Inflammation – good or bad?
”Ouch, my knee is red, warm and filled with fluid” – a client came to the clinic with an acute gout attack. His knee was so swollen that he couldn’t bend it – it was pointing straight out into the air when he sat down.
He had been told this was simply something he had to live with and that he should just take some pills whenever he experienced an attack. He knew that he was too acidic and wanted to do something about it as his stomach loudly complained about the arthritis medication. He got a really bad stomach ache from all the pills. So, he felt it was the choice between two evils.
Is inflammation a sign of health and the body’s cry for help?
Inflammation is one of the body’s natural defence mechanisms, characterized by swelling, redness, pain, irritation and heat.
When the mucous membranes in the bladder, stomach and intestines are inflamed, we call it catarrh. Other forms of inflammation can be caused by rheumatism, gout – swollen and sore joints – or from something as simple as a mosquito bite, resulting in a swelling, because the body sends blood and lymph to the affected area in order to remove the poison.
When the mucous membranes in the stomach receives too much coffee, alcohol or spicy food, it reacts by creating an extra lining of mucous. The same happens when we expose ourselves to smoke, chemical substances, sugar, trans fatty acids and unhealthy stress.
Maybe you remember Der Captain who mostly lived off of rum and suffered from reoccurring gout attacks, just like our friend from the clinic. When the intake of acidic foods or drinks exceeds the body’s ability to get rid of the excess through the urinal track, the uric acid crystals are distributed out into the joints and muscles where they damage the least. The body creates a local dumping site in the knee or toes which is very painful.
So maybe we should get used to looking at inflammation as the body’s cry for help instead of simply taking an extra pill. Instead of fighting the body’s natural reactions, it could be an idea to support the body’s own support and defence system.
Alma Nissen’s potato treatment
Back in the 1970-90’s the Danish Alma Nissen functioned at her retreat centre in Sweden, where she helped many arthritis patients be relieved of their pains.
The key was simple: A diet which released the acidic build up and accumulated in the body. It consisted of potato soup, plenty of vegetables, herbs especially garlic and liquids. And they got healthy thanks to the pioneer Alma, who simply filled her patients with alkaline foods and drinks.
She also treated patients with skin diseases such as psoriasis, muscular rheumatism, migraines, gall stones and cancer using this radical de-acidification tactic.
1) Fatigue and loss of energy.
2) Irritation and sensitivity.
3) Increase in mucous production and congestion.
4) Inflammation/catarrh.
5) Hardening of soft and elastic tissue, like arteriosclerosis, fibromyalgia and lupus.
6) Ulceration.
7) Degenerative conditions such as cancer, heart diseases, stroke, sclerosis and diabetes.
As a doctor I have sworn an oath on ”primum non nocere” – “first, do no harm!” as the father of the doctorial field Hippocrates said it. That is what we do when preventing illnesses and supporting the body.
After this we started the complete de-acidification of his body. He received everything we had including alkaline green vegetables, fruits, oils and plenty of alkaline ionised water. He used to drink approximately ½ litre of water every day which simply wasn’t enough with the high acid levels in his body. To hydrate was the biggest challenge for him. Slowly but surely he poured water into his system so the waste products could be cleansed out.
He was given strong antioxidants, which worked against inflammation both by the patches and also by anti-oxidising tonic to neutralize the free radicals, which are creating inflammation and trouble in his system.
After a couple of weeks, he was able to sit with his knees bent. His stomach was spared from the strong arthritis medication. Slowly he had been ‘de-acidified’ and was getting back on his feet. He had been able to leave the pills on the shelf, because he knew how to balance his lifestyle in order to keep himself healthy. In reality it is fairly simple, and it is my goal to teach this, host workshops and retreats so that more and more people can take control of their own health.
Alma Nissen
Alma Nissen was a health pioneer and made health retreats famous. Her recipe for potato soup is still widely known in health communities and many other diets from her invention still live on at its peak.
Alma Nissen was at the age of ten hit by an arthritis attack in which her knee was swollen, red and in pain – and her hands stiffened.
Alma’s mother gave her plenty of potato soup to drink and after ten days the attack was over. Alma didn’t take much notice of it before she reached menopause in which it started building up again and caused her pain in all her joints. This was when she remembered her mom’s treatment and she started immediately with the treatment. For forty days she drank potato and herbal soup and it helped.
Since then for thirty five years she ran “Brandal Helsehjem” south of Stockholm in Sweden, where patients migrated to and got healthier through drinking potato soup and garlic, the antibiotic of nature, ”where the bacteria fell like bowling pins when they met garlic” as Alma put it. Alma lived until she was about 95 years old. I am so lucky to know Benny Jørgensen, who in total worked at Brandal for 15 years with Alma. Peter Laursen wrote a book about her: “Gigtens gåde er løst”: A book in Danish about Alma Nissen’s life and work.
About the author
Dr. Pernille Knudtzon, MD, Specialist in Family Medicine, Acupuncture, New Health Technology and NLP Trainer runs Vitafakta Health Clinic in Southern Spain. Her main medical training was done in Denmark. But curiosity led her to travel and study Holistic Medicine and Lifestyle aspects in many places around the world over the last 30 years. From her consultation in southern Spain she is now providing Personal Health Consultations based on a holistic health and functional medicine approach. She focuses on Health, Wellbeing and Vitality and guides her clients to live a healthy life and to thrive and shine the most. She is presently studying Functional Medicine at the Institute of Functional Medicine https://www.ifm.org/.