of mineral water from glass bottles.
Try to avoid ingesting toxins from chemicals both orally and through the skin. See>> Hygiene toxins and health
Avoid over consumption of products that force expulsion of minerals such as drugs and alcohol.
Try to only consume organic food as much as possible.
Cook animal products well to avoid infections but minimise over cooking plant products which destroys the vital nutrients.
Make sure some gentle exercise is done every day, even if it is just a 15-minute walk, as this makes the body and all of its processes work far better.

Amazing numbers in the human body

It is difficult to comprehend the enormous numbers involved in the construction and maintenance of the human body. The following shows the complexity of an average sized adult.

The human body consists of 300 bones at birth many of which fuse to become 206 as an adult plus 642 muscles, 900 ligaments and 4000 tendons.
The skin, spread out, would cover 16 square feet (1.5m²) and there are approximately 250,000 hairs on the head.
There are 1,500,000 sweat glands which if spread out on one surface, would occupy over 10,000 square feet (929 m²).
The maximum sweat rates of an adult can be up to 4 litres per hour or 14 litres per day.
There are 550 named arteries and 100,000 miles of blood vessels which could encircle the circumference of the earth 4 times.
In 70 years, the heart beats 2,500,000,000 times and pumps 500,000 tons of blood around the body.
There are 30,000,000 white corpuscles and 180,000,000,000,000 red corpuscles in the blood.
The lungs are composed of 700,000,000 honeycomb-like cells, all of which are used in breathing; this is equal to a flat surface of 2,000 square feet.
The average adult at rest inhales and exhales seven or eight litres (about a quarter of a cubic foot) of air per minute which totals approximately11,000 litres of air (388 cubic feet) per day.
The air inhaled is approximately 20% oxygen and air exhaled is approximately 15% oxygen, so about 5% of the volume of air is consumed in each breath and converted to carbon dioxide. A human being uses about 550 litres of pure oxygen (19 cubic feet) per day. Physical activity increases this number.
Altogether 133 billion cubic feet of oxygen is required per day for the seven billion humans, currently alive on earth, to breathe
The human brain uses about 200 kilocalories of energy per day which is equivalent to the amount of power a 10-watt light bulb uses.
The nervous system, controlled by the brain, has 3,000,000,000,000 nerve cells, 9,200,000,000 of which are in the cortex (outer layer) of the brain alone.
Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 250 miles per hour which means a nerve impulse can travel six feet from the head to the toe within a hundredth of a second.
The human body can consist of anything between 65% and 90% water and the total amount is dependent on body mass. Infants’ bodies contain up to 75% water. The adult average is between 12 and 18 gallons of water.
Almost three pints of saliva are swallowed every day.
The stomach generates daily from five to 10 quarts of gastric juice, which digests food and destroys germs; this is equal to two gallons daily.
The entire human intestine is 10 feet (3.04 m) longer than the body.
The average small intestine is approximately 23 feet (7 m) long.
The average large intestine is approximately five feet (1.5 m) long.
The human body expels methane gas on average 14 to 23 times per day totalling about two pints in volume mostly through burping.
Water is the most abundant chemical compound in living human cells, accounting for 65 to 90% of each cell.
The entire body is also made from the following elements: oxygen (65%), carbon (18%), hydrogen (10%), nitrogen (3%), calcium (1.5%), phosphorus (1.2%), potassium (0.2%), sulphur (0.2%), chlorine (0.2%), sodium (0.1%) plus traces of each of the following: cobalt, copper, fluorine, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium and zinc and even smaller amounts of aluminium, arsenic, bromine, lead, lithium, silica, strontium, vanadium and many others.
There are100,000,000,000,000 or 100 trillion cells in the human body but only one in 10 is human. Of these 90% are bacteria and fungi microbes and often viruses too. That is more than there are stars in the galaxy.
Every day the body generates 300 billion cells to replace those that die.
It takes one month for the liver to replace itself and every seven years the entire body has replaced itself.
Each eye is comprised of 130 million photo receptor cells
Each cell in the human body contains 23 pairs (46 in total) of chromosomes. The largest, chromosome 1, contains about 8000 genes. The smallest, chromosome 21, contains about 300 genes. (Chromosome 22 should be the smallest, but the scientists made a mistake when they first numbered them)
There are approximately 23,000 genes which make up only 3% of the DNA.
For every human gene in the human body there are 360 microbial genes.
There are two metres of DNA in the nucleus of every cell.
One gram of DNA can hold about two petabytes of data which is the equivalent of about three million CDs.
Using the same amount of space, DNA can store 140,000 times more data than ferric oxide molecules, which store information on computer hard drives.
A human possesses enough DNA, stretched out in a line, to reach from here to the sun and back more than 300 times which is approximately 6000 million miles of DNA strands in the entire body.
Cells are made of molecules. Molecules are made of atoms. There are 118 different types of atoms known of so far.
There are100,000,000,000,000 or 100 trillion atoms in an average human cell.
There are approximately 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (seven billion billion billion) atoms in one average sized human body.
It is estimated that each cell in the human body contains about 100 times as many atoms as there are stars in the Milky Way. The Milky Way has 200 billion stars.

Related subjects

Join our mailing list to receive your monthly emailed newsletter with all the latest scientific findings for natural health remedies.