The theory suggested by me is in keeping with the opinions of Dr. Boenninghausen, Dr. Farrington and Dr. Kent.
Dr. Boenninghausen, in the pamphlet on homoeopathic diet, stated – “Even more important in this direction is the observation frequently made, that as a rule only such medical substances act in a disturbing manner, on substances given before as have homoeopathic relation to it, i.e., which have the virtue and tendency of producing similar effects on healthy persons. On this alone the antidotal virtue rests (vide his Lesser Writings, page 270).” Here Dr. Boenninghausen related the antidotal diet that should be forbidden.
Dr. Farrington also forbade the diet which is an antagonistic to the indicated remedy: “There are some medicines which citric acid will antidote and some which will disagree with it. Citric acid is chiefly found in oranges and lemons. Again, if you are giving Belladonna, you should not think of using vinegar as vinegar retards the action of that drug. But when giving Belladonna, you must use lemonade as that aids the action of that drug. Antimonium crudum will not tolerate acids, but you may use tamarind water (Farrington, Clinical Materia Medica, page 516, fourth edition).” Dr. Farrington is clear about diet and forbade antagonistic diets.
Dr. Kent is very explicit in the matter of diet and his lines are worth quoting:.
When patients are under constitutional remedies they need caution about certain kinds of foods that are known to disagree with their constitutional remedy. A Bryonia patient is often made sick from eating Sauer kraut, from vegetable salads, chicken salad, etc., so that you need not be surprised, after administering a dose of Bryonia for a constitutional state, to have your patient come in and say she has been made very ill from eating some one of these things. It is well to caution persons who are under the influence of Pulsatilla to avoid the use of fat food, because very often they will upset the action of the remedy. It is well to say to patients who are under Lycopodium, “see that you do not eat oysters while taking this medicine.”
These medicines are known to produce states in the stomach inimical to certain kinds of foods; certain remedies have violently inimical relation to acids, lemons, etc. If you do not particularly mention the fact and say, “You must not touch vinegar or lemons, nor take lemon juice while taking this medicine,” you will have the remedy spoiled and then wonder why it is. The medicine often stops acting and the patient gets a disordered condition of the stomach and bowels; a medicine that should act for a long time ceases action and you do not know what the trouble is. Homoeopathy will rule out such things as are inimical to the remedies and inimical to patients in general or do not agree with a particular constitution.
To have an iron- clad rule is not correct practice, the only iron-clad rule is to be sure that the remedy is similar to the patient when you administer it and the things that he is to have are to be in agreement with that remedy. I only speak of these things to impress upon you the importance of feeding and treating your patient in accordance with the remedy; in accordance with a principle and not by rule; do not have one list of foods for your patients; do not have a list of things of everybody. There is no such thing in Homoeopathy.
The above quotations fully support my conclusion in a very explicit way.
May I now place this small treatise before the homoeopathic world. I would be thaNkful if it becomes of any use to the cause which I do dearly uphold.
CALCUTTA, INDIA.
