Bernard Preston

Bernard Preston invites you to think, laugh and relax; and enjoy life a little more.

Much of this site is about preserving Mother Earth intact for our children so they will not be dancing on our graves and cursing the day this generation was born; more than any other we are bringing our world ever closer to extinction.

There are also short stories, gleaned from the coalface of this doctor's life and work, give us fascinating glimpses into the professional world of a DC.

The official website of Bernard Preston, DC 

This is the official website of the author of six books, Bernard Preston. Here you will discover his passion for enjoying life in fine fettle, and giving real meaning to the oft spoken but largely ignored saying that prevention is better than a cure.

In many ways permaculture is not just about Mother Earth but also enjoying sparkling well-being ourselves through delicious, fresh food grown in our own backyards, together with plenty of exercise. Turning a compost heap will challenge your body every bit as much as pumping iron at the gym. It will be a lot more fun; and you will have something to show for all your hard work at the end of the day.

It is interesting that folk who live in the five Blue Zones of the world never diet and do not go out and exercise; instead they structure their food and lifestyle in such a way that these very tiresome activities are simply not necessary.

This page was last updated by Dr Bernard Preston on 8th October, 2023.

"Complementing medicine," says he, "not complimenting them.

That is something quite different."

Bernard Preston's granddaughter fingering one of his books.

Serious about your well-being

Well-being is a struggle for all of us. Either join the party, or start preparing for a lifetime of pain and medication; did you know that British women are disabled for a third of their lives?

If you are as determined as I am to enjoy a full life, then I am here to help you. We are not fanatics but certainly are motivated.

I am so grateful that both Helen and I are 75, in sparkling fine-fettle and still working at our professions a few hours most days; and have no need for medication.

But accidents and injuries can happen to any one of us; good doctors are important and I am not being dismissive of them. I myself had a ruptured appendix last year and am very grateful for the services of an excellent surgeon; he saved my life, literally.

Choice foods

Choice foods are for those who are sick and tired of feeling exhausted all the time. Let your sustenance be your medicine, said Hippocrates, the Father of Wellness; how far we have strayed from our roots. For Preston personally it meant becoming passionate about backyard permaculture.

Bernard Preston's other passion is a love of slow food, made fast; growing it himself where possible, with the help of his very able wife and preparing choice delectables that they can rustle up in a short time. After all, if we do not look after our bodies, where will we go and live?

Disease targets those who refuse to learn about nutritious choice foods. With 37 million Americans being diabetic and another 96M adults being on the verge of the disease[2] it's all about lifestyle. Over 65 years of age the statistics are far more dire. It is little different in South Africa.

If you too are prediabetic and your blood sugar soars too high, and stays up then you are seriously at risk; inflammatory cytokines are released making us vulnerable to every passing pathogen and becoming yet another statistic.

Create a cyan zone

Helen in her Leaf that is the colour of cyan.

Cyan is a primary colour; it is a mixture of blue and green.

At this site we are trying to blend together all the joys of Blue Zones, where folk live happily into old age filled with vitality, with being a greenie; caring for the planet and for ourselves at the same time.

What is bad for Mother Earth is certainly damaging for us too. Just think of the profound climate change we are seeing with its massive floods contrasting with drought and terrible fires.

Carelessly dropping plastic into landfills and the oceans means that on average every human being is now consuming 5g of tiny microparticles every week just from their water; that's about the size of a credit card. It is having a devastating effect on our autoimmune systems.

Our cyan-coloured E car is not only good for the planet but it also reduces our exposure to petroleum products; it is a good admix of the virtues of blue and green living. Charging it from solar means not one person can challenge our stance.

Cyan zone folk care for themselves and the planet.

Three meals a day

I am not sure where three meals a day came from but it seems to go back to the days of the Medes and Persians; that gives it some substance. When chatting to the obese, interestingly they often skip one; and snack in between.

Staying in good kilter is my passion; you can share it. It all starts with the breakfast menu, remembering that your goal must be at least eight coloured foods every day. Delicious in-season fruit must be there; right now it is mulberries every morning for us. Next month it will be plums; we are able to enjoy lemons and limes for most of the year.

Whole grains and legumes show a "subsequent meal effect;" they help to keep our blood glucose in better shape all day long. We choose Eggs Hilton for our breakfast. It is absolutely delicious; it's fascinating that our grandchildren choose it over processed sugary cereals.

Here are some easy lunch recipes for the working person; time is at a premium in most of our lives. Yet it is not difficult to toss in a couple of different kinds of lettuce, always a tomato for the prostate gland; and one or two slices of 100% wholemeal bread.

Butter is back and should never have been banished to Coventry say the scientists; it is the trans fatty-acids and refined carbs that are the killers.

And then there are fast dinner recipes for the working woman; variety is the key, and especially focusing on those colours that the kids have been enjoying. Folate consumption is directly related to school achievement; and vitamins B6 and E to arrest the development of frailty[1].

Easy soup recipes can really simplify lunch and supper; and breakfast I suppose. For some they cause indigestion; could it be the onions? Actually it is more likely the starch; reduce the rice, potatoes and bread at dinner and you will have a much easier night. Since we discovered kefir benefits, my own heartburn has been drastically reduced.

Kefir bubbling in a funnel.

Simpler weight loss

One of the simplest, well-researched ways of losing weight is merely to extend the overnight fast. Even though you eat exactly the same food, having dinner an hour or two earlier, and enjoying your morning meal rather later, will help you shed unwanted extra pounds.

For those who are seriously obese, a huge risk factor in these times, moving to two meals is proving effective; a late breakfast and an early dinner, with no lunch, and no snacking. To lose a lot of weight you have to get total starch beneath 50 grams per day; even the good carbs may have to be limited for a season.

Eating numerous small meals, or snacking continually, does exactly the opposite.

Refined carbohydrates are public-enemy number one.

The staff of life

A loaf of low GI bread in the baking tin.

When talking of breakfast and lunch at any rate, and for dinner for many, the staff of life is always present. Unfortunately most supermarket bread today can best be described as junk food; I was about to use a stronger word, but resisted the temptation. Made from refined flour it has a high glycemic index, and even the so-called wholewheat loaves have had much of the goodies removed which are then sold to supplement companies and pig farmers. We get left with the empty carbs.

Bernard Preston is an opinionated man, you say and yes it is true; did you know that millers are permitted by international law to extract up to 40% of the grain and still call it wholemeal?

I consider our Panera bread menu recipe, and the low GI loaf amongst our most important pages; unfortunately 100 percent wholemeal flour is difficult to find. You have to mill it yourself.

Adding a tablespoon or two of our authentic hummus recipe will transform your baking; the vegetable protein and olive oil help lower the glycemic index and make it light and tasty. It turns it into one of the best foods that reduce cholesterol, having a profound effect on the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis; that is a mouthful but one of the most popular pages at this site. Hardening of the arteries is a killer.

Having said that, if you are prediabetic, even our low GI bread may give you an unwelcome blood sugar surge; always take a short walk after any starchy meal.

There are important pages found on the subject of soups and starches with many recipes. Carbohydrates are under attack in our obese world, but Bernard Preston asks whether it is chocolate cake or hummus that makes you fat? There is a vast difference biochemically, and we should be very careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Whole grains are strongly associated with well-being, but often they are not easy to find and cooking takes longer.

Should we be eating legumes because of their vegetable protein, or avoiding them due to the complex carbohydrate they contain? You will find plenty on the subject; there are now over 600 pages at this site, all well-researched and not based on opinion.

Herbs and spices are for the enrichment of our food, and to turn the rather boring and unpalatable foods into a delight; they also have anti-inflammatory properties.

Avocados and citrus are the king and queen of our orchard, unless you can grow olives too. There are many discussions at this site on the good fats and those that should be avoided at all costs. Five minutes on the site map will get you some idea of the scope.

What is potting in the garden

Jalapenos in Bernard Preston's garden.

Whilst busy in his garden Bernard Preston ponders ways to reduce cholesterol without the use of statins with their nasty side-effects. By planting and eating foods that lower the LDL fraction he discovers that, despite his love of butter and rich dairy products, he can keep his blood cholesterol at 164 (4.2); that is well within the normal limits.

While you may not have a garden like his, learn how to plant a beautiful lemon tree, and a couple of pole bean seeds every week along a fence that will keep you in fresh green legumes to reduce your reliance on red meat for protein.

What is potting in the garden is an important part of this site. Just one bright red jalapeno plant is a delight to the eyes in the midst of your flower garden; oddly they are rich in an anti-inflammatory phytochemical called capsaicin and vitamin C.

Currently we are discovering the wonder of worm farms and working with chickens in the garden; it is all about growing great tasting fruit and vegetables unspoiled by pesticides and chemicals.

Organic food, fertilized by chicken manure, like your winter squash prowling along the compost pile, and then grilled in the solar electric oven or in a pressure-cooker are more highlights; our butternut recipe is one of our favourites. It is rich in beta carotenes, but beware of roasting vegetables if you are prediabetic; it raises the glycemic index. 

Research following a large group for twenty years shows that those eating about eight coloured foods each day have a 35 percent lower all cause of death; that is massive. Adding the power of purple foods is another step in the right direction; the common beet is your best example, and I enjoyed a dozen mulberries this morning for breakfast. With an avocado for your nerves, and a few from the citrus fruit list, you will be getting close to the magic number.

Beets in the pressure cooker.

And then of course the red foods like chilies and tomatoes, so vital for that half of mankind who have a prostate gland; it is all about a substance called a lycopene that has magical properties.

Sealing the rainwater reservoir.

Permaculture is the design of a highly productive ecosystem designed to provide us with delicious food without spoiling the environment. Bernard Preston looks to this rainwater harvesting model for their home and garden and capturing solar power energy for electricity.

The nature of avocado fat, and its importance for nerves, and growing the trees, is thought provoking; and extending your citrus fruit list from the garden all requires organic fertiliser and plenty of water. Let your chickens, the kitchen compost-bin and the worm farm provide it all; and the heavens, of course.

Evergreen pole beans and a lemon from Bernard Preston's garden.

Processed food

Processing of foods by manufacturers is a serious business and a subject that Bernard Preston speaks about passionately. Nowhere is it more typically seen than in these orange juice facts.

After taking a wonderful food like an orange, processing it, then manufacturers sell us what is nothing more than junk masquerading as something vitally good. An electric press, used without the filter, to squeeze your own citrus is a basic for every family; you must include the pulp, and some of the zest too.

The same could be said for wheat, but purchasing your own grinder is an expensive business. But if you are serious about your food, you will consider it if you cannot buy 100 percent wholemeal flour; the upside is that you will never again need to use vitamin E capsules and worry about your homocysteine levels. The germ and bran are rich sources of choline and betaine too.

There are almost none in refined flour.

That bran also is the source of most of our lignans; the phytochemicals that help prevent breast malignancies. Is it any coincidence that the prevalence has soared since the universal refining of wheat began?

Solar Power Energy

Solar power energy might be for you, particularly if you live in a country where the electricity supply is unreliable; Bernard Preston has made some significant mistakes along the way from which you can learn. In particular he has realised that a Mickey Mouse project rarely seems to satisfy and achieve our dreams. Go bigger from the start.

Bernard Preston's latest passion is for going green. That means using the energy from the sun. Is it cost effective, or just a pipe-dream for the idle rich? Could we all have panels like these that spend their lives drinking up the sunshine, heating our water and generating free electricity?

Could an average DIY guy or gal go off the grid?

Collecting your own solar power energy is a huge part of our philosophy; it is hugely cost-effective and reduces carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.

West facing solar PV panels on Bernard Preston's roof.

Capturing power from the elements is a central concern of permaculture; climate change from the greenhouse effect of all the carbon dioxide produced from oil and coal is destroying the blue planet.

Starting nearly ten years ago with a mere 600W of solar panels we have built steadily up to 10.3 kW supplying 99 percent of our need for electricity. Rainy days happily do occur, both the home and garden need the water but the output from the PVs remains adequate except in very deep mist which happens occasionally.

At a day in the life of solar geek Bernard Preston, he takes you through the mistakes to avoid.

How to start beekeeping

The workforce of bees bringing in the harvest.

How to start beekeeping is set out by Bernard Preston in this site but this is about African bees, Apis mellifera scutellata. They are rather different to those from Europe and can be particularly vicious.

Raising bees and producing rich lightly-filtered raw honey for its pollen is another of Bernie's passions. The stuff from the supermarket is generally processed and spoiled; and oft adulterated. Find a small keeper in your neighbourhood; or better still have a hive or two in the garden.

Bees are vanishing from the planet at an alarming rate; the pollination of our food sources is even more important than their honey. Backyard permaculture, if you have the space, should include a few hives. The synergy of green living includes excellent yields from your fruit trees and vegetables.

Chickens in the garden

Keeping hens in the organic garden for their free-range eggs and their manure is a huge step forward in backyard permaculture; but also provides many challenges. They will attack your vegetables with a vengeance in search of greens and protein.

To become self-sufficient we are growing more corn this year and have entered the wonder of worm farms. These critters double in number every month providing plenty of protein for the hens; and make  the compost pile more effective. They eat their own weight of food every day.

Enjoy this site; greenie, Christian and lover of life, Bernard Preston will show you his version.

Author Bernard Preston

Light-hearted and easy bedside reading, Bernie's inspirational books will gladden the hearts of all those who simply love the genre started by James Herriot with his veterinarian diaries.

Told in humorous vein, he describes the struggle of ordinary people to discover well-being; and how one person strives to provide it. Many folk are looking for new answers for biomechanical pain. A day in the life of Dr Bernard Preston, gives his slant on the profession.

He is no fanatic, recognizing that srugs and surgery are both an important part of keeping us in fine fettle; yet finding that we can often do it better for many biomechanical conditions, more safely and in a shorter time. The page "Meet Bernard Preston" will give you some background about him.

Having started this page with a derogatory comment about medicine, I have to say that recently a doctor with great skill removed my perforated appendix and probably saved my life. I am an admirer of good surgery but less so of pharmacology; drugs have many side-effects. Do you know what iatrogenic illness is?

Is it any coincidence that the United States consumes more than fifty percent of the world's prescription drugs, and yet its well-being does not lie within the ambit of the top forty nations?

Can you believe that 39% of older Americans are taking five or more prescription drugs and 90 percent are taking at least one?

Do you have to become a food snob or epicure to avoid hypertension and  type-2 diabetes? The research keeps confirming that those nutrients that keep us strong and mindful are best got from our meals; and not from supplements.

Share with Bernie his passion for abundant well-being and expect to reach a vital eighty years with all your marbles intact. Is it inconceivable that one could eagerly look forward to old age?

Chiropractors too, like medicine have our excesses; and because of the rhetoric you may be struggling with lower back pain, swallowing bucketfuls of pills for headaches and yet reluctant to make an appointment. Here you will discover the right way to find the doctor of your choice.

Not afraid to take the mickey out of medicine, or his colleagues for that matter, Preston will have you chuckling all the way into your sweet dreams as he paints his word pictures in his books, telling how it is at the coalface. Son of two DCs, and his own daughter too, few can tell the inside story of complementary care better; or with more charm.

Frog in my Throat, his first book tells of the struggles of the young graduate trying to find his way; but constantly under threat by organized healthcare.

Preston's second book, Bats in my Belfry describes how he faces the pressures of practice, almost suffering a complete burnout. The titles themselves tell a tale; these journals are light and fascinating.

His hobbies and, at his wife's insistence a proper vacation save the day; and the catharsis of writing his stories of what it is really like on the inside.

Practice is filled with irritants, some tiny but others immense; they constantly threaten to rock the boat. Never was this more true, as he recalls in Stones in my Clog than the seven enormously satisfying years spent in the Netherlands.

Along the way, though, be ready to be challenged, for Preston will call you to that higher place where well-being is the norm; and the prospects of old age are to be eagerly looked forward to rather than dreaded.

It means a move to choice foods that not only taste better but also are more nutritious; and by making in just five minutes his authentic hummus recipe, for example. Says he, do you too not want to sit under those trees you once planted, sipping tea and watching your grandchildren grow up?

Easy soup recipes to warm the soul have a special place in Bernard Preston's heart, as does his low GI bread which he mixes in only five minutes every day from his freshly-milled wheat.

Foods that lower cholesterol naturally have a pride of place; the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis is well explained.

Caring for the temple

Inspired by the thoughts of St Francis of Assisi, who called his stubborn body Brother Ass, Bernie has started a new series of courses on how to care for our lives. Believing that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and that it behooves us to look after our mortal frames, is the starting point.

Not only for our own well-being but also because the mortal frame not the church around the corner is where God resides, we should learn to eat aright; and get plenty of exercise.

Caring for the temple is a controversial subject; many and even most Christians do not see spiritual virtue in looking after their bodies. That is why we are little, if any, more hale and hearty than those outside of the faith; and our lives are just as often needlessly cut short long before we have served out our intended time in his service.

The point made is that if Brother Ass stubbornly will not daily brush and floss his teeth, he must not grumble if he becomes a toothless old nag. Likewise he must not complain bitterly to God if he  allows himself to become obese and diabetic when his toes fall off.

If Brother Ass insists on a soda and a hot dog for lunch every day, just because he is a Christian he cannot expect God to set his angels around him.

Will God protect us from disease just because we are Christians? Yes, but only if we care for Brother Ass. He does not save those believers who refuse to eat their dark green leafy vegetables from macular degeneration; nor does he keep the obese from the worst ravages of the virus.

Jesus knew that the Father would not cushion him if was disobedient and jumped from the steeple of the temple.

A gift for your doctor

Does your DC go the extra mile for you? Really care, try hard, you know he is doing his very best to help maintain a nuggety problem? How about a small gift? A bottle of wine, a card or better still a Bernard Preston book would all make a wonderful token of your appreciation.

Said the wife of one New Jersey chiropractor, I cannot predict how fast Tom will read Bats in my Belfry but he consumed Frog in my Throat non-stop. He has not pored over anything like that for pleasure, front cover to back as long as I have known him.

And of course, you could always be a bit sneaky and read it first.

Bernard Preston

Bernard Preston's inspirational books are delightful cameos of incidents and anecdotes taken from the life and work of a DC.

Frog in my throat

Frog in my throat is Bernard Preston's first book of short stories from the clinic and his life.

Surprised when friends described his letter writing as inspiring, Bernard Preston modestly started a few short stories over twenty years ago. Encouraged by the editor of Truth House Publishing to start writing inspirational books, his first tome, Frog in my Throat was published in 2003, soon finding favour with colleagues in South Africa and with the general public alike.

Frog in my Throat is the first of Bernard Preston's books.

It was only much later that Preston realised there is a complete vacuum of writing by DCs for the general public. Scanning the shelves of the two of the world's largest bookstores in Chicago and London, he could not find one single book on the profession. Locating over 120 tomes on other disciplines in the complementary stable of care, he was energised to start the second of his inspirational books of yarns which was duly published in 2006. Says he,

"Most people still have no idea who we are, or what we do. And medicine has defended its turf very successfully, albeit illegally and immorally, (Wilk vs AMA) often spreading lies and slander about the dangers of our profession, whilst in its own back garden things are not so rosy. It is time to put the record straight."

Read what his fans have to say at Frog in my Throat reviews.

Bats in my Belfry

Bats in my belfry is Bernard Preston's second book of stories from the clinic.

Another three years passed, whilst Bernie continued writing, living to the full, and going about a busy practice. Wanting to reach a wider audience, he chose a publisher in the UK for his second inspirational book, Bats in my Belfry.

Bats in my Belfry is the second of Bernard Preston's books.

A man of many hobbies, Bernard Preston sprinkles his inspirational books with hair-raising stories about his gliding and time spent contemplating the meaning of life, trout rod in hand, or tramping the heights of the Drakensberg mountains. And a beekeeping bishop who taught about the value of tithing; see if God does not open the windows of heaven.

Preston's books are beautifully illustrated by Lorraine Harrison. Of frogs, bats, clogs and now what do tadpoles eat?

The first cover of Bernard Preston's second book.

Stones in my Clog

Stones in my clog is Bernard Preston's third book of yarns from the clinic.

Bernard Preston's third book of chiropractic anecdotes, set in Holland, titled Stones in my Clog.

Moving to Holland, the third of Bernard Preston's inspirational books, Stones in my Clog is at last complete. Tracing his odyssey through Holland on his bicycle, he inadvertently makes a buffoon of himself on television, after making exciting new discoveries in the rapidly expanding galaxy of complementary care.

You will love this third of his inspirational books.

Few things will embarrass us more than asking about the origins of his profession. Myth has it that our founder cured a deaf man by manipulating his midback. Dubious of DD Palmer's claim, Preston attends a course in Holland, learning how to treat the jaw joint.

Says Dr Emma Maria Nygren:

"I am looking forward to your third book, Dr Preston. I really enjoyed reading Frog and Bats! They make you think, laugh and relax just like a good book should!"


Nobody is more astonished than Preston himself when a patient claims to have been cured of deafness after Preston treats his jaw joint. Read more in Perhaps DD did it after all.

Again, the illustrations are by Lorraine Harrison.

Trout fishing is one Bernard Preston's pastimes.

This chiro, he wrote about frogs,

Then changed his allegiance to clogs.

Rats, he has been haunted by bats,

And now all he does is write blogs.

- by an elderly favourite aunt.


Says Dr Tom Rapp of Bernard Preston's inspirational books: "I am bleary-eyed this morning. Your book, Bats in my Belfry, has kept me up half the night. My wife is complaining about you, she cannot ever remember me doing that before. It is a pot boiler."


Bernard Preston's lonely road of faith is touched on in all of his volumes. Although these inspirational books are not religious in nature, he openly acknowledges that he is a believer. Coward's Castle gives some of his reflections on controversial issues facing the Church Universal. You can contact him if you feel very strongly about his views.

Notice board is for current issues that crop up. The latest is the deception of milling companies who are allowed to label their flour as wholemeal provided they have not removed more than 40 percent of the goodies; that is where the important nutrients are found; next week there will be something new.

Without any strong sectarian ties, Bernard Preston is a lay minister in the Anglican church, but has for periods of his life worshiped in widely different denominations. In fact, he is strongly against cultism in any form. Says he, I have no doubt that we will one day discover to our horror that we are all heretics, deserving nothing less than being burnt at the stake should correct doctrine be all important.

And there are certainly going to be some surprises when we reach the pearly gates as to who has got it right ninety-five percent of the time, and which of us have been lingering at sixty for much of our walk of faith. Could it be that the God of love will ask questions rather about much we cared, and how judgmental we were? And where did we rank on the scale of hypocrisy?

A Family Affair

A family affair is Bernard Preston's fourth book.

Bernard Preston's fourth book, a trilogy called A Family Affair.

Well, it is not just blogs that he is scribbling. Bernard Preston's fourth title, A Family Affair, is now complete. A totally different kettle of fish, this trilogy is more complex, and in a quite distinct genre. It will certainly titillate and perhaps enrage you, especially if you are religious. You certainly will not put the book down. It, too, is available at Amazon in digital format. You can enjoy the opening chapters by clicking on AFA in the navigation bar.

At times he does indeed share his struggle to find higher ground. In particular that place where, like our Lord, we are less judgemental and more tolerant of our fellow heretics.

Bernard Preston spent many hours high in the sky in his glider.

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Newsletter

Our newsletter is entitled "create a cyan zone" at your home, preserving both yourself and Mother Earth for future generations; and your family too, of course. We promise not to spam you with daily emails promoting various products. You may get an occasional nudge to buy one of my books.

Here are the back issues.

  • Investing in long-term health
  • Diseases from plastic exposure
  • Intensive lifestyle management for obesity has limited value
  • A world largely devoid of Parkinson's Disease
  • The impact of friendly bacteria in the tum on the prevention of cancer
  • There's a hole in the bucket
  • Everyone is talking about weight loss drugs
  • Pull the sweet tooth
  • If you suffer from heartburn plant a susu
  • Refined maize meal and stunting
  • Should agriculture and industry get priority for water and electricity?
  • Nature is calling
  • Mill your own flour
  • Bake your own sourdough bread
  • Microplastics from our water
  • Alternative types of water storage
  • Wear your clothes out
  • Comfort foods
  • Create a bee-friendly environment
  • Go to bed slightly hungry
  • Keep bees
  • Blue zone folk are religious
  • Reduce plastic waste
  • Family is important
  • What can go in compost?
  • Grow broad beans for longevity
  • Harvest and store sunshine
  • Blue zone exercise
  • Harvest and store your rainwater
  • Create a cyan zone at your home

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Address:

56 Groenekloof Rd,

Hilton, KZN

South Africa

Website:

https://www.bernard-preston.com