Tuberculosis is no longer considered incurable if it is tackled in the early stages. An all round scheme of dietetic and vitality building programme along natural lines is the only method to overcome the disease. As a first step, the patient should be put on an exclusive fresh fruit diet for three or four days. He should have three meals a day of fresh, juicy fruits, such as apples, grapes, pears, peaches, oranges and pineapple.

After the all-fruit diet, the patient should adopt a fruit-and milk diet for four to six weeks. For this diet, the meals are exactly the same as the all-fruit diet, but with milk added to each fruit meal. The milk should be fresh and unboiled, but may be slightly warmed if desired. It should be sipped very slowly. Thereafter, the patient may adopt a well-balanced diet consisting of seeds, nuts and grains, vegetables and fruits.

The chief therapeutic agent needed for the treatment of tuberculosis is calcium. Milk, being the richest food source for the supply of organic calcium to the body, should be taken liberally. In the dietary outlined above, at least one liter of milk should be taken daily. Further periods on the exclusive fruit diet followed by a fruit-and-milk diet should be adopted at intervals of two or three months depending on the progress. During the first few days of the treatment, the bowels should be cleansed daily with the warm-water enema and afterwards as necessary.

The patient should avoid all devitalised foods such as white bread, white sugar, refined cereals, puddings and pies, tinned, canned and preserved foods. He should also shun strong tea, coffee, condiments, pickles and sauces.

The use of milk decoction with garlic has been found beneficial in the treatment of tuberculosis. Four cloves of garlic and one scraped coconut should be boiled in a liter of goat's milk till it is reduced to half. This milk, sweetened with honey, may be drunk early in the morning. This treatment should be continued for at least six weeks.
Indian gooseberry (Amla) has proved another effective food remedy for tuberculosis. A tablespoon each of fresh amla juice and honey mixed together should be taken every morning in this condition. Its regular use will promo1e vigour and vitality in the body within a few days. Regular use of radish also helps.