Fundamentals of Therapy
GA 27
X. The Function of Fat in the Human Organism and the Deceptive Local Syndromes
[ 1 ] Of all substances in the organism, fat proves least of all a foreign body when taken in from the outer world. More readily than any other substance, it passes over from the quality it brings with it when taken as a food, to the mode of action of the human organism itself. The 80% of fat contained, for instance, in butter, passes unchanged through the domains of ptyalin and pepsin and is only transformed by the pancreatic juice into glycerine and fatty acids.
[ 2 ] This behaviour of fat is only possible because it carries with it as little as possible of the specific nature of a foreign organism (of its etheric forces, etc.) into the human organism. The latter can easily incorporate it into its own activity.
[ 3 ] This again is due to the fact that fat plays its part above all in the production of the inner warmth. Now the inner warmth is the element of the physical organism in which the ego organization prefers to live. Of every substance to be found in the human body, only as much is appropriate for the ego organization as gives rise to the development of warmth. By its total behaviour fat proves itself to be a substance which merely fills the body, is merely carried by the body, and is important for the active organization through those processes alone in which it engenders warmth. Derived as foodstuff, for example, from an animal source, fat will take nothing with it from the animal organism into the human, save only its inherent faculty of evolving warmth.
[ 4 ] Now this development of warmth is one of the last processes of the metabolism. The fat received as food is therefore preserved as such throughout the first and middle processes of metabolism; its absorption only takes place in the region of the inmost activities of the body, beginning with the pancreatic fluid.
[ 5 ] The occurrence of fat in human milk points to an exceedingly significant activity of the organism. The body does not consume this fat, it allows it to pass over into a product of secretion. Now, into this secreted fat the ego-organization also passes over. It is on this that the form-giving power of the mother's milk depends. The mother thereby transmits her own formative forces of the ego-organization to the child, and thus adds something more to the formative forces she has already transmitted by heredity.
[ 6 ] The healthy process occurs when the human form-giving forces consume the fat store present in the body in the development of warmth. On the other hand it is unhealthy if the fat is not used up by the ego-organization in processes of warmth, but carried over, unused, into the organism. Such fat will then give rise at one point or another in the body to an excessive power of producing warmth. The warmth thus engendered will mislead other life processes by interfering in the organism here and there without being grasped by the ego-organization. There may arise what may be called parasitic foci of warmth. These bear within themselves the tendency to inflammatory conditions. The origin of such must be sought in the fact that the body develops a tendency to accumulate more fat than the ego-organization requires for its life in inner warmth.
[ 7 ] In the healthy organism, the animal (astral) forces will produce or receive as much fat as the ego-organization is able to translate into warmth-processes and, in addition, as much as is required to keep the mechanism of muscle and bone in order. The warmth that the body needs will then be created. If the animal forces supply the ego-organization with an insufficient quantity of fat, the ego-organization will experience hunger for warmth. The necessary warmth must be withdrawn from the activities of the organs. The latter then become internally stiff and fragile. Their essential processes take place too sluggishly. We see the appearance, at one point or another, of pathological processes for an understanding of which it will be necessary to recognize if and how they are due to a general deficiency of fat.
[ 8 ] If on the other hand, as in the case already mentioned, there is an excess of fat, giving rise to parasitic foci of warmth, organs will be taken hold of in such a way as to become active beyond their normal measure. Tendencies towards excessive nourishment will then arise, so as to overload the organism. It need not imply that the person becomes an excessive eater. It may be, for instance, that the metabolic activity of the organism supplies too much substance to an organ of the head, withdrawing it from organs of the lower body and from the secretory processes. The action of the organs thus deprived will then be lowered in vitality. The secretions of the glands, for instance, may become deficient. The fluid constituents of the organism are brought into an unhealthy relationship in their mixture. For instance, the secretion of bile may become too great compared with that of pancreatic fluid. Once again it will be important to recognize how a syndrome arising locally is to be judged in that it may proceed in one way or another from an unhealthy activity of fat.
X. Die Rolle des Fettes im menschlichen Organismus und die trügerischen lokalen Symptomenkomplexe
[ 1 ] Das Fett ist diejenige Substanz des Organismus, die sich, indem sie von außen aufgenommen wird, am wenigsten als Fremdstoff erweist. Fett geht am leichtesten aus der Art, die es bei der Nahrungsaufnahme mitbringt, in die Art des menschlichen Organismus über. Die achtzig Prozent Fett, welche z. B. die Butter enthält, gehen durch die Gebiete des Ptyalin und Pepsin unverändert hindurch und werden nur vom Pankreassaft verändert, nämlich in Glycerin und Fettsäuren verwandelt.
[ 2 ] Dieses Verhalten des Fettes ist nur dadurch möglich, daß es von der Natur eines fremden Organismus (von dessen ätherischen Kräften usw.) möglichst wenig in den menschlichen hinüberträgt. Dieser kann es leicht seiner eigenen Wirksamkeit einverleiben.
[ 3 ] Das rührt davon her, daß das Fett bei der Erzeugung der inneren Wärme seine besondere Rolle spielt. Diese Wärme ist aber dasjenige, in dem, als im physischen Organismus, die Ich-Organisation vorzüglich lebt. Von jeder im menschlichen Körper befindlichen Substanz kommt für die Ich-Organisation nur soviel in Betracht, als bei deren Wirksamkeit Wärmeentfaltung stattfindet. Fett erweist sich durch sein ganzes Verhalten als eine Substanz, die nur Auffüllung des Körpers ist, nur von ihm getragen wird und allein durch diejenigen Vorgänge, bei denen sich Wärme entwickelt, für die tätige Organisation in Betracht kommt. Fett, das z. B. als Nahrung aus einem tierischen Organismus genommen ist, nimmt von diesem in den menschlichen Organismus nichts hinüber als allein seine Fähigkeit Wärme zu entwickeln.
[ 4 ] Diese Wärme-Entwicklung geschieht aber als eine der spätesten Vorgänge des Stoffwechsels. Es erhält sich daher als Nahrung aufgenommenes Fett durch die ersten und mittleren Vorgänge des Stoffwechsels hindurch und wird erst in dem Bereich der inneren Körpertätigkeit, am frühesten vom Bauchspeichel aufgenommen.
[ 5 ] Wenn das Fett in der menschlichen Milch erscheint, so weist dies auf eine sehr bemerkenswerte Tätigkeit des Organismus hin. Der Körper zehrt dies Fett nicht in sich auf; er läßt es in ein Absonderungsprodukt übergehen. Es geht damit aber auch die Ich-Organisation in dieses Fett über. Darauf beruht die bildsame Kraft der Muttermilch. Die Mutter überträgt dadurch ihre eigenen bildsamen Kräfte der Ich-Organisation auf das Kind und fügt damit den Gestaltungskräften, die schon durch die Vererbung übertragen worden sind, noch etwas hinzu.
[ 6 ] Der gesunde Weg ist dann vorhanden, wenn die menschlich bildsamen Kräfte die im Körper vorhandenen Fettvorräte in der Wärmeentwicklung aufzehren. Ein ungesunder Weg ist derjenige, wenn das Fett nicht von der Ich-Organisation in Wärmeprozessen verbraucht, sondern unverbraucht in den Organismus geführt wird. Solches Fett bildet einen Überschuß an der Möglichkeit, Wärme da und dort im Organismus zu erzeugen. Es ist das Wärme, die beirrend für die anderen Lebensvorgänge da und dort im Organismus eingreift, und die von der Ich-Organisation nicht umfaßt wird. Es entstehen da gewissermaßen parasitäre Wärmeherde Diese tragen die Neigung zu entzündlichen Zuständen in sich. Die Entstehung solcher Herde muß darin gesucht werden, daß der Körper die Neigung entwickelt, mehr Fett zustande zu bringen, als die Ich-Organisation. zu ihrem Leben in der Innenwärme braucht.
[ 7 ] Im gesunden Organismus werden die animalischen (astralischen) Kräfte so viel Fett erzeugen oder aufnehmen, als durch die Ich-Organisation in Wärmevorgänge übergeführt werden kann, und dazu noch diejenige Menge, die notwendig ist, um die Muskel- und Knochen-Mechanik in Ordnung zu halten. In diesem Falle wird die dem Körper notwendige Wärme erzeugt werden. Tragen die animalischen Kräfte der Ich-Organisation zu wenig Fett zu, so tritt für die Ich-Organisation Wärmehunger ein. Diese muß die ihr notwendige Wärme den Tätigkeiten der Organe entziehen. Dadurch werden diese gewissermaßen in sich brüchig, versteift. Ihre notwendigen Vorgänge spielen sich träge ab. Man wird dann da oder dort Krankheitsprozesse auftreten sehen, bei denen es sich darum handeln wird, zu erkennen, ob sie in einem allgemeinen Fettmangel ihre Ursachen haben.
[ 8 ] Tritt der schon erwähnte andere Fall ein, das Zuviel an Fettgehalt, so daß parasitäre Wärmeherde sich bilden, dann werden Organe so erfaßt, daß sie sich über ihr Maß hinaus betätigen. Es werden dadurch Neigungen erzeugt zu überreichlicher, den Organismus überlastender Nahrungsaufnahme. Es ist gar nicht nötig, daß dies so sich entwickelt, daß die in Frage kommende Person ein Zuviel-Esser wird. Es kann sein, daß z. B. bei der Stoffwechseltätigkeit im Organismus einem Kopforgan zuviel Substanz zugeführt und dadurch solche den Unterleibsorganen und Absonderungs-Vorgängen entzogen wird. Dann tritt herabgestimmte Tätigkeit bei den schlecht versorgten Organen ein. Die Drüsenabsonderungen können mangelhaft werden. Die flüssigen Bestandteile des Organismus geraten in ein ungesundes Mischungsverhältnis. Es kann z. B. die Gallenabsonderung im Verhältnis zur Absonderung der Bauchspeicheldrüse zu groß werden. Wieder wird es darauf ankommen, daß man erkenne, wie ein lokal auftretender Symptomenkomplex in seinem Hervorgehen aus ungesunder Fettbetätigung zu beurteilen ist.
X. The role of fat in the human organism and the deceptive local symptom complexes
[ 1 ] Fat is the substance of the organism which, when ingested from the outside, is least likely to be a foreign substance. Fat is most easily transferred from the species it comes from when ingested into the species of the human organism. The eighty percent of fat contained in butter, for example, passes through the areas of ptyalin and pepsin unchanged and is only changed by the pancreatic juice, namely transformed into glycerine and fatty acids.
[ 2 ] This behavior of fat is only possible because it transfers as little as possible of the nature of a foreign organism (of its ethereal powers, etc.) into the human organism. The latter can easily incorporate it into its own effectiveness.
[ 3 ] This is due to the fact that fat plays a special role in the production of internal heat. This warmth, however, is that in which, as in the physical organism, the ego organization lives primarily. Of every substance in the human body, only so much comes into consideration for the ego-organization as the development of warmth takes place during its activity. Fat proves by its whole behaviour to be a substance that is only a filling of the body, is only carried by it and only comes into consideration for the active organization through those processes in which heat develops. Fat, for example, which is taken as food from an animal organism, takes nothing over from it into the human organism except its ability to develop heat.
[ 4 ] However, this heat development occurs as one of the latest processes of metabolism. Therefore, fat ingested as food is preserved through the first and middle processes of metabolism and is only absorbed in the area of internal body activity, earliest by the pancreas.
[ 5 ] When fat appears in human milk, this indicates a very remarkable activity of the organism. The body does not consume this fat; it allows it to pass into a secretion product. But the ego organization also passes into this fat. The formative power of mother's milk is based on this. The mother thereby transfers her own formative powers of the ego organization to the child and thus adds something to the formative powers that have already been transferred through heredity.
[ 6 ] The healthy path exists when the human formative forces consume the fat stores present in the body in the development of heat. An unhealthy way is when the fat is not consumed by the ego organization in heat processes, but is fed into the organism unused. Such fat forms a surplus of the possibility of generating heat here and there in the organism. It is heat that interferes with other life processes here and there in the organism and is not encompassed by the ego organization. To a certain extent, parasitic foci of warmth arise which carry within them the tendency to inflammatory conditions. The origin of such foci must be sought in the fact that the body develops the tendency to produce more fat than the ego organization needs for its life in the inner warmth.
[ 7 ] In a healthy organism, the animal (astral) forces will produce or absorb as much fat as can be converted into heat processes by the ego organization, plus the amount necessary to keep the muscle and bone mechanics in order. In this case, the heat necessary for the body will be generated. If the animal forces supply the ego organization with too little fat, the ego organization will experience heat hunger. It must extract the heat it needs from the activities of the organs. This causes them to become fragile and rigid. Their necessary processes are sluggish. You will then see disease processes occurring here and there, where it will be a matter of recognizing whether they have their causes in a general lack of fat.
[ 8 ] If the other case already mentioned occurs, the excess of fat content, so that parasitic heat foci form, then organs are seized in such a way that they become active beyond their measure. This creates a tendency to eat too much, overloading the organism. It is not at all necessary for this to develop in such a way that the person in question becomes an overeater. It is possible, for example, that during the metabolic activity in the organism too much substance is supplied to a head organ and thereby withdrawn from the abdominal organs and secretory processes. Then the activity of the poorly supplied organs is reduced. The glandular secretions can become deficient. The liquid components of the organism get into an unhealthy mixing ratio. For example, the secretion of bile may become too great in relation to the secretion of the pancreas. Again, it will be important to recognize how a locally occurring symptom complex is to be judged in its emergence from unhealthy fat activity.