Two years ago, after she steamrolled her way to the U.S. Tennis Open Women's Championship, Martina Navratilova cried a bit, kissed the trophy, and then on nationwide television thanked her nutritionist, Dr. Robert Haas, author of the best-selling diet book, "Eat To Win." Like many other athletes, Navatilova eats a high-carbohydrate diet, with fats not exceeding 20% of the total calories consumed, proteins taking up 10-15%, and carbohydrates accounting for a full 60-80%. Chinese may find such a cuisine to be a bit on the mild side, but Dr. Haas claims his diet relieves people of the need to take a whole host of medicines.

The term "natural remedy" was first coined a century ago in Germany and has once again become a common term in many countries. Actually, the philosophy behind it has been around for thousands of years. Simply put, it means that people should do without drugs and surgery and rely on their diet, massage, exercise, herbs, heat, and water treatments to maintain their health and ward off disease. Chinese tradition is rich in such medical lore, with the first recorded treatments dating back to the Chou dynasty (1066-771 B.C.).

Some view the pursuit of such regimens as being somehow a folk custom, but the evidence shows many of the high and mighty put their faith in such practices. Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ of Great Britain is said to regularly take with her on her travels a box containing a medicine made with arsenic and snake's venom. Princess Margaret has her own concoction derived from chrysanthemums. Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the ROC's founding father, claimed a Japanese doctor saved him from a possibly fatal stomach ailment by prescribing a diet which prohibited meat, milk, eggs, soup, and spicy foods. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, said, "Food is medicine."

Food has been linked with a number of so-called modern diseases: high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer. Regarding the last illness, one of the most dreaded in our society, doctors still have not yet located the precise causes, but are fairly certain that diet plays a role in its contraction.

Dietary cures fall roughly in three categories. Probably the most well-known advocates greater consumption of vegetables, fruits, and beans and less of meat, with some suggesting a 4:1 calorie ratio. Meat, high in fats, has sometimes been linked to cancer, for its digestion requires the creation of large amounts of bile, which later in the intestines can become cancerous tissue.

Another prescription calls for the consumption of more unprocessed foods which have greater roughage. Such a diet includes unshelled rice and unsifted flour and urges simplicity and moderation in the preparation of vegetables and fish. After 1880, when the first rice-shelling machine went into operation, white rice and its cousin, white flour, have gradually become the favorite basic foods of most people, but such a preference overlooks the fact that they miss the most nutritious parts of rice and wheat.

The third solution urges a diet which has more raw food. Eating the uncooked requires one to first determine that the food is clean and fresh, but in the end it is easier to digest and contains more nutritious enzymes.

Finally, there is fasting, practiced by such notable figures in history as Socrates, Jesus, and Gandhi, as well as by religions and cultures all over the world. Chinese history is also full of those who preached the value of not eating, and one mythical figure is said to have lived 300 years after he took up the habit. From a scientific standpoint, fasting can speed up the regeneration of cells and the elimination of waste matter. Nevertheless, doctors generally cast a disapproving eye on this cure, insisting on professional supervision in the employment of the method.

In addition to heat and water treatments, many people swear by the benefits of massage. Chinese medicine has long preached its efficacy in relieving tired, sore muscles as well as internal ailments, such as stomachaches. The number of techniques are many, using different parts of the hand and arm for different parts of the body, etc. Three years ago, one method that caught fire in Taiwan was one which said all pains were reflected back to the hands and feet. If one massaged the feet and then drank water, the pains would gradually disappear. But surprise of all surprises, this method cured many headaches, and cases of insomnia, arthritis, and rheumatism. Later investigation found little scientific backing for such treatment, but the truth remains that it helped many people.

Exercise remains perhaps the most popular natural remedy. It can strengthen the respiratory and circulation systems and help with everyday problems such as stress and insomnia.

One of the more unusual cures is the green shower. What it is is simply the revivifying effects of an outing in the woods. As a medical treatment, the green shower was first developed in Germany. Doctors there felt that a retreat from the dust and grime of the city would help their patients, and today over fifty sanitariums are located deep in the forests of Germany.

Later, research by Japanese scientists bore out the Germans' claims. They discovered that trees gave off essences and scents, called phytoncidere, which protect the trees by killing germs and diseases. Some trees are effective against whooping cough, while others can help get rid of colds. For best results, wearing cotton clothing and going barefoot are recommended.

Some doctors dismiss the above remedies as nonsense, based as they are on the practice and wisdom of those without a solid background in modern medicine. Such extremism finds its counterpart in those who reject all which is not "natural." One-sidedness in this matter aids no one. Many medicines count natural substances as their main ingredients, and some people all too willingly equate "natural" with "healthy," showing a surprising ignorance of what is in nature.

In sum, though, the more remedies, the better, for, in the end, only the individual can judge what will be the proper cure.

[Picture Caption]

A "green shower," or a stroll in the woods, can work wonders for one's health, without even changing clothes.

Fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber and minerals.

Soda pop, on the other hand, has little nutritional value and is best taken in moderation.

Meditation is one of the more composed forms of exercise.

A finger massage can be numbing and painful, but it often leaves one completely relaxed and refreshed.

This foot massage pad has the same soothing effect as the traditional Chinese treatment.

Consulting a Chinese blood vessel chart can improve the effects of a massage.

Yoga and aerobics are great for the health and figure. This ad here makes an apt partner for the chart opposite.

Fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber and minerals.

Soda pop, on the other hand, has little nutritional value and is best taken in moderation.

Fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber and minerals.

Meditation is one of the more composed forms of exercise.

A finger massage can be numbing and painful, but it often leaves one completely relaxed and refreshed.

This foot massage pad has the same soothing effect as the traditional Chinese treatment.

Consulting a Chinese blood vessel chart can improve the effects of a massage.

Yoga and aerobics are great for the health and figure. This ad here makes an apt partner for the chart opposite.