Veins

Aajonus defined varicose veins precisely as swollen capillaries, enlarged to a greater or lesser degree depending on how advanced the condition had become. In his words, "basically what they are is swollen capillaries." At their most minor, varicose veins appear as thread veins or spider veins, small and red, very close to the surface of the skin. At their most severe, as he observed in diabetics including his own mother, the veins themselves become large, prominent, and visibly distorted.

The primary mechanical cause he described was the penetration of sugars into vein and capillary walls. Sugars act like an acid, burning and irritating the vascular tissue. The body then sends fats to heal and soothe the damaged walls. If those fats are solid or cooked, they cannot integrate properly and instead cause occlusions. However, Aajonus was careful to state that the occlusion is not the first cause. The first cause is always the sugar saturation of the tissue. The walls then get "thicker, and thicker, and thicker, and thicker" as the cycle of irritation and repair continues without resolution, because the repairs are being made with inadequate materials.

This is why diabetics and hypoglycemics develop varicose veins faster than anyone else. The non-proper utilization of sugars in the body, whether from too much insulin or too little, means that sugar is constantly penetrating vascular tissue without being efficiently transported or metabolized elsewhere.

Beyond sugar, Aajonus identified several specific categories of toxins that cause veins and capillaries to thicken and become visible or distorted.

Heavy metals are among the most significant. He stated directly that varicose veins and spider veins develop because capillaries and veins are thickening with toxins, and that these toxins are "usually metals." The apple cider vinegar remedy he referenced from his reading works, he explained, because it helps chelate the heavy metals that have become embedded in the artery and capillary walls.

Caffeine was identified as the single greatest cause of flabby varicose veins in most people. Bodies with varicose veins have irritating accumulations of caffeine or other toxins in the veins, making them water-bloated and sluggish. Avoiding caffeine in beverages, medications, and dried peppers, including black pepper and cayenne, was therefore important to healing.

Toxic insulin was named explicitly as a cause of vein thickening. Toxic adrenaline was also identified as capable of causing veins and capillaries to thicken. Either of these hormones, when they have become chemically deranged through poor diet or glandular stress, can deposit in vascular walls and drive the same swelling and thickening process.

Excess water was also mentioned as a mechanism. He stated that too much water can cause veins to thicken by saturating the adenine, another pathway to the same outcome of distorted, visibly swollen veins.

Oral and injected contraceptives were also specifically named as causes of varicose veins, and were linked equally to phlebitis. The synthetic hormones in these preparations appear to damage vascular walls through a similar toxic accumulation pathway.

Carbohydrates in general were identified as the fastest drivers of vein deterioration and surface vein appearance. When asked whether surface veins appearing on the thighs and legs were mainly the result of carbohydrates, Aajonus confirmed that "carbs progress it quickest," and the liver was implicated as well.

Alcohol, along with carbs, was identified as one of the "greatest assaulters of capillaries," particularly in relation to broken capillaries appearing on the face at or just below the surface.

Aajonus addressed directly the confusion and distress that arises when someone beginning the Primal Diet notices more thread veins and surface veins appearing, not fewer. His position was unambiguous: the diet contains no toxins to cause those symptoms. The appearance of these veins is the result of a lifetime of eating toxic foods, and the process of them becoming visible is not caused by the diet but was already set in motion by decades of prior damage.

He stated that these symptoms usually pass with time, and acknowledged that in some cases it can take as long as sixteen years. The diet simply allows the body to detoxify and heal properly, in stages. What looks like worsening is the body surfacing stored damage as part of that staged healing process.

Aging and deterioration coincide when toxins have accumulated in the body, deteriorating it over time. The raw diet makes someone less susceptible to this progression, not more. Cooked foods added to the diet after beginning the Primal Diet may contribute to the problem and use up the nutrients in raw foods that would otherwise be directed at combating the stored poisons.

A distinct condition from varicose veins involves veins that are actually rupturing or bursting. Aajonus identified rupturing veins as the result of deficiencies in vitamin K and vitamin U. He addressed this in at least two separate consultations. In one, he observed that cells on the left side of the body had veins that were rupturing and described the bursting as something that, if left uncorrected, would lead to thrombosis and varicose veins later in life. His immediate protocol adjustment was to take ten percent off the celery in the juice formula and replace it with ten percent green cabbage, because the vitamin K and vitamin U in cabbage would correct the deficiency. He specified white or green cabbage, not red cabbage, and in another consultation recommended half a cup every other day for about six weeks.

Honeycomb was recommended as a direct support for ruptured or fragile veins in these cases, specifically for the beeswax content. He also noted that fruit should be kept minimal, with perhaps half a banana per day as a very slow-moving fruit with starch, and that cheese should accompany even that small amount.

In a case involving what appeared to be hemorrhaging in blood vessels along with some ulcerations, Aajonus also recommended eating lots of ripe meat and directed attention to the bacterial deficiency in the torso. He noted that the vitamin K and vitamin U from cabbage would help stabilize the hemorrhaging, but that the rebuilding of vein walls also required the raw protein that ripe meat provides.

Phlebitis, which is inflammation of vein walls occurring most commonly in the legs, was classified by Aajonus as a fat and protein deficiency, most often resulting from the inability to digest, assimilate, or utilize cooked fat and cooked proteins. Oral and injected contraceptives were also listed as causes in many cases. Sulfa drugs or other medications taken to reduce water retention were named as additional causes, and aluminum poisoning was linked to phlebitis as well, with reference to the Edema entry for further detail.

The symptoms he associated with phlebitis were swollen and reddened veins, increased pulse rate, slight fever, and pain.

His protocol for phlebitis involved consuming plenty of raw meat including raw fish with raw milk, and no-salt-added unheated cheese with an equal quantity of raw fat to strengthen the veins. For pain, he recommended either the honey-butter mixture or raw milk blended with bee pollen. If nervousness accompanied the condition, he noted further guidance would apply.

Aajonus used the appearance of veins on the hands as a diagnostic indicator, particularly in relation to hemorrhoids. He observed that when veins in the ball of the hand on the sex gland area or near the prostate and rectum zone are large and prominent, this indicates a tendency toward hemorrhoids. He stated plainly that he did not know the underlying reason, only that this was what he had consistently observed.

He explained the mechanism by which hemorrhoid-related vein swelling occurs. Fecal matter, when it is extremely toxic (including because it contains solvents), goes directly into the sphincter tissue and the surrounding veins then have to work to clean that toxicity. They begin to swell in an attempt to dilute and break down the material so it does not kill the cells. Raw fat was noted to begin reducing this swelling almost immediately when introduced to the diet, because it reduces the toxicity of the fecal matter itself.

He also noted that varicose veins in the hands and arms that "pop up" and seem to increase represent increased circulation, not a worsening condition.

Aajonus drew a significant distinction between malignant and benign tumors based on the presence or absence of vascular circulation. In a malignant (cancerous) tumor, veins, lymphatic circulation, and neurological flow all continue to pass into and through the tumor. The cancer cells, which contain a solvent-like dissolving fluid, can therefore receive nutrients and the surrounding dead cells can potentially be dissolved. Because circulation is present, a malignant tumor can dissolve relatively quickly or over a shorter timeframe when the body is properly supported.

In a benign tumor, there are no veins, no lymphatic, and no neurological circulation passing into the mass. It is a solid tumor that the body must dissolve from the outside inward, very slowly. The absence of circulation makes benign tumors in some respects harder to resolve than malignant ones, despite being less acutely dangerous.

Aajonus addressed the relationship between high blood pressure and congested veins directly. If a person has congestive arteries, congested veins, or a congested heart, high blood pressure is not a problem to be eliminated but a necessary adaptive response. The body raises blood pressure to keep the veins open when the system is congested. He referenced a study from England involving 45,000 people followed for approximately eight years in which people with low blood pressure had all the heart attacks while those with systolic pressures of 160 to 170 had none.

Aajonus warned against deep massage for people with arteriosclerosis or compromised veins. If someone with arteriosclerosis receives a deep massage, the practitioner can break veins and arteries, causing blood to enter the connective tissue. This produces bruising internally, whether visible externally or not. The appropriate approach for someone with vascular fragility is a light, stimulating massage or a tickle massage, which provides electrical stimulation to the lymphatic system without breaking vascular structures.

Aajonus outlined several specific foods and practices that support vein health across different conditions.

Raw meat, including raw fish, was consistently named as the most important long-term support for regenerating veins, making them strong and elastic over a period of many years. Raw meat provides the protein substrate for rebuilding collagen structures that heat-damaged food cannot supply.

Raw unripe pineapple with raw cream, or with stone-pressed olive oil when cream is unavailable, was listed as soothing and strengthening for varicose veins. Pineapple with coconut cream was also mentioned in the context of supporting leg circulation more broadly.

Cheese and honey together were noted as useful for circulation support in the legs, including in the context of varicose and spider veins.

Hot water bottles applied to the legs, wrapped loosely with a towel to tent the heat into the area, were recommended to increase local circulation. More circulation brings more nutrients to the area. The instruction was to wrap loosely, not tightly, so that the heat could permeate the tissue without constriction.

Warm baths were listed as soothing and strengthening for varicose veins.

Citrus juice, including the white pith passed through the juicer multiple times until nearly dry, was recommended specifically in a case of spider veins developing in someone who had taken birth control pills. The bioflavonoids in the white pith were the active element and were described as potentially reversing the condition if the progression was moving fast.

Apple cider vinegar rubbed into the skin was mentioned as something Aajonus had read about and confirmed would help because it chelates the heavy metals embedded in the capillary and artery walls.

Honeycomb and beeswax were recommended specifically for veins that are rupturing or fragile, not only for established varicose conditions.

Green or white cabbage juice, at ten percent of the vegetable juice formula or as a half cup every other day for six weeks, was the targeted protocol for vitamin K and vitamin U deficiency causing vein rupture.

Raw milk, no-salt-added unheated cheese, and equal quantities of raw fat were the foundation protocol for phlebitis specifically, paired with raw meat and raw fish.

Aajonus placed veins within a broader biological context in which the body is always attempting to manage toxins through whatever channels are available. When the body is dumping heavy metals like mercury, formaldehyde, or thallium through the bloodstream, it will use whatever pathways it can to remove them. In the case of hemorrhoids, he described the body trying to dump toxic metals through the blood and in doing so breaking capillaries and veins and causing internal bleeding. The body is not failing; it is attempting a necessary detoxification under difficult conditions, but the structural cost to the veins is real.

This same understanding applied to his reading of bruising. When capillaries and veins break, red blood cells exit the circulatory system into surrounding tissue where they cannot survive. They die, decompose via bacteria, and produce the color changes from purple to blue to black to yellow that mark the stages of a bruise resolving. This is the body's ecological system working correctly, not a sign of failure.

He also noted, in discussing conditions like Ebola from his limited investigation of it, that many people have vein and artery networks that have dried, hardened, blocked, and effectively closed off over time, like an impacted colon but within the vascular system. He stated that the body will actually grow new veins in and around such blockages as a workaround.