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Part 12: What is Nature Cure (Naturopathy) Diet?
14 Jul 2019
Disclaimer
All Parts (1 — 22): Overview of Diets & Fasts

Nature Cure (Naturopathy) is a food system and healing tradition found in many pockets of the world. In India, it is supported by the Government of India via Ministry of AYUSH. Naturopathy degrees are offered in a few Indian institutes.

A Nature Cure (Naturopathy) Diet is like WFPB-SOS (Whole Food, Plant-Based without Salt, Sugar and Oils). However, there is a shift in emphasis: vegetables and fruits are eaten in abundance. Grains and beans are reduced. So in the diagram below, more foods from the 'Forest Dwellers' food category are consumed, fewer from 'Agriculture'. For the big picture of various food sources, see Pre-Agriculture, Agriculture & Modern Food Sources.

Naturopaths with Online Presence

Here are five Nature Cure (Naturopathy) advocates with significant online presence. By browsing through their writings and YouTube videos, we can get an idea of what Nature Cure (Naturopathy) guidelines are.

1) Acharya Mohan Gupta: A teacher who follows in the footsteps of Lakshmana Sarma (1879-1965; often called the 'Father of Naturopathy in India') and his student S Swaminathan (1921-2006). He explains Nature Cure guidelines in great detail through hundreds of YouTube videos and books in Hindi and English. Acharya Mohan Gupta is the guiding spirit behind Natural Life Style, a clinic in Delhi. The clinic holds regular meetings for information dissemination and support.

2) Dr Achyuthan Eswar: Dr Eswar has combined Nature Cure (Naturopathy) with WFPB-NO guidelines. In fact, Dr Greger (who maintains NutritionFacts and has written the popular book How Not To Die (576 pages, 2015)) is on the board of his clinic called PHC Lifestyle Clinic at Bangalore. For more information about Dr Eswar and PHC Lifestyle Clinic in Bangalore, India, see this article.

Dr Eswar has published 200+ Recipes at NutritionScience — we have to keep clicking on 1-2-3-... at the bottom of the page to browse through all recipes; there is no search or index. NaturopathYoga recipes has the same recipes. Dr Eswar is shifting his website from NaturoPathYoga to NutritionScience, so this page may not get updated over time.

3) Dr Manthena Raju: Heads the Manthena Satyanarayana Raju Arogyalayam (clinic in Andhra Pradesh, India). He appeared in a series of 750+ daily TV shows in early 2010s: see YouTube videos by user cleinfo123 — all videos are in Telugu language.

Recipes in English: some recipes use milk products like buttermilk and curd but these constitute 'transitional foods' / 'transition recipes'.

natural_lifestyle_manthena is a Yahoo group; this community is no longer active but the Files section has English translations of Dr Manthena Raju's books. Additionally, there are telephone numbers and email addresses of those who follow him sincerely.

For more details, see this article: Dr Manthena Raju.

4) Dr Gurmail Singh Virk: Dr Gurmail Singh Virk spent 30 years as an allopathic doctor, retiring as CMO of a hospital in Punjab. Later in his career, he shifted to Nature Cure! So he's unique in the sense that he speaks both languages: allopathy and Nature Cure! His son (Dr Maninder Singh Virk) is also a doctor with a degree in Nature Cure. He has several online videos explaining Nature Cure, as practiced at his center in Bhadaur, Punjab, India. For details, please see Dr Gurmail Singh Virk.

5) Subah Jain: Subah Jain advocates Nature Cure (Naturopathy) guidelines through workshops and YouTube videos centered around cooking. In 2019, her organization is holding workshops in Delhi and Mumbai: see Satvic Movement website.

Subah Jain showcases her entire system in 7-8 short videos for Chapatis, Veggies, Smoothies, Salads and Juices. I encourage my friends to browse through Recipes by Subah Jain. She has written a book as well: The Food Book (2019) with 45 recipes.

WFPB-SOS vs Nature Cure (Naturopathy)

In terms of inclusions and exclusions, the food categories of both WFPB-SOS and Nature Cure (Naturopathy) are identical! However, there is a shift in emphasis.

  • WFPB-SOS emphasizes a 'starch-based diet". Grains (rice, wheat, millets, barley, corn, and so on) and tubers (potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, cassava, and so on) are to be eaten in abundance, along with beans, vegetables and fruits.
  • Nature Cure (Naturopathy) guidelines emphasize fruits & vegetables! So Fruits & Vegetables (not Grains and Tubers) should be eaten in abundance. Both Grains and Beans are part of Nature Cure guidelines. However, Beans are often discouraged in times of sickness. Grains are often reduced in quantity in favor of Fruits and Vegetables. Some advanced practitioners reduce grain intake to zero.
  • Nature Cure guidelines also lean towards raw foods.

Additionally, Nature Cure also has a long list of guidelines pertaining to quantity and timing of water intake, Intermittent Fasting (Time Restricted Feeding), timing of meals, combinations of ingredients, fasting, enemas, sunbathing, and so on. Generally speaking, WFPB-SOS practitioners do not emphasize guidelines like enemas, sunbathing or ingredient combinations.

History of Naturopathy

Even though Nature Cure is an ancient system, its revival in India was sparked approximately a hundred years ago by translations of English texts written by American and British authors into native Indian languages. History of Naturopathy in India is an insightful article.

Lakshmana Sarma → S Swaminathan → Acharya Mohan Gupta

Over the last 100 years, many Naturopathy teachers and lineages have been established. One of them is Lakshmana Sarma → S Swaminathan → Acharya Mohan Gupta.

Lakshmana Sarma (Wikipedia) (1879 - 1965) spent over 20 years with his Guru Ramana Maharshi and translated several spiritual texts. Two biographical articles: here and here.

Books by Lakshmana Sarma:

  1. Practical Nature Cure (1933) by Lakshaman Sarma is said to be a landmark book. Available as PDF file and text file. For the publication of this book, Lakshmana Sarma is often called the Father of Nature Cure in India.
  2. The Fasting Cure (1948) by Sarma K Lakshman. This book is a supplement to Practical Nature Cure.
  3. Speaking of Nature Cure (1986) by Lakshmana Sarma and S Swaminathan.
  4. Fasting Cure & Vital Economy (2013) by Ach. Lakshmana Sarma (published posthumously).
  5. Constipation and Dyspepsia (2015) by Ach. Lakshmana Sarma (published posthumously).

S Swaminathan (1921 - 2006) was a student of Lakshmana Sarma. See biography and article in The Hindu. His voice may be heard in videos in this YT channel.

Books by S Swaminathan:

  1. Secrets of Wellness (107 pages, 2009) by S Swaminathan.
  2. Nature The Only Healer (2006) by S Swaminathan.
  3. Speaking of Nature Cures (2011) by Mohan Gupta and S Swaminathan.

Acharya Mohan Gupta follows in the footsteps of Lakshman Sarma and S Swaminathan. He maintains a clinic called Natural Life Style (NLS) in Delhi.

Books by Acharya Mohan Gupta: Several books in Hindi which may be purchased from NLS directly. Below are some links to Amazon where only some of the books are available:

  1. (2011) Speaking of Nature Cures by Mohan Gupta and S Swaminathan.
  2. The Natural Way to Medicine Free Life (Rs 736) by Acharya Mohan Gupta, Sumanraj Khurana and Kanta Khurana.

Videos by Acharya Mohan Gupta: YouTube channel has hundreds of videos! Some food-related videos:

  1. (NLS) Food guidelines
  2. (NLS) Milk is a Silent Killer

Seminars by Acharya Mohan Gupta: NLS Event in Wisconsin (October 2018).

Books on Naturopathy

Books from different eras that have shaped Naturopathy over the years.

  1. (1892) The New Science of Healing by Louiys Kuhne. See Wikipedia page.
  2. (1903) Return to Nature by Adolf Just. Available as PDF file. This book inspired MK Gandhi to explore nature cure.
  3. (1913) Nature Cure by Henry Lindlahr. Available as PDF file.
  4. (1936) Everybody's Guide to Nature Cure (504 pages) by Harry Benjamin. PDF fileSoil and Health Library.
  5. (1954) Nature Cure by MK Gandhi. Copy at archive.org.
  6. (2005) Ph.D. Thesis by Harilakshmeendra Kumar C R. See Table 5.2 in Chapter 5 for food guidelines.
  7. (2013) The Complete Handbook of Nature Cure (5th Edition) by Dr H K Bakhru. Available at archive.org. Another copy in PDF format.
  8. (2016) Naturopathy in South India. See PDF file.

Soil And Health Library lists many more books.

Articles on Naturopathy

  1. History and Development of Naturopathy in India by Rajiv Rastogi, pages 71-78, J. Ind. Inst. Hist. Med., Vol XXXVIII, 2008.
  2. Top Herbs (Webinar)YouTube video. Other Naturopathic Webinars at AANMC.
  3. An Idol of Idealism
  4. Yoga and Naturopathy in India (position paper).
  5. Natural Hygiene (Prakriti Jeevanama)
  6. WNF White Paper: Naturopathic Philosophies, Principles and Theories, 2017.
  7. H-E-A-L-T-H is Health by Dr C V Jayamani.

Nature Cure Centers in India

Nature Cure centers or Naturopathy clinics abound in India. People usually stay here for 7 to 30 days. Here is a partial list:

  1. Jindal NatureCure Institute in Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
  2. Manthena Satyanarayana Raju Arogyalayam.
  3. Gandhi Smarak Nidhi in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
  4. Arogya Mandir in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.
  5. Vaidyagrama in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Interview with Vaidyagrama founder and Blog article about Vaidyagrama. The parent organization behind Vaidyagrama is Punarnava Trust.
  6. Sanjeevani Naturopathy
  7. Ideal Health Foundation
  8. PHC Lifestyle Clinic, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
  9. Five Lotus Indo-German Nature Cure Center, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India.
  10. Aayushmaan — Dr Raman's Nature Cure Foundation, near Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
  11. SWAS Healthcare, Bhuj-Kutch, Gujrat, India.
  12. Vishwakalyan Ayurvedi-Naturopathy Spa-Hospital & Research Center, Ahmedabad, Gujrat, India.
  13. Pathanjali Arogyadham, Kundapura, Udupi District, Karnataka, India.
  14. Prakriti Kunj, Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India.
  15. J.S.S. Institute of Naturopathy & Yogic Sciencesm Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
  16. Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, India.
  17. Sri Dharmastala Manjunatheshwara, Udupi, Karnataka, India.
  18. Yogashray Sewayatan, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
  19. Nirvana Naturopathy & Retreat, Nasik, Maharashtra, India.
  20. Jagadguru Kripalu Yoga & Naturopathy Hospital, Cuttack, Odisha, India.
  21. Aahana - The Corbett Wilderness, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India.
  22. Nimba Naturopathy and Wellness Retreat, near Ahmedabad, Gujrat, India.
  23. Rudraksha Naturopathy Clinic, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India.

Several other centers and clinics are listed here.

© Copyright 2008—2024, Gurmeet Manku.