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MAINTAINING HEALTH
(FORMERLY HEALTH AND EFFICIENCY)
By R. L. ALSAKER, M. D.
AUTHOR OF "EATING FOR HEALTH AND EFFICIENCY"
_"When you arise in the morning, think what a precious privilege
it is to live, to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love."_
--MARCUS AURELIUS.
_"Nature Cures"_
--HIPPOCRATES
TO ISAAC T. COOK
WHOSE CRITICISMS, ASSISTANCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT HAVE LIGHTENED
THE LABOR AND ADDED TO THE PLEASURE OF PRODUCING THIS VOLUME.
CHAPTER CONTENTS
I PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS
Humanity, Health and Healers
II MENTAL ATTITUDE
Correct and Incorrect--Results
III FOOD
General Consideration
IV OVEREATING
V DAILY FOOD INTAKE
VI WHAT TO EAT
VII WHEN TO EAT
VIII HOW TO EAT
IX CLASSIFICATION OF FOODS
X FLESH FOODS
Composition--Utility--Preparation--Combinations
XI NUTS
Composition--Utility--Preparation--Combinations
XII LEGUMES
Composition--Utility--Preparation--Combinations
XIII SUCCULENT VEGETABLES
Composition--Utility--Preparation--Combinations--Salads
XIV CEREAL FOODS
Composition--Utility--Preparation--Combinations
XV TUBERS
Composition--Utility--Preparation--Combinations
XVI FRUITS
Composition--Utility--Preparation--Combinations--Salads
XVII OILS AND FATS
XVIII MILK AND OTHER DAIRY PRODUCTS
Composition--Utility--Preparation--Combinations
XIX MENUS
Food Combination in General
XX DRINK
Water--Tea--Coffee--Alcohol--Enslaving Drugs
XXI CARE OF THE SKIN
Baths--Friction--Clothing
XXII EXERCISE
XXIII BREATHING AND VENTILATION
XXIV SLEEP
XXV FASTING
Our Most Important Remedy--Symptoms--When and How to Fast--Cases
XXVI ATTITUDE OF PARENT TOWARD CHILD
XXVII CHILDREN
Prenatal Care--Infancy--Childhood--Mental Training
XXVIII DURATION OF LIFE
Advanced Years--Living to Old Age in Health and Comfort
XXIX EVOLVING INTO HEALTH
How it is Often Done--A Case
XXX RETROSPECT
A Summing-up of the Subject
CHAPTER I.
PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS.
Writings on hygiene and health have been accessible for centuries, but
never before have books and magazines on these subjects been as numerous
as they are today. Most of the information is so general, vague and
indefinite that only a few have the time and patience to read the
thousands of pages necessary to learn what to do to keep well. The truth
is to be found in the archives of medicine, in writings covering a
period of over thirty centuries, but it is rather difficult to find the
grains of truth.
Health is the most valuable of all possessions, for with health one can
attain anything else within reason. A few of the great people of the
world have been sickly, but it takes men and women sound in body and
mind to do the important work. Healthy men and women are a nation's most
valuable asset.
It is natural to be healthy, but we have wandered so far astray that
disease is the rule and good health the exception. Of course, most
people are well enough to attend to their work, but nearly all are
suffering from some ill, mental or physical, acute or chronic, which
deprives them of a part of their power. The average individual is of
less value to himself, to his family and to society than he could be.
His bad habits, of which he is often not aware, have brought weakness
and disease upon him. These conditions prevent him from doing his best
mentally and physically.
This abnormal condition has a bad effect upon his descendants, who may
not be born with any special defects, but they have less resistance at
birth than is their due, and consequently fall prey to disease very
easily. This state of impaired resistance has been passed on from
generation to generation, and we of today are passing it on as a
heritage to our children.
About 280,000 babies under the age of one year die annually in the
United States. The average lifetime is only a little more than forty
years. It should be at least one hundred years. This is a very
conservative statement, for many live to be considerably older, and it
is within the power of each individual to prolong his life beyond what
is now considered old age.
Under favorable conditions people should live in comfort and health to
the age of one hundred years or more, useful and in full possession of
their faculties. Barring accidents, which should be less numerous when
people fully realize that unreasonable haste and speed are wasteful and
that life is more valuable than accumulated wealth, human life could and
should be a certainty. There should be no sudden deaths resulting from
the popular diseases of today. In fact, pneumonia, typhoid fever,
tuberculosis, cancer and various other ills that are fatal to the vast
majority of the race, should and could be abolished. This may sound
idealistic, but though such results are not probable in the near future,
they are possible.
All civilized nations of which we have record, except the Chinese, have
decayed after growing and flourishing a few centuries, usually about a
thousand years or less. Many reasons are given for the decline and fall
of nations. Rome especially furnishes food for much thought. However,
look into the history of each known nation that has risen to prominence,
glory and power, and you will find that so long as they kept in close
contact with the soil they flourished. With the advance of civilization
the peoples change their mode of life from simplicity to luxuriousness
and complexity. Thus individuals decay and in the end there is enough
individual decay to result in national degeneration. When this process
has advanced far enough these people are unable to hold their own. In
the severe competitition of nations the strain is too great and they
perish. There is a point of refinement beyond which people can not go
and survive.
From luxury nations are plunged into hardship. Then their renewed
contact with the soil gradually causes their regeneration, if they have
enough vitality left to rise again. Such is the history of the Italians.
Many others, like the once great Egyptians, whose civilization was very
far advanced and who became so dissolute that a virtuous woman was a
curiosity, have been unable to recover, even after a lapse of many
centuries. The degenerated nations are like diseased individuals: Some
have gone so far on the road to ruin that they are doomed to die. Others
can slowly regain their health by mending their ways.
Nations, like individuals, generally do better in moderate circumstances
than in opulence. Nearly all can stand poverty, but only the exceptional
individual or nation can bear up under riches. Nature demands of us that
we exercise both body and mind.
Civilization is not inimical to health and long life. In fact, the
contrary is true, for as the people advance they learn to master the
forces of nature and with these forces under control they are able to
lead better, healthier lives, but if they become too soft and luxurious
there is decay of moral and physical fibre, and in the end the nation
must fall, for its individual units are unworthy of survival in a world
which requires an admixture of brain and brawn.
Civilization is favorable to long life so long as the people are
moderate and live simply, but when it degenerates to sensuous softness,
individual and racial deterioration ensue. Among savages the infant
mortality is very great, but such ills as cancer, tuberculosis, smallpox
and Bright's disease are rare. These are luxuries which are generally
introduced with civilization. Close housing, too generous supply of
food, too little exercise and alcohol are some of the fatal blessings
which civilized man introduces among savages.
A part of the price we must pay for being civilized is the exercise of
considerable self-control and self-denial, otherwise we must suffer.
The state of the individual health is not satisfactory. There is too
much illness, too much suffering and too many premature deaths. It is
estimated that in our country about three millions of people are ill
each day, on the average. The monetary loss is tremendous and the
anguish and suffering are beyond estimate.
The race is losing every year a vast army of individuals who are in
their productive prime. When a part of a great city is destroyed men
give careful consideration to the material loss and plan to prevent a
recurrence. But that is nothing compared to the loss we suffer from the
annual death of a host of experienced men and women. Destroyed business
blocks can be replaced, but it is impossible to replace men and women.
We look upon this unnecessary waste of life complacently because we are
used to it and consequently think that it is natural. It is neither
necessary nor natural. If we would read and heed nature's writings it
would cease. Then people would live until their time came to fade away
peacefully and beautifully, as do the golden leaves of autumn or the
blades of grass.
Many dread old age because they think of it in connection with
decrepitude, helplessness and the childish querulousness popularly
associated with advancing years. This is not a natural old age; it is
disease. Natural old age is sweet, tolerant and cheerful. There are few
things in life more precious than the memory of parents and grandparents
grown old gracefully, after having weathered the storms of appetites and
passions, the mind firmly enthroned and filled with the calm toleration
and wisdom that come with the passing years of a well spent life.
A busy mind in a healthy body does not degenerate. The brain, though
apparently unstable, is one of the most stable parts of the body.
We should desire and acquire health because when healthy we are at our
maximum efficiency. We are able to enjoy life. We have greater capacity
for getting and giving. We live more fully. Being normal, we are in
harmony with ourselves and with our associates. We are of greater value
all around. We are better citizens.
Every individual owes something to the race. It is our duty to
contribute our part so that the result of our lives is not a tendency
toward degeneration, but toward upbuilding, of the race. The part played
by each individual is small, but the aggregate is great. If our children
are better born and better brought up than we were, and there is
generally room for improvement, we have at least helped.
Health is within the grasp of all who are not afflicted with organic
disease, and the vast majority have no organic ills. All that is
necessary is to lead natural lives and learn how to use the mind
properly. Those who are not in sympathy with the views on racial duty
can enhance their personal worth through better living without giving
the race any thought. Every individual who leads a natural life and
thinks to advantage helps to bring about better public health. The
national health is the aggregate of individual health and is improved as
the individuals evolve into better health. National or racial
improvement come through evolution, not through revolution. The
improvement is due to small contributions from many sources.
The greatest power for human uplift is knowledge. Reformers often
believe that they can improve the world by legislation. Lasting reform
comes through education. If the laws are very repressive the reaction is
both great and unpleasant.
It takes about six months to learn stenography. It requires a long
apprenticeship to become a first-class blacksmith or horseshoer. To
obtain the rudiments of a physician's art it is necessary to spend four
to six years in college. To learn a language takes an apt pupil at least
a year. A lawyer must study from two to four years to become a novice. A
businessman must work many years before he is an expert in his line. Not
one of these attainments is worth as much as good health, yet an
individual of average intelligence can obtain enough knowledge about
right living during his spare time in from two to six months to assure
him of good health, if he lives as well as he knows how. Is it worth
while? It certainly is, for it is one of the essentials of life. Health
will increase one's earning capacity and productivity and more than
double both the pleasure and the duration of life.
Disease is a very expensive luxury. Health is one of the cheapest,
though one of the rarest, things on earth. There is no royal road to
health. If there is any law of health it is this: Only those will retain
it permanently who are deserving of it.
Many prefer to live in that state of uncertainty, which may be called
tolerable health, a state in which they do not suffer, yet are not quite
well. In this condition they have their little ups and downs and
occasionally a serious illness, which too often proves fatal. Even such
people ought to acquire health knowledge, for the time may come when
they will desire to enjoy life to the fullest, which they can do only
when they have health. Those who have this knowledge are often able to
help themselves quickly and effectively when no one else can.
I am acquainted with many who have been educated out of disease into
health. Many of them are indiscreet, but they have learned to know the
signs of approaching trouble and they ease up before anything serious
overtakes them. In this way they save themselves and their families from
much suffering, much anxiety and much expense. Every adult should know
enough to remain well. Every one should know the signs of approaching
illness and how to abort it. The mental comfort and ease that come from
the possession of such knowledge are priceless.
Everything that is worth while must be paid for in some way and the
price of continued good health is some basic knowledge and self-control.
There are no hardships connected with rational living. It means to live
moderately and somewhat more simply than is customary. Simplicity
reduces the amount of work and friction and adds to the enjoyment of
life. The cheerfulness, the buoyancy and the tingling with the joy of
life that come to those who have perfect health more than compensate for
the pet bad habits which must be given up.
Many of the popular teachings regarding disease and its prevention are
false. The germ theory is a delusion. The fact will some day be
generally recognized, as it is today by a few, that the so-called
pathogenic bacteria or germs have no power to injure a healthy body,
that there is bodily degeneration first and then the system becomes a
favorable culture medium for germs: In other words, disease comes first
and the pathogenic bacteria multiply afterwards. This view may seem very
ridiculous to the majority, for it is a strong tenet of popular medical
belief today that micro-organisms are the cause of most diseases.
To most people, medical and lay, the various diseases stand out clear
and individual. Typhoid fever is one disease. Pneumonia is an entirely
different one. Surely this is so, they say, for is not typhoid fever due
to the bacillus typhosus and pneumonia to the pneumococcus? But it is
not so. Outside of mechanical injuries there is but one disease, and the
various conditions that we dignify with individual names are but
manifestations of this disease. The parent disease is filthiness, and
its manifestations vary according to circumstances and individuals.
This filthiness is not of the skin, but of the interior of the body. The
blood stream becomes unclean, principally because of indigestion and
constipation, which are chiefly due to improper eating habits. Some of
the contributory causes are wrong thinking, too little exercise, lack of
fresh air, and ingestion of sedatives and stimulants which upset the
assimilative and excretory functions of the body. In all cases the blood
is unclean. The patient is suffering from autointoxication or
autotoxemia.
If this is true, it would follow that the treatment of all diseases is
about the same. For instance, it would be necessary to give about the
same treatment for eczema as for pneumonia. Basically, that is exactly
what has to be done to obtain the best results, though the variation in
location and manifestation requires that special relief measures, of
lesser importance, be used in special cases, to get the quickest and
best results. In both eczema and pneumonia the essential thing is to get
the body clean.
The practice of medicine is not a science. We have drugs that are
reputed to be excellent healers, yet these very drugs sometimes produce
death within a few hours of being taken. The practice of medicine is an
art, and the outcome in various cases depends more on the personality of
the artist than on the drugs he gives, for roughly speaking, all
medicines are either sedative or stimulant, and if the dosage is kept
below the danger line, the patient generally recovers. It seems to make
very little difference whether the medicine is given in the tiny
homeopathic doses, so small that they have only a suggestive effect, or
if they are given in doses several hundred times as large by allopaths
and eclectics.
It is true that we have drugs with which we can diminish or increase the
number of heart beats per minute, dilate or contract the pupils of the
eye, check or stimulate the secretion of mucus, sedate or irritate the
nervous system, etc., but all that is accomplished is temporary
stimulation or sedation, and such juggling does not cure. The practice
of medicine is today what it has been in the past, largely experiment
and guess-work.
On the other hand, natural healers who have drunk deep of the cup of
knowledge need not guess. They know that withholding of food and
cleaning out the alimentary tract will reduce a fever. They know that
the same measures will clean up foul wounds and stop the discharge of
pus in a short time. They know that the same measures in connection with
hot baths will terminate headaches and remove pain. They further know
that if the patient will take the proper care of himself after the acute
manifestations have disappeared there will be no more disease. After a
little experience, an intelligent natural healer can tell his patients,
in the majority of cases, what to expect if instructions are followed.
He can say positively that there will be no relapses and no
complications.
How different is this from the unsatisfactory practice of conventional
medicine! However, most physicians refuse to accept the valuable
teachings which are offered to them freely, and one of the reasons is
that the natural healers do not present their knowledge in scientific
form. The knowledge is scientific but it is simple. Such objection does
not come with good grace from a profession practicing an art. Life is
but a tiny part science, mixed with much art.
The true scientist in the healing art is he who can take an invalid and
by the use of the means at his command bring him back to health, not in
an accidental manner, but in such a knowing way that he can predict the
outcome. In serious cases the natural healer of intelligence and
experience can do this twenty times where the man who relies on drugs
does it once. The physicians who prescribe drugs are ever on the
look-out for complications and relapses, and they have many of them. The
natural healers know that under proper treatment neither complications
nor relapses can occur, unless the disease has already advanced so far
that the vital powers are exhausted before treatment is begun, and this
is generally not the case. In this book many of the medical fallacies of
today, both professional and lay, will be touched upon in a kindly
spirit of helpfulness and ideas that contain more truth will be offered
in their place. The truth is the best knowledge we have today, according
to our understanding. It is not fixed, for it may be replaced by
something better tomorrow. However, one fundamental truth regarding
health will never change, namely, that it is necessary to conform to the
laws of nature, or in other words, the laws of our being, in order to
retain it.
No one can cover the field of health completely, for though it is very
simple, it is as big as life. The most helpful parts of this book will
be those which point the way for each individual to understand his
relation to what we call nature, and hence help to enable him to gain a
better understanding of himself.
By natural living is not meant the discarding of the graces of
civilization and roaming about in adamic costume, living on the foods as
they are found in forest and field, without preparation. What is meant
is the adjustment of each person to his environment, or the environment
to the person, until harmony or balance is established, which means
health.
One of the most difficult things about teaching health is that it is so
very simple. People look for something mysterious. When told that good
old mother nature is the only healer, they are incredulous, for they
have been taught that doctors cure. When informed that they do not need
medicine and that outside treatment is unnecessary, they find it
difficult to believe, for disease has always called for treatment of
some kind in the hands of the medical profession. When further told that
they have to help themselves by living so that they will not put any
obstacles in the way of normal functioning of their bodies, they think
that the physician who thinks and talks that way must be a crank, and
many seek help where they are told that they can obtain health from
pills, powders and potions or from various inoculations and injections.
To live in health is so simple that any intelligent person can master
the art and furthermore regain lost health in the average case, without
any help from professional healers. There is plenty knowledge and all
that is needed is a discriminating mind to find the truth and then
exercise enough will power to live it. If a good healer is at hand, it
is cheaper to pay his fee for personal advice than to try to evolve into
health without aid, but if it is a burden to pay the price, get the
knowledge and practice it and health will return in most cases. The vast
majority of people suffering from chronic ills which are considered
incurable can get well by living properly.
The more capable and frank the healer is, the less treatment will be
administered. Minute examinations and frequent treatment serve to make
the patient believe that he is getting a great deal for his money.
Advice is what the healer has to sell, and if it is correct, it is
precious. The patient should not object to paying a reasonable fee, for
what he learns is good for life. People gladly pay for prescriptions or
drugs. The latter are injurious if taken in sufficient quantity to have
great effect. So why object to paying for health education, which is
more valuable than all the drugs in the world? Because of their attitude
on this subject, the people force many a doctor to use drugs, who would
gladly practice in a more reasonable way if it would bring the
necessities of life to him and his family. The public has to enlighten
itself before it will get good health advice. The medical men will
continue in the future, as they have done in the past, to furnish the
kind of service that is popular.
A good natural healer teaches his patients to get along without him and
other doctors. A doctor of the conventional school teaches his patrons
to depend upon him. The former is consequently deserving of far greater
reward than the latter.
The law of compensation may apply elsewhere, thinks the patient, but
surely it is nonsense to teach that it applies in matters of health, for
does not everybody know that most of our diseases are due to causes over
which we have no control? That the chief cause is germs and that we can
not control the air well enough to prevent one of these horrible
monsters (about 1/25,000 of an inch long) from settling in the body and
multiplying, at last producing disease and maybe death? This is untrue,
but it is a very comforting theory, for it removes the element of
personal responsibility. People do not like to be told that if they are
ill it is their own fault, that they are only reaping as they have
sowed, yet such is the truth.
Patients often dislike to give up one or more of their bad habits. "Mr.
Blank has done this very thing for sixty or seventy years and now at the
age of eighty or ninety he is strong and active," they reply to
warnings. This is sophistry, for although an individual occasionally
lives to old age in spite of broken health laws, the average person who
attempts it perishes young. Those who do not conform to the rules are
not allowed to sit in the game to the end.
Another false feeling, or rather hope, deeply implanted in the human
breast is: "Perhaps others can not do this, but I can. I have done it
before and can do it again; it will not hurt me for I am strong and
possessed of a good constitution." The wish is father to the thought,
which is not founded on facts. The most common and the most destructive
form of dishonesty is self-deception. Those who are honest with
themselves find it easy to deal fairly and squarely with others.
The doctors of the dominant school are very distrustful of the natural
healers, in spite of the fact that the latter obtain the best results.
Many of the conditions which the regular physicians treat without
satisfactory results, the natural healers are able to remove in a few
months. When members of the dominant school of medicine find men
leading patients suffering from various skin diseases, Bright's disease,
chronic digestive troubles, rheumatism and other ills which they
themselves make little or no impression upon back to health, they are
unwilling to believe that such results can be accomplished by means of
hygiene and proper feeding. They think there is some fakery about it,
for their professors, books and experience have taught them otherwise.
They consider the views of the natural healer unworthy of serious
attention and often call him a quack, which epithet closes the
discussion. They are ethical and do not wish to be mired by contact with
quacks.
The distrust of medical men for healers of the natural school is not
hard to explain. Many of the natural healers are men of education and
experience, but others lack both, and no matter how good the latter may
be at heart, they make very serious blunders. For instance: They get out
circulars, listing all prominent diseases known, stating that they cure
them. They either are so enthusiastic that they are carried away or they
are so ignorant that they do not know that there is a stage of
degeneration which will not allow of regeneration, and that when such a
stage is reached in any chronic disease the end is death.
Another handicap is that intelligent natural healers have such excellent
success that they lose their heads. They educate patients by the hundred
into health who have been given up as incurable by the conventional
physicians. In their success they forget that modesty is very becoming
to the successful and begin to boast. This hurts the cause. Let the
natural healer ever remember that he does not cure, that he is but the
interpreter and that nature is the restorer of health.
The natural healers must be more careful about their statements if they
would have the respect of intelligent people, and they must labor
diligently to be well informed. For their own good regular physicians
will have to be more open-minded, and recognize the fact that it is not
necessary to have a M. D. degree to accept the truth regarding healing.
Medical men are losing their hold on the public largely because they
have cultivated the class spirit.
It is a well known fact among natural healers that most cases of
Bright's disease are curable, even after they have become chronic.
However, a physician who voices this truth will probably be classed
among irresponsible dreamers by other doctors.
Antagonism of this kind breeds extremists and is therefore harmful to
the public, which pays for all the mistakes made. It is very easy to
lose one's mental balance and to begin to play on a harp with but one
string. We have a large army of Christian Scientists. If it were not for
the way in which physicians of the past mistreated the body and
neglected the mind, this sect would not exist. The doctors, with their
awful doses of nauseous and destructive drugs, went to one extreme. The
reaction was the formation of a sect that has gone to the other extreme.
The Christian Scientists are incomprehensible in spots to us mortals who
believe in a body as well as a mind, but they have a cheerful and
helpful philosophy which brings enjoyment on earth and they have done an
immense amount of good by teaching people to cease thinking and talking
so much about themselves and their ills. Among other demonstrations,
they have shown the uselessness of drugs.
Of late so many varieties of drugless healers have sprung into existence
that it is difficult to remember even their names. There are many
pathies. These have a tendency to take one part of the human being, or
one procedure of treatment, and to play this up to the elimination of
all the rest. Some do everything with the mind. Others pay no attention
to the mind. Bathing, massage, manipulating the spine, washing out the
colon, baths in mud, sunshine or water, suggestion and many other things
are separately given credit for being cure-alls. Many of these are
excellent as a part of regenerative treatment, but they are not
sufficient of themselves to give permanent results.
Most healers have too narrow vision. People come to them because they
have faith. The faith alone will produce temporary improvement, but as
soon as the interest is gone and the procedure grows old the patient
becomes worse again unless the treatment possesses genuine merit.
Osteopathy is most excellent, as a part of a healing system, but it is
not sufficient. The osteopaths find their patients relapsing over and
over again, or taking some other disease. However, they are learning, in
increasing numbers, that if they would keep their patrons well, they
have to give them education along the line of hygiene and dietetics,
with a little mental training thrown in.
Many chiropractors are learning the same thing. In some chiropractic
schools there are professors wise enough to teach their students to be
broad-minded. The true natural healer makes use of air, water, food,
exercise, mental training--in fact, all the means nature has put at his
disposal. He realizes that the best treatment is education of the
patient. In many cases a cure can be greatly hastened by proper local
treatment.
It is unfortunate that the nature healers are so divided and that many
operate upon such a narrow basis. If the vast majority of them were well
informed, broad enough to make use of all helpful natural means, and
were designated by the same name, it would not take them long to gain
more public confidence and respect than they now possess. So long as the
nature healers segregate themselves and allow themselves to be narrow,
so long will they have to struggle at a disadvantage against the more
united wielders of scalpels and prescribers of drugs.
The question of choosing a health guide is sometimes perplexing. The
patient should select one in whom he has confidence, for confidence is a
great aid in restoring health. It often happens that there is no one in
the town in whom the patient has confidence, for many communities have
no competent natural healers. Then the question is whether or not to
seek advice by correspondence. In acute diseases this is generally a bad
plan, for the family often lacks the poise and equanimity necessary to
carry out directions. In chronic cases it is usually all right. Here all
that is required is correct knowledge put into practice and errors are
not as dangerous as in acute diseases. Curable cases will get well by
following the advice given by correspondence. A medical man who educates
people by correspondence is considered unethical and is severely
censured by the ethical brethren. To prescribe medicine by mail is
without doubt reprehensible, but to educate people into health is a work
of merit, whether it is done face to face or by correspondence. It is
advantageous to meet the physician, talk things over and be examined,
but it is not necessary.
I know of some cases of acute disease treated satisfactorily by letter
and telegram, but the patients' families were in sympathy with natural
methods, of which they had a fair knowledge, and they had unlimited
confidence in the healer.
I am personally acquainted with many people who have been educated out
of chronic disease and into health by correspondence, after the local
physicians had vainly exhausted all their skill. It is simply a matter
of applied knowledge and it works just as well in curable cases if given
by telephone, telegraph or letter as if imparted by word of mouth.
However, it seems to me that it is most satisfactory for all concerned
when the healer and the sufferer can meet.
My words are not inspired by any ill feeling toward the members of the
medical profession. I have found medical men to measure well up in every
way. They are better educated than the average and they are as kind and
considerate as are other men. As men we can expect no more of them under
present conditions, but because they are better equipped than the
average, we have a right to ask for an improvement in their practice,
even if they have inherited a great many handicaps from their
predecessors and it is not easy to throw off the past, which acts as a
dead weight ever tending to check progress. The tendency of the times is
for fuller, freer and more sincere service in every line, for evolving
out of the useless into the greatest helpfulness. It is not asking too
much when we demand of the doctors that they rid themselves of the
injurious drug superstition and become health teachers, that instead of
being in the rear they come to the front and make progress easier.
What I say about drugs is founded on intimate observation. I was
educated medically in two of the colleges where medication is strongly
advocated and well taught, and am a regular M. D. I have watched people
who were treated by means of drugs and the biologic products, such as
serums, vaccines and bacterines, which are now so popular, and I have
watched many who have been treated by natural methods. Anyone with my
experience and capable of thinking would come to the conclusions given
in this book, that it is a mistake to administer drugs and serums and
that the natural methods give results so much superior to the
conventional methods that there is no comparison. Others who have
discarded drugs know from experience that this is true.
The physicians who are on intimate terms with nature will neither desire
nor require drugs. Sound advice, that is, teaching, is the most valuable
service a physician can render. Right living and right thinking always
result in health if no serious organic degeneration has taken place. If
the public could only be made to realize that they need a great deal of
knowledge and very little treatment, and that knowledge is very valuable
and treatment often worthless the day would soon dawn when health
matters will be placed on a sound, natural basis.
Surgery is occasionally necessary, but today from ten to twenty
operations are performed where but one is needed.
"There is nothing new beneath the sun," is a popular quotation. It seems
to hold true in the healing art, for the best modern practice was the
best ancient practice. Naturally, people like to make new discoveries
and get credit therefore. Our valuable new discoveries in healing are
very ancient. Though much that appears in these pages may seem strange
and new to many, I claim no originality. My aim is to present workable,
helpful facts in such a way that any person of average intelligence and
will power can apply them, and to get the essentials of health within
such a compass that no unreasonable amount of time need be employed in
finding them.
According to late discoveries, the ancient Egyptians were more advanced
in the art of living than any other people on earth, including the
moderns. They taught that overeating is the chief causative factor of
disease, and so it is. They taught cleanliness, the priests going to the
extreme of shaving the entire body daily. It would naturally follow that
they prescribed moderation in eating, which leads to internal
cleanliness. Cleanliness of body, in conjunction with cleanliness of
mind, will put disease to rout.
The ancient Greek writers commented on the good state of health among
the Egyptians, and modern medical writers marvel that they made so
little use of drugs. Evidently they found drugs of little value, for
they were taught hygienic living. The admirable health laws laid down by
Moses were derived from Egyptian sources.
The ancient nations were as much influenced by the Egyptians as we are
today by the Greeks who lived before the Christian era. The Greeks built
combination temples and sanitaria, to which the afflicted resorted. The
priests were in charge and these ancient heathens were great rogues. By
fooling the people they got big fees out of them. Their oracular sayings
and miracles were adroitly presented. They did not teach that overeating
is the chief cause of disease, for this did not suit the mystic times.
The people liked oracular prescriptions, and they got them. The law of
supply and demand worked as well then as it does now. The heathen
priests waxed fat and the medical art degenerated.
About five centuries B. C., Pythagoras taught that health can be
preserved by means of proper diet, exercise and the right use of the
mind. He also taught many other truths and some fallacies. In spite of
much superstition mixed with his philosophy, it was too pure for the
times and he perished.
Hippocrates, born about 470 years B. C., is one of the bright lights of
the medical world. He was so far ahead of his time that he still lives.
He was the founder of medical art as we know it. He used many drugs, but
he also relied on natural means. He was the first medical man on record
to pay serious attention to dietetics. The following quotations will
show how well his mind grasped the essentials of the healing art: "Old
persons need less fuel (food) than the young." "In winter abundant
nourishment is wholesome; in summer a more frugal diet." "Follow
nature." "Complete abstinence often acts very well, if the strength of
the patient can in any way maintain it." In acute disease he withheld
nourishment at first and then he prescribed a liquid diet. He also made
use of the "milk cure," which is considered modern, in conjunction with
baths and exercise; this is very efficacious in some chronic diseases.
He further spoke the oft-forgotten truth that physicians do not heal.
"Natural powers are the healers of disease." "Nature suffices for
everything under all conditions."
The next great physician was Galen, who lived in the second and third
centuries of our era. He added greatly to medical knowledge, made
extensive use of dietetics, and then in a self-satisfied manner informed
his readers that they need look no further for enlightenment, for he had
given them all that was of any value. Perhaps he meant this as a joke,
but those who followed him took it seriously, with the result that
medical advance stopped for several centuries.
The physicians of the dark ages had some light, as evidenced by this
popular quotation taken from a poem that the faculty of the medical
college of Salerno gave to Robert, son of William the Conqueror, in the
year 1101:
"Salerno's school in conclave high unites
To counsel England's king and thus indites:
If thou to health and vigor wouldst attain,
Shun mighty cares, all anger deem profane;
From heavy suppers and much wine abstain;
Nor trivial count it after pompous fare
To rise from table and to take the air.
Shun idle noonday slumbers, nor delay
The urgent calls of nature to obey.
These rules if thou wilt follow to the end,
Thy life to greater length thou may'st extend."
During recent times but two important discoveries have been made
concerning matters of health: First, the advantage of cleanliness;
second, the approximate chemical composition of various foods. All the
other important new discoveries are old.
Cleanliness, moderation in all things, right thinking and a realization
of the fact that nature cures are some of the most important stones upon
which to build a healing practice. The most important single therapeutic
factor is to abstain from food during pain and active disease processes.
Cleanliness of mind and body has been taught for thousands of years, yet
cleanliness of body is a new discovery, for which we are greatly
indebted to the great bacteriologist, Pasteur. It has been found that
germs thrive best in filth; this has been taught so thoroughly that the
public is somewhat afraid of the germs and as a measure of
self-protection they are cleaning up. Of old, cleanliness meant a clean
skin, but this is the least important part. It is far more necessary to
have a clean alimentary tract and clean blood, with a resultant sweet,
healthy body, and this is what cleanliness is beginning to mean.
Internal cleanliness necessitates moderation, for an overworked
alimentary tract becomes foul and some of the poisons are taken into the
blood.
Asepsis and antisepsis simply mean cleanliness.
The benefits of moderation have been known for thousands of years. Louis
Cornaro, who died in 1566, wrote a delightful book on the subject.
People know that it is necessary to be moderate, but they do not seem to
realize the meaning of moderation nor is its value well enough implanted
in the human mind to produce satisfactory results.
Right thinking seemed as important to the thinkers of old as it does to
the New Thought people today. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is
he."
For the better knowledge of the composition of food we have to thank the
chemists.
Laymen are referred to frequently in this book because their work has
been so helpful and important. Herbert Spencer and Alfred Russel Wallace
had very clear conceptions regarding health. See their opinions
regarding vaccination. There is no difference in the mental processes of
physicians and laymen. Anyone can know about health, though it takes
considerable experience and observation to get acquainted with the less
important subject of disease. One indictment against medical men is that
they have dwelled almost entirely on disease and paid no attention to
health.
A group of modern men deserve great credit for popularizing health
knowledge, which generally results in the loss of professional standing
of the teacher. R. H. Trall, M. D., insisted that drugs are useless and
harmful, that the only rational and safe way of healing ordinary ills is
to use nature's means. "Strictly speaking, fever and food are
antagonistic ideas," he wrote. In his Hydropathic Encyclopedia,
copyrighted in 1851, he puts great stress on natural remedies, such as
food and water. He met with much opposition, but he has left a deep
impression on the minds of men who are now having some influence in
shaping public opinion on health and healing.
Dr. Charles Page of Boston has been writing in advocacy of natural
healing for over thirty years. He also has emphasized the harmfulness of
drugs, the necessity of withholding food from fever patients, and simple
living, remaining in touch with nature. Another important point which
the doctor has been trying to impress upon the public is that it is
necessary to retain the natural salts of the foods, instead of ruining
them or throwing them away, as is generally done, especially in the
preparation of vegetables and many cereal products.
Dr. Edward Hooker Dewey began to present his ideas to the public a few
years after the Civil War. His little book entitled "The No-Breakfast
Plan and the Fasting Cure," has had a great influence among rational
healers. The doctor emphasized the importance of going without food in
acute diseases so that no one who has read the book can forget it. He
pointed out some of the errors of conventional healing as they had never
been shown before, and I believe he was the first one to give the
correct rules to guide people in the consumption of food.
For fourteen years Dr. J. H. Tilden of Denver has been a voluminous
writer on health. He teaches that the law of compensation applies to
health; that all disease is one and the same fundamentally; that
"Autotoxemia is the fundamental basic cause of all diseases." Like all
others who have investigated the subject impartially he believes that
one of the most important factors of health is correct feeding. He
allows all foods, in compatible combinations. Of course, he gives no
drugs.
Dr. Harry Brook of Los Angeles is unique among the health educators of
today. He is a brainy journalist with a good stock of fundamental health
knowledge and is endowed with the ability to place his convictions
before the public in a striking manner. He has been carrying on his
educational work for many years.
Elbert Hubbard has also had a great deal of influence on the thought of
today. At intervals he publishes an article on health which gets wide
distribution. He has the faculty of making people think, and those who
allow themselves to think independently generally evolve into
serviceable knowledge.
Bernarr Macfadden has a large following. He is a strong advocate of
physical culture and favors vegetarianism and other changes from
conventional life. He educates his readers away from drugs. He has
written much that is helpful and his influence is widely felt. Like all
others who have struggled against the fetters of convention, he has
aroused much opposition.
There are a few good health magazines, and there are many people living
who deserve credit for their labor to improve the mental and physical
condition of humanity. Some of these will be mentioned and quoted.
Some of the teachers have dwelled upon but one idea and some have
advocated fallacies, but there is good to be found in all of them. No
knowledge assays one hundred per cent. pure.
No helpful healing knowledge should be kept away from the public; it
should be as free as possible. The public, when it understands,
willingly pays a fair price for it, which is all that should be asked.
To take advantage of the sick and helpless is contemptible. The old-time
idea, still prevalent, that medical knowledge is for the doctor only is
a mistake. The best patients are the intelligent ones. The office of the
physician should be to educate his clients; his best knowledge and his
best qualities will be developed in dealing honestly with intelligent
people.
The practice of medical secrecy began in ancient times when the healers
and the priests believed in fooling the public. Unfortunately, this
professional attitude still survives. No one who has not practiced the
healing art can know how tempted a doctor is to fake and humbug a little
to retain and gain patronage.
Emerson wrote: "He is the rich man who can avail himself of other men's
faculties. He is the richest man who knows how to draw a benefit from
the labors of the greatest number of men--of men in distant countries
and past times." Those who wish to be healthy and efficient are
compelled to advance by taking advantage of other men's faculties. He
who attempts to learn all by experience does not live long enough to
travel far.
Everyone should try to get a knowledge of the few most fundamental facts
of nature governing life. Then it would not be so easy to go astray.
Health literature should be read with an open mind. Read in conjunction
with your knowledge of the laws of nature, and then it will be seen that
health and disease are according to law, and that by eliminating the
mistakes disease will disappear.
All disease is one. It is the manifestation of disobeyed natural law,
and whether the mistakes are made knowingly or ignorantly matters but
little so far as the results are concerned. It is generally considered a
disgrace to be imprisoned for transgressing man-made law, which is
faulty and complex. How about being in the fetters of disease for
disregarding nature's law, which is just and simple?
It is my aim to use as simple language as possible. If physicians read
these pages, they will understand them without technicalities, and so
will laymen. This book contains much knowledge that physicians should
have, knowledge that will help them when that which they have acquired
from conventional sources fails, but in many respects it is so opposed
to popular customs and beliefs that many physicians will doubtless
condemn it on first reading. Doctors are taught otherwise at medical
colleges, and most of them have such high regard for authority that it
is very difficult for them to see matters in a different light. I appeal
to both laymen and healers with open minds.
These rambling thoughts will serve to show the reader whether it is
worth while to go any further. The following chapters are devoted to an
exposition of a workable knowledge of how to retain health, and how to
regain lost health in ordinary cases. They will teach how to get
dependable health, how to remain well in spite of climatic conditions,
bacteria and other factors that are given as causes of disease, and how
to more than double the ordinary span of life.
Good health and long life result in better work, increased earning
capacity and efficiency of body and mind, greater understanding, and
more enjoyment of life. It gives time to cultivate wisdom.
CHAPTER II.
MENTAL ATTITUDE.
On mental questions there is a wide divergence of opinion. At one
extreme some say that all is mind, at the other, that life is entirely
physical, that the mind is but a refined part of the body. Most of us
recognize both body and mind, and realize that life has a physical
basis. If some are pleased to be known as mental phenomena, no harm is
done.
All desire to make a success of life. What would be a success for one
would be a failure for another. It all depends on the point of view.
Broadly speaking, all are successful who are helpful, whether it be in
furnishing pleasure or necessities to others. The humble may be as
successful as the great, yes even more so.
Wealth and success are not synonymous, as many think. Among the failures
must be counted many of the wealthy. Financial success is not real
success unless it has been gained in return for valuable service. The
men of initiative deserve greater rewards than the plodders and these
rewards are cheerfully given.
A little genuine love and affection can bring more beauty and happiness
into life than wealth, and neither can be bought with money.
The best and most satisfying form of success comes to him who helps
himself by helping others. "It is more blessed to give than to receive,"
has passed into common currency; but the more we give the more we
receive. He who loves attracts love. He who hates is repaid in kind. "He
who lives by the sword shall perish by the sword."
The enjoyment of the fruits of one's labor is a part of success. Some
make a fetish of success and thus lose out. Others are so ambitious that
in their striving they forget to live. A little ambition is good; too
much sows the seed of struggle, strife and discontent and defeats its
own ends. Those who do evil because the end justifies the means have
already buried some of the best that is in them.
To enjoy life, health of body and mind is necessary. The mind can not
come to full fruitage without a good body. Those who strive so hard to
reach a certain goal that they neglect the physical become wrecks and
after a few years of discomfort and disease are consigned to premature
graves. Through proper living and thinking the body and mind are built
up, not only enough to meet ordinary demands upon them, but
extraordinary ones. In other words, it is within our power to have a
large margin, balance or reserve of physical and mental force.
To make the meaning clearer let us illustrate financially: Prudent
people lay aside a few dollars from time to time, in a savings bank, for
instance. All goes well and the savings grow. At last there are one
thousand dollars. Now an emergency arises, and if the saver can not
furnish nine hundred dollars he will lose his home. In this case he must
either borrow or use his reserve, so he takes nine hundred dollars from
the savings bank and keeps his home. The improvident man loses his home
under similar circumstances, for his credit is not good and he has no
balance to draw upon.
And it is the same with physical and mental powers, except that we can
not borrow these, no matter how much good will or credit we may have. He
who lives well is accumulating a reserve. He has a wide margin. If
trouble comes he can draw upon his reserve energy or surplus resistance
and bridge it over. He may be tired out, but he escapes with body and
mind intact.
The imprudent liver generally has such a narrow margin that any
extraordinary demand made upon him breaks him down. It is very common
for men to die after a financial failure. Disease, insanity and death
often follow family trouble or the loss of a dear one. The reason is
that such people live up to their limit every day. They have no margin
to work on. They either overdo or underdo and fail to become balanced.
Then a little physical or mental exertion beyond the ordinary often
means a breakage or extinction.
Equanimity and moderation will help to build up the reserve and give the
resistance that is necessary to cope successfully with the unforeseen
difficulties that we sometimes have to surmount.
The physical state depends largely on the mental state and vice versa.
Body and mind react upon each other. Bad blood does not only cause
abnormal functioning of such organs as the heart, liver, kidneys and
lungs, but it interferes with the normal functioning of the brain. It
diminishes the mental output and causes a deterioration of the quality.
An engorged liver makes a man cranky. Indigestion causes pessimism.
Physical pain is so disturbing that the sufferer thinks mostly of
himself and is unable to perform his work well. We never do our best
when self-conscious. If there is severe pain the mind can perform no
useful labor.
On the other hand, anger stops digestion and poisons the secretions of
the body. Worry does the same. It takes the mind from constructive
thoughts and deeds and centers it upon ourselves. An effective mind must
be tranquil, otherwise it upsets the body and fails to give proper
direction to our activities.
For a real life success we need a proper perspective. We need to be
balanced, poised, adjusted. Most of us are too circumscribed mentally.
We live so much by and for ourselves that we consider ourselves,
individually, of greater importance than the facts warrant. Others do
not agree with us on this point, and this is a source of disturbance. I
am personally acquainted with two surgeons and several physicians who
think they are the greatest in the world, and one considers himself the
best physician of all time. The rest of the world does not appraise them
so highly, and some of these professional men are very much annoyed
because of this lack of appreciation.
Selfishness and self-esteem to a certain point are virtues. Beyond that
point they become vices. Certainly we should think well of ourselves,
and then act so that this good opinion is merited. Self-interest and
selfishness are the main-springs of progress. Most of us need some
inducement to do good work. It is well that it is so. The ones who
deserve the great rewards generally get them, whether they are mental or
physical.
To obtain a proper perspective of ourselves we must learn to think
independently and honestly. It is too common to be conventionally
honest, but dishonest with ourselves. It is too common to pass unnoticed
in ourselves the faults we condemn in others. We should be lenient in
our judgment because often the mistakes that others make would have been
ours had we but had the opportunity to make them.
As physical ills are principally caused by bad physical habits, so are
mental ills and inefficiency chiefly due to various bad mental habits,
which are allowed to fasten themselves upon us. These will be briefly
discussed so as to focus attention upon them, for the first thing
necessary for the correction of a bad habit is to recognize its
presence. It is as important to think right as it is to give the body
proper care. A good body with a mind working in the wrong direction is
of no use. If we allow our minds to be disturbed and distressed by every
little unfavorable happening, we shall never have enough tranquility to
think well.
The proper time to quit our bad habits is now. Why wait until the first
of the month or the first of the year? Every day that we harbor a bad
habit it grows greater and strikes deeper and stronger roots. A child
one year old can often be broken of a bad habit in a week; a child of
three, within a month; a child of six, within a few months; but let the
habit grow until the age of twenty, and it may take a year or more to
break the bonds. Let it continue until the age of thirty, and the victim
will say, "I can quit any time," but the chances are that the habit will
remain for life. After the individual is fifty or sixty years old, he is
rarely capable of changing. If he is the victim of a very bad habit, it
has generally so sapped his strength of body and mind that he is unable
to break away.
The right time to stop bad habits is now.
Some people have many pet bad habits. It is often the best policy to
attack them one at a time. Those who try to conquer all at once often
fail. They backslide, lose self-confidence, become discouraged, tell
themselves that it is no use, for it can not be done. Begin with the
habit that is least formidable. After this is conquered, overcome
another one, and in time most of the bad habits will be subdued. The
first conquest builds confidence, and with confidence and determination
it is possible to gain self-mastery in time.
The greatest evil about bad habits is that they conquer us. They become
masters, we slaves. Let us be free. "He who conquers himself is greater
than he who taketh a city."
The mind grows strong by overcoming obstacles, as the body gains in
strength through work and exercise.
Giving up bad habits is very disagreeable at first. Those who have
conquered the prevalent habit of overeating know that they have been in
a fight. The smokers who quit suffer. Those who break away from liquor
have a much greater struggle. Those who attempt to overcome drug
addictions suffer the tortures of the damned. Those who overcome their
bad mental habits have a hard time of it at first, but though it is
difficult it is possible. It is no easy matter to curb a fiery
disposition or to quit worrying. It requires time, persistence and
perseverance. Fretting, envy, spite, jealousy and hatred are tenacious
tenants of the mind they occupy. These harmful emotions are enemies
which sap our strength and we must thrust them from our lives if we
would live well. This is not all narrow selfishness, for when we have
gained mental calm for ourselves we are in position to impart peace of
mind to others and to be more useful than previously. A calm mind is not
a stagnant one. It is a mind that is in the best possible condition to
work, to think clearly and effectively.
_Self-pity_ is a very common mental ill. Those who suffer much from this
affliction usually have very good imagination. They think they are
slighted and abused. They know that they do not get their dues. They
envy others and are sure that others prosper at their expense. They
minimize their blessings and magnify their misfortunes. This state of
mind leads to spite and malice. These people become very nervous and
irritable and are a nuisance, not only to themselves, but to those who
are unfortunate enough to have to associate with them.
_Self-consciousness_ and _self-centeredness_ are twin evils. The
sufferers lack perspective. They magnify their own importance. They
believe they are the targets of many other minds and eyes. The youth
refuses to take a dip in the ocean because he knows that the rest of the
people on the beach are watching his spindle shanks or perhaps the
bathing suit would reveal his narrow, undeveloped chest. The young man
is afraid to go onto the dance floor because everybody is sure to see
his ungainly gyrations. He stammers and stutters when he speaks because
others are paying particular attention to his words, when in truth he is
attracting little or no attention. Whether working or playing, those
whose good opinions are worth having are too busy to spend much time in
finding fault with others and discovering flaws that do not concern
them. More enjoyment is to be had in looking at fine physiques and
graceful movements than in watching the less favored.
We always do our best when we are natural. When we become self-conscious
we become artificial and awkward. We can not even breathe properly.
Those who are ever thinking about themselves fail to do things well
enough to hold sustained attention, even if they are able to gain it for
a while. Those who do their work well will in time gain the attention
and appreciation they require. No one can long occupy a high place in
the public heart without adding to the profit or pleasure of the world.
Here is a good line of thought for those who are too self-centered and
self-important: "There are millions of solar systems in the universe,
some of them much greater than ours. There are uncounted planets in
space, beside some of which our little earth is a mere toy. Some of
these planets are doubtless inhabited. Even on this small earth there
are over a billion people. I am one in a number so great that my mind
can not grasp such a multitude. Countless billions have gone before and
they got along very well before I was born. Countless billions will live
and die after I have passed on, and if they hear of me it will probably
be by accident. And so it will be for ages and ages, so extensive that
my brain can not grasp the stretch of time, which is without beginning
and without end. How much do I, individually, amount to?"
And an honest answer _must_ be, "Personally I am of very small
importance."
An individual can not live of himself, for himself and by himself. Only
as he adds his efforts to those of others does his work count. When we
realize that we are but atoms in this vast universe, we get down to a
business basis. Then it is easy to get adjusted. In order to count at
all we must be in harmony with some of the rest of the atoms and when we
discover this we are in a mental state to be of some real use. Building
for individual glory is vanity. Sometimes an individual builds so well
that he is picked out for special attention and honor, but this is
comparatively seldom. As a rule, we can only help a little in shaping
the ends of the race by adding our mite, as privates in the ranks. The
time we spend in nursing our conceit is wasted.
This does not mean that we are worms in the dust. A human being is a
paradox. He is so little, yet he has great possibilities. Our bodies are
kept close to the earth, but our minds can be free and unfettered,
soaring through time and space, exploring innumerable worlds of thought.
But it will not do to be too self-centered or consider one's self of too
great importance, for this lessens one's chances of meriting the esteem
of others.
The well balanced man is not greatly affected by too great praise or
excessive censure, for he realizes that though the public may be hasty
and unjust at times, in the end it renders a fairly just verdict.
_Fear_ is one of the harmful negative or depressing emotions. Fear, like
all other depressing emotions, poisons the body. This is not said in a
figurative sense. It is an actual scientific fact; it has been
demonstrated chemically. Were it not for the fact that the lungs, skin,
kidneys and the bowels are constantly removing poisons from the body, an
acute attack of fear would prove fatal.
Fear or fright is largely a habit. The parents are often responsible for
this affliction. It is far too common for them to scare their children.
They people the darkness with all kinds of danger and with horrible
shapes, and the children, with their vivid imaginations, magnify these.
Children should be taught to meet all conditions in life courageously
and fear should not be instilled into their minds. There is a great deal
of difference between fear and the caution which all must learn or
perish early.
The caution that is implanted in the human breast is our heritage from
the ages and works for our preservation. It was necessary during the
infancy of the race when man had to struggle with the animals for
supremacy. Beyond this point fear is a health-destroyer.
There are people who cultivate fear until they imagine they are ever in
danger. They fear that they may lose their health, their mind, their
good name. Some are afraid of many things. Others have one pet fear.
Today the fear of the unseen is strong in the public mind. I refer to
the fear of germs, those tiny plants which are so small that the unaided
eye can not see them. Children are shown moving pictures of these tiny
beings, enormously enlarged and very formidable in appearance. They are
told to beware, for these germs are in our food, in our drink, on the
earth, in the air, in fact everywhere that man lives.
It is very harmful to scare the young thus, for it inhibits physical
action and stunts the mind. How much better it would be to teach the
children these truths about the germs: "Yes, there are germs in our
foods and beverages. They are on the earth, in the water and in the air.
They are necessary for our existence. If we take good care of our bodies
and direct our minds in proper channels, these germs will not, in fact,
can not harm us. If we do not take care of ourselves, but allow our
bodies to fill with debris, the germs try to clean this away; they
multiply and grow into great armies while doing it, for they thrive on
waste. It is our fault, not the fault of the germs, that we allow our
bodies to degenerate. The germs are our good friends and if we treat
ourselves properly they will do all they can to help keep the water, the
earth and the air in fit condition for our use."
Such teachings have the advantage of being true. They are helpful and
healthful. The popular teachings are disease-producing. The mental
depression and bodily inhibition caused by fear are injurious. Those who
fear a certain kind of disease often bring this ill upon themselves, so
powerful is suggestion. The fear is more dangerous than the thing
feared.
In fear there is loss of both physical and mental power. Not only the
voluntary muscles become impotent, but the involuntary ones lose in
effectiveness. Digestion is partly or wholly suspended. "Scared stiff"
is a popular and truthful expression. The bodily rhythm is lost, the
breathing becomes jerky and the heart beats out of tune.
Keep fear out of the lives of babes. If children are taught the truth,
there will be little fear in adult minds. Children should not be taught
prayers in which there is an element of fear. It is much better to bring
children up to love other people and God than to fear.
Those who have cultivated fear should try suggestion. Positive
suggestion is always best. Let them analyze matters thus: "I have feared
daily and nightly. Nothing has happened. I have brought much unnecessary
discomfort upon myself. There is nothing to fear and I shall be brave
hereafter." Those who fear God have a low conception of Him. Let them
remember the beautiful saying that "God is love." Through repeating them
often enough, such positive suggestions sink so deeply into the mind
that they replace doubts and fears.
About 2500 years ago Pythagoras wrote: "Hate and fear breed a poison in
the blood, which, if continued, affect eyes, ears, nose and the organs
of digestion. Therefore, it is not wise to hear and remember the unkind
things that others may say of us." Pythagoras was an ancient
philosopher, but his words express modern scientific truths.
_Worry_: Worrying is perhaps the most common and the worst of our
mental sins. Worry is like a cancer: It eats in and in. It is
destructive of both body and mind. It is due largely to lack of
self-control and is a symptom of cowardice. Much worry is also
indicative of great selfishness, which most of those afflicted will
deny. Those who worry much are always in poor health, which grows
progressively worse. The form of indigestion accompanied by great
acidity and gas formation is a prolific source of worry, as well as of
other mental and physical troubles. The acidity irritates the nervous
system and the irritation in time causes mental depression.
Confirmed worriers will worry about the weather, the past, the present,
the future, about work and about play, about food, clothing and drink,
about those who are present and those who are absent. Nothing escapes
them and they bring sadness and woe in their wake.
Worrying is slow suicide.
Elbert Hubbard says that our most serious troubles are those that never
happen.
Worrying is a very futile employment, for it never does any good, and it
reacts evilly upon the one who indulges in it, and those with whom he
associates. It is a waste of time and energy. The energy thus used could
be directed into useful channels.
Let those who are afflicted with this bad and annoying habit get into
good physical condition. Then many of the worries will take wing. If
they persist, it would be well to face the matter frankly and honestly,
setting down the advantages of worrying on one side and the
disadvantages on the other. Then take into consideration that not one
thing in a thousand worried about happens, and if something disagreeable
does occur, worrying can not prevent it. Besides a disagreeable
happening now and then will not cause half of the discomfort and trouble
that a disturbed mind does.
"And this too shall pass away," is an ancient saying which it would be
well to remember in conjunction with, "And this will probably never
happen."
_Anger_ is a form of temporary insanity. It is an emotion that is
unbecoming in strong men, for it is a sign of weakness, and the women
who indulge in it frequently can not long keep the respect of others.
Those who become angry lay themselves open to wounds of all kinds, for
they partly lose their mental and physical faculties temporarily. An
angry man is easily vanquished in any contest where ready wit is
necessary. As the saying is, he makes a fool of himself. To be high
strung and quick to lose one's temper may sound fine in romantic
rubbish, but in real life it is folly, for much more can be accomplished
by being calm.
Like hatred, anger produces poisons in the system. An angry mother's
milk has been known to kill the nursing child. A fit of anger is so
serious that the evil effects can be felt for several days, and those
who indulge in daily or even weekly loss of temper can not enjoy the
best of health, for the anger produces enough toxins to poison all the
fluids of the body.
Fortunately, anger is one of the emotions that can be conquered in a
reasonable time, if there is a real desire to do so. It should not take
an adult more than one or two years to get himself under control.
During anger there is a tensing of various muscles, those of the face
and hands for instance. If this tensing is not allowed the anger will
not last long. If there is a tendency to become angry, relax and the
mind will ease up. A perfectly relaxed individual can not harbor anger,
for this emotion requires tensing of body and mind. A determination to
control the temper and a whole-hearted apology after each display of
anger will prove very effective in reducing the frequency and force of
the attacks. Mental suggestion is not as powerful as some say, but it is
such a great force for good or evil, depending on its use, that those
who are wise will not neglect it as a means of self-conquest.
People who are easily offended and "stand on their dignity," have a very
poor footing. Those who find it necessary to inform others that they are
ladies or gentlemen, are very apt to be prejudiced in their own favor.
Gentlefolks do not need to advertise, nor do they do so. Others
recognize their worth intuitively.
_Fretting_ is anger on a small scale. It is a habit that is easily
formed. The fretter and those about him are made uncomfortable. Those
who respect themselves and others do not indulge.
_Hatred_ is one of the most harmful and poisonous of emotions.
Fortunately, violent hatred can last but a short time, otherwise it
would prove fatal. Some are chronic haters. He who hates harms himself.
The thoughts weave themselves into one's personality and form the
character.
_Jealousy_ is one of the most disagreeable of emotions. The jealous
person insists on suffering. A jealous woman can convert a home into an
inferno. Jealousy is sure to kill love in time. The jealous individual
often excuses himself on the ground that he loves. That is not true.
There is more fear than love at the base of jealousy. Jealous people are
selfish and too indolent mentally to give their thoughts a positive
direction.
Those who are violently jealous are suffering from mental aberration.
The jealous person loses, for he drives away the object of his
affection.
There are many jealous men, but women suffer most. Bad health and
idleness are two prolific causes of jealousy. It has probably broken up
more homes than any other one thing. It is blighting to all it touches.
Men and women may feel flattered for a time by producing jealousy, but
it is a satisfaction of very short duration. They soon grow weary of the
questions, doubts and reproaches.
Those who are sensible enough to give freely to others the liberty they
crave for themselves do not suffer much from this emotion. It would help
greatly if man and wife would look upon the marriage relation more as a
partnership and less as a form of bondage. One of the partners can not
force the other one to be "good." People do the best by others when full
confidence is given, and even if the confidence should be misplaced, it
would be better than to suffer from this corroding emotion at all times.
It is not an easy task to overcome jealousy, but it can be done within a
reasonable time if there is a real desire. First get physical health.
Then get busy with interesting, useful work. Get something worth while
to occupy the mind and the hands. Determine to be master of yourself and
not a slave to what is often but figments of the imagination.
Unfortunately, jealousy so dwarfs the judgment at times that the
sufferers seek only to rule or ruin. Love and hate are so closely akin
that it is hard to find the dividing line.
_Sorrow_: Some dedicate their lives to a sorrow. They make martyrs of
themselves. They have suffered a loss and they dwell upon it during all
of their waking hours. It may be that it was a very ordinary or
worthless husband or child. After death the poor real is converted into
a glorious ideal. With the passing years the virtues of the departed
grow. All the love and tenderness are lavished upon the dead and the
living are neglected. It is generally women who suffer from this
peculiar form of mild insanity, but men are not exempt.
It is natural to feel the loss of a dear one, but so long as we are
mortal we must accept these things as matters of course.
Related to this form of sorrow is the regretting or brooding over past
actions, especially in connection with the dead. Perhaps something that
should have been done was neglected, or something was done that should
have been left undone. Over this the sufferer broods by the hour,
leading to a form of sad resignation that is rather irritating to normal
people.
For such people a change of interest and a change of scene will often
prove very beneficial.
_Envy_ and _spite_ are closely akin to jealousy and anger. They have the
same effect in lesser degree.
_Vacillation of mind_ is a common fault. Many small questions have to be
settled and a few important ones. Some are in the habit of deferring
their decisions from time to time, or making and revoking their
decisions. Then they decide over again, after which there is another
revocation. This is repeated until it is absolutely necessary to make a
final decision. By this time the mind is so muddled that the chances are
that the last decision will be inferior to the first one. No one who
leads an active life can be right all the time. He who is right six
times out of ten does pretty well, and he who can make a correct
decision three times out of four can command a fine salary as an
executive or build up a flourishing business of his own, if his mind is
active.
The doubt and uncertainty which result from unsettled questions, which
should be promptly decided, are more harmful than an occasional error.
The untroubled mind works most quickly and truly.
Related to this in minor key is the doubtful condition of mind where the
individual has to do things several times before he is sure they are
properly done. For instance, there is the man who must try the office
door several times to be sure that it is locked and after being
satisfied on this point he is obliged to unlock it and investigate the
condition of the safe door. Then it is necessary to attend to the office
door two or three times again. This kind of doubtfulness takes many
forms. It does no special harm except that it leads to much waste of
time. Such people should teach themselves concentration, thinking about
one thing only at a time, until they learn that when a thing is done it
is properly done.
_Judging_: Many insist on passing judgment on everything and everybody
that come to their notice. Every individual has to be placed with the
sheep or the goats. This is a great waste of time. Each one of us can
know so little about the majority of individuals we meet and of the vast
volume of knowledge that is to be had that if we try to judge everyone
and everything, our opinions become worthless. Wise people are never
afraid to say, "I don't know." If it is necessary to judge, let there be
kindness.
_Volunteering advice_: This is another annoying habit. It is very well
to give advice if it is desired and asked for, otherwise it is a waste
of time. Take a person with a cold, for example: If he meets twenty
people he may be told of fifteen different cures for it, ranging from
goose grease on a red rag to suggestive therapeutics. If he were to act
upon all the advice received there would probably be a funeral. It is
best to be sparing with advice. Those who have any that is worth while
will be asked for it and paid for their trouble. Free advice is
generally worth what it costs.
_Cranks_: Many allow themselves to get into a mental rut with their
thoughts running almost entirely to one subject. This is a mild form of
insanity, for normal people have many interests. These people are the
cranks. They can talk volumes about their favorite topic, often of no
importance. It may be some peculiar religion or ethics; or that Bacon
wrote the plays of Shakespeare; or some health fad, or almost any
subject.
Of all the cranks the diet crank is one of the most annoying, for he has
three good opportunities to air his views each day. With the best
meaning in the world he does more harm to the cause of food reform than
do the advocates of living in the good old way, eating, drinking and
being merry and dying young. When people become possessed of too much
zeal and enthusiasm regarding a subject, they are sure that their
knowledge is the truth and they insist upon trying to enforce their way
upon others, resent having their old habits interfered with forcibly.
Those who are too persistent and insistent produce antagonism and
prejudice in the minds of others, and then it is almost impossible to
impart the truth to them, for they will neither see nor hear.
To be able to influence others for better is a grand and glorious thing,
but it is well to remember that we can not force knowledge which is
contrary to popular thought upon others suddenly. Those who change a
well rooted opinion generally do so gradually. When they first hear the
truth, they say it is ridiculous. After a while they think there may be
something in it. At last they see its superiority over their former
opinions and accept it. It requires infinite patience on the part of the
educators to impart unpopular knowledge to other adults, no matter how
much truth it contains.
The truth about physical well-being is so simple and so self-evident
that it is exceptionally hard to get an unprejudiced audience. From the
time when the ancient heathen priests were the healers until today the
impression has been that health and healing are beyond the understanding
of the common mind, and therefore people are willing to be mystified.
The mysterious has such a strong appeal in this world of uncertainties
that it is more attractive than the simple truth. Mystery simply demands
faith. The truth compels thinking and thoughts are often painful.
By all means, avoid being overinsistent in trying to impart health
knowledge to others. All who have a little knowledge of the fundamentals
of health and growth know that useful men and women are going into
degeneration and premature death constantly, because of violated health
laws. If these people on the brink, who can yet be saved by natural
means, are told how it can be done, they generally either refuse to
believe it, or they have led such self-indulgent lives that it is beyond
their power to change. The knowledge often comes too late.
Those who are anxious to do good in the spreading of health knowledge
among their friends can serve best by getting health themselves. If a
physical wreck evolves into good health there will be considerable
comment and inquiry. This is the opportunity to tell what nature will do
and inform others where to obtain a good interpretation of nature's
workings.
A little practicing is worth more than a great deal of preaching. The
truth is the truth, no matter what the source, but it is more effective
if it comes from one who lives it.
I have gone into the subject of health cranks so deeply because there
are so many of them. They get a little knowledge and then they believe
they are masters of the subject. The right attitude toward proper
living, and especially toward proper eating is: "I shall try to conduct
myself so as to be healthy and efficient. If others desire my help, I
shall try to indicate the way to them. Right living is no sign of
superior goodness or merit, being a matter of higher selfishness, so I
deserve no credit for it. Although health is very important, I shall
refrain from attempting to force my will on others."
After conquering ourselves it is time to begin making foreign conquests,
but by that time the realization comes that in the end it is best to
leave others free to work out their own salvation. The desire is strong
to mould others according to our pattern, but those who size themselves
up honestly soon come to the conclusion that they are so imperfect that
perchance some other pattern is fully as good.
_Postponing happiness_: One peculiar state of mind is to refuse to be
happy at present. The romantic girl and boy think they can not be happy
until they are married. After marriage they find that they have to gain
a certain amount of wealth before happiness comes. Then they have to
postpone it for social position. They continue postponing happiness from
time to time and the result is that they never attain it. Happiness is
not a great entity that bursts upon us, transforming us into radiant
beings. It is a comfortable feeling that brings peace and places us in
harmony with our surroundings. It can best be gained by doing well each
day the work that is to be done, cheerfully giving in return for what is
received. Happiness is largely a habit. It is as easy to be bright and
cheerful as it is to be sad and doleful, and much more comfortable. If
we look for the best we will find beauty even in the most unpromising
places. If we are looking for tears and woe, we can easily find them.
We can get along without happiness, but it adds so much color and beauty
to life, it makes us so much better, it helps us so much to be useful
that it is folly to do without it. It is not gained by narrow
selfishness. Those who forget themselves most and are kind and
considerate find it. By giving it to others we get it for ourselves.
Ecstasy and rapture are emotions of short duration. They are so
exhilarating that they soon wear out.
We all have our little troubles and annoyances. These we should accept
as inevitable, and neither think nor talk much about them. They help to
wear away the rough edges. We are stupid at times and so are others and
then mistakes are made. These should also be accepted as inevitable, and
we should not be more annoyed by those that others make than by our own.
Those who go into a rage when their subordinates err waste much time and
energy, erring gravely themselves.
It is not necessary to notice every unimportant detail that is not
pleasing. Fault-finding, carping and nagging destroy harmony.
Disagreements about trifles often lead to broken friendship and enmity.
Most quarrels are about trifles.
If mistakes are made, learn the lesson they teach and then forget about
them. All live, active beings make mistakes. Sometimes we make serious
ones and afterwards regrets come, but these must soon be thrust aside.
Brooding has put many into the insane asylums.
_Introspection_: It is not well to allow the mind to dwell upon one's
self very much. Give yourself enough thought to guide yourself through
life, and then for the rest apply the mind to work and play. Many of
those who are too self-centered end up in believing they are something
or somebody else and then they are shut away from the public.
Introspection is a very useless employment. Individually we are so
small, and the mind has such great possibilities, that if we center it
upon our tiny physical being, things become unbalanced and the mind
ceases to work to good advantage. It is useless to go deeply into
self-analysis, for we are very poor judges of ourselves. One of my
neighbors delved so deeply into his heart and tried so hard to find out
if he was fit to dwell in heaven that he lost his mind and had to be
confined for a long time. He allowed his vision to narrow down to one
subject. There are many subjects that lead to insanity if they are
allowed exclusive possession of the mind.
After we have given ourselves proper care, we should think no more about
ourselves. The best way is to get busy in work and play and forget
ourselves. It is much better to love others than to center our love upon
ourselves. If we conduct ourselves well we shall have all the love from
others that we need. If there is a tendency to be introspective, cure it
by becoming active mentally and physically.
Those who have acquired the bad habit of thinking and talking ill of
others should break themselves of it. First cease talking ill. Then
begin to look for the good points and mention them. By and by the
thoughts will be good. Those who lack a virtue can often cultivate it by
assuming it.
One of the most helpful things is a sense of humor. Laughter brings
about relaxation and relaxation gives ease of body and mind. He who can
see his own weaknesses and smile at them is surely safe and sane. If the
mind is too austere, cultivate a sense of humor. Train yourself to
appreciate the ridiculous appearance you make and instead of being
chagrined, smile. When others laugh at you, join them.
Whatever the mental ill may be, one-half of its cure will be brought
about by getting physical health.
Be charitable, tolerant and kind, and the good things in life will come
to you. Be slow to judge and slower still to condemn others.
Those who give love attract it. Hypatia said: "Express beauty in your
lives and beauty flows to you and through you. To love means to be
loved, and to put hate behind is the sum of all loving that is of any
avail."
The best "New Thought" is the best old thought. If we only would put
some of the beautiful knowledge into common use, what an agreeable
dwelling place this world would be. Marcus Aurelius gave us this pearl
of wisdom: "When you arise in the morning, think what a precious
privilege it is to live, to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love! God's
spirit is close to us when we love. Therefore it is better not to
resent, not to hate, not to fear. Equanimity and moderation are the
secrets of power and peace."
CHAPTER III.
FOOD.
The human body is so wonderfully made that as yet we have only a poor
understanding of it, but we are learning a little each decade, and
perhaps in time we shall have a fair knowledge both of the body and of
the mind. Body and mind can not be considered as two separate entities,
for neither one is of any use without the other.
The body is not a machine. Those who look upon it as such make the
mistake of feeding it as they would an engine, thinking that it takes so
much fuel to keep going. The human organism is perhaps never quite alike
on any two consecutive days, for the body changes with our thoughts,
actions and environment, and the conditions never quite repeat
themselves and therefore we have to readjust ourselves.
The most important single item for gaining and retaining physical health
is proper feeding, yet the medical men of this country pay so little
attention to this subject that in some of our best equipped medical
colleges dietetics are not taught. A total of from sixteen to thirty
hours is considered sufficient to fit the future physicians to guide
their patients in the selection, combination and preparation of food.
Dietetics should be the principal subject of study. It should be
approached both from the scientific and from the empirical side. It is
not a rigid subject, but one which can be treated in a very elastic way.
The scientific part is important, but the practical part, which is the
art, is vastly more important. A part of the art of feeding and fasting
is scientific, for we get the same results every time, under given
conditions.
When we consider the fact that the body is made up of various tissues,
such as connective tissue, blood, nerves and muscles; that these in turn
are made up of billions of cells, as are the various glandular organs
and membranes; that these cells are constantly bathed in blood and
lymph, from which they select the food they need and throw the refuse
away, we must marvel that an organism so complex is so resistant, stable
and strong.
All articles of good quality are made by first-class workmen from fine
materials. However, many people fail to realize that in order to have
quality bodies they must take quality food, properly cooked or prepared,
in the right proportions and combinations. If we feed the body properly,
nature is kind enough to do good constructive work without any thought
on our part.
You will find no rigid rules in these talks on diet, but you will find
information that will enable you to select foods that will agree with
you. People may well disagree on what to eat, for there are so many
foods that a person could do without nine-tenths of them and still be
well nourished. In fact, we consume too great a variety of food for our
physical well-being. Great variety leads to overeating.
A healthy human body is composed of the following compounds, in about
the proportions given:
Water, 60 to 65 per cent.
Mineral matter, 5 to 6 per cent.
Protein, 18 to 20 per cent.
Carbohydrates, 1 per cent.
Fat, 10 per cent. This is perhaps excessive.
These substances are very complex and well distributed throughout the
body. They are composed of about sixteen or seventeen elements, but a
pure element is very rarely found in the body, unless it be a foreign
substance, such as mercury or lead. About 70 per cent of the body is
oxygen, which is also the most abundant element of the earth. Then in
order of their weight come carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium,
phosphorus, sulphur, sodium, chlorine, fluorine, potassium, iron,
magnesium and silicon.
Because it will be helpful in giving a better idea of the necessity for
proper feeding, I shall devote a few words to each of these elements.
_Oxygen_ is a colorless, tasteless, odorless gas, forming a large part
of the atmospheric air, of water, of the earth's crust and of our foods.
It is absolutely essential to life, for without oxygen there can be no
combustion in the animal tissues, and without combustion there can be no
life. The union of oxygen with fats, carbohydrates and proteins in the
body results in slow combustion, which produces heat and energy. Our
chief supply of oxygen comes directly from the air, but this is
supplemented by the intake in food and water.
_Carbon_ is the chief producer of energy within the body, being the
principal constituent of starches, sugars and fats. It is what we rely
on for internal heat, as well as for heating our dwellings, for the
essential part of coal is carbon. The carbonaceous substances are needed
in greater quantity than any other, but if they are taken pure, they
cause starvation more quickly than if no food were eaten. This has been
proved through experiments in feeding nothing but refined sugar, which
is practically pure carbon. Salts and nitrogenous foods are essential to
life.
_Hydrogen_ is a very light gas, without odor, taste or color. It is a
necessary constituent of all growing, living things. It is plentifully
supplied in water. All acids contain hydrogen and so does the protoplasm
of the body.
_Nitrogen_ is also a colorless, tasteless, odorless gas. It is an
essential constituent of the body, being present in all compounds of
protein. It is abundant in the atmospheric air, from which it is taken
by plants. We get our supply either directly from vegetable foods or
from animal products, such as milk, eggs and meat.
_Calcium_ is needed principally for the bones and for the teeth, but it
is also necessary in the blood, where it assists in coagulation. We get
sufficient calcium salts in fruits, grains and vegetables, provided they
are properly prepared. The conventional preparation of the food often
results in the loss of the various salts, which causes tissue
degeneration. If the supply of calcium in the food is too small, the
bones and the teeth suffer, for the blood removes the calcium from these
structures. Growing children need more calcium proportionately than do
adults. This is without doubt the reason pregnant women suffer so much
from softening of the teeth. They are fed on foods robbed of their
calcium, such as white bread and vegetables that have been drained.
_Phosphorus_ in some forms is a poison whether taken in solid compounds
or inhaled in fumes, producing phossy jaw. In other forms it is
indispensable for bodily development. The compounds of phosphorus are
present in fats, bones and protein. In natural foods they are abundantly
present, but when these foods are unduly refined, or are soaked in water
which is thrown away, much of the phosphorus is lost. We get phosphorus
from milk, eggs, cereals, legumes and other foods. Of course, there is
phosphorus in fish, but those who eat sea food to make themselves brainy
will probably be disappointed. Phosphates are necessary for brain
development, but those who eat natural foods never need to go to the
trouble of taking special foods for the brain. If the rest of the body
is well nourished, the brain will have sufficient food, and if the body
is poorly nourished the brain will suffer.
_Sulphur_ is present in protein and we get a sufficient supply from
milk, meat and legumes. The element sulphur is quite inert and harmless,
but some of its acids and salts are very poisonous. Sulphur dioxide is
freely used in the process of drying fruits, as a bleacher. In this form
it is poisonous, and for that reason it would be well to avoid bleached
dried fruits. We need some sulphur, but not in the form of sulphur
dioxide or concentrated sulphurous acid, both of which are used in the
manufacture of food.
_Sodium_, in its elementary state, which is not found in nature, is a
white, silvery metal. It is found in great abundance in the succulent
vegetables, and is present in practically all foods. As sodium chloride,
or common table salt, it is taken in great quantities by most people.
Those who have no salt get along well without it, which shows that it is
not needed in large amounts. If but a little is added to the food, it
does no perceptible harm, but when sprinkled on everything that is
eaten, from watermelons to meat, it is without doubt harmful. By soaking
foods, they are deprived of much of their soda: The two sodium salts
that are very abundant are sodium chloride, or common salt, and sodium
carbonate, generally called soda.
_Chlorine_ is ordinarily combined in our foods with sodium or potash,
forming the chlorides. It is essential to life. He who gets enough
sodium also gets enough chlorine. In its elementary form it is an
irritating gas, used for bleaching purposes.
_Fluorine_ is present in small quantities in the body, appearing as
fluorides in the bones and teeth. It is supplied by the various foods.
In its elementary form it is a poisonous gas.
_Potassium_ is found in the body in very small quantities, but it is
very important. It is mostly in the form of potassium phosphate in the
muscles and in the blood. It is necessary for muscular activity. It is
found in most foods in greater abundance than is sodium, which indicates
that it plays an important part in development. Like sodium, it is
easily dissolved out of foods which are soaked in water, and this is one
of the reasons that vegetables should not be soaked and the water thrown
away. It is very peculiar in its metallic state, being a silvery metal,
very light in weight, which burns when thrown upon water. That is, it
decomposes both itself and the water with the liberation of so much heat
that it fires the escaping hydrogen, which burns with a violet flame.
Pure potassium is not found in nature.
_Iron_ is found in very small quantities in the human body, but it is
absolutely essential to life. Animals deprived of iron die in a few
weeks, and people will do the same under similar circumstances. Iron is
obtained principally from fruits and vegetables, but it is also present
in other foods. Man can not make use of inorganic iron. He has to get
his supply from the vegetable and animal kingdoms. The giving of
inorganic iron is folly and helps to ruin the teeth and the stomach of
the one who takes it. In the form of hemoglobin this element is the
chief agent in carrying oxygen from the lungs to the tissues of the
body. In the manufacture of foods, much of the iron is lost. For
instance, whole wheat flour contains about ten times as much iron as
does the white flour. Too little iron causes, among other ills, anemia,
and if the iron is very low, chlorosis or the green sickness may ensue.
_Magnesium_ is found principally as phosphate in the bones. It is
present both in animal and vegetable foods. Its function in the body is
not well understood, but it appears to assist the phosphorus.
_Silicon_ is found in traces in the human body. It is supplied in small
quantities in nearly all of our foods, and therefore we must take it for
granted that it is necessary, although we are in the dark as to its
uses. It is very abundant in various rocks. The cereals are especially
rich in silicon. In wheat it is found in the bran and is removed from
the white flour.
The elements mentioned are the most important in the body, though others
are found in traces. We do not find the elements present as elements,
but in the form of very complex compounds. Under our present conditions
of living, we generally partake of too much carbonaceous and nitrogenous
food, and get too little of the salts, except sodium chloride, which is
taken in too great quantity. Salt, to most people, means but one thing,
sodium chloride or table salt. However, there are thousands of salts,
and when salts are mentioned in this book, all those necessary for the
processes of life are meant, whether they be compounds of fluorine,
sulphur, phosphorus, calcium, iron or magnesium or other metals and
minerals.
Salts are not usually classified as foods, but they are essential to
life. Supply the body with all the protein, sugar, starch and fat that
it requires, but withhold the salts, and it is but a question of a few
weeks before life ceases. This is why it is so important to improve our
methods of cooking. A potato that is peeled, soaked in cold water and
boiled, may lose as much as one-half of its salts, according to one of
the bulletins sent out by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Other
vegetables not only lose their salts by such treatment, but as high as
30 per cent of their nutritive value.
The lesson we should learn from this is that ordinarily if it is
necessary to soak foods, such as beans, they should be cooked in the
water in which they have been soaked. Furthermore, where possible, as it
is with nearly all succulent vegetables, we should take the fluid in
which the vegetables have been cooked as a part of the meal. If the
vegetables are properly cooked, there will not be much fluid to take. To
pour away the water in which vegetables have been cooked means that
perhaps one-third of the food value and one-third to one-half of the
valuable salts are lost. Why continue impoverishing foods in this way?
Dr. Charles Page deserves much credit for calling our attention to this
fact when most healers neither thought nor talked about it. Now all
up-to-date healers with a knowledge of dietetics realize how important
it is to give good food. For those who wish more detailed information on
the composition of the salts, I insert a table which was compiled by
Otto Carque and published in "Brain and Brawn," February, 1913. Those
who wish still more detailed knowledge can find it in volumes on food
analysis and in some government reports.
MINERAL MATTER IN 1000 PARTS OF WATER-FREE FOOD PRODUCTS.
==========================================================================
P
P M h
o a o C
t C g s S S h
a S a n p u i l
s o l e h l l o
s d c s I o p i r
i i i i r r h c i
u u u u o u u o n
m m m m n s r n e
Total| | | | | | | | |
Salts| K2O |Na2O | CaO | MgO |Fe2O3|P2O5 | SO2 |SiO2 | Cl
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Human milk 34.70|11.73| 3.16| 5.80| 0.75| 0.07| 7.84| 0.33| 0.07| 6.38
Cow's milk 55.30|13.70| 5.34|12.24| 1.69| 0.30|15.79| 0.17| 0.02| 8.04
Meat (avge) 40.00|16.52| 1.44| 1.12| 1.28| 0.28|17.00| 0.64| 0.44| 1.56
Eggs 41.80| 6.27| 9.56| 4.56| 0.46| 0.17|15.72| 0.13| 0.13| 3.72
Seafish 84.20|18.35|12.55|12.80| 3.28| ....|32.13| ....| ....| 9.60
Cottage Cheese 64.30| 8.50| 0.90|22.50| 1.50| 0.50|24.35| 0.10| ....|11.20
| | | | | | | | |
Apples 33.00|11.78| 8.61| 1.35| 2.89| 0.46| 4.52| 2.01| 1.42| ....
Strawberries 65.00|13.72|18.53| 9.23| ....| 3.73| 7.97| 2.05| 7.82| 1.10
Gooseberries 29.00|11.22| 2.87| 3.54| 1.70| 1.32| 5.71| 1.71| 0.75| 0.22
Prunes 37.75|18.28| 3.41| 4.34| 1.36| 0.94| 6.03| 1.21| 1.19| 0.15
Peaches 17.60| 9.63| 1.50| 1.41| 0.92| 0.18| 2.67| 1.00| 0.26| ....
Cherries 34.60|17.94| 0.76| 2.60| 1.90| 0.69| 5.54| 1.76| 3.11| 0.46
Grapes 25.20|14.16| 0.35| 2.72| 1.06| 0.45| 3.93| 1.41| 0.70| 0.38
Figs 41.00|11.63|10.77| 7.75| 3.78| 0.60| 0.53| 2.77| 2.43| 1.10
Olives 33.40|27.02| 2.52| 2.49| 0.06| 0.31| 0.46| 0.36| 0.22| 0.06
Apricots 33.60|19.68| 3.76| 1.08| 2.89| 0.46| 4.52| 2.01| 1.42| ....
Pears 25.60|14.00| 2.17| 2.05| 1.52| 0.25| 3.90| 1.45| 0.38| ....
Watermelons 40.00|18.00| 3.75| 4.00| 2.10| 1.75| 5.60| 2.10| 7.60| 1.10
Bananas 32.40|16.20| 0.80| 0.25| 0.32| 0.10| 2.03| 0.21| ....| 2.47
Oranges 38.15|18.62| 0.95| 8.65| 2.03| 0.38| 4.70| 2.00| 0.25| 0.29
| | | | | | | | |
Spinach 191.00|21.71|57.42|22.73|12.22| 6.40|19.58|13.18| 8.60|12.03
Onions 48.40|12.10| 1.55|10.65| 2.55| 2.20| 7.25| 2.65| 8.10| 1.35
Carrots 69.00|25.46|14.63| 7.80| 3.04| 0.70| 8.83| 4.45| 1.66| 3.18
Asparagus 86.40|20.74|14.77| 9.33| 3.72| 2.94|16.07| 5.36| 9.50| 5.10
Radishes 110.40|35.33|23.37|15.45| 3.42| 3.09|12.03| 7.18| 1.00|10.10
Cauliflower 91.20|40.46| 5.38| 5.10| 3.37| 0.91|18.42|11.86| 3.37| 3.10
Cucumbers 100.00|41.20|10.00| 7.30| 4.15| 1.40|20.20| 6.90| 8.00| 6.60
Lettuce 180.70|67.94|13.55|26.56|11.20| 9.40|16.62| 6.87|14.64|13.82
Potatoes 44.20|26.56| 1.33| 1.15| 2.18| 0.48| 7.47| 2.89| 0.88| 1.55
Cabbage 123.00|45.33|11.68|21.65| 4.90| 0.86|11.07|17.10| 1.10|10.45
Tomatoes 176.00|82.50|32.90|11.35|13.55| 1.00|10.75| 5.00| 7.75|18.00
Red Beets 41.65| 8.45|21.60| 2.50| 0.10| 1.00| 2.55| 0.50| 2.00| 2.95
Celery 180.00|48.60|65.25|14.70| 6.75| 1.60|14.50| 6.50| 4.30|17.80
| | | | | | | | |
Walnuts 17.40| 2.20| 0.17| 0.97| 2.88| 0.61|10.10| 0.22| 0.12| 0.12
Almonds 21.00| 2.31| 0.38| 3.04| 3.95| 0.23|10.10| 0.96| 0.04| 0.06
Cocoanuts 18.70| 8.21| 1.57| 8.60| 1.76| ....| 2.18| 0.95| 0.09| 2.50
| | | | | | | | |
Lentils 34.70|12.08| 4.62| 2.18| 0.87| 0.69|12.60| ....| ....| 1.61
Peas 30.03|13.06| 0.30| 1.45| 2.42| 0.24|10.87| 1.03| 0.27| 0.53
Beans 38.20|15.85| 0.42| 1.91| 2.73| 0.19|14.86| 1.30| 0.25| 0.69
Peanuts 24.30| 9.27| 0.21| 0.95| 2.29| 0.27|10.60| 0.45| 0.05| 0.23
| | | | | | | | |
Whole Wheat 23.10| 7.20| 0.50| 0.75| 2.80| 0.30|10.90| 0.09| 0.46| 0.07
White flour 5.70| 1.82| 0.08| 0.43| 0.44| 0.03| 2.80| ....| ....| ....
Rye 21.30| 6.84| 0.31| 0.61| 2.39| 0.25|10.16| 0.28| 0.30| 0.01
Barley 31.30| 5.10| 1.28| 0.02| 3.92| 0.53|10.27| 0.93| 8.98| ....
Oats 34.50| 6.18| 0.59| 1.24| 2.45| 0.41| 8.83| 0.62|13.52| 0.03
Corn 18.50| 5.50| 0.02| 0.04| 2.87| 0.15| 8.44| 0.15| 0.39| 0.35
Whole Rice 16.00| 3.60| 0.67| 0.59| 1.78| 0.22| 8.60| 0.08| 0.42| 0.02
Rice, polished 4.00| 0.87| 0.22| 0.13| 0.45| 0.05| 2.15| 0.03| 0.11| 0.01
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please remember that most of the salts must be worked into organic form
for us by vegetation, and that we are able to take but few elements that
have not been thus elaborated.
We need a moderate amount of food to maintain the body in health, but we
should be careful not to overindulge.
Perhaps the most injurious errors are made by people who eat because
they wish to gain in weight. They consider themselves below weight and
they try to force a gain by overeating. This is a serious mistake and
leads to much suffering.
There is no weight that can be called ideal for all people. To get a
basis, I copy a table from the literature of an insurance company. This
is for people twenty years old:
Height Weight
5--0........114
1........117
2........121
3........124
4........128
5........132
6........136
7........140
8........144
9........149
10........153
11........158
6--0........162
1........167
2........172
3........177
If the weight is much above this, it is a sure sign that the individual
is building disease. It may be Bright's disease, fatty heart,
arteriosclerosis, cancer or any other ill. The muscles can not be
increased in size very much by eating and there is a limit to the amount
of fluid that can be stored away. Stout people generally carry about a
great amount of fat.
Excess of fat is a burden. It replaces other tissues and weakens the
muscles. It overcrowds the abdominal and thoracic cavities, thus making
the breath short and the working of the heart more difficult, also
producing a tendency to prolapsus of the various abdominal organs.
People make the mistake of thinking that stoutness indicates health. It
indicates disease. Going into weight is going into degeneration. Women
like to be plump for various reasons, some of which are not the most
creditable to either men or women. Fat people are not good looking.
There is not a statue in the world sculptured on corpulent lines that is
considered beautiful.
It is natural for some people to be slender and for others to be rather
plump, but fatness is abnormal. Rolling double chins and protruding
abdomens are signs of self-abuse in eating and drinking. As a rule women
are at their right weight at twenty and men at twenty-two or
twenty-three. This weight they should retain. If twenty or thirty pounds
are added to it life will be materially shortened.
Perfect health is impossible for obese people, but it is within the
reach of lean ones. In getting well, it is often necessary to become
quite slender, but after the system has cleansed itself, it gains in
weight again. It may take from several months to several years to obtain
a normal weight after the ravages of disease. A healthy body is
self-regulating and will be as heavy as it ought to be.
Those who eat too much in order to gain weight sometimes wreck their
digestive and assimilative powers to such an extent that they lose a
great deal of weight, and the more they eat the more they lose. Then it
is necessary to reduce the food intake until digestion and assimilation
catch up with supply. Then if the eating is right the individual goes to
the proper weight and retains it.
The slender people are in the safest physical condition. The vast amount
of statistics gathered by the life insurance companies bears this out.
Remember that fat is a low grade tissue, which sometimes crowds out high
grade tissue, that an excess indicates degeneration and that obesity is
a disease. All fat people eat too much, even though they consider
themselves small eaters. They should regulate their eating and drinking
so that they will return to a normal weight. This is the only safe way
to reduce.
Pay no attention to underweight. Eat what the body requires and is able
to digest and assimilate, without causing any inconvenience. The
organism will take care of the rest. To attempt to force weight onto a
body at the expense of discomfort, disease, reduced efficiency and
premature death shows poor judgment.
Losing weight does not matter at all if there is no discomfort or
disease. It is all right to be a little lighter during summer than in
winter.
In discussing food and its use, two words are frequently employed,
digestion and fermentation. Strictly speaking, digestion is largely a
process of fermentation, consisting of the breaking down of complex
substances into simple ones, by means of ferments. However, in the
popular mind digestion and fermentation are not synonymous, and will not
be so considered in this book. To make my meaning clear, in this book
the words will have the following meaning:
Digestion--the normal breaking down of food and formation into
substances that can be used by the blood for building, repairing and
producing heat and energy.
Fermentation--the abnormal breaking down of food in the digestive tract,
producing discomfort and health impaired. This process manifests in
various ways, such as the production of much gas in the digestive tract
or hyperacidity of the body.
We will consider digestion as a process conducive to health, but
fermentation, as one that leads to disease, being an early stage of
digestive derangement.
CHAPTER IV.
OVEREATING.
All agree that excessive indulgence in alcoholics is harmful physically,
mentally and morally. We condemn the too free use of tea and coffee and
nearly all other excesses. However, intemperate eating is considered
respectable. A large part of our social life consists in partaking of
too much food.
Medical text-books say that we must eat great quantities of food to
maintain strength and health. Humanity views the subject of eating from
the wrong angle, and it will perhaps be many years before the majority
gets the right point of view. We should eat to live, but most of us eat
to die. Benjamin Franklin said that we dig our graves with our teeth.
Men and women band themselves into societies and associations for the
purpose of decreasing or doing away with the use of tobacco and
alcoholic drinks. They advocate temperance and even abstinence in the
use of those things which do not appeal to their own senses; but most of
them are far from temperate in their eating. They have very keen vision
when searching for weaknesses and faults in others, but are quite
near-sighted regarding their own.
Is excessive indulgence in liquor any worse than overeating? Not
according to nature's answer. The inebriate deteriorates and so does the
glutton. Both cause race deterioration. Gluttony is more common than
inebriety and is responsible for more ills. Gluttony is often the cause
of the tea, coffee, alcohol and drug habits. Overeating often causes so
much irritation that food does not satisfy the cravings, and then drugs
are used.
Improper eating, chiefly overeating, causes most of the ills to which
man is heir. If people would learn to be moderate in all things disease
and early death would be very rare.
It is quite important to combine foods properly, but the worst
combinations of food eaten in moderation are harmless, as compared to
the damage done by overeating of the best foods. Overeating is with us
from the cradle to the grave. It shortens our days and fills them with
woe.
There is a hoary belief that a pregnant woman must eat for two. The
mothers have generally obeyed this dictum. The result is that women
suffer greatly during pregnancy and at childbirth. The morning sickness,
the aching back, the headache, the swollen legs and all of the
discomforts and diseases from which civilized woman suffers during this
period are mostly due to improper eating. Pregnancy and childbirth are
physiologic and are devoid of any great amount of discomfort, pain or
danger when women lead normal lives.
The overeating affects both mother and child. The mothers are often
injured or lose their lives during childbirth. Sometimes labor is so
protracted that the child dies and at other times the baby is so large
that it can not be born naturally. The mother's suffering is frequently
very great. In fact, it is at times so great that it is like a
threatening storm cloud to many women, and some of them refuse to become
mothers for this reason.
Babies born of normal mothers, who have lived moderately on a
non-stimulating diet during gestation, are small. They rarely weigh more
than six pounds. Their bones are flexible. The skull can easily be
moulded because the bones are very cartilaginous. The result is that
childbirth is rapid and practically devoid of pain. However, there are
very few normal mothers, and consequently normal babies are also rare.
A heavy baby is never healthy. Its growth has been forced by excessive
maternal feeding. It is no hardier than other growing things which
result from hot-house methods. Such babies show early signs of catarrhal
afflictions, indigestion or skin disease. Their bodies are filled with
poisons before they are born.
Mothers who overeat invariably overfeed their babies. And why should
they do otherwise? Family, friends and physicians give the same advice:
The mother must eat much to be able to feed the child, and the child
must be fed frequently in order to grow. It sounds very plausible, but
it does not work well in practice.
Why are babies cross? Why do they soon show catarrhal symptoms? Why do
they vomit so much? Why are they so subject to stomach and intestinal
disorders? Why do they have skin eruptions? Because they are overfed.
The diseases of babies are almost entirely of digestive origin, and in
nearly every instance overfeeding is the cause. Statistics show that
about one-fifth of the babies born die before they are one year old. In
nearly every instance the parents are to blame. One's intentions may be
good, but good intentions coupled with wrong actions are deadly to
infants. Oscar Wilde wrote, "We kill the thing we love." Parental love
too often takes the form of indulging them and so it happens that
hundreds of thousands of little ones are placed in their coffins
annually through love.
Each year about 280,000 babies under one year of age perish in the
United States, according to estimates based on census figures. Outside
of accidental deaths, which are but a small per cent., the mortality
should be practically nil. It is natural for children to be well, and
healthy children do not die. If an army of about 280,000 of our men and
women were to perish in a spectacular manner each year it would cause
such sorrow and indignation that a remedy would soon be found. But we
are so accustomed to the procession of little caskets to the grave that
it hardly arouses comment. It costs too much in every way to produce
life to waste it so lavishly.
Why do little children suffer so much from eruptive diseases, whooping
cough, tonsilitis, adenoids, diphtheria and numerous other diseases?
Because they are overfed. The younger the child the greater is the per
cent. of disease due to wrong feeding. In adult life overeating and
eating improperly otherwise are still the principal causes of disease.
But during adult life the causation of disease is more complex than in
childhood, for the senses have been more fully developed and instead of
confining our physical sins to overeating we fall prey to the abuse of
various appetites and passions.
Vigorous adults are often the victims of pneumonia, typhoid fever and
tuberculosis. Overeating is chiefly to blame, not the bacteria which are
given as the principal cause.
Rheumatism, kidney disease and diseases that manifest in hardening of
the various tissues, all being forms of degeneration, are quite common.
Again, the principal cause is overeating.
There are a great number of people who live many years without any
special disease, but who are always on the brink of being ill. They are
full-blooded and too corpulent. Although they are often considered
successful, they are never fully efficient either physically or
mentally. They do not know what good health is, but they are so
accustomed to their state of toleration that they consider themselves
healthy. They are rather proud of their stoutness and their friends
mistake their precarious condition for health. These people often die
suddenly, and friends and acquaintances are very much surprised. No
healthy man dies suddenly and unexpectedly except by accident.
Instead of growing old gracefully, in possession of our senses and
faculties, we die prematurely or go into physical and mental decay.
Bleary eyes, pettiness, childishness and lost mental faculties are no
part of nature's plan for advanced years. Those manifestations result
from man's improvement on nature!
From birth to death we are victims of this terrible ogre of overeating.
It deprives us of friends and relatives. It takes away our strength and
health. It makes us mentally inefficient and cowardly. At last it
deprives us of life when our work is not half done and our days should
not be half run.
How is it possible, you may ask, that this is true? Of course,
overeating is not the only cause, but it is the overwhelming one. It is
the basic cause. Aided by other bad habits it conquers us. We are what
we are because of our parentage, plus what we eat, drink, breathe and
think, and the eating largely influences the other factors of life.
Cholera infantum causes the death of many babies. It never occurs in
babies who are fed moderately on natural, clean food, not to exceed
three or four times a day. The child is cross. The mother thinks that it
is cross because it is hungry and accordingly feeds. The real cause of
the irritability is the overfeeding that has already taken place. The
baby has had so much milk that it is unable to digest all of it. A part
of the milk spoils in the digestive tract. This fermented material is
partly absorbed and irritates the whole system. A part of it remains in
the alimentary tract where it acts as a direct local irritant to the
intestines. When these are irritated, the blood-vessels begin to pour
out their serum to soothe the bowels and the result is diarrhea. The
sick child is fed often. Digestive power is practically absent. The
additional food given ferments and more serum has to be thrown out to
protect the intestinal walls. Soon there is a well established case of
cholera infantum.
If only enough food had been given to satisfy bodily requirements, none
of the milk would have spoiled in the alimentary tract. If all feeding
had been stopped as soon as the child became irritable and pinched
looking about the mouth and nose, and all the water desired had been
given and the child kept warm, there would have been no serious disease.
In these cases, the less food given the quicker the recoveries and the
fewer the fatalities.
Another common disease of childhood is adenoids. To talk of these
maladies as diseases is rather misleading, for they are merely symptoms
of perverted nutrition, but we are compelled to make the best of our
medical language.
Adenoids are due to indigestion. The indigestion is due to overeating.
This is how it comes about: A child eats more than can be digested,
generally bolting the food, which is often of a mushy character. The
excessive amount of food can not be digested, and as the intestines and
the stomach are moist and have a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit,
fermentation soon takes place. Some of the results of fermentation in
the alimentary tract are acids, gases and bacterial poisons. These
deleterious substances are absorbed into the blood stream and go to all
parts of the body, acting as irritants. We do not know why they cause
adenoids in one child and catarrh in another. It is easy enough to say
that children are predisposed that way, which is no information at all.
It seems that all of us have some weak point, and here disease has a
tendency to localize. What part the sympathetic nervous system plays, we
do not know. Glandular tissue is rather unstable and therefore it
becomes diseased easily and adenoids are therefore quite frequent.
A coated tongue, or an irritated tongue, both due to indigestion, is a
concomitant of adenoids. Such diseases do not merely happen. There are
good reasons for their appearance. They are not reflections on the
child, but they are on the parents who should have the right knowledge
and should take time and pains enough to educate and train the child
into health.
Tuberculosis is one of the results of ruined nutrition. First there is
overeating. This causes indigestion. The irritating products of food
fermenting in the alimentary tract are taken up by the blood. The blood
goes to the lungs where it irritates the delicate mucous membrane. In
self-protection it begins to secrete an excess of mucus and if the
irritation is great enough, pus. The various bacteria are incidental.
The tubercular bacillus is never able to gain a foothold in healthy
lungs, but after degeneration of lung-tissue has taken place the lungs
furnish a splendid home for this bacillus. The tubercular bacillus is a
scavenger and therefore does not thrive in healthy bodies. It is the
result of disease, not the cause.
Tubercular subjects never have healthy digestive organs. Unfortunately,
nearly all of them are persuaded to eat many times more food than they
can digest, and thus they have no opportunity to recover, for the
overfeeding ruins the digestive and assimilative powers beyond
recuperative ability. A large per cent. of the human race perish
miserably from this disease, which results principally from the
ingestion of too much food. The liberal use of such devitalized foods as
sterilized milk, refined sugar and finely bolted wheat flour is
doubtless a great factor in so reducing bodily resistance that the
system falls an easy prey to disease. Too little breathing and poor,
devitalized air are also important factors.
There are many causes of rheumatism, but overeating is the chief and it
is very doubtful if a case of rheumatism can develop without this main
cause. Exposure is often given as the cause, but a healthy man with a
clean body does not become rheumatic.
Rheumatism is due to internal filth. A filthy alimentary tract makes
filthy blood. Some say that the poison in rheumatism is uric acid, and
perhaps it is, but there are no uric acid deposits in the body of a
prudent eater. The elimination in this disease is imperfect. The skin,
the kidneys, the bowels and the lungs do not throw out the debris as
they should. Perhaps only one or two of these organs are acting
inadequately. The debris is stored up in the system.
Why do the organs of elimination fail to act? Because so much work is
thrust upon them that they grow weary and worn; also, a part of the
material furnished them is the product of decay in the alimentary tract,
and they can not thrive on poor material. Too much food is eaten. An
excess of nutritive material, poorly digested, is absorbed. And so we
come back to the principal cause, overeating.
When the eliminative organs fail to perform their function, the waste is
deposited in those parts of the body which are weakened. The irritation
from these foreign substances causes inflammation and the result is
pain. The extent to which this depositing of material will go is well
illustrated in some cases of multiple articular rheumatism, or arthritis
deformans, where the deposits are so great that many of the joints
become fixed (anchylosed).
We could review all the diseases, and nearly every time we would come
back to disturbed nutrition as the principal factor, and this is true of
not only physical ills, but the mental ones as well.
Various foods do not combine well, still if they are eaten in moderation
they do but little harm. If we overeat, the evil results are bound to
manifest, no matter how good the food, though it sometimes takes years
before they are perceptible. The effects are cumulative. Each day there
is a little fermentation with absorption of the poisonous products. Each
day the body degenerates a little. The time always comes when the body
can continue its work no longer, and then the individual must choose
between reform on one hand and suffering or death on the other.
It is very difficult to convince people that they eat too much. Indeed,
the average person is a small eater, in his own estimation. We have been
educated into consuming such vast quantities of food that we hardly know
what moderation is. In the past, physiologists and observers have
watched the amount of food that people could coax down and this they
have called the normal amount of food. This is far from the truth. The
average American eats at least two times as much as he can digest,
assimilate and use to advantage. Many eat three and four times too much.
However, nature is very tolerant for a while. Most of us start out with
a fair amount of resistance and are thus enabled to live to the age of
forty or fifty in spite of abuses. If we could only dispense with our
excesses, we could double or treble our life span, live better, get more
enjoyment out of life and give the world more and better work than we
can under present conditions.
There is much talk of food shortage. The amount of food consumed and
wasted annually in the United States is enough to feed 200,000,000
people. Even with our present knowledge we can easily produce twice as
much per acre as we are averaging, and we are tilling only about
one-fourth of the land that could be made productive. If we use our
brains there is little danger of starving. What is needed now is not
more food, but intelligent distribution and consumption of what we
produce.
We hear of cases of undernourishment. This doubtless occurs at times in
the congested parts of great centers of populations. But there are not
so many cases suffering from want of the proper quantity of food as from
want of quality of food. Bread of finely bolted white flour is
starvation food, no matter how great the quantity, unless other food
rich in organic salts is also eaten.
The overeating habit is so common and comes on so insidiously that the
sufferers do not realize that they are eating to excess. The resultant
discomforts are blamed on other things. Babies are fed every two hours
or oftener. They should be fed but three or at most four times a day,
and never at night. When able to eat solid foods they get three meals a
day and generally two or more lunches. Some children seem to be lunching
at all times. They have fruit or bread and butter with jelly or jam in
the hand almost all the time. They are encouraged to eat much and often
to produce growth and strength. This kind of feeding often does produce
large children, heavy in weight, but they are not healthy. Sad to
relate, the excess causes disease and death.
Such frequent feeding allows the digestive organs no rest. The overwork
imposed upon them and the fermentation cause irritation. This irritation
manifests in a constant and almost irresistible desire for food, as does
the consumption of much alcohol cause a desire for more alcohol, as the
use of morphine or cocaine produces a dominating and ruinous appetite
for more of these drugs. These appetites grow by what they feed upon.
Man ceases to be master and becomes the abject slave of his abnormal
cravings.
Slaves of alcohol and the various habit-forming drugs generally lack the
strength of body and mind to assert themselves and to regain mastery of
themselves. Coffee and tea have their victims, though they are generally
not very firmly enslaved. No one realizes how he is bound by his
cravings for an excessive amount of food until he tries to break the
bonds. Such people may eat moderately for days, perhaps for weeks, and
then the old appetite reasserts itself in all its strength and unless
the sufferer has a very strong will a food debauch follows. I have seen
men go from one restaurant to another, consuming enormous quantities of
food to efface the awful craving, just as men go from one saloon to
another to satisfy their desire for alcohol. The gluttons often look
with the greatest contempt upon the slaves of liquor. But what is the
difference? No matter what appetite, what habit, what passion has gained
the mastery, we are slaves. The important thing is to keep out of
slavery, or break the bonds and regain freedom.
Those who eat to excess often eat more than three times a day. They take
a little candy now, a little fruit then, or they go to the drug store
for a glass of malted milk or buttermilk, which they call drinks, or
they take a dish of ice cream. The housewife nibbles at cake or bread.
If a person is in fair health and wishes to evolve into self-mastery and
good health, he should make up his mind never to eat more than three
times a day. Nothing but plain water should enter his mouth except at
meal times.
Next he should limit the number of articles eaten at a meal. The
breakfast and lunch should each consist of no more than two or three
varieties of food. The dinner should not exceed five or six varieties,
and if that many are eaten, they should be compatible. Less would be be
better. The less variety we have, the better the food digests. Also,
eating ten or twelve or more kinds of food, as many people do, always
leads to overeating. A little of this added to a little of that soon
makes a too great total. It is easy to eat all one should of a certain
article of food and feel satisfied, and then change off to something
else and before one is through one has eaten three or four times as much
as necessary. If the meal is to consist of starch there is no great
objection to a small amount of bread, potatoes, rice, macaroni and
chestnuts. However, a normal person does not need to coax food down by
using great variety. Those who mix their foods this way invariably
overeat. Besides, the various starches require different periods for
digestion. Rice is more easily disposed of than bread. Each new item
stimulates the desire for more food. It is best, when having potatoes,
to have no other starchy food in that meal; or when bread is eaten, to
have no potatoes or other starchy food. The habit of eating meat,
potatoes and bread in the same meal is very common and causes much
disease.
Next the searcher for health should teach himself to eat foods that are
natural, cooked simply, and with a minimum amount of seasoning and
dressing. The various spices and sauces irritate the digestive organs
and create a craving for an excessive amount of food. The food should be
changed as little as possible because such denatured foods as white
flour, polished rice, pasteurized milk, and many of the canned fruits
and vegetables are so lacking in the natural salts that they do not
satisfy one's desire for organic salts. Overeating results.
Preserves, jellies and jams are open to the same objection. They cause
an abnormal desire for food. Therefore, they should be used seldom and
very sparingly. So long as apples, oranges, figs, dates, raisins, sweet
prunes and various other fruits can be had, there is no excuse for the
consumption of great quantities of the heavily sugared concoctions which
are now so popular.
Simplicity and naturalness are great aids in breaking away from food
slavery. They are discussed more fully elsewhere. In the next chapter
will be found hints on the solution of the normal amount of food to be
eaten.
CHAPTER V.
DAILY FOOD INTAKE.
It is generally believed that the more we eat the better. Physicians say
that it is necessary to eat heartily when well to retain health and
strength. When ill it is necessary to consume much food to regain lost
health and strength. "Eat all you can of nourishing food," is a common
free prescription, and it sounds very reasonable. The physicians of
today are not to blame for this belief in overeating, for they were
taught thus at college, and very few men in any line do original
thinking. It has been a racial belief for centuries and no one now
living is responsible. When a physician advocates what he honestly
believes he is doing his best, "and angels can do no more."
When a child loses its appetite, the parents worry, for they think that
it is very harmful for young people to go without food for a few meals.
A lost appetite is nature's signal to quit eating, and it should always
be heeded. If it is, it will prevent much disease and suffering and will
save many lives.
The present-day mode of preparing food leads to overeating. The sense of
taste is ruined by the stimulants put into the food. Dishes are so
numerous and so temptingly made that more is eaten than can be digested
and assimilated. Refined sugar, salt, the various spices, pickles,
sauces and preserves all lead to overeating because of stimulation. The
same is true of alcohol taken immediately before meals. If we only give
nature a chance, and are perfectly frank and honest with ourselves, she
will guard us against the overconsumption of food. Those who eat but few
varieties of plain food at a meal are not sorely tempted to overeat. But
when one savory dish is served after another it takes much will power to
be moderate.
People generally have had more than sufficient before the last course is
served. However, the various dishes have different flavors and for this
reason the palate is overwhelmed and accepts more food than is good for
us.
Men who like to call their work scientific, figure on the amount of food
we need to furnish a certain number of heat units--calories. Heat, of
course, is a form of energy. Basing the body's food requirements on heat
units expended does not solve the problem. The more food that is
ingested, the more heat units must be manufactured, and often so much
food is taken that the body is compelled to go into the heating
business. Then we have fevers.
A large part of the heat is given off by the skin. Those who overeat are
compelled to do a great deal of radiating. This excessive amount of fuel
taken into the system in the form of food, wears out the body. As
figured by the experts, it gives a result of food need that is at least
twice as great as necessary. Experience is the only correct guide to
food requirements, and each individual has to settle the matter for
himself. The human body is not exactly a chemical laboratory, nor is it
an engine which can be fed so much fuel with the resultant production of
such and such an amount of heat and energy. Some bodies are more
efficient than others. It is among human beings as among the lower
animals, some require more food than others.
We need enough food to repair the waste, to perform our work and to
furnish heat. Every muscle contraction uses up a little energy. Every
breath deprives us of heat and carries away carbon dioxide, the latter
being formed by oxidation of tissues in the body. Every minute we lose
heat by radiation from the skin. Every thought requires a small amount
of food. If we worry, the leak of nervous energy is tremendous, but at
the same time we put ourselves in position where we are unable to
replenish our stock, for worry ruins digestion. All this expenditure of
energy and loss of heat must be made up for by the food intake. Only a
small amount of surplus food can be stored in the body. Some fat can be
stored as fat. Some starch and sugar can be put aside as either
glycogen--animal sugar--or be changed into fat. This storing of excess
food is very limited, except in cases of obesity, which is a disease.
Overeating invariably causes disease. It may take two or three years,
yes even twenty or thirty years, before the overeating results in
serious illness, but the results are certain, and in the meanwhile the
individual is never up to par. He can use neither body nor mind to the
best advantage.
To emphasize and illustrate these remarks, I shall copy a few diet
lists, which their authors consider reasonable and correct for the
average person for one day, and I shall give my comments. The first is
taken from Kirke's Physiology, which has been used extensively as a
text-book in medical colleges:
340 grams lean uncooked meat,
600 " bread,
90 " butter,
28 " cheese,
225 " potatoes,
225 " carrots.
An ounce contains 28.3 grams; a pound, 453 grams. It is easy to figure
these quantities of food in ounces or pounds, which give a better idea
to the average person.
It is self-evident that this is too much food. Over twelve ounces of
lean, uncooked meat, over twenty-one ounces of bread, almost one-half of
a pound each of potatoes and carrots, about an ounce of cheese and over
three ounces of butter make enough food for two days, even for a big
eater. He who tries to live up to a diet of this kind is sure to suffer
disease and early death.
The average loaf of bread weighs about fourteen ounces. Here we are told
to devour one-half of a pound of carrots (for which other vegetables
such as turnips, parsnips, beets or cabbage may be substituted),
one-half of a pound of potatoes, three-fourths of a pound of lean raw
meat, which loses some weight in cooking, a loaf and one-half of bread,
besides butter and cheese. The vast majority of people can not eat more
than one-third of this amount and retain efficiency and health, but many
eat even more.
The next table is taken from Dr. I. Burney Yeo's book on diet, and is
given as the food required daily by a "well nourished worker":
151.3 grams meat,
48.1 " white of egg,
450.0 " bread,
500.0 " milk,
1065.9 " beer,
60.2 " suet,
30.0 " butter,
70.0 " starch,
17.0 " sugar,
4.9 " salt.
This worker is too well fed. Often those who are so well fed are poorly
nourished, for the excessive amount of food ruins the nutrition, after
which the food is poorly digested and assimilated. This worker eats so
much that he will be compelled to do manual labor all his days, for such
feeding prevents effective thinking.
The following daily average diet is taken from the book, "Diet and
Dietetics," by A. Gauthier, a well known authority on the subject of the
nutritive needs of the body. Mr. Gauthier averaged the daily food intake
of the inhabitants of Paris for the ten years from 1890 to 1899,
inclusive. He takes it for granted that this is the average daily food
requirement for a person:
420.0 grams bread and cakes,
216.0 " boned meat,
24.1 " eggs (weighed with shell),
8.1 " cheese (dry or cream),
28.0 " butter, oil, etc.,
70.0 " fresh fruit,
250.0 " green vegetables,
40.0 " dried vegetables,
100.0 " potatoes, rice,
40.0 " sugar,
20.0 " salt,
213.0 C. C. milk,
557.0 C. C. of various alcoholics, containing
9.5 C. C. of pure alcohol.
So long as the Parisians consume such quantities of food they will
continue to suffer and die before they reach one-half of the age that
should be theirs. The French eat no more than do other people, in fact,
they seem moderate in their food intake as compared with some of the
Germans, English and Americans, but they eat too much for their physical
and mental good.
The lists given above are from sources that command the respect of the
medical profession. They are the orthodox and popular opinions. It would
be an easy matter to give many more tables, but they agree so closely
that it would be a waste of time and space.
Quantitative tables from vegetarian sources are not so common. The
vegetarians say that meat eating is wrong, being contrary to nature.
Whether they are right or wrong, they make the same mistakes that the
orthodox prescribers do, that is, they advocate overeating. Medical
textbooks prescribe a too abundant supply of starch and meat in
particular. The vegetarians prescribe a superabundance of starch. Read
the magazines advocating vegetarianism and note their menus, giving
numerous cereals, tubers, peas, beans, lentils, as well as other
vegetables, for the same meal. It is as easy to overeat of nuts and
protein in leguminous vegetables as it is to overeat of meat.
Starch poisoning is as bad as meat poisoning and the results are equally
fatal.
The following are suggestions offered by a fruitarian. They give the
food intake for two days:
120 grams shelled peanuts, raw,
1000 " apples,
500 " unfermented whole wheat bread.
120 grams shelled filberts,
450 " raisins,
800 " bananas.
In the first day's menu it will be noted that over two pounds of apples
and over one pound of whole wheat bread are recommended, also over four
ounces of raw peanuts. The writer says that this food should preferably
be taken in two meals. There are very few people with enough digestive
and assimilative power to care for more than one-half of a pound of
whole wheat bread twice a day, especially when taken with raw peanuts,
which are rather hard to digest. The trouble is made worse by the
addition of more than one pound of apples to each meal, for when apples
in large quantities are eaten with liberal amounts of starch, the
tendency for the food to ferment is so strong that only a very few
escape. Gas is produced in great quantities, which is both unnatural and
unpleasant. Neither stomach nor bowels manufacture any perceptible
amount of gas if they are in good condition and a moderate amount of
food is taken.
Whole wheat bread digests easily enough when eaten in moderation, but it
is very difficult to digest when as much as eight ounces are taken at a
meal. One can accustom the body to accept this amount of food, but it is
never required under ordinary conditions and the results in the long run
are bad.
The food prescribed for the second day is more easily digested, but it
is too much. Raisins are a splendid force food, but no ordinary
individual needs a pound of raisins in one day, in addition to about one
and three-fourths pounds of bananas, which are also a force food and are
about as nourishing as the same amount of Irish potatoes.
In all my reading it has not been my good fortune to find a diet table
for healthy people, giving moderate quantities of food. Diet lists seem
scientific, so they appeal to the mind that has not learned to think of
the subject from the correct point of view. Quantitative diet tables are
worthless, for one person may need more than another. Some are short and
some are tall. Some are naturally slender and others of stocky build.
There is as much difference in people's food needs as there is in their
appearance. To try to fit the same quantity and even kind of food to all
is as senseless as it would be to dress all in garments of identical
size and cut.
If we eat in moderation it does not make much difference what we eat,
provided our diet contains either raw fruits or raw vegetables enough to
furnish the various mineral salts and the food is fairly well prepared.
There are combinations that are not ideal, but they do very little harm
if there is no overeating. People who are moderate in their eating
generally relish simple foods. Unfortunately, there is but little
moderation in eating. From childhood on the suggestion that it is
necessary to eat liberally is ever before us. Medical men, grandparents,
parents and neighbors think and talk alike. If the parents believe in
moderation, the neighbors kindly give lunches to the children. It is
really difficult to raise children right, especially in towns and
cities.
After such training we learn to believe in overeating and we pass the
belief on to the next generation, as it has in the past been handed down
from generation to generation. Finally we die, many of us martyrs to
overconsumption of food. Ask any healer of intelligence who has thrown
off the blinders put on at college and who has allowed himself to think
without fear, and he will tell you that at least nine-tenths of our ills
come from improper eating habits. It is not difficult to make up menus
of compatible foods. No one knows how much another should eat, and he
who prepares quantitative diet tables for the multitude must fail.
However, every individual of ordinary intelligence can quickly learn his
own food requirements and the key thereto is given by nature. It is not
well to think of one's self much or often. It is not well to be
introspective, but everyone should get acquainted with himself, learning
to know himself well enough to treat himself with due consideration. We
are taught kindness to others. We need to be taught kindness to
ourselves. The average person ought to be able to learn his normal food
requirements within three or four months, and a shorter time will often
suffice.
The following observations will prove helpful to the careful reader:
Food should have a pleasant taste while it is being eaten, but should
not taste afterwards. If it does it is a sign of indigestion following
overeating, or else it indicates improper combinations or very poor
cooking. Perhaps food was taken when there was no desire for it, which
is always a mistake. Perhaps too many foods were combined in the meal.
Or it may be that there was not enough mouth preparation. It is
generally due to overeating. Cabbage, onions, cucumbers and various
other foods which often repeat, will not do so when properly prepared
and eaten in moderation, if other conditions are right.
Eructation of gas and gas in the bowels are indications of overeating.
More food is taken than can be digested. A part of it ferments and gas
is a product of fermentation. A very small amount of gas in the
alimentary tract is natural, but when there is belching or rumbling of
gas in the intestines it is a sign of indigestion, which may be so mild
that the individual is not aware of it, or it may be so bad that he can
think of little else. When there is formation of much gas it is always
necessary to reduce the food intake, and to give special attention to
the mastication of all starch-containing aliments. Also, if starches and
sour fruits have been combined habitually, this combination should be
given up. Starch digests in an alkaline medium, and if it is taken with
much acid by those whose digestive powers are weak, the result is
fermentation instead of digestion.
People should never eat enough to experience a feeling of languor. They
should quit eating before they feel full. If there is a desire to sleep
after meals, too much food has been ingested. When drowsiness possesses
us after meals we have eaten so much that the digestive organs require
so much blood that there is not enough left for the brain. This is a
hint that if we have work or study that requires exceptional clearness
of mind, we should eat very moderately or not at all immediately before.
The digestive organs appropriate the needed amount of blood and the
brain refuses to do its best when deprived of its normal supply of
oxygen and nourishment.
Serpents, some beasts of prey and savages devour such large quantities
of food at times that they go into a stupor. There is no excuse for our
patterning after them now that a supply of food is easily obtained at
all times.
A bad taste in the mouth is usually a sign of overeating. It comes from
the decomposition following a too liberal food intake. If water has a
bad taste in the morning or at any other time, it indicates overeating.
It may be due to a filthy mouth or the use of alcohol.
Heartburn is also due to overeating, and so is hiccough; both come from
fermentation of food in the alimentary tract.
A heavily coated tongue in the morning indicates excessive food intake.
If the tongue is what is known as a dirty gray color it shows that the
owner has been overeating for years. The normal mucous membrane is clean
and pink. The mucous membrane of the mouth, stomach and the first part
of the bowels should not be compelled to act as an organ of excretion,
for the normal function is secretory and absorptive. However, when so
much food is eaten that the skin, lungs, kidneys and lower bowel can not
throw off all the waste and excess, the mucous membrane in the upper
part of the alimentary tract must assist. The result is a coated tongue,
but the tongue is in no worse condition than the mucous membrane of the
stomach. A coated tongue indicates overcrowded nutrition and is nature's
request to reduce the food intake. How much? Enough to clean the tongue.
If the coating is chronic it may take several months before the tongue
becomes clean.
A muddy skin, perhaps pimply, is another sign of overeating. It shows
that the food intake is so great that the body tries to eliminate too
many of the solids through the skin, which becomes irritated from this
cause and the too acid state of the system and then there is
inflammation. Many forms of eczema and a great many other skin diseases
are caused by stomach disorders and an overcrowded nutrition. There is a
limit to the skin's excretory ability, and when this is exceeded skin
diseases ensue. Some of the so-called incurable skin diseases get well
in a short time on a proper diet without any local treatment.
Dull eyes and a greenish tinge of the whites of the eyes point toward
digestive disturbances due to an oversupply of food. The green color
comes from bile thrown into the blood when the liver is overworked. The
liver is never overtaxed unless the consumption of food is excessive.
Another very common sign of too generous feeding is catarrh, and it does
not matter where the catarrh is located. It is true that there are other
causes of catarrh, in fact, anything that irritates the mucous membrane
any length of time will cause it, but an overcrowded nutrition causes
the ordinary cases. It is the same old story: The mucous membrane is
forced to take on the function of eliminating superfluous matter, which
has been taken into the system in the form of food. Many people dedicate
their lives to the act of turning a superabundance of food into waste,
and as a result they overwork their bodies so that they are never well
physically and seldom efficient mentally.
Many people, especially women, say that if they miss a meal or get it
later than usual, they suffer from headache. This indicates that the
feeding is wrong, generally too generous and often too stimulating. A
normal person can miss a dozen meals without a sign of a headache.
To repeat: No one can tell how much another should eat, but everyone can
learn for himself what the proper amount of food is. Enough is given
above to help solve the problem. The interpretations presented are not
the popular ones, but they are true for they give good results when
acted upon.
If bad results follow a meal there has been overeating, either at the
last meal or previously. Undermasticating usually accompanies overeating
and causes further trouble. Those who masticate thoroughly are generally
quite moderate in their food intake.
Many say that they eat so much because they enjoy their food so. He who
eats too rapidly or in excess does not know what true enjoyment of food
is. Excessive eating causes food poisoning, and food poisoning blunts
all the special senses. To have normal smell, taste, hearing and vision
one must be clean through and through, and those who are surfeited with
food are not clean internally.
The average individual does not know the natural taste of most foods. He
seasons them so highly that the normal taste is hidden or destroyed.
Those who wish to know the exquisite flavor of such common foods as
onions, carrots, cabbage, apples and oranges must eat them without
seasoning or dressing for a while. To get real enjoyment from food it is
necessary to eat slowly and in moderation.
I know both from personal experience and from the experience of others
that seasoning is not necessary. Instead of giving the foods better
flavor, they taste inferior. A little salt will harm no one, but the
constant use of much seasoning leads to irritation of the digestive
organs and to overeating. Salt taken in excess also helps to bring on
premature aging. It is splendid for pickling and preserving, but health
and life in abundance are the only preservatives needed for the body.
Refined sugar should be classed among the condiments. People who live
normally lose the desire for it. Grapefruit, for instance, tastes better
when eaten plain than when sugar is added.
People who sleep seven or eight hours and wake up feeling unrefreshed
are suffering from the ingestion of too much food. A food poisoned
individual can not be properly rested. To get sweet sleep and feel
restored it is necessary to have clean blood and a sweet alimentary
tract.
Much has been said about overeating. Once in a while a person will
habitually undereat, but such cases are exceedingly rare. To undereat is
foolish. At all times we must use good sense. It is a subject upon which
no fixed rules can be promulgated. Be guided by the feelings, for
perfect health is impossible to those who lack balance.
Those who think they need scientific direction may take one of the
orthodox diet tables. If it contains alcoholics, remove them from the
list. Then partake of about one-third of the starch recommended, and
about one-third of the protein. Use more fresh fruit and fresh
vegetables than listed. Instead of eating bread made from white flour,
use whole wheat bread. Do not try to eat everything given on the
scientific diet list each day. For instance, rice, potatoes and bread
are given in many of these tables. Select one of these starches one day,
another the next day, etc. If one-third of the amount recommended is too
much, and it sometimes is, reduce still further.
Please bear in mind that the orthodox way, the so-called scientific way,
has been tried over a long period of time and it has given very poor
results. Moderation has always given good results and always will.
CHAPTER VI.
WHAT TO EAT.
It is very important to eat the right kind of food, but it is even more
important to be balanced and use common sense. Those who are moderate in
their habits and cheerful can eat almost anything with good results. Of
course, people who live almost entirely on such denatured foods as
polished rice, finely bolted wheat flour products, sterilized milk and
meat spoiled in the cooking, refined sugar and potatoes deprived of most
of their salts through being soaked and cooked will suffer.
There are many different diet systems, and some of them are very good.
If their advocates say that their way is the only way, they are wrong.
Many try to force their ideas upon others. They find their happiness in
making others miserable. They are afflicted with the proselyting zeal
that makes fools of people. This is the wrong way to solve the food
problem. Let each individual choose his own way and allow those who
differ to continue in the old way.
Many have changed their dietary habits to their own great benefit. After
this they become so enthused and anxious for others to do likewise that
they wear themselves and others out exhorting them to share in the new
discovery. This does no good, but it often does harm, for it leads the
zealot to think too much of and about himself, and it annoys others.
Many are like my friend who lunched daily on zwieback and raw carrots.
"I think everybody ought to eat some raw carrots every day; don't you?"
she said. We can not mold everybody to our liking, and we should not
try. If we conquer ourselves, we have about all we can do. If we succeed
in this great work, we will evolve enough tolerance to be willing to
allow others to shape their own ends. To volunteer undesired information
does no good, for it creates opposition in the mind of the hearers. If
the information is sought, the chances are that it may in time do good.
It is well enough to indicate how and where better knowledge may be
obtained. We should at all times attempt to conserve our energy and use
it only when and where it is helpful. Such conduct leads to peace of
mind, effectiveness, happiness and health.
The tendency to become too enthusiastic about a dietary regime that has
brought personal benefit is to be avoided, for it brings unnecessary
odium upon the important subject of food reform. People do not like to
change old habits, even if the change would be for the better, and when
an enthusiast tries to force the change his actions are resented. He
makes no real converts, but as pay for his efforts he gains the
reputation of being a crank.
Those who wish to be helpful in an educational way should be patient.
The race has been in the making for ages. Its good habits, as well as
its bad ones, have been acquired gradually. If we ever get rid of our
bad habits it will be through gradual evolution, not through a hasty
revolution. We need a change in dietary habits, but those who become
food cranks, insisting that others be as they, retard this movement.
Only a few will change physical and mental habits suddenly. If those who
know are content to show the benefits more in results than in words,
their influence for good will be great.
What shall we eat? How are we to know the truth among so many
conflicting ideas? We can know the truth because it leads to health.
Error leads to suffering, degeneration and premature death. As the
homely saying goes, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating."
Let us look into some of the diet theories before the public and give
them thoughtful consideration.
The late Dr. J. H. Salisbury advocated the use of water to drink and
meat to eat, and nothing else. The water was to be taken warm and in
copious quantities, but not at or near meal time. The meat, preferably
beef, was to be scraped or minced, made into cakes and cooked in a very
warm skillet until the cakes turned gray within. These meat cakes were
to be eaten three times a day, seasoned with salt and a little pepper.
The doctor had a very successful practice, which is attested by many who
were benefited when ordinary medical skill failed. His diet was not well
balanced. In meats there is a lack of the cell salts and force food.
Especially are the cell salts lacking when the flesh is drained of its
blood. The animals of prey drink the blood and crunch many of the bones
of their victims, thus getting nearly all the salts. But in spite of his
giving such an unbalanced diet, the doctor had a satisfactory practice
and good success. Why? Because his patients had to quit using narcotics
and stimulants and they were compelled to consume such simple food that
they ceased overeating. It is a well known fact that a mono-diet forces
moderation, for there is no desire to overeat, as there is when living
on a very varied diet.
Another fact that the Salisbury plan brings to mind is that starch and
sugar are not necessary for the feeding of adults, although they are
convenient and cheap foods and ordinarily consumed in large quantities.
The fat in the meat takes the place of the starch and sugar. Atomically,
starch, sugar and fat are almost identical, and they can be substituted
one for the other. Nature makes broad provisions.
Dr. Salisbury's career also serves to remind us that a mixed diet is not
necessary for the physical welfare of those who eat to live. Vegetarians
dwell upon the toxicity of meat. But Dr. Salisbury fed his patients on
nothing but meat and water, and the percentage of recoveries in chronic
diseases was considered remarkable. Meat is very easy to digest and when
prepared in the simple manner prescribed by the doctor and eaten by
itself it will agree with nearly everybody. But when eaten with soup,
bread, potatoes, vegetables, cooked and raw, fish, pudding, fruit,
coffee, crackers and cheese, there will be overeating followed by
indigestion and its consequent train of ills. However, it is not fair to
blame the meat entirely, for the whole mixture goes into decomposition
and poisons the body.
The cures resulting from Dr. Salisbury's plan also help to disprove the
much heralded theory of Dr. Haig, that uric acid from meat eating is the
cause of rheumatism. Overeating of meat is often a contributory cause.
We are told that the rheumatics who followed Dr. Salisbury's plan got
well. They regained physical tone. They lost their gout and rheumatism.
They parted company with their pimples and blotches. All of which would
indicate that the blood became clean.
The chief lesson derived from Dr. Salisbury's plan and experience is the
helpfulness of simple living and moderation. An exclusive diet of meat
is not well balanced. Energy produced from flesh food is too expensive.
The good results came from substituting habits of simplicity and
moderation for the habit of overeating of too great variety of food. The
same results may be obtained by putting a patient on bread and milk.
Dr. Salisbury's patients had unsatisfied longings, doubtless for various
tissue salts. The addition of fresh raw fruits or vegetables would
improve his diet, for apples, peaches, pears, lettuce, celery and
cabbage are rich in the salts in which meats are deficient.
Dr. Emmet Densmore recommended omitting the starches entirely, that is,
to avoid such foods as cereals, tubers and legumes. He believed that it
is best to live on fruits and nuts. He recommended the sweet
fruits--figs, dates, raisins, prunes--instead of the starchy foods. The
doctor did much good, as everyone does who gets his patients to
simplify. He also had good results before discovering that starch is a
harmful food, when he fed his patients bread and milk.
Starch must be converted into sugar before it can be used by the body.
The sugar is what is known as dextrose, not the refined sugar of
commerce. The sweet fruits contain this sugar in the form of fruit
sugar, which needs but little preparation to be absorbed by the blood.
Dr. Densmore reasons thus: Only birds are furnished with mills
(gizzards); hence the grains are fit food for them only. Other starches
should be avoided because they are difficult to digest, the doctor
wrote.
Raw starches are difficult to digest, but when they are properly cooked
they are digested in a reasonable time without overburdening the system,
provided they are well masticated and the amount eaten is not too great
and the combining is correct. Rice, which contains much starch, digests
in a short time.
We can do very nicely without starch. We can also thrive on it if we do
not abuse it. The two chief starch-bearing staples, rice and wheat,
contain considerable protein and salts in their natural state. In fact,
the natural wheat will sustain life for a long time. Man has improved on
nature by polishing the rice and making finely bolted, bleached wheat
flour, deprived of nearly all the salts in the wheat berry. The result
is that both of them have become very poor foods. The more we eat of
these refined products the worse off we are, unless we partake freely of
other foods rich in mineral salts.
Not long ago a lady died in England who was a prominent advocate of a
"brainy diet." Her brainy diet consisted largely of excessive quantities
of meat, pork being a favorite. She died comparatively young, her
friends say from overwork. Such a diet doubtless had a large part in
wearing her out. To overeat of meat is dangerous.
A gentleman is now advocating a diet of nothing but cocoanuts. This is a
fad, for they are not a balanced food. He has published a book on the
subject. Perhaps his advocacy is influenced by his interest in the sale
of cocoanuts.
The vegetarians condemn the use of meat. Some of them are called
fruitarians. It is very difficult to decide who are the most
representative of them. Some advocate the use of nothing but fruit and
nuts. Others add cereals to this. Others use vegetables in addition.
Some even allow the use of dairy products and eggs, that is, all foods
except flesh.
They say that meat is an unnatural food for man and condemn its use on
moral grounds. It is difficult to decide what is natural, for we find
that man is very adaptable, being able to live on fruits in the tropics
and almost exclusively on flesh food, largely fat, in the arctic
regions. In nature the strong live on the weak and the intelligent on
the dull. There is no sentiment in nature. In her domain might, physical
or mental, makes right. Sentiments of right and justice are not highly
developed except among human beings, and even there they are so weakly
implanted that it takes but little provocation for civilized man to bare
his teeth in a wolfish snarl.
With some vegetarianism is largely a matter of esthetics, ethics and
morality. Morality is based on expediency, so it really is a question
whether meat is an advantageous food or not.
Another vegetarian argument is that man's anatomy proves that he was not
intended by nature to eat meat. Good arguments have been used on both
sides, but they are not very convincing nor are they conclusive. It is
hard to draw any lines fairly.
Another objection to meat is that it is unclean and full of poisons,
that these poisons produce various diseases, such as cancer. We are also
informed that refined sugar causes cancer, and the belief in tomatoes as
a causative factor is not dead. Cancer is without doubt caused
principally by dietary indiscretions but it is impossible to single out
any one food.
No matter what foods we eat, we are compelled to be careful or they will
be unclean. Those who wish clean meat can obtain it. The amount of
poison or waste in a proper portion of meat is so small that we need
give it no thought. Those who eat in moderation can take meat once a
day during cold weather and enjoy splendid health. During warm weather
it should be eaten more seldom.
On the other hand, meat is not necessary. We need a certain amount of
protein, which we can obtain from nuts, eggs, milk, cheese, peanuts,
peas, beans, lentils, cereals and from other food in smaller amounts.
The amount of protein needed is small--about one-fifth of what the
physiologists used to recommend.
Those who think meat eating is wrong should not partake of it. They can
get along very well without it. We are consuming entirely too much meat
in America. The organism can stand it if the life is active in the fresh
air, but it will not do for people who are housed. Much meat eating
causes physical degeneration. The body loses tone. Experiments have
shown that vegetarians have more resistance and endurance than the meat
eaters, but the meat eaters get so much stimulation from their food that
they can speed up in spurts. The excretions of meat eaters are more
poisonous than those of vegetarians.
Eggs produced by hens fed largely on meat scraps do not keep as well as
those laid by hens feeding more on grains. In short, meat eating leads
to instability or degeneration, if carried to excess. Young children
should have none of it and it would be a very easy matter for the rising
generation to develop without using meat, and I believe this would be
better than our present plan of eating. However, let us give flesh food
the credit due it. When meat eaters are debilitated no other food seems
to act as kindly as meat, given with fruits or vegetables. When properly
prepared and taken in moderation meat digests easily and is quite
completely assimilated.
Many make the mistake of living too exclusively on starch and taking it
in excess. The result is fermentation and an acid state of the
alimentary tract. Dr. Daniel S. Sager says that, "About all that we have
to fear in eating is excessive use of proteids." Experience and
observation do not bear out this statement, for it is as easy to find
people injured by starch as by protein. One form of poisoning is as bad
as the other. The doctor also warns against nearly all the succulent
vegetables, saying that on account of the indigestible fibre, most of
them are unfit for human consumption.
Dr. E. H. Dewey condemned the apple as a disease-producer, and
inferentially, other fruits.
Dr. Charles E. Page objects to the use of milk by adults, on the ground
that it is fit food only for the calves for whom nature intended it.
Many writers have repeated this opinion.
Most of the regular physicians have a very vague idea of dietetics and
proper feeding. When asked what to eat they commonly say, "Eat plenty
nourishing food of the kinds that agree with you." They do not point out
the fundamentals to their patients. Sometimes they advise avoiding
combinations of milk and fruits. Sometimes they say that all starches
should be avoided and in the next breath prescribe toast, one of the
starchiest of foods. At times they proscribe pork and pickles but they
are seldom able to give a good diet prescription. What people need is a
fair knowledge of what to do and the don'ts will take care of
themselves.
All foods have been condemned as unfit for human consumption by people
who should know. However, those who look at these matters with open eyes
and open minds will come to the conclusion that man is a very adaptable
animal; that if necessary he can get along without almost all foods,
being able to subsist on a very small variety; that he can live for a
long period on animal food entirely; that he can live all his life
without tasting flesh; that he can live on a mixed diet; that he can
adopt a great many plans of eating and live in health and comfort on
nearly all of them, provided he does not deprive himself of the natural
salts and gets some protein; and finally and most important, that
moderation is the chief factor in keeping well, for the best foods
produce disease in time if taken in excess.
Those who object to flesh, dairy products, cereals, tubers, legumes,
refined sugars, fruits or vegetables, should do without the class which
they find objectionable, for it is easy to substitute from other
classes. Eggs, milk or legumes may be taken in place of flesh foods. The
salts contained in fruits may be obtained from vegetables. The starch,
which is the chief ingredient of cereals, is easily obtained from tubers
and legumes; fats and sugars will take its place. Commercial sugar is
not a necessity. The force and heat derived from it can be obtained from
starches and fats.
Outside of milk in infancy, there is not a single indispensable food.
Some people have peculiarities which prevent them from eating certain
foods, such as pork, eggs, milk and strawberries, but with these
exceptions a healthy person can eat any food he pleases, provided he is
moderate. We eat too much flesh, sugar and starch and we suffer for it.
This does not prove that these foods are harmful, but that overeating is.
Sometimes the food question becomes a very trying one in the home. One
individual has learned the fact that good results are obtained by using
good sense and judgment in combining and consuming food, and he tries to
force others to do as he does. This is unfortunate, for most people
object to such actions, and though the intention is good, it
accomplishes nothing, but prejudices others against sensible living. The
best way is to do right yourself and let others sin against themselves
and suffer until they are weary. Then, seeing how you got out of your
trouble, perhaps they will come to you and accept what you have to
offer.
The attempt to force people to be good or to be healthy is merely wasted
effort.
The chapter devoted to Menus gives definite information regarding the
proper manner in which to combine foods and arrange meals. Such
information is also given in treating of the different classes of food.
CHAPTER VII.
WHEN TO EAT.
Three meals a day is the common plan. This is a matter of habit. Three
meals a day are sufficient and should not be exceeded by man, woman or
child. Lunching or "piecing" should never be indulged in. Children who
are fed on plain, nutritious foods that contain the necessary food
elements do not need lunches. Lunching is also a matter of habit, and we
can safely say that it is a bad habit.
If three meals a day are taken, two should be light. He who wishes to
work efficiently can not eat three hearty meals a day. If it is brain
work, the digestive organs will take so much of the blood supply that an
insufficient amount of blood will be left to nourish the brain. The
worker feels the lack of energy. He is not inclined to do thorough work,
that is, to go to the root of matters, and he therefore does indifferent
work. One rule to which there is no exception is that the brain can not
do its best when the digestive organs are working hard. If there is a
piece of work to be done or a problem to be solved that requires all of
one's powers it is best to tackle it with an empty stomach, or after a
very light meal.
If the work is physical, it is not necessary to draw the line so fine.
But it is well to remember that hard physical work prevents digestion.
All experiments prove this. So if the labor is very trying, the eating
should be light. Those who eat much because they work hard will soon
wear themselves out, for hard work retards digestion, and with weakened
digestion the more that is eaten, the less nourishment is extracted from
it. Those who labor hard should take a light breakfast and the same kind
of a noon meal. After the day's work is done, take a hearty meal. Those
who perform hard physical labor, as well as those who work chiefly with
their brains, should relax a while after the noon meal. A nap lasting
ten to twenty minutes is very beneficial, but not necessary if
relaxation is taken.
During sleep the activities of the body slow down. Most people who take
a heavy meal and retire immediately thereafter feel uncomfortable when
they wake in the morning. The reason is that the food did not digest
well. It is always well to remain up at least two hours after eating a
hearty meal.
Most people would be better off if they took but two meals a day. Those
who have sedentary occupations need less fuel than manual laborers, and
could get along very well on two meals a day. However, if moderation is
practiced, no harm will come from eating three times a day.
In olden times many people lived on one meal a day. Some do so today and
get along very well. It is easy to get plenty of nourishment from one
meal, and it has the advantage of not taking so much time. Most of us
spend too much time preparing for meals and eating. Once when it was
rather inconvenient to get more meals, I lived for ten months on one
meal a day. I enjoyed my food very much and was well nourished. For
twelve years I have lived on two meals a day, one of them often
consisting of nothing but some juicy fruit. Many others do likewise, not
because they are prejudiced against three meals per day, but they find
the two meal plan more convenient and very satisfactory.
Meat, potatoes and bread, with other foods, three times a day is a
common combination. No ordinary mortal can live in health on such a
diet. Such feeding results in discomfort and disease, and unless it is
changed, in premature aging and death. The body needs only a certain
amount of material. Sufficient can be taken in two meals. If three meals
is the custom less food at a meal should be eaten. However, the general
rule is that those who eat three meals per day eat fully as large ones
as those who take only two.
As a rule, the meal times should be regular. We need a certain amount of
nourishment, and it is well to take it regularly. This reduces friction,
and is conducive to health, for the body is easily taught to fall into
habits of regularity and works best when these are observed.
There should be a period of at least four and one-half to five hours
between meals. It takes that long for the body to get a meal out of the
way. Stomach digestion is but the beginning of the process, and this
alone requires from two to five hours.
On the two-meal plan it makes very little difference whether the
breakfast or the lunch is omitted. After going without breakfast for a
week or two, one does not miss it. Miss the meal that it is the most
troublesome to get. Dr. Dewey revived interest in the no-breakfast plan
in this country. He considered it very beneficial. The doctor did not
give credit where credit is due, for he insisted on going without
breakfast. Omitting lunch or dinner accomplishes the same thing. He got
his beneficial results from reducing the number of meals, and
consequently the amount of food taken, but it is immaterial which meal
is omitted.
Heavy breakfasts are very common in England and in our country. On the
European continent they do not eat so much for breakfast, a cup of
coffee and one roll being a favorite morning meal there. To eat nothing
in the morning is better than to take coffee and rolls. To eat enough to
steal one's brain away is a poor way to begin the day. Much better work
could be done on some fruit or a glass of milk, or some cereal and
butter than on eggs, steak potatoes, hot bread and coffee, which is not
an uncommon breakfast.
When we consider the best time to eat, we come back to our old friend,
moderation, and find that it is the best solution of the question, for
if the meals are moderate we may with benefit take three meals a day,
but no more, for there is not time enough during the day to digest more
than three meals. However, it is not necessary to eat three times a day.
CHAPTER VIII.
HOW TO EAT.
It seems that all of us ought to know how to eat, for we have much
practice; yet the individuals who know the true principles of nourishing
the body are comparatively few. Very few healers are able to give full
and explicit directions on this important subject. Some can give partial
instructions, but we need a full working knowledge.
In one period of our racial history there were times when it was
difficult to obtain food, as it is now among some savage people. Then it
was without doubt customary to gorge, as it is among some savages now
when they get a plenteous supply of food, especially of flesh food. Even
among so-called civilized people, the distribution of food is so uneven
that some are in want somewhere, nearly all the time. In parts of
Russia, we are informed, the peasants go into a state of
semi-hibernation during part of the winter, living on very small
quantities of inferior food.
With rapid transportation and the extensive use of power-propelled
machinery, famine should be unheard of in civilized countries. In our
land there is a sufficient quantity of food and people seldom suffer
because they have not enough, but considerable suffering is due to
excessive intake and to poor quality of food. Weight for weight, white
bread is not as valuable as whole wheat bread, though it contains as
much starch. Measure for measure, boiled milk is inferior as a food to
untreated milk, either fresh or clabbered. Such facts make it necessary
for us to know how to eat.
The correct principles of taking nourishment to the best advantage have
been fairly well known for a long time, and perhaps they have been fully
discussed years ago by some author, but so far as I know Dr. E. H. Dewey
is the first one who grouped them and gave them the prominence they
deserve. He employed many pages in explaining clearly and forcibly these
principles, which can be briefly stated as follows:
First, Be guided by the appetite in eating. Eat only when there is
hunger.
Second, During acute illness fast, that is, live on water.
Third, Be moderate in eating.
Fourth, Masticate your food thoroughly.
Dr. J. H. Tilden teaches his patients the same in these words:
"Never eat when you feel badly.
"Never eat when you have no desire.
"Do not overeat.
"Thoroughly masticate and insalivate all your food."
Because these true dietetic principles are so important, probably being
the most valuable information given in this book, let us give them
enough consideration to fix them in the mind. They should be a part of
every child's education. They should be so thoroughly learned that they
become second nature, for if they are observed disease is practically
impossible. Accidents may happen, but no serious disease can develop and
certainly none of a chronic nature if these rules are observed, provided
the individual gives himself half a chance in other ways. When the
eating is correct, it is difficult to fall into bad habits mentally.
Correct eating is a powerful aid to health. Health tends to produce
proper thinking, which in turn leads the individual to proper acting.
_First, Eat only when there is hunger_: Hunger is of two kinds, normal
and abnormal. The real or normal hunger was given us by nature to make
us active enough to get food. If it were not for hunger, there would be
no special incentive for the young to partake of nourishment and
consequently many would die comfortably of starvation, perhaps enough to
endanger the life of the race. Normal hunger asks for food, but no
special kind of food. It is satisfied with anything that is clean and
nourishing. It is strong enough to make a decided demand for food, but
if there is no food to be had it will be satisfied for the time being
with a glass of water and will cause no great inconvenience.
Abnormal hunger is entirely different. It is a very insistent craving
and if it is not satisfied it produces bodily discomfort, perhaps
headache. The gnawing remains and gives the victim no rest. Very often
it must be pampered. It calls for beefsteak, or toast and tea, or
sweets, or some other special food. If not satisfied the results may be
nervousness, weakness or headache or some other disagreeable symptom.
When missing a meal or two brings discomfort, it is always a sign of a
degenerating or degenerated body. A healthy person can go a day without
food without any inconvenience. He feels a keen desire for food at meal
times, but as soon as he has made up his mind that he is unable to get
it or that he is not going to take any the hunger leaves. Normal hunger
is a servant. Abnormal hunger is a hard master.
A person in good condition does not get weak from missing a few meals.
One in poor physical condition does, although this is more apparent than
real. In the abnormal person a part of the food is used as nourishment,
but on account of the poor working of the digestive organs, a part
decomposes and this acts as an irritant or a stimulant. The greater the
irritation the more food is demanded. The temporary stimulation is
followed by depression and then the sufferer is wretched. This
depression is relieved by more food. Please note that it is relieved,
not cured. The relief is only temporary.
All food stimulates, but only slightly. It is when the food decomposes
that it becomes stimulating enough to cause trouble. It is well to
remember that considerable alcoholic fermentation can take place in an
abused alimentary tract. The stimulation obtained from too much food is
very much like the stimulation derived from alcohol, tobacco or
morphine. At first there is a feeling of well-being, which is followed
by a miserable feeling of depression that demands food, alcohol, tobacco
or morphine for relief, as the case may be, and no matter which habit is
obtaining mastery, to indulge it is courting disaster. When a habit
begins to assert itself strongly, break it, for later on it will be very
difficult, so difficult that most people lack the will power to overcome
it.
If there is abnormal hunger, reduce the food intake. Instead of eating
five or six times a day, reduce the meals to two or three. It is quite
common for such people to take lunches, which may consist of candies,
ice cream, cakes, milk or buttermilk and various other things which most
people do not look upon as real food. Take two or three meals a day, and
let a large part of them be fresh vegetables and fresh fruits. Eat in
moderation and the troublesome abnormal hunger will soon leave. By
indulging it you increase it.
Many people get into trouble because they believe that they have to have
protein, starch and fat at every meal. This is not necessary, for the
blood takes up enough nourishment to last for quite a while. A supply of
the various food elements once a day is sufficient, which means that
protein needs be taken but once a day, starch once a day and fat once a
day. Starch and fat serve the same purpose and one can be replaced by
the other.
Cultivate a normal hunger, then fix two or three periods in which to
take nourishment, and partake of nothing but water outside of these
periods. If there is no desire for food when meal time comes, eat
nothing, but drink all the water desired and wait until next meal time.
_Second, During acute illness fast_: This is so obviously correct that
we should expect every normal individual to be guided by it. Even the
lower animals know this and act accordingly.
According to this rule we should go without food when ill, but to do so
is contrary to the teachings of medical men. They teach that when people
are ill there is much waste, which is true, and that for this reason it
is necessary to partake of a generous amount of nourishing food, so they
give milk, broth, meat, toast and other foods, together with stimulants.
Feeding during illness would be all right if the body could take care of
the food, which it can not. In all severe diseases digestion is almost
or quite at a standstill and the food given under the circumstances
decomposes in the alimentary tract and furnishes additional poison for
the system to excrete. Food under the circumstances is a detriment and a
burden to the body. In fevers, the temperature goes up after feeding.
This shows that more poison has entered the blood. In fevers little or
none of the digestive fluids is secreted, but the alimentary tract is so
warm that the food decomposes quickly. Feeding during acute attacks of
disease is one of the most serious and fatal of errors. There is an
aversion to food, which is nature's request that none be taken.
When an animal becomes seriously ill, it wants to fast, and does so
unless man interferes. Here we could with advantage do as the animals
do. Nature made no mistake when she took hunger away in acute diseases,
and if we disregard her desires, we invariably suffer for it.
We should make it a rule to take no food, either liquid or solid, during
acute disease.
Those who have had no opportunity to watch the rapidity with which
people recover from serious illness may take the ground that sick people
would starve to death if they were to be treated thus, for some of these
acute diseases last a long time. Typhoid fever, for instance,
occasionally lasts two or three months. It never lasts that long when
treated by natural means, and it is very mild, as a rule. The fever will
be gone in from seven to fourteen days in the vast majority of cases,
and then feeding can be resumed.
Chronic disease is often due to neglected acute disease, at other times
to the building of abnormality through errors of life which have not
resulted in acute troubles. While acquiring chronic disease, the
individual may be fairly comfortable, but he is never up to par. Most
chronic diseases can be cured quickly by taking a fast, but usually it
is not necessary to take a complete fast. The desire for food is not
generally absent and there is usually fair power to digest. One of the
most satisfactory methods, if not the most satisfactory one, of treating
chronic disease is to reduce the food intake, and instead of giving so
much of the concentrated staples, feed more of the succulent vegetables
and the fresh fruits, cooked and raw, using but small quantities of
flesh, bread, potatoes and sugar. This gives the body a chance to throw
off impurities. There are always many impurities in a deranged body.
_Third, Be moderate in your eating_: This is often very difficult, for
most people do not know what moderation is. In infancy the too frequent
feeding and the overfeeding begin. The common belief that infants must
be fed every two hours, or oftener, is acted upon. The result is that
the child soon loses its normal hunger, which is replaced by abnormal
hunger. When food is long withheld it begins to fret. The mother again
feeds and there is peace for an hour or so. When mothers learn to feed
their children three times a day and no more there will be a great
decrease in infant ills and a falling off in the infant mortality. The
healthiest children I have seen are fed but three times a day. They
become used to it and expect no more.
Another thing that makes it difficult to be moderate is impoverishing
the food through refinement and poor cooking. These processes take away
a great part of the mineral salts which are present in foods in organic
form. These salts can not be replaced by table salt, for sodium chloride
is but one of many salts that the body needs and an excess of table salt
does not make up for a deficiency in the others.
Children fed on refined, impoverished foods are not satisfied with a
reasonable amount. There is something lacking and this makes itself
known in cravings, which demand more food than is needed to nourish. I
have noticed many times that children are satisfied with less of whole
wheat bread than of white bread, and that the brown unpolished rice
satisfies them more quickly and completely than the polished rice. In
other words, depriving the foods of their salts is one of the factors
that leads to overeating.
Simplicity is a great aid to moderation. It is also necessary to
exercise the conservative measure, self-control. Some writers suggest to
eat all that is desired and then fast at various intervals to overcome
the effects of overeating. In other words, they advise to eat enough to
become diseased and then fast to cure the trouble. This is better than
to continue the eating when the evil results of an excessive food intake
make themselves known, but it does not bring the best results. Such
people have their spells of sickness, which are unnecessary. If they
stop eating as soon as the disease makes itself known, it does not last
long. By exercising self-control sickness will be warded off. By using
will power daily it grows stronger and those who force themselves to be
moderate at first, are in time rewarded by having moderation become
second nature.
People should always stop eating before they are full. Those who eat
until they are uncomfortable are gluttons. They should be classed with
drunkards and drug addicts.
If discomfort follows a meal it is a sign of overeating. It would be
well to read this in connection with the chapter that treats of
overeating.
_Fourth, Thoroughly masticate all food_: Horace Fletcher has written a
very enthusiastic book on this subject. Enthusiasm is apt to lead one
astray, and even if thorough mastication will not do all that Mr.
Fletcher believed, it is very important, and we owe Mr. Fletcher thanks
for calling our attention to the subject forcibly.
Thorough mastication partially checks overeating.
Our foods have to be finely divided and subdivided or they can not be
thoroughly acted upon by the digestive juices. The stomach is well
muscled and churns the food about, helping to comminute it, but it can
not take the place of the teeth. All foods should be thoroughly
masticated. While the mastication is going on the saliva becomes mixed
with the food. In the saliva is the ptyalin, which begins to digest the
starch. Starch that is well masticated is not so liable to ferment as
that which gets scant attention in the mouth. Starches and nuts need the
most thorough mastication. If thorough mastication were the rule, meat
gluttons would be fewer, for when flesh is well chewed large quantities
cause nausea.
Milk digests best when it is rolled around in the mouth long enough to
be mixed with saliva. To treat milk as a drink is a mistake, for it is a
very nourishing food.
All kinds of nuts must be well masticated. If they are not they can not
be well digested, for the digestive organs are unable to break down big
pieces of the hard nut meats.
The succulent vegetables contain considerable starch. If mastication is
slighted they often ferment enough to produce considerable gas.
Fruits are generally eaten too rapidly, and therefore often produce bad
results. Even green fruits can be eaten with impunity if they are very
thoroughly masticated.
Those who are fond enough of liquors to take an excess should sip their
alcoholic beverages very slowly, tasting every drop before swallowing.
This would decrease their consumption of liquor greatly.
Even water should not be gulped down. It should be taken rather slowly,
especially on hot days. During hot weather many drink too much water.
This tendency can usually be overcome by avoiding iced water and by
drinking slowly.
These four rules should be a part of your vital knowledge. If you forget
everything else in this book, please remember them and try to put them
into practice:
_Eat only when hungry.
During acute illness fast.
Be moderate in your eating.
Thoroughly masticate all food._
CHAPTER IX.
CLASSIFICATION OF FOODS.
Food is anything which, when taken into the body under proper
conditions, is broken down and taken into the blood and utilized for
building, repairing or the production of heat or energy.
There are various forms of foods, which can be divided into two classes:
First, nitrogenous foods or proteins. Second, carbonaceous, foods, under
which caption come the sugars, starches and fats. Salts and water are
not usually classified as foods, though they should be, for life is
impossible without either.
The chief proteins are: First, the albuminoids, which are represented by
the albumin in eggs, the casein in milk and cheese, the myosin of muscle
and the gluten of wheat. Second, the gelatinoids, which are represented
by the ossein of bones, which can be made into glue, and the collogen of
tendons. Third, nitrogen extractives, which are the chief ingredients in
beef tea. They are easily removed from flesh by soaking it while raw in
cold water. They are rich in flavor and are stimulating. They have
absolutely no food value. Beef tea, and other related extracts, are not
foods. They are stimulants. In truth they are of no value, and those who
purchase such preparations pay a high price and get nothing in return.
The sugars and starches are grouped under the name of carbohydrates,
which means that they are a combination of water and carbon. There are
various forms of sugar. About 4 per cent of milk is milk sugar, which
agrees better with the young than any other kind of sugar. It is not so
soluble in water as the refined cane sugar, and therefore not so sweet,
but it is fully as nourishing. Honey is a mixture of various kinds of
sugars. Cane sugar is taken principally from sugar beets and sugar cane.
There is no chemical difference between the products of canes and beets.
Sugars can not be utilized by the blood until it has changed them into
other forms of sugar.
The use of sugar is rapidly increasing. Several centuries ago it was
used as a drug. It was doubtless as effective as a curing agent as our
drugs are today. Until within the last sixty or seventy years it has not
been used as a staple food. Now it is one of our chief foods. Not so
very long ago but ten pounds of sugar per capita were used annually, but
now we are consuming about ninety pounds each annually, that is, about
four ounces per day. Many people look upon sugar as a flavoring, which
it is in a measure, but it is also one of our most concentrated foods.
That this great consumption of sugar is harmful there is no doubt.
Physicians who practiced when the use of sugar was increasing very
rapidly called attention to the increasing decay of teeth. Sugar, as it
appears upon the table is an unsatisfied compound. It does not appear in
concentrated form in nature, but mixed with vegetable and mineral
matters, and when the pure sugar is put into solution it seeks these
matters. It is especially hungry for calcium and will therefore rob the
bones, the teeth and the blood of this important salt, if it can not be
had otherwise. The most noticeable effect is the decay of the teeth.
I have read considerable literature of late blaming sugar for producing
many diseases, among them tuberculosis and cancer. Improper feeding is
the chief cause of these diseases, but to blame sugar for all ills of
that kind is far from arriving at the truth. Cancer and tuberculosis
killed vast numbers of people before sugar was used as a staple. If we
wish to get at the root of any trouble, it is necessary for us to bury
our prejudices and be broad minded.
People who eat much sugar should also partake liberally of fresh raw
fruits and vegetables, in order to supply the salts in which sugar is
deficient. Lump sugar is practically pure, and therefore a poorer
article of diet than any other form of sugar, for man can not live on
carbon without salts.
Grape sugar and fruit sugar are the same chemically. Another name for
them is dextrose, and in the form of dextrose sugar is ready to be taken
up by the blood.
Children like sweets, but it is just as easy to give them the sweet
fruits, such as good figs, dates and raisins, as it is to give them
commercial sugar and candy, and it is much better for their health.
Children who get used to the sweet fruits do not care very much for
candies. The sugar in these fruits is not concentrated enough to be an
irritant and it contains the salts needed by the body. Hence it does not
rob the body of any of its necessary constituents. Because the fruit
sugar, taken in fruit form, is not so concentrated and irritating as the
common sugar, the child is satisfied with less.
Sugar is an irritant of the mucous membrane and therefore stimulates the
appetite. This is true only when it is taken in excess in its artificial
form, and it does not matter whether it is sugar, jelly or jam. For this
reason jellies and jams should be used sparingly, because it is not
necessary to stimulate the appetite. Those who resort to stimulation
overeat. When much sugar is taken, it not only irritates the stomach,
but it even inflames this organ.
Sugar is a preservative, and like all other preservatives it delays
digestion, if taken in great quantities, and four ounces per day make a
great quantity. The digestive organs rebel if they are given as much of
sugar as they will tolerate of starch. When taken in excess sugar
ferments easily, producing much gas, which is followed by serious
results.
Sugar is changed into forms less sweet by acids and heat. The ferment
invertin also acts upon sugars.
Sugar is a valuable food, but we are abusing it, and therefore it is
doing us physical harm. The quantity should be reduced, and families who
are using four ounces per person per day, as statistics indicate that
most are doing, should reduce the intake to about one-third of this
amount. It would be well to take as much of the sugar as possible in the
form of sweet fruits.
It is a fact that sugar is easy to digest and that one can soon get
energy from it, but feeding is not merely a question of giving
digestible aliments, but a question of using foods that are beneficial
in the long run. The moderate use of this food is all right, but excess
is always bad. Starches need more change than sugars before they can be
absorbed by the blood, but they give better results. Chemically there is
but small difference between starch and sugar. The starch must be
changed into dextrose, a form of sugar, before it can be utilized by the
body.
The human body contains a small amount of a substance called glycogen,
which is an animal starch or sugar. This glycogen is burned. Sugar is a
force food. It combines with oxygen and gives heat and energy. The waste
product is carbonic acid gas, which is carried by the blood to the lungs
and then exhaled.
Honey and maple sugar are good foods, but overconsumption is harmful.
Sugar eating is largely a habit. Because the sugar has so much of the
life and so many of the necessary salts removed in its refinement it is
a good food only when taken in small quantities. Nature demands of us
that we do not get too refined in our habits, for excessive refinement
is followed by decay. It is easy to overcome the tendency to overeat of
sugar.
Some spoil the most delicious watermelon by heaping sugar or salt, or
both, upon it. In this way the flavor is lost. There is not a raw fruit
on the market which is as finely flavored after it has been sugared as
it was before. True, those who have ruined their sense of taste object
to the tartness and natural acidity of various foods, but they are not
judges and can not be until they have regained a normal taste, which can
only be done by living on natural foods for a while.
Fats are obtained most plentifully from nuts, legumes, dairy products
and animal foods. They are the most concentrated of all foods, yielding
over twice the amount of heat or energy that we can obtain from the same
weight of pure sugar, starch or protein. Many who think they are
moderate eaters consume enough butter to put them in the glutton class.
Salts are present in all natural foods of which we partake.
Water is indispensable, for the body has to have fluids in order to
perform its functions.
Foods are burned in the body. They are valuable in proportion to the
completeness with which they are digested and assimilated and the ease
with which this process is accomplished. It takes energy to digest food
and if the food is very indigestible it takes too much energy.
The following remarks on digestibility are according to the best
knowledge we have on the subject:
As a general rule, the protein of meat and fish is more completely and
more quickly digested than the protein in vegetable foods. The reason is
that the vegetable protein is found in cells which are protected by the
indigestible cellulose which covers each cell. This covering is not
always broken and then the digestive juices are practically powerless.
The legumes, which are rich in protein, are comparatively hard to
digest. If properly prepared and eaten, they give little or no trouble,
but they are generally cooked soft and the mastication is slighted. The
result is fermentation. Beans, peas and lentils should be very well
chewed, and eaten in moderation, for they are rich both in starch and
protein.
Nuts are as a rule not as completely digested as meats and animal fats,
and the principal reason is that they are eaten too rapidly and
masticated too little. Nuts properly masticated, taken in correct
combinations and amounts agree very well. It is not necessary, as many
believe, to salt them in order to prevent indigestion.
In the following pages will be found a number of diet tables, giving
compositions and fuel values of various foods which have been grouped
for the sake of convenience, for the foods in each group are quite
similar. These tables are not complete, for to list every food would
take too much space. I have simply selected a representative list from
the various classes of foods. Under flesh are given fish, meats and
eggs. Under succulent vegetables are given both root and top vegetables,
because of their similarity. Nuts, cereals, legumes, tubers and fruits
are each grouped because it is easy to gain an understanding of them in
this way. Milk is given a rather long chapter of its own because of its
great importance in the morning of life.
Allow me to repeat that it is impossible to figure out the calories in a
given amount of food and then give enough food to furnish so many
calories and thus obtain good results. I have already given the key to
the amount of food to eat, and it is the only kind of key that works
well. However, it is very helpful to have a knowledge of food values.
The calorie is the unit of heat, and heat is convertible into energy. A
calorie is the heat required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of
water one degree C. To translate into common terms, it is the heat
required to raise one pound of water four degrees F.
One pound of protein produces 1,860 calories.
One pound of sugar produces 1,860 calories.
One pound of starch produces 1,860 calories.
One pound of oil or fat produces 4,220 calories.
For the scientific facts regarding foods I have consulted various works,
especially the following: Diet and Dietetics, by Gauthier; Foods, by
Tibbles; Food Inspection and Analyses, by Leach; Foods and their
Adulteration, by Wiley; Commercial Organic Analysis, by Allan. However,
I am most indebted to the numerous bulletins issued by the U. S.
Department of Agriculture. All who make a study of foods and their value
owe a great debt to W. O. Atwater and Chas. D. Wood, who have worked so
long and faithfully to increase our knowledge regarding foods.
As we consider the various groups of foods, directions are given for the
best way of cooking, but no fancy cooking is considered. Those who wish
fancy, indigestible dishes should consult the popular cook books.
The women have it in their power to raise the health standard fifty to
one hundred per cent by cooking for health instead of catering to
spoiled palates, and by learning to combine foods more sensibly than
they have in the past. The art of cooking has made its appeal almost
entirely to the palate. This art is not on as high level as the science
of cooking, which gives foods that build healthy bodies. The right way
of cooking is simpler, quicker and easier than the conventional method,
and gives food that is superior in flavor. After the normal taste has
been ruined, it takes a few months to acquire a natural taste again so
that good foods will be enjoyed.
CHAPTER X.
FLESH FOODS.
====================================================================
Pro- Carbohy- Calories
Water tein Fat drates Ash per lb.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Beef, average 72.03 21.42 5.41 .... 1.14 ....
Veal, lean 78.84 19.86 .82 .... .50 ....
Mutton, average 75.99 17.11 5.77 .... 1.33 ....
Pork, average fat 47.40 14.54 37.34 .... .72 ....
Pork, average lean 72.57 20.25 6.81 .... 1.10 ....
Rabbit 66.80 22.22 9.76 .... 1.17 ....
Chicken, fat 70.06 19.59 9.34 .... .91 ....
Turkey 65.60 24.70 8.50 .... 1.20 ....
Goose 38.02 15.91 45.59 .... .49 ....
Pigeon 75.10 22.90 1.00 .... 1.00 ....
Duck, wild 69.89 25.49 3.69 .... .93 ....
Black bass 76.7 20.4 1.7 .... 1.2 450
Sea bass 79.3 18.8 .5 .... 1.4 370
Cod, steaks 82.5 16.3 .3 .... .9 315
Halibut, steaks 75.4 18.3 5.2 .... 1.1 560
Herring 74.67 14.55 9.03 .... 1.78 ....
Mackerel 73.4 18.2 7.1 .... 1.3 640
Perch, white 75.7 19.1 4.0 .... 1.2 525
Pickerel 79.8 18.6 .5 .... 1.1 365
Salmon 71.4 19.9 7.4 .... 1.3 680
Salmon trout 69.1 18.2 11.4 .... 1.3 820
Shad 70.6 18.6 9.5 .... 1.3 745
Sturgeon 78.7 18.0 1.9 .... 1.4 415
Trout, brook 77.8 18.9 2.1 .... 1.2 440
Clams, long 85.8 8.6 1.0 2.00 2.6 240
Clams, round 86.2 6.5 .4 4.20 2.7 215
Lobster 79.2 16.4 1.8 .40 2.2 390
Oyster in shell 86.9 6.2 1.2 3.70 2.0 230
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The food value of meat depends on the amount of fat and protein it
contains. Lean meat may contain less than four hundred calories per
pound, while very fat meat may contain more than one thousand five
hundred calories.
These foods are eaten because they are rich in protein. Protein is the
great builder and repairer of the body. It forms the framework for both
bone and muscle. We can get along very well without starch or sugar or
fat, but it is absolutely necessary to have proteid foods. They are the
only ones that contain nitrogen, which is essential to animal life.
Nitrogenous foods are used not only to build and repair, but in the end
they are burned, supplying as much heat as the same weight of sugar or
starch.
Proteid foods are generally taken to excess. To most people they are
very palatable, and they are generally prepared in a manner that renders
rapid eating easy. Besides, meats contain flavoring and stimulating
principles, called extractives, which increase the desire for them. The
consequence is that those who eat meat often have a tendency to eat too
much. Excessive meat eating often leads to consumption of large
quantities of liquor. Stimulants crave company.
As will be noted, most fish and meat contain about 20 per cent. of
protein, while about 75 per cent. is water. The fatter the meat, the
less water it contains, and the more fuel value it has. The leaner the
meat, the more watery the animal, and the more easily is the flesh
digested. Beef is fatter than veal and harder to digest. Also, the flesh
of old animals is more highly flavored than that of the young ones,
because it contains more salts. For this reason people who have a
tendency to the formation of foreign deposits, as is the case with those
who have rheumatism and gout or hardening of the arteries, should take
the flesh of young animals when it is obtainable.
In the past we have been taught to partake of excessive amounts of
protein. The prescribed amount for the average adult has been about five
ounces. If we were to obtain all the protein from meat, this would
necessitate eating about twenty-five ounces of meat daily. However,
inasmuch as there is considerable protein in the cereals and milk, and a
little in most fruits and vegetables, a pound of meat would probably
suffice under the old plan. A few physicians have known that such an
intake of protein is excessive, and now the physiologists are learning
the same. It has lately been determined experimentally that the body
needs only about an ounce of protein daily, which will be supplied by
about five ounces of flesh. Three or four ounces of flesh daily make a
liberal allowance, for it is supplemented by protein in other foods.
Workers eat large quantities of flesh because they think they need a
great deal. The fact is that very little more protein is needed by those
who do hard physical labor than by brain workers. The extra energy
needed calls for more carbohydrates, not for protein.
When the organism is supplied with sugar, starch and fat, or one of
these, the protein of the body is saved, only a very small amount being
used to replace the waste through wear and tear. Though protein can be
burned in the body, it is not an economical fuel, either from a
physiological or financial standpoint. The energy obtained from flesh
costs much more than the same amount of energy obtained from
carbonaceous foods. Ten acres of ground well cultivated can raise enough
cereals and vegetables to support a number of people, but if this amount
of land is used for raising animals, it will support but a few. The
protein obtained from peas, beans and lentils is cheap, but these foods
do not appeal to the popular palate as much as flesh.
Meat immediately after being killed is soft. After a while it goes into
a state of rigidity known as rigor mortis. Then it begins to soften
again. This third stage is really a form of decay, called ripening. It
is believed that the lactic acid formed is one of the principal agents
producing this softening. Some people enjoy their meats, especially that
of fowls and game, ripe enough to deserve the name of rotten. The
ripening produces many chemical changes in the meat, which give the
flesh more flavor. Consequently those who indulge are very apt to
overeat. It is a fact that those who eat much flesh go into degeneration
more quickly than those who are moderate flesh eaters and depend largely
on the vegetable kingdom for food.
If an excess of good meat causes degeneration, there is no reason to
doubt that partaking of overripe foods is even worse.
All meat contains waste. If the flesh comes from healthy animals and is
eaten in moderation this waste is so small that it will cause no
inconvenience, for a healthy body is able to take care of it. If too
much is eaten, the results are serious. Overeating of flesh is followed
by excessive production of urea and uric acid products. Some of these
may be deposited in various parts of the body, while the urea is mostly
excreted by the kidneys. The kidneys do not thrive under overwork any
more than other organs. The vast majority of cases of diabetes and
Bright's disease are caused by overworking the digestive organs. Too
much food is absorbed into the blood and the excretory organs have to
work overtime to get rid of the excess.
Meats are easily spoiled. They should be kept in a cold place and not
very long. Fresh meat and fish are more easily digested than those which
are salted, or preserved in any other way. Pickled meats should be used
rarely The same is true of fish.
Ptomaines, or animal poisons, form easily in flesh foods. These are very
dangerous, and it is not safe to eat tainted flesh, even after it is
cooked. Fish decomposes quickly and fish poisoning is probably even more
severe than meat poisoning. Fish should be killed immediately after it
is caught, for experiments have shown that the flesh of fish kept
captive after the manner of fishers degenerates very rapidly. Fish
should be eaten while fresh. Even when the best precautions have been
taken, it is somewhat risky to partake of fish that has been shipped
from afar.
Flesh foods are more easily and completely digested than the protein
derived from the vegetable kingdom.
From the table it will be noted that some fish is fat and some is lean.
The ones containing more than 5 per cent of fat should be considered fat
fish. These are somewhat harder to digest than the lean ones, but they
are more nutritious.
Shell fish is generally low in food value and if taken as nourishment is
very expensive. However, most people eat this food for its flavor.
COOKING.
Cooking is an art that should be learned according to correct
principles. Every physician should be a good cook. He should be able to
go into the kitchen and show the housewife how to prepare foods
properly. Medical men who are well versed in food preparation and able
to make good food prescriptions have no need of drugs.
The flesh of animals is composed of fibres. These fibres are surrounded
by connective tissue which is tough. The cooking softens and breaks down
these tissues, thus rendering it easier for the digestive juices to
penetrate and dissolve them. That is, proper cooking does this. Poor
cooking generally renders the meats indigestible.
The simpler the cooking, the more digestible will be the food. Flavors
are developed in the process, but these are hidden if the meats are
highly seasoned.
_Boiling_: When meats are boiled they lose muscle sugar, flavoring
extracts, organic acids, gelatin, mineral matters and soluble albumin.
That is, they lose both flavor and nourishment. Therefore the liquid in
which they are cooked should be used.
The proper way to boil meat is to plunge it into plain boiling water.
Allow the water to boil hard for ten or fifteen minutes. This coagulates
the outer part of the piece of meat. Then lower the temperature of the
water to about 180 degrees F. and cook until it suits the taste. If it
is allowed to boil at a high temperature a long time, it becomes tough,
for the albumin will coagulate throughout.
Salt extracts the water from meat. Therefore none of it should be used
in boiling. The meat should be cooked in plain water with no addition.
No vegetables and no cereals are to be added. All meats contain some
fat, and this comes into the water and acts upon the vegetables and
starches, making them indigestible. Season the meat after it is cooked,
or better still, let everyone season it to suit the taste after serving.
Meats that are to be boiled should never be soaked, for the cold water
dissolves out some of the salts and some of the flavoring extracts, as
well as a part of the nutritive substances. It is better to simply wash
the meat if it does not look fresh and clean enough to appeal to the
eye, which it always should be.
_Stewing_: If meat is to be stewed, cut into small pieces and stew or
simmer at a temperature of about 180 degrees F. until it is tender. It
is to be stewed in plain water. If a meat and vegetable stew is desired,
stew the vegetables in one dish, and the meat in another. When both are
done, mix. By cooking thus a stew is made that will not "repeat" if it
is properly eaten. Foods should taste while being eaten, not afterwards.
_Broths_: If a broth is desired, select lean meat. Either grind it or
chop it up fine. There is no objection to soaking the meat in cold
water, provided this water is used in making the broth. Use no
seasoning. Let it stew or simmer at about 180 degrees F. until the
strength of the meat is largely in the water.
When the broth is done, set it aside to cool. Then skim off all the fat
and warm it up and use. One pound of lean meat will produce a quart of
quite strong broth.
_Broiling_: Cut the meat into desired thickness. Place near intense
fire, turning occasionally, until done. Be careful not to burn the
flesh. An ordinary steak should be broiled in about ten minutes. Of
course, the time depends on the thickness of the cut and whether it is
desired rare, medium or well done, and in this let the individual suit
himself, for he will digest the meat best the way he enjoys it most.
Beefsteak smothered in onions is a favorite dish. It is not a good way
to prepare either the onions or the steak. A better way is to broil both
the steak and the onions, or broil the steak, cut the onions in slices
about one-half to three-fourths of an inch thick, add a little water and
bake them. Beefsteak and onions prepared in this way are both palatable
and easy to digest.
_Roasting_ is just like broiling, that is, cooking a piece of meat
before an open fire. Here we use a larger piece of meat and it therefore
takes longer. Of old roasting was quite common, but now we seldom roast
meat in this country.
_Baking_: Here we place the meat in an enclosed oven. Most of our
so-called roast meats are baked. The oven for the first ten or fifteen
minutes should be very hot, about 400 degrees F. This heat seals the
outside of the meat up quite well. Then let the heat be reduced to about
260 degrees F. If it is kept at a high temperature it will produce a
tough piece of meat. The time the meat should be in the oven depends
upon the size of the piece of meat and how well done it is desired.
While baking, some of the juices and a part of the fat escape. About
every fifteen minutes, baste the meat with its own juice. A few minutes
before the meat is to be removed from the oven it may be sprinkled with
a small amount of salt, and so may broiled and roasted meats a little
while before they are done. However, many prefer to season their own
foods or eat them without seasoning and they should be allowed to do so.
_Steaming_: This is an excellent way of cooking. None of the food value
is lost. Put the meat in the steamer and allow it to remain until done.
The cheapest and toughest cuts of meat, which are fully as good as the
more expensive ones and often better flavored, can be rendered very
tender by steaming. Tough birds can be treated in the same way. An
excellent way to cook an old hen or an old turkey is to steam until
tender and then put into a hot oven for a few minutes to brown. Some
birds are so tough that they can not be made eatable by either boiling
or baking, but steaming makes them tender.
It is best to avoid starchy dressings, in fact dressings of all kinds. A
well cooked bird needs none, and dressing does not save a poorly cooked
one. Most dressings are very difficult to digest.
_Fireless cooking_: Every household should have either a good steamer or
a fireless cooker. Both are savers of time and fuel and food. They
emancipate the women. Those who have fireless cookers and plan their
meals properly do not need to spend much time in the kitchen.
Place the meat in the fireless cooker, following the directions which
accompany it. However, if they tell you to season the meat, omit this
part.
_Smothering_ is a modification of baking. Any kind of meat may be
smothered, but it is especially fine for chickens. Take a young bird,
separate it into joints, place into a pan, add a pint of boiling water.
If chicken is lean put in a little butter, but if fat use no butter.
Cover the pan tightly and place in oven and let it bake. A chicken
weighing two and one-half pounds when dressed will require baking for
one hour and fifteen minutes. Keep the cover on the baking pan until the
chicken is done, not raising it even once. Gravy will be found in the
pan.
Pressed chicken is very good. Get a hen about a year old. Place it into
steamer or fireless cooker until so tender that the flesh readily falls
from the bones. Remove the bones, but keep the skin with the meat. Chop
it up. Place in dish or jar, salting very lightly. Over the chopped-up
meat place a plate and on this a weight, and allow it to press over
night. Then it is ready to slice and serve. This is very convenient for
outings.
Fish should preferably be baked or broiled. It may also be boiled, but
it boils to pieces rather easily and loses a part of its food value. It
must be handled with great care. No seasoning is to be used. When served
a little salt and drawn butter or oil may be added as dressing.
_Frying_ is an objectionable method of cooking. It is generally held,
and with good reason, that when grease at a high temperature is forced
into flesh, it becomes very indigestible. In fact the crust formed on
the outside of the flesh can not be digested. It is folly to prepare
food so that it proves injurious.
However, there is a way of using the frying pan so that practically no
harm is done. Grease the pan very lightly, just enough to prevent the
flesh from sticking. Make the pan very hot and place the meat in it.
Turn the meat frequently. Fries (young chickens) may be cooked in this
way with good results. The same is true of steaks and chops.
Avoid greasy cooking. It is an abomination that helps to kill thousands
of people annually.
_Paper bag cooking_ is all right if it is convenient. Those who have
good steamers or fireless cookers will not find it of special advantage.
Brown flour gravies are not fit to eat. If there is any gravy serve it
as it comes from the pan without mixing it with flour or other starches.
It may be put over the meat or used as dressing for the vegetables. Milk
gravies are also to be avoided. Use only the natural gravies.
Oysters may be eaten raw or stewed. Stew the oysters in a little water.
Heat the milk and mix. Eat with cooked succulent vegetables and with raw
salad vegetables. It is best to leave the crackers out. The oysters
themselves contain very little nourishment, but when made into a milk
stew the result is very nutritious.
Eggs should be fresh. Some bakers buy spoiled eggs and use them for
their fancy cakes and cookies. This is a very objectionable practice and
may be one of the reasons that bakers' cookies never taste like those
"mother used to make." Eggs take the place of fish, meat or nuts, for
they are rich in protein. They may be taken raw, rare or well done.
Eggs may be boiled, poached, steamed or baked. Soft boiled eggs require
about three and one-half minutes. Hard boiled ones require from fifteen
to twenty minutes. The albumin of an egg boiled six or seven minutes is
tough. When boiled longer it becomes mellow. Eggs may be made into
omelettes or scrambled, but the pan should be lightly greased and quite
hot so that the cooking will be quickly done. Eggs are variously treated
for an omelette. Some cooks add nothing but water and this makes a
delicate dish. Others use milk, cream or butter, and beat.
Bacon is a relish and may be taken occasionally with any other food. It
should be well done, fried or broiled until quite crisp. This is one
place where frying is not objectionable.
Pork should rarely be used. It is too fat and rich and requires too long
to digest. When eaten it should be taken in the simplest of
combinations, such as pork and succulent vegetables or juicy fruits,
either cooked or raw, and nothing else.
Flesh may be eaten more freely in winter than in summer. Meat especially
should be eaten very sparingly during hot weather, for it is too
stimulating and heating. Nuts, eggs and fish are then better forms in
which to take protein.
COMBINATIONS.
Flesh foods combine best with the succulent vegetables and the salad
vegetables or with juicy fruits. It is more usual to take vegetables
with flesh than to take fruit, but those who prefer fruit may take it
with equally as good results. Both fruits and vegetables are rich in
tissue salts, in which flesh foods are rather deficient. The succulent
vegetables contain some starch and the juicy fruits some sugar, but not
enough to do any harm. They both act as fillers.
Flesh is quite concentrated and it is customary to take it with other
concentrated foods, such as bread and potatoes. As a result too much
food is ingested. It would be a splendid rule to make to avoid bread and
potatoes when flesh food is taken, but if this seems too rigid, make it
a rule never to eat all three at the same meal. It is best to eat the
flesh foods without bread or potatoes, but if starch is desired, take
only one kind at a time.
Most people crave a certain amount of food as filler, and they have
fallen into the habit of using bread and potatoes for this purpose. This
is a mistake. Use the juicy fruits and the succulent vegetables for
filling purposes and thus get sufficient salts and avoid the many ills
that come from eating great quantities of concentrated foods.
When possible, have a raw salad vegetable or two with the meat or fish
meal.
Eat only one concentrated albuminous food at a meal. If you have meat,
take no fish, eggs, nuts or cheese.
CHAPTER XI.
NUTS.
====================================================================
Pro- Carbohy- Calories
Water tein Fat drates Ash per lb.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Acorns 4.1 8.1 37.4 48.0 2.4 2718
Almonds 4.8 21.0 54.9 17.3 2.0 3030
Brazil nuts 5.3 17.0 66.8 7.0 3.9 3329
Filberts 3.7 15.6 65.3 13.0 2.4 3432
Hickory nuts 3.7 15.4 67.4 11.4 2.1 3495
Pecans 3.0 11.0 71.2 13.3 1.5 3633
English walnuts 2.8 16.7 64.4 14.8 1.3 3305
Chestnuts, dried 5.9 10.7 7.0 74.2 2.2 1875
Butternuts 4.5 27.9 61.2 3.4 3.0 3371
Cocoanuts 14.1 5.7 50.6 27.9 1.7 2986
Pistachio nuts 4.2 22.6 54.5 15.6 3.1 3010
Peanuts, roasted 1.6 30.5 49.2 16.2 2.5 3177
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Nuts vary a great deal in composition. They are generally the seeds of
trees, enclosed in shells, but other substances are also called nuts.
The representative nuts are rich in fat and protein, containing some
carbohydrate (sugar or starch.)
A few nuts, such as the acorn, cocoanut and chestnut, are very rich in
starch, and these should be classified as starchy foods. Very few foods
contain as high per cent of starch as the dry chestnut. In southern
Europe chestnuts are made into flour, and this is made into bread or
cakes. An inferior bread is also made of acorn flour. Chestnuts may be
boiled or roasted. They are very nutritious.
The more representative nuts are pecans, filberts, Brazil nuts and
walnuts. These may be used in place of flesh foods, for they furnish
both protein and fats. If the kernel is surrounded by a tough membrane,
as is the case in walnuts and almonds, it should be blanched, which
consists in putting the kernel in very hot water for a little while and
then removing this membrane. The pecan, though it does not contain very
much protein, is one of the best nuts, one which can be eaten often
without producing dislike.
Nuts have the reputation of being hard to digest. If they are not well
masticated they are very hard to digest indeed, but when they are well
masticated they digest almost as completely as do flesh foods and they
produce no digestive troubles.
One reason that nuts have obtained a bad reputation is that they are
often eaten at the end of a heavy meal, when perhaps two or three times
too much food has already been ingested. The result is indigestion and
the sufferer swears off on nuts. If he had sense enough to reduce his
intake of bread, potatoes, meat, pudding and coffee, the benefit would
be very great. The tendency is for the sufferer from indigestion to pick
out a certain food and blame all the trouble on that, when in truth the
combinations and the quantity of food are to blame.
Some vegetarians make nuts one of their principal foods. We can easily
get along without flesh, for we can obtain all the protein needed from
milk, eggs, nuts and legumes. However, people who are used to flesh are
able to digest it when they can take hardly anything else. The foods
which we prefer are taken largely because we have become accustomed to
them and have formed a liking for them, not because they are the very
best from which to select.
COOKING.
_Nut butter_: Take the nut meats, clean away all the skins and grind
fine in a nut mill. Then form into a pasty substance with or without the
addition of oil or water, to suit the individual taste. Most nut butters
are very agreeable in flavor. Sometimes the nuts are roasted and
sometimes they are not. Almond butter is very good. The nut butters soon
spoil if left exposed to the air, for the oils they contain turn rancid.
Peanut butter can be made by taking clean kernels of freshly roasted
peanuts and grinding fine. Some are very fond of this butter. Cocoanut
and cocoa butters are not made in this way. They are purified fats, the
former from cocoanuts, the latter from the cocoa bean.
_Nut milk_: Take nut butter and mix with water until it is of the
desired consistency. Cocoanuts contain a sweet liquid which is called
cocoanut milk. However, the artificial cocoanut milk is made by pouring
a pint of boiling water over the flesh of a freshly grated cocoanut. Let
it stand until cold and strain. If it is allowed to stand some hours the
fat will rise to the top and form cream. This milk is used by some who
object to the use of animal products.
Various meals are made from nuts and made into food for the sick. This
does no harm, nor does it do any special good. These meals contain more
or less starch and the action of starches is much the same, no matter
what the source. Please remember that there are no health foods.
COMBINATIONS.
Nuts are especially fine in combination with fruits. Fresh pecan meats
and mild apples make a meal fit for the gods. Nuts may be used in any
combination in which flesh is used, that is, they take the place of
flesh foods. The starchy nuts take the place of starchy foods.
A good meal is made of a fruit salad, consisting of two or three kinds
of fresh fruits and nuts.
Nuts or nut butter with toast also make a good meal.
Nuts have such fine flavor that cooks should think twice before spoiling
them. It is very difficult to use them in cookery and get a product that
is as finely flavored as the original nuts. The vegetarians use them in
compounding what they call roasts, cutlets, steaks, etc. My experience
with these imitation products has not been of the best, for though my
digestive organs are strong, they do not take kindly to these mixtures.
Some of my friends report the same results, in spite of thorough
mastication and moderation. These imitation roasts and cutlets usually
contain much starch and there is no reason to believe that it is better
to cook nut oils into starchy foods than it is to use any other form of
fat for this purpose. Those who like starch and nuts can make a splendid
meal of nut meats and whole wheat biscuits or zwieback.
In eating nuts, always remember that the mastication must be thorough.
It takes grinding to break up the solid nut meats and the stomach and
bowels have no teeth. Those who can not chew well should use the nuts in
the form of butter.
Ordinarily two ounces of nut meats, or less, are sufficient for a meal.
At present prices, nuts are not expensive, as compared with meat. Meat
is mostly water. Lean meat produces from five to seven hundred calories
to the pound. Nut meats produce from twenty-seven to thirty-three
hundred calories per pound. In other words, a pound of nut meats has the
same fuel value as about five pounds of lean meat, but not as great
protein value.
Those who are not used to nuts have a tendency to overeat, but this is
largely overcome as soon as people become accustomed to them.
CHAPTER XII.
LEGUMES.
====================================================================
Pro- Carbohy- Calories
Water tein Fat drates Ash per lb.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
_Fresh Legumes_:
String beans ......... 89.2 2.3 0.3 7.4 0.8 195
Shelled limas ........ 68.5 7.1 0.7 22.0 1.7 570
Shelled peas ......... 74.6 7.0 0.5 16.9 1.0 465
_Dried Legumes_:
Lima beans ........... 10.4 18.1 1.5 65.9 4.1 1625
Navy beans ........... 12.6 22.5 1.8 59.6 3.5 1605
Lentils .............. 8.4 25.7 1.0 59.2 5.7 1620
Dried peas ........... 9.5 24.6 1.0 62.0 2.9 1655
Soy beans ............ 10.8 34.0 16.8 33.7 4.7 1970
Peanuts .............. 9.2 25.8 38.6 24.4 2.0 2560
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyses of all foods are approximate. The food value varies with the
conditions under which the foods are grown and is not always even
approximately the same.
The fresh young legumes may be classed with the succulent vegetables.
The matured, dried legumes are to be classed both as starchy and proteid
foods. They are very easily raised and consequently cheap. They are the
cheapest source of protein that we have. Peas and beans are very
important foods in Europe. In this country we consume enormous
quantities of beans. In Mexico they use a great deal of frijoles, the
poor people having this bean at nearly every meal. In China they make
the soy beans into various dishes. The lentil is much used in Europe and
is gaining favor here, as it should, for it is splendid food, with a
flavor of its own. Peanuts, which are really not nuts, but leguminous
plants growing their seeds under the ground, are used extensively as
food for man and beast.
These foods are much alike in composition, the soy bean being
exceptionally rich in protein.
These foods have the undeserved reputation of being indigestible and of
producing flatulence. They are a little more difficult to digest than
some other foods, but they cause no trouble if they are taken in simple
combinations and in moderation, provided they have been properly
prepared.
It is necessary to masticate these foods very well, and avoid
overeating. They are generally so soft that they are swallowed without
proper mouth preparation. The result is that too much is taken of these
rich foods, after which there is indigestion accompanied by gas
production.
One rather peculiar food belonging to the legumes is the locust bean or
St. John's bread, which we can sometimes obtain at the candy stores. It
grows near the Mediterranean and is used in places for cattle feed. It
is so sweet that it is eaten as a confection. Its name is due to the
fact that they say St. John lived on this bean and wild honey. If he did
he must have had a sweet tooth. Others say that the saint really
devoured grasshoppers. It is not easy to decide, but I prefer to believe
that he was a vegetarian.
COOKING.
The fresh young legumes are to be considered in the same class as
succulent vegetables, which are dealt with in the next chapter.
Ripe peas, beans and lentils may be cooked alike.
In cooking ripe legumes, try to get as soft water as possible. Hard
water contains salts of lime and magnesia and these prevent the
softening of the legumes.
_Bean soup_: Clean the beans and wash them. Let them soak over night.
Cook them in the same water in which they have been soaked, until
tender. They are to be cooked in plain water without any seasoning and
with the addition of neither fats, starches nor other vegetables. When
the beans are done, meat stock and other vegetables may be added, if
desired. Pea soup is made in the same way.
The reason for not draining away the water in which the beans are soaked
is that it takes up some of the valuable salts, the phosphates for
instance. The addition of seasoning or fat while they are cooking makes
the beans indigestible.
_Baked beans_: Clean and wash well. Soak them over night. Let them boil
about three and one-half to four hours, using the water in which they
were soaked. Then put them into the oven to bake. They are to be cooked
plain and no fat or seasoning is to be added while they are baking.
After they are done you may add some form of fatty dressing, such as
bacon, which has been stewed in a separate dish, or you may dress them
with butter and salt when they are served. Cooked this way they digest
much more easily than when cooked in the ordinary way with tomatoes and
grease. Some prefer to add either sugar or molasses to the beans when
they are put into the oven. Avoid too much sweetening. Lentils may be
baked in the same way.
_Boiled beans_: The same as bean soup, except that less water is used.
Dressing may be the same as for baked beans. Lentils and peas may be
treated in the same way.
Beans and corn may be cooked together.
COMBINATIONS.
The legumes are so very rich that they should be eaten in very simple
combinations. It is best to take them with some of the raw salad
vegetables and nothing else, or with the raw salad vegetables and one of
the stewed succulent vegetables. The legumes contain all the protein and
all the force food the body needs, so it is useless to add meat, bread
and potatoes. Tomatoes and other acid foods should not be used in the
same meal, yet beans and tomatoes or beans and catsup are very common
combinations.
A plate of bean soup makes a good lunch. Bean soup or baked or boiled
beans with succulent vegetables, raw and cooked, give all the
nourishment needed in a dinner.
Pea and bean flours can be purchased on the market. These flours can not
be made into dough, but they may be used for thickening. They contain
more protein than ordinary flour.
Both peas and beans may be roasted, but they are rather difficult to
masticate. Roasted peas have a fine flavor. Roasted peanuts are a
nutritious food, and may be taken in place of peas or beans.
More legumes and less flesh foods will help to reduce the cost of
living. Taken in moderation and well masticated, the legumes are
excellent foods.
CHAPTER XIII.
SUCCULENT VEGETABLES.
====================================================================
Pro- Carbohy- Calories
Water tein Fat drates Ash per lb.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Asparagus........ 93.96 1.83 2.55 2.55 .67 .....
Beet............. 87.5 1.6 .01 8.8 1.10 215
Cabbage.......... 90.52 2.39 .37 3.85 1.40 .....
Carrot........... 88.2 1.1 .4 8.2 1.00 219
Cauliflower...... 90.82 1.62 .79 4.94 .81 .....
Cucumber......... 95.4 .8 .2 3.1 .5 80
Egg plant........ 92.93 1.15 .31 4.34 .5 .....
Pumpkin.......... 93.39 .91 .12 3.93 .67 .....
Lettuce.......... 94.17 1.2 .3 2.9 .9 90
Okra............. 87.41 1.99 .4 6.04 .74 .....
Onion............ 87.6 1.6 .3 9.9 .6 225
Parsnip.......... 83.0 1.6 .5 13.5 1.4 300
Radish........... 91.8 1.3 .3 8.3 1.0 135
Squash........... 88.3 1.4 .5 9.0 .8 215
Tomato........... 94.3 .9 .4 3.9 .5 105
Spinach.......... 90.6 2.50 .5 3.8 1.7 .....
Kohlrabi......... 87.1 2.6 .2 7.1 1.7 .....
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Lima beans and shelled peas are generally included in this list, though
the young lima beans contain about 20 per cent. starch.
Look at the cabbage analysis for kale and Brussels sprouts. They are
much alike.
Most of the vegetables contain from one-half of one per cent. to two per
cent. of indigestible fibre, which is not listed above.
This is but a partial list of the succulent vegetables. In addition may
be mentioned artichokes of the green or cone variety, chard, string
beans, celery, corn on the cob, turnips, turnip tops, lotus, endive,
dandelion and garlic.
These vegetables produce but little energy, for most of them are not
rich in protein, fat and carbohydrates, but they have considerable
salts, which are given in the tables as ash. Their juices help to keep
the blood alkaline, and it would be well for people to get into the
habit of eating these foods, not only cooked, but some of them raw. The
salts are very easily disturbed and in cooking they are somewhat
changed. The best salts we get when we consume natural foods, such as
raw fruits and raw vegetables and milk.
Another function of the succulent vegetables is to take up space in the
stomach. Many like to eat until they feel comfortably full, but if they
indulge in concentrated foods to this extent they overeat. The succulent
vegetables have the merit of taking up much space without furnishing
very much nourishment and they should, therefore, be used as
space-fillers. However, they contain enough nourishment to be well worth
eating, and most of them are excellent in flavor. This flavor is not
appreciated by those who eat much meat and drink much alcohol.
The liberal use of these cooked vegetables has a tendency to prevent
constipation, and some of them are called laxative foods, such as stewed
onions and spinach.
PREPARATION.
These vegetables may be either steamed or prepared in a fireless cooker.
The usual way is to cook them in water. Clean the vegetables. Then put
them on to cook in enough water to keep from burning, but use no
seasoning. When the vegetables are tender there should be only a little
fluid left and those who eat of the vegetables should take their share
of this fluid, for it may contain as high as one-half to two-thirds of
the salts. When served, let each one season to taste. Avoid the use of
vinegar and all other products of fermentation as much as possible.
Lemon juice will furnish all the acid needed for dressing.
The vegetables may be dressed with salt, or salt and butter, or salt and
olive oil, and at times with cream, or with the natural gravy from
meats, but avoid the use of flour and milk dressings, usually called
cream gravy. These vegetables may also be eaten without any dressing.
The water is drained off from corn on the cob, asparagus, artichokes and
unpeeled beets.
Vegetables should not be soaked in water, for they lose a part of their
value if this is done. Cucumbers may be soaked in water to remove a part
of the rank flavor, before being peeled.
_Spinach_ is prepared as follows: Wash thoroughly. Put about two
tablespoonfuls of water in the bottom of the kettle. Put over the fire
and let the spinach wilt. Its juice will then begin to pour out and the
spinach will cook in its own juice. Let it cook slowly until tender.
Serve the spinach with its proportion of the juice. At first this will
taste rather strong, but after a while a person will not want the dry,
tasteless mess that is drained, usually served in hotels and
restaurants. If some of the roots are left on the spinach, it tastes
milder. The roots contain sugar.
Some of these vegetables, such as summer squash, onions and parsnips may
be baked. Onions are very good sliced and broiled, but they should never
be fried. Beets are good baked, and especially is this true of sugar
beets. Radishes are very delicate and delicious when peeled and boiled,
but their preparation is tedious. Egg plant is to be stewed, but not
fried. As usually served, dipped in egg, rolled in crumbs and fried it
is very indigestible.
Beet greens are excellent. They are best if the beets are pulled very
young and both the roots and the leaves are used. Turnip tops,
dandelion, mustard and Swiss chard are other greens that are good. All
of them are prepared like spinach, except that more water is necessary.
However, do not use much water.
Those who say that the various vegetables are unfit to eat and act
accordingly are missing some good food. The vegetables all contain crude
fibre, but they hurt the stomach and intestinal walls no more than they
hurt the mucous membrane of the tongue. They furnish some bulk for the
intestines to act upon, which is good and proper. All animals need some
bulky food, otherwise they become constipated.
Tomatoes are best raw. If they are stewed they are to be cooked plain.
Adding crackers and bread crumbs is a mistake. They taste all right
without sugar, but a little may be used as dressing.
_Vegetable soup_: Take equal parts of about four vegetables, any that
you like. Slice and cook in plain water until tender. When done add
enough water or hot milk to make it of the right consistency. Season to
taste. One of the constituents may be starchy, such as potatoes, barley
or rice, but the rest should be succulent vegetables.
COMBINATIONS.
The succulent vegetables may be combined with all other foods. They go
well with flesh or milk or nuts or starchy foods. With flesh or nuts
they make a very satisfying meal. They may be taken with fruit. The
tomato grows as a vegetable, but for practical purposes it is a fruit.
The tomato combines well with protein, but not so well with the starchy
foods.
SALAD VEGETABLES.
If possible, salads should be made entirely of raw vegetables and raw
fruits. The chief salad vegetables are celery, lettuce, tomatoes,
cucumbers, cabbage, onions and garlic, the two last mentioned being used
for flavoring.
Dr. Tilden, who has done much to popularize raw vegetable salads, has a
favorite, which he calls by his own name. It is equal parts of lettuce,
tomatoes and cucumbers, with a small piece of onion. Chop up coarse and
dress with salt and olive oil and lemon juice. This is all right for
those who like it, but many do not care for such a complex salad with
such dressing. Some of the combination salads that are served are
wonderful mixtures, containing as many as seven or eight vegetables and
a complex dressing.
Raw onions are too irritating to use in large quantities, and the same
is true of garlic. The best salads contain but two or three ingredients.
Take any two of the vegetables mentioned, such as lettuce and tomatoes;
lettuce and cucumbers; cabbage and celery; celery and tomatoes, or eat
simply one of these green vegetables raw. It is a good thing to eat some
of those salad vegetables daily. If your digestion is excellent, you
may occasionally take raw carrots or turnips, and a few raw spinach
leaves are tasty for a change. Never mind if people tease you about
eating grass, for it helps you to keep well.
Dress the raw vegetables as your taste allows. Most people want some
salt, or salt and lemon juice, or a little sugar, or cream, or salt and
olive oil, or salt, olive oil and lemon juice, or mayonnaise on their
salad vegetables. Some eat them without any dressing and the flavor is
excellent. Tasty salad can be made of fruit and vegetables, using no
dressing, but strewing some nuts over the dish. On warm days, such a
salad makes a satisfactory lunch.
It is all right to make a fruit and vegetable salad. Instead of using
tomatoes, take strawberries, apples, grapes, or any other acid fruit.
These fruits may be combined with cabbage, lettuce, celery or cucumbers.
Do not mix too many foods in a meal, for to do so is indicative of poor
taste. Those with refined palates like simple meals, and there is no
reason for making salads so complex, when simplicity is a requirement
for building health. However, a complex salad made of raw vegetables and
raw juicy fruits does not play so much havoc as a mixture of
concentrated foods.
Lettuce and celery are the most satisfactory salad vegetables to mix
with fruits.
People who eat raw fruits do not need to eat the raw salad vegetables,
for fruits and vegetables supply the same salts. Those who avoid both
raw fruits and raw vegetables are not treating their bodies fairly.
The vegetable salads are most satisfactory when taken in combination
with flesh, nuts or eggs, together with cooked succulent vegetables.
They may be eaten with starchy foods, but then they should contain
little or no acid.
CHAPTER XIV.
CEREAL FOODS.
====================================================================
Carbohy-
Water Protein Fat drates Ash
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Barley. 10.9 12.4 1.8 72.5 2.4
Buckwheat. 12.6 10.0 2.2 73.2 2.0
Corn. 9.3 9.9 2.8 76.3 1.5
Kafir corn. 16.8 6.6 3.8 70.6 2.2
Oats. 11.0 11.8 5.0 69.2 3.0
Rice. 12.4 7.4 .4 79.4 .4
Rye. 11.6 10.6 1.0 73.7 1.9
Wheat, spring. 10.4 12.5 2.2 73.0 1.9
Wheat, winter. 10.5 11.8 2.1 73.8 1.8
First patent flour. 10.55 11.08 1.15 76.85 0.37
Whole wheat flour. 10.81 12.26 2.24 73.67 1.02
Graham flour. 8.61 12.65 2.44 74.58 1.72
Bread, ordinary white. 37.65 10.13 .64 51.14 .44
Bread, whole wheat. 41.31 10.60 1.04 46.11 .94
Bread, Graham. 42.20 10.65 1.12 44.58 1.45
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The cereal foods are important because of their wide distribution and
the ease with which they can be prepared and utilized as food. They are
very productive and need but little care and hence are a cheap food. The
body can digest and absorb sugar and starch more completely than any
other kind of food.
All civilized people have a favorite cereal. The Chinese and Japanese
use rice very extensively, and this grain is growing in favor with us.
White people generally prefer wheat, which is an excellent grain that
has been used by man for thousands of years. It has been found in
ancient Egyptian tombs, and it is so retentive of life that it has
started to grow after lying dormant for several thousand years. Truly it
is a worthy food for man.
The table of cereals should be carefully studied. It will be seen that
the grains contain much starch, a little fat, and considerable protein.
They also carry sufficient of salts, but only a small amount of water.
Please note further that patent flour loses nearly all of its salts.
Patent flour is the product that is left after all the bran and
practically all of the germ have been removed from the wheat. Whole
wheat flour, or entire wheat flour, is the name given to the flour that
has had a great part of the outer covering of the wheat kernel removed.
It is a misnomer. Graham flour, named after Dr. Graham, is the product
of the whole wheat kernel, and it will be noted that it is richer in
salts and protein than the white flour and the whole wheat flour. The
whole wheat flour and Graham flour we find on the market are often the
result of blending, which is also true of the patent flour.
As we would expect, the various breads are rich or poor in salts
according to the flours from which they are made.
All the cereals are good foods, but inasmuch as wheat and rice are used
most extensively, they will receive more attention than the rest.
Wheat is perhaps the best and most balanced of all our cereals. The
whole wheat with the addition of a little milk is sufficient to support
life indefinitely. It is one of the foods of which people never seem to
tire. Tiring of food is often an indication of excess. It is with food
as with amusement, if we get too much we become blase. Those who eat in
moderation are content with simple foods, but those who eat too much
want a great variety, as a rule. There are beef gluttons, who are
satisfied with their flesh and liquor, but this is because the meats are
so stimulating.
Inasmuch as we use so much wheat, it is important that we use it
properly. Today people want refined foods, and in refining they spoil
many of our best food products. Sugar is too refined for health, rice
suffers through refinement, and so does wheat. The wheat kernel contains
all the elements needed to support life. In making fine white flour of
it, at least three-fourths of the essential salts are removed. This robs
the wheat of a large part of its life-imparting elements, and makes of
it starvation food. If much white bread is consumed it is necessary to
supplement it by taking large quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables,
not necessarily in the same meal, in order to get the salts that have
been removed in the process of milling.
The salts are found principally in the coats of the wheat, and in
removing these coats and the germ, not only the salts, but considerable
protein is lost. In other words, we remove most of the essential salts
and a considerable part of the building material of the wheat, and then
we eat the inferior product. The finer and whiter the flour, the poorer
it is.
White flour has a very high starch content. The products made from it
are quite tasteless and lacking in flavor, unless flavoring is added.
Those who are used to whole wheat products find the white bread flat. It
is possible to consume large quantities of white bread, and yet not be
satisfied. There is something lacking. Whole wheat bread is more
satisfying and therefore the danger of overeating of it is not so great.
The advocates of white flour say that the bran is too irritating for the
bowels and for this reason it should be rejected. There is no danger in
eating the entire kernel, after it is ground up. The particles of bran
are so fine that they do no harm. The intestines were evidently intended
for a little roughage, and it might as well come partly from wheat as
from other sources. The gentle stimulation produced by the bran helps to
keep the intestines active. It is noticeable that consumption of very
refined foods leads to constipation.
Bran bread and bran biscuits are prescribed for constipation. This is
just as bad as removing the bran entirely. Man has never been able to
improve on the composition of the wheat berry. When an excess of bran is
eaten, it causes too great irritation and in the end the individual is
worse off than before. The after effect of irritation is always
depression and sluggishness. Recent experiments seem to show that it is
not the coarseness of the bran that causes activity of the bowels, but
that some of the contained salts are laxative, for the same results have
been obtained by soaking the bran in water and drinking the liquid.
The products of refined flour are more completely and easily digested
than the whole wheat products. However, by eating in moderation and
masticating well every normal person is able to take good care of whole
wheat products, and the benefit of using the entire grain is so great
that we should hesitate about continuing the use of the refined flours
and white breads.
In the French army it has been found that when the soldiers are fed on
refined flour products they are not so well nourished as when they have
whole wheat products, and that they must have more of other foods to
supplement the impoverished breadstuffs. It is difficult to get people
to realize how important it is to give the tissue salts with the foods.
Salts are absolutely essential to vital activity, and a lack of salts
always results in mental and physical depression and even in disease.
No matter what adults are given, children should not be fed on white
flour products. They need all the salts in the wheat. Depriving them of
salts retards their development and results in decaying teeth and poor
bone formation, among other things. They do not feel satisfied with
their white flour foods. Therefore they overeat and get indigestion,
catarrh, adenoids and various other ills. It is not difficult for people
with observing eyes to note the difference in satisfaction of children
after they get impoverished foods and the natural foods.
Anemia is very common among children, especially among the girls. The
chief reason is impoverished foods. Salts can be used by the animal
organism only after they have been elaborated by the vegetable kingdom.
To remove all the iron from wheat and then give inorganic iron, which
can not be assimilated, in its stead, is the height of folly. By all
means, use less of the white flour and more of the entire wheat flour.
If the white flour habit can not be given up, take enough raw fruit and
vegetables to make up for the loss of salts in milling.
When rice is properly prepared it digests very easily. It is a little
poor in protein, but this can be remedied by taking some milk in the
same meal.
The rice we ordinarily get is inferior to the natural product. First
they remove the bran. Then the flour is taken off. Then it is coated
with a mixture of glucose and talcum and polished. All this trouble is
taken to make it appeal to the eye. This impoverished rice is lacking in
salts. It will not support people in health. In the countries where
polished rice is fed in great quantities, they suffer a great deal from
degenerative diseases. One of these is beri-beri, in which there are
muscular weakness and degeneration, indigestion, disturbances of the
heart and often times anasarca. When people suffering from this disease
are given those parts of the rice grain lost in making polished rice,
they recover. This is proof enough that the cause of the disease is the
impoverished food.
The rice that should be used is brown and unpolished. When it is cooked
it looks quite white. It is very satisfying.
Rye is extensively used in some lands. The bread is very good. Oats are
largely devoured in Scotland. Corn bread is a favorite food in the
southern part of our country. The negroes are fond of corn and pork with
molasses, which is far from an ideal combination in warm climates.
PREPARATIONS.
Wheat makes the best bread because it contains gluten. Among proteins
gluten is unique, because it is so elastic and after it has stretched it
has a tendency to retain its place. This is what makes bread so porous.
There are various meals or flours that can not be made into bread, or
even dough, because they lack compounds which will act as frame work.
Bread can be made in many ways. The chief question for the housewife to
decide is whether to make the bread from entire wheat flour or from
patent flour. They are so different in value that a decision should not
be difficult. It is also necessary to decide whether to use yeast bread
or some other kind.
Yeast bread is made essentially from flour, water and yeast in the
presence of heat. There are so many ways of making bread of this kind
that a recipe is not necessary. The amount of salt to be added depends
upon individual taste. Some like to set their yeast working in part
potato, part flour. Others use milk instead of water. Some add
shortening. And nearly all women believe that their own bread is the
best.
Yeast is made up of myriads of little plants or fungi, which thrive on
the sugary part of the flour. They convert this into alcohol and
carbonic acid gas. The alcohol is practically all gone before the bread
is brought to the table. The gas raises the bread, assisted by the
expansion of the water in the dough when it is placed in a hot oven.
The yeast consumes a great deal of the nutritive part of the flour. This
may amount to from 5 to 8 per cent. of the food value, and I have read
that sometimes it is as high as 20 per cent. Liebig said that the
fermentation destroyed enough food material daily in Germany to supply
400,000 people with bread. However, yeast bread is very agreeable to the
taste and therefore is probably worth more than the unfermented product.
One objection to yeast bread is that all the yeast is not killed in
baking, and the alcoholic fermentation may start again in the stomach.
If the bread is turned into zwieback this is remedied. Fresh bread is
not fit to eat, for it is very rarely properly masticated and if it is
merely moistened and converted into a soggy mass in the mouth it is hard
to digest.
Unleavened bread is made by making the flour into a paste, rolling out
thin and baking well. Any kind of flour may be used. This is the
passover bread of the Jews.
Dr. Graham's bread was made by mixing Graham flour with water, without
any leavening, mixing the dough thoroughly, putting this aside several
hours and baking.
Macaroni and spaghetti are made by mixing durum wheat flour with water,
without any leavening. With the addition of eggs we get commercial
noodles. The paste is moulded as desired.
All bread stuffs should be well baked.. The baking turns part of the
starch into dextrine, which is easy to digest. Biscuits should be placed
into a hot oven, but bread should be put into an oven moderately heated,
otherwise the crust forms too quickly.
Whenever a light product is desired, whether it is bread, biscuit or
cake, sift the flour over and over again to get it well impregnated with
air. The more air it contains the more porous will be the finished
product. Five or six siftings will suffice.
Unleavened breads of excellent flavor can be made by using either cream
or butter as shortening, rolling the bread very thin, like crackers, and
baking thoroughly.
Shredded wheat biscuits, puffed wheat and puffed rice, flaked wheat and
flaked corn are some of the good foods we can purchase ready made. Most
of them should be placed in a warm oven long enough to crisp. Masticate
thoroughly and take them with either butter or milk, or both. It is best
to take the milk either before or after eating the cereal. Sugar should
not be added to these foods. Those who are not hungry enough to eat them
without sugar should fast until normal hunger returns.
_Baking powder bread_ is very good. The essentials are well sifted
flour, liquid, good baking powder, quick mixing and a hot oven. The
following recipe, recommended by Dr. Tilden, is good: To a quart of very
best flour, which has been sifted two or three times, add a little salt
and a heaping teaspoonful of baking powder. Sift again three times. Then
add one or two tablespoonfuls of soft butter. Mix rapidly into a rather
stiff dough with unskimmed milk. The dough should be rolled thin, and
cut into small biscuits or strips. Put into a pan and bake in a hot oven
until there is a crisp crust on bottom and top, which will take about
twenty minutes. The more thoroughly and quickly the dough is mixed, the
better the result.
These biscuits or bread sticks are good, always best when made rather
thin, not to exceed an inch in thickness after being baked. When an
attempt is made to bake in the form of a fairly thick loaf it is
generally a failure. Use the proportions of white and whole wheat flours
desired.
If more butter or some cream is added and it is rolled out thin, it
serves very well for the bread part of shortcake.
_Toast_: Slice any kind of bread fairly thin, preferably stale bread.
Place the slices into a moderately hot oven and let them remain there
until they are crisp through and through. The scorched bread that is
generally served as toast is no better than untoasted bread.
_Whole wheat muffins_: One cup whole wheat flour; one cup white flour;
one-fourth cup sugar; one teaspoonful salt; one cup milk; one egg; two
tablespoonfuls melted butter; four teaspoonfuls baking powder. Mix dry
ingredients; add milk gradually, then eggs and melted butter. Put into
gem pans and bake in hot oven for twenty-five minutes.
_Ginger bread_: One cup molasses; one and three-fourths teaspoons soda;
one-half cup sour milk; two cups flour; one-half teaspoon salt;
one-third cup butter; two eggs; two teaspoonfuls ginger. Put butter and
molasses in sauce pan and heat until boiling point is reached. Remove
from fire, add soda and beat vigorously. Then add milk, egg well beaten,
and remaining ingredients mixed and sifted. Bake twenty-five minutes in
buttered, shallow pan in moderate oven.
_Custard_: Three cups milk; three eggs; one-half cup sugar; one-half
teaspoonful vanilla; pinch of salt. Beat eggs, add sugar and salt; then
add scalded milk and vanilla; mix well. Pour into cups, place them in a
pan of hot water in oven and bake twenty to twenty-five minutes. Serve
cold.
Custard may also be cooked in double boiler or baked in a large pan.
This is not a cereal dish, but the next one is.
_Rice custard_: To well cooked rice add a few raisins and a small amount
of sugar. The raisins can be cooked with the rice or separately. Place
the rice and raisins in a baking dish, pour over an equal amount of raw
custard and bake as directed for custard. Bake in either individual cups
or pan. When done the layer of custard is on top and the rice and
raisins on the bottom.
_Macaroni and cheese_: Three-fourths cup macaroni broken in pieces; two
quarts boiling water; one-half table-spoonful salt. Cook macaroni in
salted water twenty minutes, or longer if necessary to make it tender;
drain. Put layer of macaroni in buttered baking dish; sprinkle with
cheese, and repeat, making the last or top layer of cheese. Pour in milk
to almost cover. Put into oven and bake until the top layer of cheese is
brown.
_Corn bread_: Two cups corn meal; one-half cup wheat flour; one
tablespoonful sugar; one-half teaspoonful salt; two teaspoonfuls baking
powder; two eggs; one and three-fourths cups milk. Sift corn meal,
flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together four or five times; add
eggs and milk; stir well, pour into a hot buttered pan; smooth the top
with a little melted butter to crisp the crust. Bake a good brown in hot
oven.
Another recipe for corn bread is: To one cup of wheat flour, add two
cups of corn flour; two eggs; one heaping teaspoonful butter or
cottolene; one heaping teaspoonful baking powder; one pinch soda, a
scant fourth teaspoonful; one-half teaspoonful salt. Prepare and make
into batter with milk and bake as directed in first recipe.
_Corn mush_: Cook corn meal in plain water until it is done. It may be
cooked over the fire, in a fireless cooker or in a double boiler. Serve
with rich milk; add a little salt if desired.
_Oatmeal_: Put into a double boiler and let it cook until it is very
tender. It can also be cooked in a fireless cooker over night. It
requires several hours cooking before it is fit to eat. All foods of
this nature should be thoroughly cooked, and they may all be made into
porridge, which is better.
The objection to all mushy foods is that they are hardly ever properly
masticated. The result is that they ferment in the alimentary tract,
especially when they are eaten with sugar, as they generally are. It is
best to take the mushy foods with milk and a little salt or with
butter. Eaten in this way there is not such tendency to overeat as when
sugar is used. Children especially eat more of these foods than is good
for them if they are allowed to take them with sweets. Porridge is more
diluted than the mushes and hence the danger of overeating is not so
great.
_Boiled rice_: The best way to cook it is in a double boiler or a
fireless cooker. Every grain should be tender. Cook it in plan water. It
is not necessary to stir, but if the rice becomes dry add some more
water. If rice and milk are desired, warm the milk and add when the rice
is done. Serve like oatmeal. Putting sugar on cereals is nonsense. They
are very rich in starch and sugar is about the same as starch. Sugar
stimulates the appetite, and consequently people who use it on cereals
overeat of this concentrated food.
_Rice and raisins_: This is prepared the same as boiled rice, except
that raisins are added to the rice and water when first put on to cook.
With milk this makes a good breakfast or lunch.
COMBINATIONS.
Starches of the cereal order may be eaten in combination with fats, such
as cream, butter, olive oil and other vegetable oils.
They combine well with all the dairy products, such as milk and cheese.
Starches combine well with nuts. Take a piece of whole wheat zwieback
and some pecans, chew both the bread and the nuts well and you will find
this an excellent meal.
There is nothing incompatible about eating cereals with flesh, but it
generally leads to trouble, for people eat enough meat for a meal, and
then they eat enough starch for a full meal. This overeating is
injurious. Besides, starch digestion and meat digestion are different
and carried on in different parts of the alimentary tract, so it is best
to eat starchy foods and meats at different meals. Those who eat in
moderation may eat starch and flesh in the same meal without getting
into trouble.
In winter it is all right to take starch with the sweet fruits.
It is best to avoid mixing acid fruits and cereals. Even healthy people
find that a breakfast of oranges and bread does not agree as well as one
of milk and bread. The saliva, which contains ptyalin, is secreted in
the mouth. The ptyalin starts starch digestion, but it does not work in
the presence of acid. Eating acid fruits makes the mouth acid
temporarily, and consequently the starch does not receive the benefit it
should from mouth digestion. The result is an increased liability to
fermentation in the alimentary tract.
To get the best results it is absolutely necessary to masticate all
starchy foods well. If this is not done it is merely a question of time
until there is indigestion, generally accompanied by much acidity and
gas production. This condition is a builder of many ills.
Recipes for pies and cakes are not given in this book. The less these
compounds are used the better. They are very popular and can be made
according to directions in conventional cook books. Pies should be made
with thin crusts, which should be baked crisp both on bottom and top.
The best cakes are the plain ones.
When desserts are eaten, less should be taken of other foods. Most
people make the mistake of eating more than enough of staple foods and
then they add insult to injury by partaking of dessert.
CHAPTER XV.
TUBERS.
====================================================================
Pro- Carbohy- Calories
Water tein Fat drates Ash per lb.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Potato............ 78.3 2.2 0.1 18.0 1.0 375
Sweet potato...... 51.9 3.0 2.1 42.1 .9 925
Jerusalem artichoke. 78.7 2.5 0.2 17.5 1.1
The two tubers that are of chief interest are the Irish potato and the
sweet potato. The former is easily and cheaply grown on vast areas of
land and therefore forms a large part of the food of many people.
Properly prepared it is easily digested and very nourishing.
The sweet potato is a richer food than the Irish potato, but on account
of its high sugar contents people soon weary of it. The southern negroes
are very fond of this food.
Like all other starches, potatoes must be thoroughly masticated, or they
will disagree in time. Potatoes are of such consistency that they are
easily bolted without proper mouth preparation. In time the digestive
organs object.
A new tuber is receiving considerable attention. It is the dasheen. It
is said to be of very agreeable flavor, mealy after cooking, and
produces tops that can be used in the same manner as asparagus. The
dasheen requires a rather warm climate for its growth.
PREPARATION.
_Baking_: All the tubers may be baked. Clean and place in the oven; bake
until tender. A medium sized potato will bake in about an hour. If the
potatoes are soggy after being baked they are not well flavored. To
remedy this, run a fork into them after they have been in the oven for a
while; this allows some of the steam to escape and the potatoes become
mealy. When a fork can easily be run into the potato, it is well enough
done.
If the potatoes are well cleaned, there is no objection to eating a part
of the jacket after they are baked. The finest flavoring is right under
the jacket. This part contains a large portion of the salts.
_Boiling_: All tubers may be boiled. It is best to keep the jacket on,
otherwise a great deal of both the salts and the nourishment is lost. If
the potatoes boiled in the jacket seem too highly flavored, cut off one
of the ends before placing them in the water. It takes about thirty or
forty minutes to boil a medium sized Irish potato. Test with a fork, the
same as baked potato, to find if done.
Potatoes should never be peeled and soaked. If they are to be boiled
without the jacket, they should be cooked immediately after being
peeled.
Steamed potatoes are good.
There is no objection to mashing potatoes and adding milk, cream or
butter, provided they are thoroughly masticated when eaten. If the
potatoes are mashed, this should be so thoroughly done that not a lump
is to be found.
Potatoes cooked in grease are an abomination. The grease ruins a part of
the potato and makes the rest more difficult to digest. Potato chips,
French fried potatoes and German fried potatoes are too hard to digest
for people who live mostly indoors. They should be used very seldom.
COMBINATIONS.
Potatoes are best eaten in combinations such as given for cereals. They
are commonly taken with meat and bread. This combination is one of the
causes of overeating. Occasionally they may be eaten with flesh, but
this should not be a habit. Take them as the main part of the meal.
Baked potatoes and butter with a glass of milk make a very satisfying
meal. A good dinner can be made of potatoes with cooked succulent
vegetables and one or two of the raw salad vegetables, with the usual
dressings. It is best not to eat potatoes and acid fruits in the same
meal.
In selecting food it is well to remember that as a general rule but one
heavy, concentrated food should be eaten at a meal, for when two, three
or even four concentrated foods are partaken of, the appetite is so
tempted and stimulated by each new dish that before one is aware of it
an excessive amount of food has been ingested.
CHAPTER XVI.
FRUITS.
====================================================================
Pro- Etherial Carbohy- Calories
Water tein Extracts drates Ash per lb.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Apples........... 84.6 0.4 0.5 14.2 0.3 290
Bananas.......... 75.3 1.3 0.6 22.0 0.8 460
Figs, fresh...... 79.1 1.5 ... 18.8 0.6 380
Lemons........... 89.3 1.0 0.7 8.5 0.5 205
Muskmelons....... 89.5 0.6 ... 9.3 0.6 185
Oranges.......... 86.9 0.8 0.2 11.6 0.5 240
Peaches.......... 89.4 0.7 0.1 9.4 0.4 190
Pears............ 80.9 1.0 0.5 17.2 0.4 ...
Persimmons....... 66.1 0.8 0.7 31.5 0.9 630
Rhubarb, stalk... 94.4 0.6 0.7 3.6 0.7 105
Strawberries..... 90.4 1.0 0.6 7.4 0.6 180
Watermelon....... 92.4 0.4 0.2 6.7 0.3 140
_Dried Fruits_:
Apples........... 26.1 1.6 2.2 68.1 2.0 1350
Apricots......... 29.4 4.7 1.0 62.5 2.4 1290
Citrons.......... 19.0 0.5 1.5 78.1 0.9 1525
Dates............ 15.4 2.1 2.8 78.4 1.3 1615
Figs............. 18.8 4.3 0.3 74.2 2.4 1475
Prunes........... 22.3 2.1 ... 73.3 2.3 1400
Raisins.......... 14.6 2.6 3.3 76.1 3.4 1605
Currants......... 17.2 2.4 1.7 74.2 4.5 1495
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Apricots, avocados, blackberries, cherries, cranberries, currants,
gooseberries, grapes, huckleberries, mulberries, nectarines, olives,
pineapples, plums, raspberries and whortleberries are some of the other
juicy fruits. They are much like the apple in composition, containing
much water and generally from 6 to 15 per cent of carbohydrates (sugar).
Olives and avocados are rich in oil.
You may classify rhubarb, watermelons and muskmelons as vegetables, if
you wish. On the table they seem more like fruit, which is the reason
they are given here. Melons are fine hot weather food. They are mostly
water, which is pure. During hot weather it is all right to make a meal
of melons and nothing else, at any time. The melons are so watery that
they dilute the gastric juice very much. The result is that when eaten
with concentrated foods they are liable to repeat, which indicates
indigestion.
Fruits are not generally eaten for the great amount of nourishment to be
obtained from them. They are very pleasant in flavor and contain salts
and acids which are needed by the body.
The various fluids of the body are alkaline, and the fruits furnish the
salts that help to keep them so. A few secretions and excretions are
naturally acid. Sometimes the body gets into a too acid state, but that
is very rarely due to overeating of fruit. It is generally caused by
pathological fermentation of food in the alimentary tract. The salts and
acids of fruits are broken up in the stomach and help to form alkaline
substances.
The water of the fruit is very pure, distilled by nature. The acid
fruits are refreshing and helpful to those who have a tendency to be
bilious. Fruits are cleansers, both of the alimentary tract and of the
blood.
Fruits grow most abundantly in warm climates and that is where they
should be used most. In temperate climates they should be eaten most
freely during warm weather.
Young, vigorous people can eat all the fruit they wish at all seasons,
within reason. Thin, nervous people, and those who are well advanced in
years should do most of their fruit eating in summer. In winter there is
a tendency to be chilly after a meal of acid fruit. In summer such meals
do not add to the burden of life by making the partaker unduly warm.
The apple is perhaps the best all-round fruit of all. It is grown in
many lands and climates. It is possible to get apples of various kinds,
from those that are very tart to those that are so mild that the acid is
hardly perceptible to the taste. Stout people can eat sour apples with
benefit. Thin, fidgety ones should use the milder varieties. The juice
from apples, sweet cider, freshly expressed, is a very pleasant drink,
and may be taken with fruit meals.
The avocado is a good salad fruit. It is quite oily. A combination of
avocado and lettuce makes a good salad.
Thanks to rapid transportation, the banana has become a staple. It is
quite commonly believed that bananas are very starchy and rather
indigestible. This may be true when they are green, but not when they
are ripe. Green bananas are no more fit for food than are green apples.
Ripe bananas are neither starchy nor indigestible. When the banana is
ripe it contains a trace of starch, all the rest having been changed to
sugar. A ripe banana is mellow and sweet, but firm. The skin is either
entirely black, or black in spots, but the flesh is unspotted. The best
bananas can often be purchased for one-half of the price of those that
are not yet fit to eat.
Bananas are a rich food. Weight for weight they contain more nourishment
than Irish potatoes. A few nuts or a glass of milk and bananas make a
good meal. Bananas contain so much sugar that it is not necessary to
eat bread or other starches with them. Those with normal taste will not
spoil good bananas by adding sugar and cream. When well masticated the
flavor is excellent and can not be improved by using dressings.
Be sure that the children have learned to masticate well before giving
bananas, and then give only ripe ones. The flesh of the banana is so
smooth and slippery that children often swallow it in big lumps, and
then they frequently suffer.
Lemonade may be taken with fruit or flesh meals. As usually made it is
quite nourishing, for it contains considerable sugar. Those who are
troubled with sluggish liver may take it with benefit, but the less
sugar used the better. Other fruit juices may be used likewise, but they
should be fresh. If they are bottled, be sure that no fermentation is
taking place in them. These juices may be served with the same kind of
meals as lemonade. Most of them require dilution. Grape juice is very
rich and a large glassful of the pure juice makes a good summer lunch.
It should be sipped slowly. Those who like the combination may make a
meal of fruit juice mixed with milk, half and half.
Grapes and strawberries, which are relished by most, disagree with some
people. The skin of the Concord grape should be rejected, for it
irritates many. If they are relished, the skins of most fruits may be
eaten. When peeled apples lose a part of their flavor.
Olives are generally eaten pickled. The fruit in its natural state
tastes very disagreeable to most people. The ripe olive is superior in
flavor to the green, which is not usually relished at first.
The sweet fruits, by which we mean dried currants, raisins, figs and
dates, and bananas should be classed with them, serve the body in the
same way as do the breadstuffs, and may be substituted for starches at
any time. They may be eaten at all seasons of the year, but are used
most during cold weather. A moderate amount of them may be eaten with
breadstuffs, or they may be taken alone, or with milk, or with nuts, or
with acid fruit. They are very nourishing so it does not take much of
them to make a meal. To get the full benefit, masticate thoroughly. They
contain sugar in its best form, sugar that not impoverished by being
deprived of its salts. Grape sugar needs very little preparation before
it enters the blood. Starch and sugar are of equal value as nourishment.
It seems that the sugar is available for energy sooner than the starch.
Americans generally weary quickly of sweet foods, though they consume
enormous quantities of refined sugar, but in tropical countries figs and
dates are staple in many places and the inhabitants relish them day in
and day out as we relish some of out staples. It is a matter of habit.
Those who do not surfeit themselves do not weary quickly of any
particular article of diet.
PREPARATION
Most fruits are best raw. Then their acids and salts are in their most
available form. Those who become uncomfortable after eating acid fruit
may know that they have abused their digestive organs and they should
take it as an indication to reduce their food intake, simplify their
diet, masticate better and eat more raw food. Those who overeat of
starch or partake of much alcohol cultivate irritable stomachs, which
object to the bracing fruit juices.
For the sake of a change fruits may be cooked. The more plainly they are
cooked the better. Always use sugar in moderation, no matter whether the
fruit is to be stewed or baked.
To stew fruit, clean and if necessary peel. Stew in sufficient water
until tender. When almost done add what sugar is needed. When stewed
thus less sugar is required than if the sweetening is done at the start.
Stewed fruit can be sweetened by adding raisins, figs or dates. This is
relished by many. Figs and dates stewed by themselves are too sweet for
many tastes. This can be remedied by making a sauce of figs or dates
with tart apples or any other acid fruit that appeals in such
combinations.
_Baked apple_: Place whole apples in large, deep pan; add about
one-third cup of water and one and one-half teaspoonfuls sugar to each
apple. Put into oven and bake until skins burst and the apples are well
done. Serve with all the juice.
_Boiled apple_: Place whole apples in a stewing pan; add two
teaspoonfuls sugar and one cup or more of water to each apple; use less
sugar if desired. Cover the vessel tightly and boil moderately until the
skins burst and the apples are well done.
All stewed fruits should be well done. Avoid making the fruit sauces too
sweet.
_Stewed prunes_: A good prune needs no sweetening. Stew until tender. It
is a good plan to let the prunes soak a few hours before stewing them.
Raisins may be treated in the same way.
Prunes may be washed and put into a dish; then add hot water enough to
about half cover them; cover the dish very tightly and put aside over
night. The prunes need no further preparation before being eaten. If the
covering is not tight it will be necessary to use more water. Raisins
and sundried figs may be treated in the same way.
Unfortunately, most of our dried fruit is sulphured. Sulphurous acid
fumes are employed, and you may be sure that this does the fruit no
good. If you can get unsulphured fruit, do so. The sulphuring process is
popular because it acts as a preservative and it is profitable because
it allows the fruit to retain more water without spoiling than would be
possible otherwise.
_Canning fruit_: It is very easy to can fruit, but it requires care.
Select fruit that is not overripe. The work room should be clean and so
should the cans and covers. It is not sufficient to rinse the cans in
clean water. Both the jars and the covers should be taken from boiling
water immediately before being used.
Use only sound fruit, cook it sufficiently, adding the sugar when the
fruit is almost done. If you cook the fruit in syrup, do not have a
heavy syrup. Put into jar while piping hot, filling the jar as full as
possible, put on the cover immediately, turning until it fits snugly;
turn jar upside down for a few hours to see if it leaks; tighten again
and put in cool place.
An even better way, especially for berries, is to fill the jar with
fruit, pour syrup over them, put the jars into a receptacle containing
water and let this water boil until the berries are done; then fill the
jars properly and seal. Some berries that lose their color when cooked
in syrup retain it when treated this way.
Canned fruits are not as good as the fresh ones, but better than none.
Be sure that they are not fermenting when opened. When proper care is
exercised a spoiled jar is a rarity. If there is any doubt about the
fruit, scald and cool before using. This destroys the ferments.
Fresh fruit is the best. Next comes fruit recently stewed or baked. If
other fruit can not be obtained, get good dried fruit and stew it.
COMBINATIONS.
Fruits may be combined with almost any food, except that which is rich
in starch, and even that combination may be used occasionally, although
it is not the best. I have seen people who were supposed to be incurable
get well when their breakfasts were mostly apple sauce and toast.
However, sick people should avoid such combining entirely and healthy
ones most of the time. Breakfasting on cereals and fruit is a mistake.
Those who eat thus may say that they feel no bad results, but time will
tell. Nowhere in our manner of feeding does nature demand of a healthy
human being that he walk the chalk line. All she asks is that he be
reasonable. So if you feel fine and want a shortcake for dinner take it.
But the shortcake should be the meal, not the end of one that has
already furnished too much food.
Fruit combines well with both milk and cheese. The impression to the
contrary that has been gained from both medical and lay writers is due
to false deductions based on premises not founded on facts. Milk and
fruit, and nothing else, make very good meals in summer.
_Fruit salads_: A great variety of these salads can be made. Take two or
three of the juicy fruits, slice and mix. Dress with a little sugar, or
salt and olive oil, or simply olive oil, or no dressing. Some like a
dressing of sour cream or of cottage cheese rather well thinned out.
Raisins and other sweet fruits may also be used. Ripe banana may be one
of the ingredients.
Such a salad may be eaten with a flesh or nut meal, or it may be used as
a meal by itself. Fruit and cottage cheese make a meal that is both
delicious and nourishing. A fruit salad strewed with nuts does the same.
Strawberries and sliced tomatoes dressed with cottage cheese make a good
meal.
Lettuce, celery and tomatoes may be used in fruit salads.
A few fruit salads to serve as examples are: Apples, grapes and lettuce;
peaches, strawberries and celery; bananas, pineapples and nuts;
strawberries, tomatoes and lettuce. Combine to suit taste and dress
likewise, but avoid large quantities of cream and sugar, not only on
your salads, but on all fruits. No acid should be necessary, but if it
is desired, use lemon juice or incorporate oranges as a part of the
salad.
CHAPTER XVII.
OILS AND FATS.
Oils and fats are the most concentrated foods we have. Weight for
weight, they contain more than twice as much fuel or energy value as any
other food. Taken in moderation they are easily digested, but if taken
in excess they become a burden to the system. About 7 or 8 per cent of
the weight of a normal body is fat, and this fat is formed chiefly from
the fatty foods taken into the system, supplemented by the sugar and
starch.
When the body becomes very fat, it is a disease, called obesity. Fat
people are never healthy. The fat usurps the place that should be
occupied by normal tissues and organs. It crowds the heart and the
lungs, and even replaces the muscle cells in the heart. The result is
that the heart and lungs are overcrowded and overworked and the blood
gets insufficient oxygen. Not only the lungs pant for breath after a
little exercise, but the entire body. Much fat is as destructive of
health as it is of beauty. Those who find themselves growing corpulent
should decrease their intake of concentrated foods and increase their
physical activity.
Our chief sources of fat supply are cream and butter, vegetable oils,
nuts and the flesh of animals. Most meats, especially when mature,
contain considerable fat. When the fat is mixed in with the meat, it is
more difficult to digest than the lean flesh. Fresh fish, most of which
contains very little fat, is digested very easily, while the fattest of
all flesh, pork, is tedious of digestion.
There is an instinctive craving for fat with foods that contain little
or none of it. That is why we use butter with cereals and lean fish, and
oil dressings on vegetables. In moderation this is all right. Fats are
not very rich in salts, which must be supplied by other foods.
Because of their great fuel value, more fats are naturally consumed in
cold than in hot climates. The Esquimeaux thrive when a large part of
their rations is fat. Such a diet would soon nauseate people in milder
climes.
Fats and oils are used too much in cooking. Fried foods and those cooked
in oil are made indigestible. Sometimes we read directions not to use
animal fats, but to use olive oil or cotton seed oil for frying. It is
poor cooking, no matter whether the grease is of animal or vegetable
origin.
So far as food value and digestibility are concerned, there is no
difference between animal and vegetable fats. Fresh butter is very good,
and so is olive oil. Some vegetable oils contain indigestible
substances. Cotton seed oil and peanut oil are much used. Sometimes they
are sold in bottles under fancy lables as olive oil. The olive oils from
California are fully as good as those imported from Spain, Italy and
France and are more likely to be what is claimed for them than the
foreign articles. In the past, much of our cotton seed oil has been
bought by firms in southern Europe and sent back to us as fine olive
oil! Such imposture is probably more difficult under our present laws
than it was in the past.
Most oils become rancid easily and then are unfit for consumption. If
taken in excess as food they have a splendid opportunity to spoil in the
digestive tract, and then they help to poison the system. Taken in
moderate quantities they are digested in the intestines and taken into
the blood by way of the lymphatics. They may be stored in the body for a
while, but finally they are burned, giving up much heat and energy.
Taking oils between meals as medicine or for fattening purposes is
folly. People get all they need to eat in their three daily meals.
Lunching is to be condemned.
CHAPTER XVIII.
MILK AND OTHER DAIRY PRODUCTS.
====================================================================
Pro- Carbohy- Calories
Water tein Fat drates Ash per lb.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Whole milk 87.00 3.3 4.0 5.0 0.7 325
Cream 74.00 2.5 18.5 4.5 0.5 910
Buttermilk 91.00 3.0 0.5 4.8 0.7 165
Butter ..... ... 82.4 ... ... 3475
Cheese, whole milk 33.70 26.0 34.2 2.3 3.8 1965
" skimmed milk 45.70 31.5 16.4 2.2 4.2 1320
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The dairy products vary greatly. Some cows give richer milk than others.
Butter may be almost pure fat, or it may contain much water and salt.
The cheeses are rich or poor in protein and fats according to method of
making. Cottage cheese may be well drained or quite watery. Therefore,
this table gives only approximate contents.
Milk is not a beverage. It is a food. A quart of milk contains as much
food and fuel value as eight eggs or twelve ounces of lean beef. That
is, a cupful (one-half of a pint) is equal to two eggs or three ounces
of lean beef. This shows that milk should not be taken to quench thirst,
but to supply nourishment. Milk is one of our most satisfactory and
economical albuminous foods, even at the present high prices. In many
foods from 5 to 10 per cent of the protein goes to waste. In milk the
waste does not ordinarily amount to more than about 1 per cent. This
fluid generally leaves the stomach within one or one and one-half hours
after being ingested.
In spite of its merits as a food some writers on dietetics advocate that
adults stop using it, giving it only to the young.
Milk is an excellent food when properly used. When abused it tends to
cause discomfort, disease and death, and so does every other food known
to man. Milk is given in fevers and in other diseases, when the
digestive and assimilative processes are suspended. This is a serious
mistake and has caused untold numbers of deaths. When the digestion has
gone on a strike all feeding is destructive. Milk and meat broths, which
are generally given, are about the worst foods that could be selected
under the circumstances, for they decay very easily, and are excellent
food for the numerous bacteria that thrive in the digestive tract during
disease. These foods must decay when they are not digested, for the
internal temperature of the body during fevers is over one hundred
degrees Fahrenheit.
When bacteria are present in excess they give off considerable poison,
which makes the patient worse. If circumstances are such that it is
necessary to feed during acute disease, which is always injurious to the
patient, let the food be the least harmful obtainable, such as fruit
juices. Even they do harm.
In our country cow's milk is used almost exclusively, and that is the
variety that will be discussed in this chapter. In other lands the milk
of the mare, the ass, the sheep, the goat and of other animals is used.
Human milk is discussed in detail in the chapter on Infancy.
The objection voiced against cow's milk is that it is an unnatural food
for man, only fit for the calf, which is equipped with several stomachs
and is therefore able to digest the curds which are larger and tougher
than the curds formed from human milk. It is said that the curds of
cow's milk are so indigestible that the human stomach can not prepare
them for entry into the blood. This is probably true, but it is also
true of other protein-bearing foods. The digestion and assimilation of
proteins are begun in the stomach and completed in the intestines, and
the protein in milk is one of the most completely utilized of all
proteins.
To call a food unnatural means nothing, for we can call nearly all foods
unnatural and defend our position. A natural food is presumably a
nutritious and digestible aliment that is produced in the locality where
it is consumed, one that can be utilized without preparation or
preservation. So we may say that a resident of New York should not use
figs, dates, bananas and other products of tropical and semi-tropical
climates, for they are not natural in the latitude of New York. We can
take the position that it is unnatural for people to eat grains, which
need much grinding, for the birds are the only living beings supplied
with mills (gizzards). We can further say that it is unnatural to eat
all cooked and baked foods. But such talk is not helpful. The more a
person uses his brain the less power he has left for digestion and
therefore it is necessary to prepare some of the foods so that they will
be easy to digest. Man is such an adaptable creature that we are not
sure what he subsisted on before he became civilized and are therefore
unable to say what his natural food is. We know that in the tropics
fruits play an important part in nourishing savages, while in the frozen
north fat flesh is the chief food. Perhaps there is no natural food for
man.
Some of those who advocate the disuse of milk have a substitute or
imitation to take its place, nut milk made from finely ground nuts and
water. Like all other imitations, it is inferior to the original. It is
more difficult to digest than real milk and the flavor is quite
different.
The objection that milk is indigestible is not borne out by the
experience of those who give it under proper conditions. It is true that
milk disagrees with a few, but so do such excellent foods as eggs,
strawberries and Concord grapes, and many other aliments which are not
difficult to digest. This is a matter of individual peculiarity. Some
can take boiled milk, but are unable to take it fresh, and vice versa.
Outside of the few exceptions, milk digests in a reasonable time and
quite completely. It is easier to digest than the legumes (peas, beans,
lentils) which are rich in protein. It is also easier to digest than
nuts, which contain much protein. The milk sugar causes no trouble and
cream is one of the easiest forms of fat to digest, if taken in
moderation. The protein in milk will cause no inconvenience if the milk
is eaten slowly, in proper combinations and not to excess. The rennet in
the stomach curdles the casein. The hydrochloric acid and the pepsin in
the gastric juice then begin to break down and dissolve the clots, and
the process of digestion is completed in the small intestines.
Those who overeat of milk in combination with other foods will derive
benefit from omitting the milk. They will also be benefitted if they
continue using milk and omit either the starch or the meat. When foods
disagree, in nearly every instance it is due to the fact that too much
has been eaten and too many varieties partaken of at a meal. Some may
single out the milk or the meat as the offenders. Others may point to
the starches, and still others to the vegetables with their large amount
of indigestible residue. They are all right and all wrong, for all the
foods help to cause the trouble. However, such reasoning does not solve
the problem. If the meals cause discomfort and disease, reduce the
amount eaten, take fewer varieties at a meal and simplify the cooking.
Those who eat simple meals and are moderate are not troubled with
indigestion.
Those who eat such mushy foods as oatmeal and cream of wheat usually
take milk or cream and sugar with them. This should not be done, for
such dressing stimulates the appetite and leads to undermastication.
Neither children nor adults chew these soft starchy foods enough. The
result is that the breakfast ferments in the alimentary tract. After a
few months or years of such breakfasts, some kind of disease is sure to
develop. Mushy starches dressed with rich milk and sugar are responsible
for a large per cent. of the so-called diseases of children, which are
primarily digestive disturbances. Colds, catarrhs and adenoids are, of
course, due to improper eating extending over a long period of time.
Nothing should be eaten with mushy starches except a little butter and
salt. After enough starch has been taken, a glass of milk may be eaten.
If parents would only realize that they are jeopardizing the health and
lives of their dear ones when they feed them habitually on these soft
messes, which ferment easily, there would be a remarkable decrease in
the diseases of childhood and in the disgraceful infant and childhood
mortality, for several hundred thousand children perish annually in this
country.
Milk is often referred to as a perfect food, and it is the perfect food
for infants. The young thrive best on the healthy milk given by a female
of their own species. Every baby should be fed at the breast. The milk
contains the elements needed by the body.
The table at the head of this chapter shows that milk contains all
essential aliments. The ash is composed of the various salts necessary
for health, containing potassium, chlorine, calcium, magnesium, iron,
silicon and other elements. For the nourishment of the body we need
water, protein, fat, carbohydrates and salts, so it will be seen that
milk is really a complete food. However, as the body grows the nutritive
requirements change and milk is therefore not a balanced food for
adults.
It may be interesting to note that there is no starch in milk and that
infants fed at the breast exclusively obtain no starchy food. Many
babies get no starch for nine, ten or even twelve months, and this is
well, for they do not need it. They grow and flourish best without it.
Milk is an emulsion. It is made up of numerous tiny globules floating in
serum. The size of the globules varies, but the average is said to be
about 1/10,000 of an inch in diameter. These globules are fatty bodies.
There are other small bodies, containing protein and fat, which have
independent molecular movement. The milk is a living fluid. When it is
tampered with it immediately deteriorates. Without doubt, nature
intended that the milk should go directly from the mammary gland into
the mouth of the consumer, but this is not practicable when we take it
away from the calf. However, if we are to use sweet milk it is best to
consume it as nearly like it is in its natural state as possible.
It is quite common to drink milk rapidly. This should not be done. Take
a sip or a spoonful at a time and move it about in the mouth until it is
mixed with saliva. It is not necessary to give it as much mouth
preparation as is given to starchy food. If it is drunk rapidly like
water large curds from in the stomach. If it is insalivated it
coagulates in smaller curds and is more easily digested, for the
digestive juices can tear down small soft curds more easily than the
large tough ones.
Milk should not form a part of any meal when other food rich in protein
is eaten. Our protein needs are small, and it is easy to get too much.
Whole wheat bread and milk contain all the nourishment needed. On such a
diet we can thrive indefinitely. This is information, not a
recommendation. The bread should be eaten either before or after
partaking of the milk. Do not break the bread into the milk. If this is
done, mastication will be slighted. Bread needs much mastication and
insalivation. When liquid is taken with the bread, the saliva does not
flow so freely as when it is eaten dry.
Fruit and milk make a good combination, but no starchy foods are to be
taken in this meal. Take a glass of milk, either sweet or sour, and what
fruit is desired, insalivating both the fruit and the milk thoroughly.
If you have read that the combination of fruit and milk has proved
fatal, rest assured that those who made such reports only looked at the
surface, for other foods and other influences were having their effects
on the system. Many people die of food-poisoning and apoplexy. These bad
results are due to wrong eating covering a long period and it is folly
to blame the last meal. It would be queer if fruit and milk were not
occasionally a part of the last meal.
In winter, figs, dates or raisins with milk make an excellent lunch or
breakfast. These fruits take the place of bread, for though they are not
starchy, they contain an abundance of fruit sugar, which is more easily
digested than the starch. Starch must be converted into sugar before the
system can use it.
On hot days milk and acid fruit make a satisfying meal. Many believe
that milk and acid fruit should not be taken in the same meal, because
the acid curdles the milk. As we have already seen, the milk must be
curdled before it can be digested. If this step in digestion is
performed by the acid in the fruit no more harm is done than when it is
performed by the lactic acid bacteria. Fruit juices and milk do not
combine to form deadly poisons. If fruit and milk are eaten in
moderation and no other food is taken at that meal the results are good.
However, if fruit, milk, bread, meat, cake and pickles make up the meal,
the results may be bad. Such eating is very common. But do not blame the
fruit and the milk when the whole meal is wrong.
Likewise, if a hearty meal has been eaten and before this has had time
to digest a lunch is made of fruit and milk, trouble may ensue. All the
foods may be good, but a time must come when the body will object to
being overfed. In summertime much less food is needed than during the
cold months. Nevertheless, barring the Christmas holidays and
Thanksgiving, people overeat more in summer than at any other time of
the year. Picnics often degenerate into stuffing matches. We should
expect many cases of serious illness to follow them, and such is the
case.
Sometimes the milk is so carelessly handled that it becomes poisonous
and at other times the fruit is tainted, but generally bad combinations
and overeating are the factors that cause trouble when the fruit and
milk combination is blamed.
Buttermilk and clabbered milk are more easily digested by many than is
the fresh milk. In Europe sour milk is a more common food than in this
country. Here many do not know how excellent it is. Two glasses of milk,
or less, make a good warm-weather lunch.
Those who have a tendency to be bilious should use cream very sparingly.
Bilious people always overeat, otherwise their livers would not be in
rebellion. The fat, in the form of cream, arouses decided protest on the
part of overburdened livers.
A theory has found its way into dietetic literature, sometimes disguised
as a truth, to the effect that boiled or hot milk is absorbed directly
into the blood stream without being digested. This is contrary to
everything we know about digestion and assimilation, and although it is
a fine enough theory it does not work out in practice. I have seen bad
results when nothing but a small amount of the hot milk was fed to
patients with weak digestive power. Perhaps others have had better
results. When the system demands a rest from food, nothing but water
should be given. Boiled or natural milk is then as bad as any other
food, and worse than most, for in the absence of digestive power it soon
becomes a foul mass, swarming with billions of bacteria. The system is
compelled to absorb some of the poisons given off by the micro-organisms
and the results are disastrous.
Every food we take must be modified by our bodies before entering the
circulation, and milk is no exception.
When milk is allowed to stand for a while the sugar ferments, through
the action of the lactic acid bacteria. The sugar is turned into lactic
acid, which combines with the casein and when this process has continued
for a certain length of time the result is clabbered milk or sour milk.
The length of time varies with the temperature and the care given the
milk. If milk remains sweet for a long time during warm weather,
discharge the milkman and patronize one whose product sours more
quickly, for milk that remains sweet has been subjected to treatment.
All kinds of preservative treatment cause deterioration. If
extraordinary care is taken with the milk and it is kept at a
temperature of about forty-two degrees Fahrenheit, it may remain sweet
five or six weeks, provided it is not exposed to the air, but such care
is at present not practicable in commercial dairies. The milk contains
unorganized ferments which spoil it in time without exposure to
bacterial influences. These ferments cause digestion or decay of the
milk.
Fresh butter is a palatable form of fat, which digests easily. Like all
other milk products, it must be kept clean and cold, or it will soon
spoil. Butter absorbs other flavors quickly and should therefore not be
placed near odorous substances. It is best unsalted and in Europe it is
very commonly served thus. When people learn to demand unsalted butter
they will get good butter, for no one can palm off oleomargarine or
other imitations under the guise of fresh unsalted butter. Unsalted
butter must be fresh or it will be refused by the nose and the palate.
Salt and other preservatives often conceal age and corruption of foods.
Butter combines well with starches and vegetables, in fact, it can be
used in moderation with any other food, when the body needs fat. Butter
should not be used to cook starches or proteins in. Greasy cooking
should be banished from our kitchens.
Milk is a complex food, highly organized, and therefore is easily
injured or spoiled. The general rule is that the more complex a food is,
the more easily it spoils. It is rather difficult at present to get
wholesome milk enough to supply the people of our large cities. When it
is boiled, the milk keeps longer, but boiled milk is spoiled milk. The
fine flavor is lost, the casein, which is the principal protein of milk,
is toughened, the milk, which is normally a living liquid, is killed,
the chemical balance is lost, the organic salts being rendered partly
inorganic. Milk that is unfit to eat without being boiled is not fit to
eat afterwards, for the poisonous end products of bacterial life remain.
The milk is soured by the bacteria it contains. The lactic acid bacteria
are harmless. When there is a lack of care and cleanliness, other
bacteria get into the milk, and these are also harmless to people in
good health, and most of them are not injurious to sick people. The
bacteria (germs) do not cause disease, but when disease has been
established, they offer their kindly offices as scavengers. Bacteria
thrive in sick people, especially when they are fed when digestive power
is lacking. Boiling retards the souring of milk, but when fat and
protein are boiled together the protein becomes hard to digest. Milk is
rich in both fat and protein. Excessive heat turns the milk brown, the
milk sugar being carameled.
Babies do not thrive on boiled milk. They may look fat, but instead of
having the desirable firmness of normal children, they are puffy.
Children fed on denatured milk fall victims to diseases very easily,
especially to diseases which are due to lack of organic salts, such as
rickets and malnutrition.
Pasteurization of milk is very popular. This is objectionable for the
same reasons that boiling is condemned, though not to the same extent.
Pasteurization is heating the milk to about 140 to 150 degrees
Fahrenheit. This kills many of the bacteria, but many escape and when
the milk is cooled off they begin to multiply and flourish again. It is
estimated that pasteurized milk contains one-fourth as many bacteria as
natural milk. So nothing is gained, and the milk is partly devitalized.
The advocates of pasteurization give statistics showing that milk so
treated has been instrumental in decreasing infant mortality. But please
bear in mind that previously a great deal of milk unfit for consumption
was fed to the babies. Those who pasteurize milk generally are careful
enough to see that they get a good product in the first place.
If we can't get good milk we can do without it, for it is not a
necessary food, but we can get good milk if we make the effort. If the
milk is filthy, boiling or pasteurizing does not remove the dirt.
Gauthier says of pasteurization: "Sometimes it is heated up to 70
degrees (Centigrade) with pressure of carbonic acid. But even in this
case pasteurization does not destroy all germs, particularly those of
tuberculosis, peptonizing bacteria of cowdung, and the dust of houses
and streets, etc."
Even boiling does not kill the spores of bacteria unless it is continued
until the milk is rendered entirely unfit for food. To kill these spores
it is necessary to boil the milk several times. The spores are small
round or oval bodies which form within the bacterial envelope when these
micro-organisms are subjected to unfavorable conditions. The spores
resist heat and cold that would kill almost any other form of life. When
conditions are favorable they develop into bacteria again.
After heating, the cream does not rise so quickly nor does it separate
so completely as it does in natural milk. This is due to the toughening
of the casein in the milk.
Heating partly disorganizes the delicately balanced salts contained in
the milk. The result is that they can not be utilized so easily and
completely by the body, for the human organism demands its food in an
organic state, that is, in the condition built up by vegetation or by
animals. We may consume iron filings and remain anemic, in fact, the
effect the iron medication has is to ruin the teeth, digestive organs
and other parts of the body as a consequence. But if we partake of such
foods as apples, cabbage, lettuce and spinach, the necessary salt is
taken into the blood.
Heating milk also makes it constipating. True, normal people can take
boiled milk without becoming constipated, but how many normal people are
there? We are sorely enough afflicted in this way now. Let us have a
supply of natural milk or go without it. It is not my desire to convey
the impression that it does any harm to scald or boil milk occasionally,
but if done daily it does harm, especially to the young. Scalded milk
has its proper place in dietetics. Occasionally we find a person who has
persistent chronic diarrhea. If he is in condition to eat anything, this
annoying affliction is usually overcome in a reasonable time if the
patient will take boiled or scalded milk in moderation three times a
day, and nothing else except water.
How are we to obtain good milk? We can do it by using common sense, care
and cleanliness.
It is well to remember that there are bacteria in all ordinary milk, and
that if the milk is from healthy cows and is kept clean and cold these
bacteria are harmless. Most of them are the lactic acid bacteria, which
change the milk sugar into acid. When the milk has attained a certain
degree of acidity, the lactic acid bacteria are unable to thrive and the
souring process is slowed up and finally stopped. Most of the other
bacteria in milk perish when lactic acid is formed. This is why stale
sweet milk is often harmful, when the same kind of milk allowed to sour
can be taken with impunity.
If the milk is kept in a cold place the bacteria multiply slowly. If it
is kept in a warm place they increase in numbers at a rate that is
marvelous, and consequently the milk sours much sooner. Even if the milk
is kept cold, bacterial growth will soon take place, but it will perhaps
not be lactic acid bacteria. It may be a form that causes the milk to
become ropy and slimy or one that gives it a bad odor.
Bacteria are like other forms of vegetation, such as grass, weeds,
flowers and trees, in that some flourish best under one condition and
others under dissimilar conditions, and they struggle one against the
other for subsistence and existence. Like flowers there are thousands of
different forms of bacteria and they vary according to their food and
environment.
Peculiar odors in milk generally come from certain kinds of food given
to the cows, such as turnips; from bacterial action; or from flavors
absorbed from other foods or from odors in the air. Milk should not be
exposed to odorous substances, for it becomes tainted very quickly.
Sometimes yeast finds its way into milk and causes decomposition of the
sugar with the formation of carbon dioxide and alcohol.
A count of the bacteria in milk often serves a good purpose, for it
shows whether it is good and has had proper care. The consumers have a
right to demand milk low in bacteria, for if no preservatives have been
used, that means clean milk. If we could live in our pristine state of
beatific bliss, if such it was, we would not have to use milk after
childhood is past, but our present condition demands the use of easily
digested foods and to many milk is almost a necessity.
The milk in the udder of a healthy cow is almost surely free from
bacteria, but the moment it is exposed to the air these little beings
start to drop into the fluid.
The bacterial standards given by various city health departments vary.
Those who are mathematically inclined may find the following figures
interesting: In some great cities they allow 500,000 bacteria to the
cubic centimeter of milk. A cubic centimeter contains about twenty-five
drops. In other words, they allow 20,000 bacteria per drop. This may
seem very lively milk, but these bacteria are so small that about 25,000
of them laid end to end measure only about an inch, and it would take
17,000,000,000,000 of them to weigh an ounce, according to estimates.
These are the tiny vegetables we hear and read so much about, that we
are warned against and fear so much. Truly the pygmies are having their
innings and making cowards of men. The bacteria multiply by the simple
process of growing longer and splitting into two, fission, as it is
called, and the process is so rapid that within an hour or two after
being formed a bacterium may be raising a family of its own.
Some of the milk brought to the cities contains as many as 15,000,000
bacteria per cubic centimeter, that is, about 600,000 per drop. This
milk is either very filthy or it has been poorly cared for and should
not be given to babies and young children. The filthiest milk may
contain several billion bacteria to the cubic centimeter.
By using care milk containing but 100, or even fewer, bacteria per drop
can be produced. From the standpoint of cleanliness this is excellent
milk. Of course, the dairyman who takes pride enough in his work to
produce such milk will sell nothing but what is first-class, and if he
has business acumen he can always get more than the market price for his
product.
The talk about germs has been overdone, but no one can deny that the
study of bacteriology has made people more careful about foods. The
filthy dairies that were the rule a few years ago are slowly being
replaced by dairies that are comfortable, well lighted and clean. Do not
allow the germs to scare you, for if ordinary precautions are taken no
more of them will be present than are necessary, and they are necessary.
They thrive best in filth, and they are dangerous only to those who live
so that they have no resistance.
Wholesome milk can be produced only by healthy animals. Bovine health
can be secured by the same means as human health. The cows must be
properly fed and housed. They must have both ventilation and light. They
must not be unduly worried. If a nursing of an angry mother's milk is at
times poisonous enough to kill a baby, you may be sure that the milk
from an abused, irritated and angry cow is also injurious. If the
animals are kept comfortable and happy they will do the best producing,
both in quality and quantity. It may sound far-fetched to some to
advocate keeping animals happy in order to get them to produce much and
give quality products, but it is good science and good sense. Happy cows
give more and better milk than the mistreated ones. The singing hens are
the best layers.
Cows should have fresh green food all the year, and this can be obtained
in winter time by using silage. It is a mistake to give cows too much of
concentrated foods, such as oil meals and grains. Cattle can not long
remain well on exclusive rations of too heating and stimulating foods.
When fed improperly they soon fall prey to various diseases, such as
rheumatism and tuberculosis. It is the same with other domestic animals.
The horse when overfed on grain develops stiff joints. The hogs that are
compelled to live exclusively on concentrated, heating rations are
liable to die of cholera. Young turkeys that have nothing but corn and
wheat to eat die in great numbers from the disease known as blackhead.
It is the same law running all through nature, applying to the high and
to the low, that improper nourishment brings disease and death.
When cattle roam wild, the green grasses (sundried in winter) are their
principal source of food. Man should be careful not to deviate too much,
for forced feeding is as harmful to animals as it is to man.
The following excellent recommendations for the care of milk are given
by Dr. Charles E. North of the New York City Milk Commission:
"No coolers, aerators, straining cloths or strainers should be used.
"The hot milk should be taken to the creamery as soon as possible.
"The night's milk should be placed in spring or iced water higher than
the milk on the inside of the can. It should not be stirred, and the top
of the can should be open a little way to permit ventilation.
"The milking pails and cans will be sterilized and dried at the
creamery, and should be carefully protected until they are used.
"Brush the udder and wipe with a clean cloth; wash with clean water and
dry with a clean towel.
"Whitewash the cow stable at least twice yearly.
"Feed no dusty feed until after milking.
"Remove all manure from cow stable twice daily.
"Keep barnyard clean and have manure pile at least 100 feet from the
stable.
"Have all stable floors of cement, properly drained.
"Have abundant windows in cowstables to permit sunlight to reach the
floor.
"Arrange a proper system of ventilation.
"Do not use milk from any cows suspected of gargot or of any udder
inflammation. Such milk contains enormous numbers of bacteria.
"Brush and groom cows from head to foot as horses are groomed.
"Use no dusty bedding; wood shavings or sawdust give least dust.
"Use an abundance of ice in water tank for cooling milk."
Perhaps some will take issue with the doctor on the first paragraph of
his recommendation. If straining cloths are used they should be well
rinsed in tepid water, washed and then boiled. However, if his
recommendations are carried out in letter and spirit no straining is
necessary.
Herr Klingelhofer near Dusseldorf, Germany., runs a model dairy. The
cows, stables, milkers, containers, in fact, all things connected with
the dairy are scrupulously clean. The milkers do not even touch the milk
stools, carrying them strapped to their backs. The milk is strained
through sterilized cotton and cooled.
The cows are six and seven years old and are milked for ten or twelve
months and they are not bred during this time. The first part of the
milk drawn from each teat is not used, for that part is not clean,
containing dirt and bacteria.
This milk is practically free from bacteria, for without adding
preservatives it will remain sweet, for as long as thirteen days. If
ordinary milk fails to sour in two or three days it shows that it has
been treated.
According to the Country Gentleman, it will cost from one cent and a
quarter to one cent and three-quarters extra per quart to produce clean
milk. Healthy adults can take milk teeming with bacteria without harm,
but for babies it is best to have very few or none in the milk. At
Dusseldorf the babies used to die as they do here when fed unclean milk.
Herr Klingelhofer says that when fed on his product "sterben keine."
(None die.)
This is submitted to those who advocate pasteurizing the milk. Denatured
milk makes sickly babies. Clean natural milk makes healthy babies. The
extra cost of less than two cents a quart is not prohibitive. Most
fathers, no matter how poor, waste more than that daily on tobacco and
alcoholics. The extra cost would be more than saved in lessened doctor
bills, to say nothing of funeral expenses. The recompense that comes
from the satisfaction of having thriving, sturdy, healthy children can
not be figured in dollars and cents.
Dr. Robert Mond, of London, after investigating for years, has come to
the conclusion that sterilized milk predisposes to tuberculosis, instead
of preventing it. He believes that milk so treated is so inferior that
he would not personally use it. That sterilized milk predisposes to
tuberculosis, as well as to other diseases which can attack the body
only when it is run down, is natural. Any food that has been rendered
inferior can not build the robust health that comes to those who live on
natural food. Adults who use sterilized milk should counteract its bad
effects by partaking liberally of fresh fruits and vegetables.
If the milk is clean, put into clean containers by careful milkers and
is then kept cold until delivered, it will reach the consumers in good
condition. Do not let the fact that when you consume a glass of milk you
are also engulfing some millions of bacteria bother you, for bacteria
are necessary to our existence. If all the bacteria on earth should
perish, it would also mean the end of the human race.
Today the progressive farmer is coming to the fore. He is a man who is
justly proud of his work, so it will probably not be long before all
city people who desire clean milk can get it.
The milk cure consists in feeding sick people on nothing but milk for
varying periods. Generally the patient is told to either take great
quantities three or four times a day, or to take smaller quantities
perhaps every half hour. The milk cure has no special virtue, except
that it is a monotonous diet. The body soon rebels if forced to subsist
on an excessive amount of but one kind of food. The individual loses his
desire for food and even becomes nauseated. If the advocates of the milk
cure would prescribe milk in moderation, instead of in excess, they
would have better success. (It is fully as harmful to partake of too
much milk as it is to eat excessively of other foods.)
The benefit derived from the milk cure comes from the simplicity, not
from the milk. A grape cure, an orange cure or a bread and milk cure
would be as beneficial. The milk cure is ancient. It was employed
twenty-five centuries ago.
_Clabbered milk_: Clabbered milk or sour milk needs no special
preparation. Put the milk into an earthen or china dish. Do not use
metal dishes, for the lactic acid acts upon various metals. Cover the
dish so as to keep particles of matter in the air away, but the covering
is not to be airtight. Put the dish in a warm place, but not in the sun.
Milk that sours in the sun or in an air-tight bottle is generally of
poor flavor. Clabbered milk is a good food. It does not form big, tough
curds in the stomach, it is easy to digest, and the lactic acid helps to
keep the alimentary tract sweet. The various forms of milk may be used
in similar combinations.
_Buttermilk_: The real buttermilk is what remains of the cream after the
fat has been removed by churning. It is slightly acid and has a
characteristic taste, to most people very agreeable. The flavor is
different from that of artificially made buttermilk. In composition it
is almost like whole milk, except that it contains very little fat.
Many people make buttermilk by beating the clabbered milk thoroughly,
until it becomes light. The buttermilk made from sweet milk and the
various brands of bacterial ferments obtainable at the drug stores is
all right. These ferments have as their basis the lactic acid bacteria,
and if the manufacturers wish to call their germs by other names, such
as Bacillus Bulgaricus, no harm is done. It is unnecessary to add any of
these ferments, for the milk clabbers about as quickly without them.
Buttermilk is an excellent food. The casein can be seen in fine flakes
in the real buttermilk. Adults usually digest buttermilk and clabbered
milk more easily than the sweet milk. The lactic acid seems to be quite
beneficial. Metchnikoff thought for a while that he had discovered how
to ward off decay and old age by means of the lactic acid bacteria in
milk.
Milk can be clabbered quickly by adding lemon juice to sweet milk.
_Junket_: Add rennet to milk and let it stand until it thickens. The
milk is not to be disturbed while coagulation takes place, for agitation
will cause a separation of the whey. The rennet can be bought at the
drug stores.
_Whey_ contains milk sugar, some salts, and a little albumin. It is
easily digested, but not very nourishing. It is what is left of the milk
after the fat and almost all of the protein are removed.
_Cottage cheese_: This is sometimes called Dutch cheese or white cheese.
It is a delicious and nutritious dairy product that is easy to digest.
Put the clabbered milk in a muslin bag, hang the bag up and allow the
milk to lose its whey through drainage. In summer this bag must be kept
in a cool place. After draining, beat the curds. Then add enough
clabbered milk to make the curds soft when well beaten. A small amount
of cream may also be added. Cottage cheese made in this way is superior
in flavor and digestibility to that which has been scalded. No seasoning
is needed. A little salt is allowable, but sugar and pepper should not
be used. Fruit and cottage cheese make a satisfying as well as
nutritious meal.
Delicious cottage cheese is also made by using the whole clabbered milk.
Hang it up to drain in a bag until it has lost a part of its whey. Then
beat it until the curds are rather small, but not fine. No milk or cream
is to be added to this, for it contains all the fat that is in the whole
milk. Do not drain this cheese so long that it becomes dry.
_Other cheeses_: The various cheeses on the market are made principally
from ripened curds, with which more or less fat has been mixed. The
ripening is a form of decay, and it is no exaggeration to say that some
of the very ripe cheeses on the market are rotten. The flavors are due
to ferments, molds and bacteria, which split up the proteins and the
fats.
The mild cheeses are generally good and may be eaten with fruits or
vegetables or with bread. Two or three ounces are sufficient for the
protein part of the meal, taking the place of flesh. Use less if less is
desired.
When cheese becomes very odorous and ripe, no one with normal nose and
palate will eat it. People who partake of excessive amounts of meats or
alcoholic beverages are often fond of these foul cheeses. One perversion
leads to another.
Cheese of good quality, eaten in moderation, is a nutritious food,
easily digested. Gauthier says of cheese: "Indeed, this casein, which
has the composition of muscular tissue, scarcely produces during
digestion either residue or toxins."
Because good cheese is concentrated and of agreeable flavor, it is
necessary to guard against overeating. An excess of rich cheese soon
causes trouble with the liver or constipation or both.
Cheese should not be eaten in the same meal with fish, meat, eggs, nuts
or legumes, for such combining makes the protein intake too great.
There is nothing incompatible about such combinations, but it is safest
not to make them. The course dinners, ending up with a savory cheese,
crackers and coffee, are abominations. They are health-destroyers. They
lead to overeating. As nearly everybody overeats, and because overeating
is the greatest single factor in producing disease and premature death,
it is advisable not to eat cheese and other foods rich in protein in the
same meal. The greater the variety of food, the more surely the diner
will overeat.
The term, "full cream cheese" is misleading, for cheeses are not made of
whole cream. The cream does not contain enough protein (casein) for the
manufacture of cheese. Some cheeses are made of skimmed milk. Others are
made of milk which contains part, or even all, of the cream. Some have
cream added. The cheeses containing but a moderate amount of fat are the
best.
The popular Roquefort cheese is made of a mixture of goat's milk and
sheep's milk. The savor is due to bacterial action and fat
saponification, which result in ammonia, glycerine, alcohol, fatty acids
and other chemicals in very small quantities.
The peculiar colorings which run in streaks through some cheeses that
are well ripened are due to molds, bacteria and yeasts. Gentlemen who
would discharge the cook if a moldy piece of bread appeared on the
table, eat decaying, moldy cheese with relish.
The best cheese of all is cottage cheese. People of normal taste will
soon weary of the frequent consumption of strong cheese, but they can
take cottage cheese every other day with relish. Occasionally put a few
caraway seeds in it if this flavor is agreeable.
Cottage cheese may be eaten plain or with bread, or with fruit or
vegetables. It may be used as dressing both on fruit and vegetable
salads.
Cheese should play no part in the alimentation of the sick, with the
exception of cottage cheese, which may be given to almost anyone who is
in condition to eat anything. The other cheeses are too concentrated for
sick people. In acute disease nothing is to be fed.
_Skimmed milk_ is about the same in composition as buttermilk. It is
inferior in flavor, but a good food. It is used a great deal in cooking.
Milk should not be used very much in cooking. When cooked it does not
digest very readily and it has a tendency to make other foods
indigestible.
_Sour cream_ or clabbered cream is best when it is taken from clabbered
milk. It may be used as dressing on fruits and salads. Sweet cream will
clabber, but it is not as delicious as when it clabbers on the milk.
_Clotted cream_ is made by putting the milk aside in pans in a cool
place until the cream rises. Then, without disturbing the cream, scald
the milk. Put the pan aside until the contents are cold and remove the
cream, which has a rich, agreeable flavor. This may be used as a
dressing.
Whipped cream and ice cream are so familiar that they hardly need
comment. Cream is such a rich food that it must be eaten in moderation.
Otherwise it will cause discomfort and disease. Ice cream is made of
milk and cream, in varying proportions, flavored to taste and frozen. It
is not necessary to add eggs and cornstarch. If eaten slowly it is a
good food, but taken in too large quantities and too rapidly it may
cause digestive troubles. It is not best to chill the stomach. Those
with weak digestion should be very careful not to do so.
Buttermilk is sometimes flavored and frozen. This ice is easy to digest.
Some doctors recommend this dish to their convalescents. It is an
agreeable change, and can be eaten by many who are unable to take care
of the rich ice cream.
CHAPTER XIX.
MENUS.
For a balanced dietary we need some building food, protein; some force
food, starch, sugar and fat; some of the mineral salts in organic form,
best obtained from raw fruits and vegetables; and a medium in which the
foods can be dissolved, water.
We need a replenishment of these food stuffs at intervals, but it is not
necessary to take all of them at the same meal, or even during the same
day. Those who believe that all alimentary principles must enter into
every meal must necessarily injure themselves through too complex
eating. In talking of these alimentary principles, reference is made to
them only when they are present in appreciable quantities.
To have the subject better in hand, let us again classify the most
important foods:
Flesh foods, which are rich in protein.
Nuts, which contain considerable protein and fat.
Milk and cheese, which contain much protein.
Eggs, taken principally for their protein.
Cereals, the most important contents being starches.
Tubers, containing much starch.
Legumes, rich in protein and starch.
Fresh fruits, well flavored and high in salt contents.
Sweet fruits, containing much fruit sugar.
Succulent vegetables, chiefly valuable because of salts and juices.
Fats and oils, no matter what their source, are concentrated foods which
furnish heat and energy when burned in the body.
When people are free and active in the fresh air they can eat in a way
that would soon ruin the digestive powers of those who lead more
artificial lives. It is a well known fact that we can go hunting,
fishing, tramping or picnicking and eat mixtures and quantities of foods
that would ordinarily give us discomfort. The freedom and activity, the
change and the better state of mind give greater digestive power.
Those who wish to live their best must pay some attention to the
combination of food. It is true that very moderate people, those who
take no more food than the body demands, can combine about as they
please. These moderate people do not care to mix their foods much. They
are satisfied with very plain fare. Much as we dislike to acknowledge
the fact, nearly all of us take too much food, even those who most
strongly preach moderation. By combining properly much of the harmful
effect of overeating can be overcome.
FRUITARIANS.
I class as fruitarians those who eat only cereals, fruits and nuts. This
may not be a correct definition, but after reading much literature on
dietetics it is the best I can do. Their combinations should present no
difficulties.
They should take cereals once or twice a day; nuts once or twice a day;
fruit once a day in winter and once or twice a day in summer. The winter
fruit should be sweet part of the time. In summer it can be the juicy
fruit and berries at all times.
The fruitarians should be careful to avoid the habitual combination of
acid fruits with their cereals.
One meal a day can be made of one or two varieties of fruit and nothing
else. Nuts may be added to the fruit at times.
Another meal may be made of some cereal product with nut butter or some
kind of vegetable oil.
A third meal may be some form of sweet fruit, with which may be eaten
either bread or nuts, or better still, combine one sweet fruit with an
acid one.
Most people would consider such a diet very limited, but it is easy to
thrive on it, and it is not a tiresome one. There are so many varieties
of fruits, nuts and cereals that it is easy to get variety. These foods
do not become monotonous when taken in proper amounts. On such a diet it
does not make much difference which meal is breakfast, lunch or dinner.
The rule should be to take the heartiest meal after the heavy work is
done, for hearty meals do not digest well if either mind or body is hard
at work.
It is not difficult to get all the food necessary in two meals, but
inasmuch as the three meal a day plan is prevalent the menus here given
include that number of meals.
Breakfast: Apples, baked or raw.
Lunch: Brown rice and raisins.
Dinner: Whole wheat zwieback with nut butter.
Breakfast: Oranges or grapefruit.
Lunch: Pecans and figs.
Dinner: Bread made of rye or whole wheat flour, with nut butter or olive
oil.
Breakfast: Any kind of berries.
Lunch: Dates.
Dinner: Whole wheat bread, with or without oil, Brazil nuts.
These combinations are indeed simple, but these foods are very
nourishing and most of them concentrated, so it is best not to mix too
much. They are natural foods, which digest easily when taken in
moderation, but if eaten to excess they soon produce trouble.
It is no hardship to live on simple combinations. We have so much food
that we have fallen into the bad habit of partaking of too great variety
at a meal. The fact is that those who combine simply enjoy their foods
more than those who coax their appetite with too great variety. There is
no physical hardship connected with simple eating, and as soon as the
mind is made up to it, neither is there any mental hardship.
VEGETARIANS.
It is difficult to give an acceptable definition for vegetarianism. For
a working basis we shall take it for granted that those are vegetarians
who reject flesh foods. Those who wish can also reject dairy products
and eggs. It is largely a matter of satisfying the mind.
The chief trouble with the vegetarians is that they believe that the
fact that they abstain from flesh will bring them health. So they
combine all kinds of foods and take several kinds of starches and fruits
at the same meal. The consequence is that they soon get an acid
condition of the digestive organs and a great deal of fermentation.
Among vegetarians, prolapsus of the stomach and bowels is quite common,
and this is due to gas pressure displacing the organs.
Their foods are all right, but their combinations, as a rule, are bad.
The various vegetarian roasts, composed of nuts, cereals, legumes and
succulent vegetables are hard to digest. It would be much better for
them not to make such dishes.
A few suggestions for vegetarian combining follow:
Breakfast: Berries and a glass of milk.
Lunch: Baked potatoes and lettuce with oil.
Dinner: Nuts, cooked succulent vegetables, one or two varieties, sliced
tomatoes.
Breakfast: Cottage cheese and oranges.
Lunch: Nuts and raisins.
Dinner: Whole wheat bread, stewed onions, butter, salad of lettuce and
celery.
Breakfast: Cantaloupe.
Lunch: Buttermilk, bread and butter.
Dinner: Nuts, stewed succulent vegetables, lettuce and sliced tomatoes,
with or without oil.
Breakfast: Boiled brown rice with raisins and milk.
Lunch: Grapes.
Dinner: Cooked lentils or baked beans, lettuce and celery.
OMNIVOROUS PEOPLE.
In this country, most people are omnivorous. The food is plentiful and
people believe in generous living. They put upon their tables at each
meal enough variety for a whole day and the custom is to eat some of
each. Some breakfasts are heavy enough for dinners. Three heavy meals a
day are common. Some can eat this way for years and be in condition to
work most of the time, but they are never 100 per cent. efficient. They
are never as able as they could be. Besides, they have their times of
illness and grow old while they should be young. They generally die
while they should be in their prime, leaving their friends and families
to mourn them when they ought to be at their best. They are worn out by
their food supply, plus other conventional bad habits.
One of the best plans that has been proposed for omnivorous people is
that which has been worked out by Dr. J. H. Tilden. Its skeleton is,
fruit once a day, starchy food once a day, flesh or other protein with
succulent vegetables once a day. I shall make up menus for a few days
based on this plan:
Breakfast: Baked apples, a glass of milk.
Lunch: Boiled rice with butter.
Dinner: Roast mutton, spinach and carrots, salad of raw vegetables.
Breakfast: Cantaloupe.
Lunch: Biscuits or toast with butter, buttermilk.
Dinner: Pecans, two stewed succulent vegetables, salad of lettuce,
tomatoes and cucumbers, dressing.
Breakfast: Peaches, cottage cheese.
Lunch: Baked potatoes, butter, lettuce.
Dinner: Fresh fish baked, liberal helping of one, two or three of the
raw salad vegetables.
Breakfast: Shredded wheat or puffed wheat sprinkled with melted butter,
glass of milk.
Lunch: Watermelon.
Dinner: Roast beef, boiled cabbage, stewed onions, butter dressing,
sliced tomatoes with salt and oil.
The doctor allows considerable dessert. That generally goes with the
dinner.
It is nonsense to write, "So and so shalt thou eat and not otherwise."
The menus here given simply serve as suggestions. Where one succulent
vegetable is mentioned another may be substituted. One cereal may be
substituted for another. One juicy fruit for another. One sweet fruit
for another. One legume for another. One food rich in protein for
another.
In combining food the principal things to remember are:
Use only a few foods at a meal; use only one hearty, concentrated food
in a meal, as a rule, with the exception that various fats and oils in
moderation are allowable as dressings for fruits, vegetables and
starches; that much fat or oil retards the digestion of the rest of the
food; that the habitual combining of acid food with foods heavy in
starch is a trouble-maker; that concentrated starchy foods should be
taken not to exceed twice a day; that the heating, stimulating foods
rich in protein, which include nearly all meats, should be taken only
once a day in winter, and less in summer; that either raw fruit or raw
vegetables should be a part of the daily food intake, because the salts
they contain are essential to health; that fats should be used sparingly
in summer, but more freely in winter; that juicy fruits are to be used
liberally in summer and sparingly in winter, when the sweet fruits are
to take their place a part of the time.
The dried sweet fruits are quite different from the fresh juicy ones.
The former serve more the purpose of the starches than that of fruits.
They are rich in sugar, which produces heat and energy. The same is true
of the banana, which is about one-fifth sugar. It is not as sweet as
would be expected from this fact. Some sugars are sweeter than others.
This you can easily verify by tasting some milk sugar and then taking
the same amount of commercial sugar made of cane or beets.
The food need in summer is surprisingly small, so small that the average
person will scarcely believe it. Some writers on dietetics advise eating
as much in summer as in winter. How they can do so it is difficult to
understand, for reason tells us that in summertime practically no food
is needed for heating purposes, and that is how most of the food is
used. A little experience and experiment show that reason is right.
Nature herself confirms this fact, for at the tropics she has made it
easy for man to subsist on fruits, while in the polar regions she
furnishes him the most heating of all foods, fats.
Because fats are so concentrated it is very easy to take too much of
them. An ounce of butter contains as much nourishment as about
twenty-five ounces of watermelon. Those who simplify their cooking and
their combining and partake of food in moderation are repaid many times
over in improved health. It is necessary to supply good building
material in proper form if we would have health.
CHAPTER XX.
DRINK.
There is but one real beverage and that is water. The other so-called
beverages are foods, stimulants or sedatives. Milk is a rich food, one
glass having as much food value as two eggs. Coffee, tea, chocolate and
cocoa are stimulants, with sedative after-effects. Their food value
depends largely on the amount of milk, cream and sugar put into them.
Chocolate and cocoa are both drugs and foods. Alcohol is a stimulant at
first, afterwards a sedative, and at all times an anesthetic.
When we think of drinking for the sake of supplying the bodily need of
fluid, we should think of water and nothing else. If other liquids are
taken, they should be taken as foods or drugs.
Water is the best solvent known. The alchemists of old spent much time
and energy trying to find the universal solvent, believing that
thereafter it would be easy to discover a method of making base metals
noble. But they never found anything better than water. Water is the
compound that in its various forms does most to change the earth upon
which we live, and it is more necessary for the continuation of life
than anything else except air.
Pure water does not exist in nature, that is, we have never found a
compound of the composition H2O. Water always contains other matter. The
various salts are dissolved in it and it absorbs gases. The nearest we
come to pure water is distilled. Pure water is an unsatisfied compound,
and as soon as it is exposed it begins to absorb gases and take up salts
and organic matter.
Pure water differs from clean water. Clean or potable water is a
compound which contains a moderate amount of salts, but very little of
organic matter. Bacteria should be practically absent. Water that
contains much of nitrogenous substances is unfit to use.
If the water is very hard, heavily loaded with salts, it should not be
used extensively as a drink, for if too much of earthy and mineral
matter is taken into the system, the body is unable to get rid of all of
them. The result is a tendency for deposits to form in the body. In
places where the water is excessively charged with lime it has been
noticed that the bones harden too early, which prevents full development
of the body. If the bones of the skull are involved, it means that there
will not be room enough for the brain. Such diseases are rare in this
country, but in parts of Europe they are not uncommon. If the water is
very hard, a good plan is to distill it and then add a little of the
hard water to the distilled water.
People who partake of an excessive amount of various salts can perhaps
drink distilled water to advantage, but those who take but a normal
amount of the salts in their foods should have natural water.
Water forms three-fourths of the human body, more or less. It is needed
in every process that goes on within the body. "To be dry is to die."
Water keeps the various vital fluids in solution so that they can
perform their function. Without water there would be no sense of taste,
no digestion, no absorption of food, no excretion of debris, and hence
no life. The water is the vehicle through which the nutritive elements
are distributed to the billions of cells of the body, and it is also the
vehicle which carries the waste to the various excretory organs.
We can live several weeks without food, but only a few days without
water.
Hot water and ice-cold water are both irritants. Water may be taken
either warm or cool. It is best to avoid the extremes.
The amount of water needed each twenty-four hours varies according to
circumstances. Two quarts is a favorite prescription. Those who eat
freely of succulent fruits and vegetables do not need as much as those
who live more on dry foods. Salt in excess calls for an abnormal amount
of water, for salt is a diuretic, robbing the tissues of their fluids
and consequently more water has to be taken to keep up the equilibrium.
Naturally, more water is required when the weather is hot than when it
is cool. On hot days warm water is more satisfying and quenches thirst
more quickly than ice water. Warm water also stimulates kidney action,
which is often sluggish in summer. Ice water is the least satisfactory
of all, for the more one drinks the more he wants.
A normal body calls for what water it needs, and no more. An abnormal
body is no guide for either the amount of food or drink necessary. Many
people do not like the taste of water, especially in the morning. This
means that the body is diseased. To a normal person cool water is always
agreeable when it is needed, and it is needed in the morning. People
with natural taste do not care for ice water, but other water is
relished.
The common habit of drinking with meals is a mistake. Man is the only
animal that does this, and he has to pay dearly for such errors. Taking
a bite of food and washing it down with fluid lead to undermastication
and overeating, and then the body suffers from autointoxication. A
mouthful of food followed by a swallow of liquid forces the contents of
the mouth into the stomach before the saliva has the opportunity to act.
The best way is to drink one or two glasses of water in the morning
before breakfast. Partake of the breakfast, and all other meals, without
taking any liquid. Sometimes there is a desire for a drink immediately
after the meal is finished. If so, take some water slowly. If it is
taken slowly a little will satisfy. If it is gulped down it may be
necessary to take one or two glasses of water before being satisfied.
Those who have a tendency to drink too much during warm weather will
find very slow drinking helpful in correcting it. If there is any
digestive weakness, the liquid taken immediately after a meal should be
warm and should not exceed a cupful. Those with robust digestion may
take cool water.
Cold water chills the stomach. Digestion will not take place until the
stomach has reached the temperature of about one hundred degrees
Fahrenheit again, and if the stomach contents are chilled repeatedly the
tendency is strong for the food to ferment pathologically, instead of
being properly digested. For this reason it is not well to drink while
there is anything left in the stomach to digest. As stomach digestion
generally takes two or three hours at least, it is well to wait this
long before taking water after finishing a meal, and then drink all that
is desired until within thirty minutes of taking the next meal. If the
thirst should become very insistent before two or three hours have
elapsed since eating, take warm water. Those who eat food simply
prepared and moderately seasoned are not troubled much with excessive
thirst.
Two quarts of water daily should be sufficient for the adults under
ordinary conditions. Here, as in eating, no exact amount will fit
everybody. Make a habit of drinking at least a glass of water before
breakfast, cleaning the teeth and rinsing the mouth before swallowing
any, and then take what water the body asks for during the rest of the
day. Taking too much water is not as injurious as overeating, but
waterlogging the body has a weakening effect.
To drink with the meals is customary, not because it is necessary, but
because we have a number of drinks which appeal to many people. Water is
the drink par excellence.
A food-beverage that is used by many is cambric tea, which is made of
hot water, one-third or one-fourth of milk and a little sweetening.
Children generally like this on account of the sweetness. It may be
taken with any meal, when fluid is needed, but the amount should be
limited to a cupful. It is not well to dilute the digestive juices too
much.
The water taken in the morning helps to start the body to cleanse
itself. Water drinking is a great aid in overcoming constipation.
Constipated people generally overeat. Less food and more water will
prove helpful in overcoming the condition.
Unfortunately for the race, we have accustomed ourselves to partake of
beverages containing injurious, poisonous substances. Inasmuch as this
is the place to discuss the drugs contained in coffee and tea, I shall
take the liberty of dwelling upon other habit-forming substances in the
same chapter. They are all a part of the drug addictions of the race.
For scientific discussion of these various substances I refer you to
technical works. In this chapter will be found only a discussion of
their relation to people's welfare, that is, to health and efficiency.
Coffee, tea and chocolate contain a poisonous alkaloid which is
generally called caffeine. The theine in tea and the theobromine in
cocoa are so similar to caffeine that chemists can not differentiate
them. These drinks when first taken cause a gentle stimulation under
which more work can be done than ordinarily, but this is followed by a
reaction, and then the powers of body and mind wane so much that the
average output of work is less than when the body is not stimulated. The
temporary apparently beneficial effect is more than offset by the
reaction and therefore partaking of these beverages makes people
inefficient. Coffee is very hard on the nerves, causing irritation,
which is always followed by premature physical degeneration.
Experiments of late indicate that children who use coffee do not come up
to the physical and mental standard of those who abstain. The effect on
the adults is not so marked because adults are more stable than
children.
Those who are not used to coffee will be unable to sleep for several
hours after partaking of a cup. Some people drink so much of it that
they become accustomed to it.
Coffee is not generally looked upon as one of the habit-forming drugs,
but it is. However, of all the drugs which create a craving in the
system for a repetition of the dose, coffee makes the lightest fetters.
It is surprising how often health-seekers inform the adviser that they
"can not get along without coffee." If they would take a cup a few times
a year, it would do no harm, but the daily use is harmful to all, even
if they feel no bad effects and make it "very weak," which is a favorite
statement of the women.
Smoking, drinking beer and drinking coffee have a tendency to overcome
constipation in those who are not accustomed to these things, but their
action can not be depended upon for any length of time and the cure is
worse than the disease.
Tea drinking has much the same effect as coffee drinking, except that it
is decidedly constipating. Perhaps this is because there is considerable
of the astringent tannin in the tea leaves.
Chocolate is a valuable food. Those who eat of other aliments in
moderation may partake of chocolate without harm, but if chocolate is
used in addition to an excess of other food, the results are bad. The
chocolate is so rich that it soon overburdens some of the organs of
digestion, especially the liver. The Swiss consume much of this food and
it is valuable in cases where it is necessary to carry concentrated
rations.
Alcohol in some form seems to have been consumed by even very primitive
people as far back as history goes. The Bible records an early case of
intoxication from wine, and beer was brewed by the ancient Egyptians. So
much has been consumed that some people have a subconscious craving for
it. There are cases on record where the very first drink caused an
uncontrollable demand for the drug. Fortunately these cases are very
rare.
Alcohol is really not a stimulant, though it gives a feeling of glow,
warmth and well-being at first, but this is followed by a great lowering
of physical power, which gives rise to disagreeable sensations. Then the
drinker needs more alcohol to stimulate him again. Then there is another
depression with renewed demand: There is no end to the craving for the
drug once it has mastered the individual. The lungs, heart, digestive
organs, muscles, in fact, every structure in the body loses working
capacity. Alcohol seems to have a special affinity for nervous tissue.
A glass of beer or wine taken daily is no more harmful than a cup of
coffee per day, but the coffee drinker does not make of himself such a
public nuisance and menace as the man often does who drinks alcohol to
excess.
Formerly it was respectable to drink. Some of our most noted public men
were drunkards. Now a drunkard could not maintain himself in a prominent
public position very long. To drink like a gentleman was no disgrace.
Now real gentlemen do not get drunk.
In backward Russia they are becoming alarmed about the inroads of vodka,
and are trying to decrease its consumption. France is trying to teach
total abstinence to its young men because it disqualifies so many of
them from military service to drink. Scandinavia is temperance
territory. The German Kaiser has recently given a warning against
drinking. The United States discourages drinking in the army and navy.
Field armies are not supplied with alcoholics. Drinking is becoming
disreputable.
It is very difficult to prove the harm done by excessive drinking of tea
and coffee, also by the use of much tobacco, even if we do know that it
is so. Everyone knows something about the deleterious effect of alcohol
upon the consumer. Solomon wrote: "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is
raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Who hath wounds
without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?"
Alcohol permanently impairs both body and mind. Depending on how much is
taken, it may cause various ills, ranging from inflammation of the
stomach to insanity. It reduces the power of the mind to concentrate and
it diminishes the ability of the muscles to work. It reduces the
resistance of the body and shortens life. Its first effect is to lull
the higher faculties to sleep.
Most drunkards do not recover from their disease, for drunkenness is a
disease. The various drugs given to cure the afflictions are delusions.
Strengthening the body, mind and the will and instilling higher ideals
are the best methods of cure. Suggestive therapeutics, and the awakening
of a strong resolve for a better life are powerful aids. Proper feeding
should not be overlooked, for bad habits do not flourish in a healthy
body.
Civilization necessitates self-control and considerable self-denial.
Those who go in the line of least resistance are on the road to
destruction. It is often necessary to overcome habits which produce
temporary gratification of the senses.
According to Warden Tynan of the Colorado Penitentiary, 96 per cent. of
the prisoners are brought there because they use alcohol. It is also
well known that moral lapses are most common when the will is weakened
through the use of liquor. Those who have the welfare of the race at
heart are therefore compelled to give considerable thought to this
subject. According to past experience, it will not help to try to
legislate sobriety into the people. Education and industrialism are the
factors which it seems to me will be most potent in solving the alcohol
problem. Morality, which in the last analysis is a form of selfishness,
will teach many that it is poor policy to reduce one's efficiency and
thereby reduce the earning capacity and enjoyment of life.
More and more the employers of labor will realize that the use of
alcohol decreases the reliability and worth of the worker. Many will
take steps like the following:
"In formal recognition of the fact, established beyond dispute by the
tests of the new psychology, that industrial efficiency decreases with
indulgence in alcohol and is increased by abstinence from it, the
managers of a manufacturing establishment in Chester, Penn., have
attacked the temperance problem from a new angle.
"Unlike many railways and some other corporations, they do not forbid
their employees to drink, but they offer 10 per cent. advance in wages
to all who will take and keep--the teetotaler's pledge. Incidentally, a
breaking of the promise will mean a permanent severance of relations,
but there is no emphasizing of that point, it being confidently expected
that the advantage of perfect sobriety will be as well realized on one
side as on the other."
Business has during the past two centuries been the great civilizer, the
great moral teacher. It has found that honesty and righteousness pay and
that injustice is folly. Business has led the way to the acceptance of a
new ethics, and new morals.
What has been said about alcohol applies to tobacco in a much smaller
degree. The use of tobacco seems to lead to the use of alcohol. It
retards the development of children. It is surely one of the causes of
various diseases. Tobacco heart, sore throat and indigestion are well
known to physicians.
Tobacco contains one of the deadliest of poisons known. One-sixteenth of
a grain of nicotine may prove fatal. The reason there are so few deaths
from acute tobacco poisoning is that but very little of the nicotine is
absorbed.
Men who chew tobacco make themselves disagreeable to others. Smoking of
cigarettes is to be condemned not only because it poisons the body, but
causes inattention and inability to concentrate on the part of the
smoker, as well. Every little while he feels the desire to take a smoke,
and if smoking is forbidden he devises means of getting away. He robs
his employer of time for which he is paid and injures himself.
The ability to work is decreased by indulgence in smoking. Recent
experiments show that for a short time there is increased activity after
a smoke, but the following depression is greater than the stimulation,
so there is an actual loss.
A few years ago, according to Mr. Wilson, who was then Secretary of
Agriculture, there were about 4,000,000 drug addicts or "dope fiends" in
the United States. Without doubt this estimate was too high, for the
proportion of addicts in the country is not as great as in the large
cities. The drugs chiefly used are cocaine, opium, laudanum, morphine
and heroin. These drugs are much more destructive than alcohol. Cocaine
and heroin are the worst. It is very difficult to stop using any of them
once the habit has been formed. Nearly every "fiend" dies directly or
indirectly from the effect of his particular drug. Every one weakens the
body so that there is not much resistance to offer to acute diseases.
Every one destroys the will power so that a cure is exceedingly
difficult.
It is well to bear in mind that all are not possessed of strong enough
will power to resist their cravings and that some take to cocaine when
they can not get liquor. Cocaine is far worse than alcohol.
People should be very careful about taking patent medicines. There is no
excuse for taking them. The most popular ones have as their basis one of
the habit-forming drugs.
Most of the soothing syrups contain opium in some form. To give babies
opiates is a grave error, to speak mildly. It weakens the child, may lay
the foundation for a deadly habit later in life, and often an overdose
kills outright. Well informed mothers avoid such drugs and keep their
children reasonably quiet by means of proper care.
Many of the remedies for nasal catarrh and hay fever contain much
cocaine. Cocaine is an astringent and a painkiller and people mistake
the temporary lessening of discharge from the nose and disappearance of
pain for curative effects. But there is nothing curative about it. In a
short time the mucous membrane relaxes again and then the discharge is
re-established. The nerves which were put out of commission resume their
function and then the pain reappears.
Opium or one of its derivatives is generally present in the patent
medicines given for coughs. Opium is also an astringent and will
suppress secretions, but this is not a cure. Excessive secretions are an
indication that the body is surcharged with poison and food. Let them
escape and then live so that there will be internal cleanliness and then
there will be no more coughs and colds.
The unfortunate people who get into the habit of using these drugs
degenerate physically, mentally and morally. They need more and more of
their drug to produce the desired effect until they at last take enough
daily to kill several normal men. Sometimes they are able to keep
everybody in ignorance of what they are doing for years. They develop
slyness and secretiveness. They become very suspicious. They are nearly
always untruthful, and those who deal with them are surprised and wonder
why those who used to be open and above-board now are furtive and
dishonest. They often lie when there is not the slightest excuse for it.
The moral disintegration is often the first sign noticed.
After habitually using any of these drugs for a while the body demands
the continuation and if the victim is deprived of his accustomed portion
there will be a collapse with intense suffering. Every tortured nerve in
the body seems to call out for the drug. The victim will do anything to
get his drug. He will lie, steal, and he may even attack those who are
caring for him. For the time being he is insane.
Many professional men use cocaine. It is a favorite with writers. It
often shows in their work. Those who write under the inspiration of this
drug often do some good work, but they are unable to keep to their
subject. Their writings lack order. We have enough of such writings to
have them classified as "cocaine literature."
If there are 4,000,000, or even fewer, of these people in our land, it
is a serious problem, for every one is a degenerate, to a certain
degree. If the medical profession and the druggists would co-operate it
would be easy enough to prevent the growth of a new crop of dope fiends.
Of course, people would have to stop taking patent medicines, which
often start the victims on the road to degeneration. Then the physicians
should stop prescribing habit-forming drugs, as well as all other drugs,
and teach the people that physical, mental and moral salvation come
through right living and right thinking.
Unfortunately the medical profession is careless and is responsible for
the existence of many of the drug addicts. A patient has a severe pain.
What is the easiest way to satisfy him? To give a hypodermic injection
of some opiate. The patient, not realizing the danger, demands a
pain-killer every time he suffers. He soon learns what he is getting and
then he goes to the drug store and outfits himself with a hypodermic
outfit and drugs, and the first thing he knows he is a slave, in bondage
for life. This is no exaggeration. There are hundreds of thousands of
victims to the drug habit who trace their downfall to the treatment
received at the hands of reputable physicians, who do not look upon
their practice with the horror it should inspire because it is so
common. Doctors do not always bury their mistakes. Some of them walk
about for years.
In spite of laws against the sale of various drugs, they can be
obtained. There are doctors and druggists of easy conscience who are
very accommodating, for a price.
There is no legitimate need for the use of one-hundredth of the amount
of these drugs that is now consumed. A local injection of cocaine for a
minor operation is justifiable, but none of the habit-forming drugs
should be used in ordinary practice to kill pain, for the proper
application of water in conjunction with right living will do it better
and there are no evil after effects. Massage is often sufficient.
To show a little more clearly how some people become addicted to drugs,
let us consider one of the latest, heroin: A few years ago this drug,
which is an opium derivative, was practically unknown. It is much
stronger than morphine and consequently the effect can be obtained more
quickly by means of a smaller dose. Physicians thought at first that it
was not a habit-forming drug, for they could use it over a longer period
of time than they could employ morphine, without establishing the
craving and the habit. So they began to prescribe heroin instead of
morphine, and many a morphine addict was advised to substitute heroin.
All went well for a short while, until the victims found that they were
enslaved by a drug that was even worse than morphine. Now, thanks
chiefly to the medical profession, it is estimated that we have in our
land several hundred thousand heroin addicts. Sallow of face, gaunt of
figure, looking upon the world through pin-point pupils, with all of
life's beauty, hope and joy gone, they are marching to premature death.
The medical profession furnishes more than its proportion of drug
addicts. They know the danger of the drugs, but familiarity breeds
contempt. If the public but knew how many of their medical advisers, who
should always be clear-minded, are befuddled by drugs, there would be a
great awakening. One eminent physician who has now been in practice
about forty-five years and has had much experience with drug addicts,
has said that according to his observations, about one physician in four
contracts the drug habit. I believe this is exaggerated, but I am
acquainted with a number of physicians who are addicts.
Physicians who smoke do not condemn the practice. Those who drink are
likely to prescribe beer and wine for their patients. Those who are
addicted to drugs use them too liberally in their practice.
Those who have watched the effects of the various drugs, from coffee to
heroin, must condemn their use. It is true that an occasional cup of
coffee or tea, a glass of wine or beer does no harm. A cigarette a week
would not hurt a boy, nor would on occasional cigar harm a man. But how
many people are willing to indulge occasionally? The rule is that they
indulge not only daily, but several times a day, and the results are
bad. One bad habit leads to another, and the time always comes when it
is a choice between disease and early death on one hand, and the giving
up of the bad habits on the other, and when this time comes the bonds of
habits are often so strong that the victim is unable to break them.
I realize that knowledge will not always keep people out of temptation
and that some individuals will take the broad way that leads to
destruction in spite of anything that may be said. Youth is impatient of
restraint and ever anxious for new experiences. Regarding this serious
matter of destructive drug use, much could be done by teaching people
their place in society: That is, what they owe to themselves, their
families and the public in general. In other words, teach the young
people the higher selfishness, part of which consists of considerable
self-control, self-denial and self-respect.
Drugs are too easy to obtain today. Some day people will be so
enlightened that they will not allow themselves to be medicated. This is
the trend of the times. Until such a time comes, society should protect
itself by making it very difficult to get any of the habit-forming
drugs. If necessary, the free hand of the physician should be stayed.
Much of the confidence blindly given him is misplaced.
CHAPTER XXI.
CARE OF THE SKIN.
The skin is neglected and abused. Very few realize how important it is
to give this organ the necessary attention. If we were living today as
our ancestors doubtless lived, we could neglect the skin, as they did.
They wore little or no clothing. The skin, which formerly was very
hairy, served as protection. It was exposed to the elements, which
toughened it and kept it active.
Today most people give the skin too great protection, and thus weaken
it. The result is that it degenerates and partly loses its function with
consequent detriment to the individual's health.
A normal skin has a very soft feel, imparting to the fingers a pleasant,
vital sensation. It either has color or suggests color. An abnormal skin
pleases neither the sense of seeing nor feeling. It may feel inert or it
may be inflamed.
The skin is a beautiful and complex structure. It is made up of an outer
layer called the epidermis and an inner layer, the true skin or corium,
which rests upon a subcutaneous layer, composed principally of fat and
connective tissue.
The epidermis is divided into four layers. It has no blood-vessels and
no nerves, but is nourished by lymph which escapes from the vessels
deeper in the skin. It is simply protective in nature.
The true skin is made up of two indistinct layers, which harbor a vast
multitude of nerves, blood-vessels and lymph-vessels.
In the skin there are two kinds of glands, the sebaceous and the sweat
glands. The sebaceous glands are, as a general rule, to be found in
greatest numbers on the hairiest parts of the body and are absent from
the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. They throw off a
secretion known as sebum, which is made up principally of dead cells
that have undergone fatty degeneration and of other debris. The sebum
serves as lubricant. It is generally discharged near or at the shaft of
a hair.
The sweat glands discharge on the average from one and one-half to two
pounds of perspiration per day, more in hot weather and much less when
it is cool. They are distributed over the whole external surface of the
body. According to Krause there are almost 2,400,000 of them. They carry
off water and carbonic acid gas chiefly.
The functions of the skin are: To protect the underlying structures; to
regulate the heat; to serve as an organ of respiration; to serve as an
organ of touch and thermal sensation; to secrete and eliminate various
substances from the body; to absorb.
The heat regulation is quite automatic. When the external temperature is
high there is a relaxation of the skin. The pores open, the perspiration
goes to the surface and evaporates, thus cooling the body. When the
surface is cool the skin contracts, closing the pores and conserving the
heat. Radiation always takes place, except when the temperature is very
high.
The sensation of touch and the ability to feel heat and cold protect us
from untold numbers of dangers. They are a part of the equipment which
enables us to adjust our selves to our environment.
The secretions and excretions are perspiration and sebum. These contain
water, carbonic acid, urea, buturic acid, formic acid, acetic acid,
salts, the chief being sodium chloride, and many other substances.
The respiratory function consists in the absorption of a small amount of
oxygen and the giving off of some carbonic acid.
A small amount of water can be absorbed by the skin. Oils can also be
absorbed. In case of malnutrition in children, olive-oil rubs are often
helpful. This absorptive function is taken advantage of by physicians
who rub various medicaments into the skin. Mercury enough to produce
salivation can be absorbed in this way.
From the above it will be seen that the skin is not only complex in
structure, but has many functions. It is impossible to have perfect
health without a good skin. Under civilized conditions a healthy skin
can not be had without giving it some care. The average person has a
skin that shows lack of care. Fortunately, but little care is needed.
A bath should be taken often enough to ensure cleanliness. Warm water
and soap need not be used more than once or twice a week under ordinary
conditions. If the soap causes itching, it is well to use a small amount
of olive oil on the body afterwards, rubbing it in thoroughly, and going
over the body with a soft cloth after the oil rub, thus removing the oil
which would otherwise soil the clothes. If the skin is not kept clean,
the millions of pores are liable to be partly stopped up, which results
in the retention of a part of the excretory matter within the skin,
where it may cause enough irritation to produce some form of cutaneous
disorder, or the skin may through disuse become so inactive that too
much work is thrown upon the other excretory organs, which may also
become diseased from overwork and excessive irritation.
Soaps are irritants. Tallow soaps and olive oil soaps are less
irritating than other varieties. Whatever kind of soap is used, it
should be rinsed off thoroughly, for if some of it is left in the pores
of the skin roughness or even mild inflammation may ensue. Be especially
careful about the soap used for babies, avoiding all highly colored and
cheap perfumed soaps.
Whether to take a daily sponge bath or not is a matter of no great
importance, and each individual can safely suit himself. If there is
quick reaction and a feeling of warmth and well-being following a cold
sponge, it is all right. If the skin remains blue and refuses to react
for a long time, the cold sponge bath is harmful. The cold plunge is
always a shock, and no matter how strong a person may be, frequent
repetition is not to be recommended. People who take cold plunges say
that they do no harm, but it is well to remember that life is not merely
a matter of today and tomorrow, but of next year, or perhaps forty,
fifty or sixty years from today. A daily shock may cause heart disease
in the course of twenty or thirty years.
A good way to take a cold bath is to get under a warm shower and
gradually turn off the warm water. Then stand under the cold shower long
enough to rinse well the entire surface of the body.
Those who take cold sponge baths in winter and find them severe, should
precede the sponging in cold water with a quick sponging off with tepid
water, and they should always take these baths in a warm room.
After all baths give the body a good dry rubbing, using brisk movements.
Bath towels, flesh brushes or the open hands may be used for the dry
rubbing.
The sponge bath has practically no value as a cleanser. Its chief virtue
consists in stimulating the circulation of the blood and the lymph in
the skin. In summer it is cooling. It is important to have good surface
circulation, but this can be attained as well by means of dry rubbing.
The rubbing is more important than wetting the skin. A skin that is
rubbed enough becomes so active that it practically cleans itself, and
it protects against colds and other diseases. Some advocate dispensing
with the bath entirely, but that is going to extremes. Cleanliness is
worth while for the self-respect it gives the individual.
Hot baths are weakening and relaxing, hence weak people should not stay
long in the hot bath. Cold baths are stimulating to strong people and
depressing to those who do not react well from them. Swimming is far
different from taking a cold bath. A person who can swim with benefit
and comfort for twenty minutes would have a chill, perhaps, if he
remained for five minutes in the bath tub in water of the same
temperature. Swimming is such an active exercise that it aids the
circulation, keeping the blood pretty well to the surface in spite of
the chilling effect of the water.
If a very warm bath is taken, there should be plenty of fresh air in the
bath room and it is well to sip cold water while in the bath and keep a
cloth wrung out of cold water on the forehead. People who are threatened
with a severe cold or pneumonia can give themselves no better treatment
than to take a hot bath, as hot as they can stand it, lasting for
one-half hour to an hour, drinking as much warm water as can be taken
with comfort both before and after getting into the tub. This bath must
be taken in very warm water, otherwise it will do no good. It is
weakening and relaxing, but through its relaxing influence it equalizes
the circulation of the blood, bringing much to the surface that was
crowding the lungs and other internal organs, thus causing the dangerous
congestion that so often ends in pneumonia. After the bath wrap up well
so that the perspiration will continue for some time. When the sweating
is over, get into dry clothes and remain in bed for six to eight hours.
To make assurance doubly sure, give the bowels a good cleaning out with
either enemas or cathartics, or both. Then eat nothing until you are
comfortable. Such treatment would prevent much pneumonia and many
deaths. The best preventive is to live so that sudden chilling does not
produce pneumonia or other diseases, which it will not do in good
health.
People with serious diseases of the heart, arteries or of the kidneys
should not take protracted or severe baths.
To sum up the use of water on the skin: Use enough to be clean. No more
is necessary. The application of water should be followed by thorough
drying and dry rubbing. If the reaction is poor, do not remain in cold
water long enough to produce chilling. As a rule thin people should use
but little cold water, and they should never remain long in cold water.
Water intelligently applied to the skin in disease is a splendid aid in
cleansing the system. It is surprising what a great amount of impurity
can be drawn from the body by means of wet packs. However, this is a
treatise on health, so we shall not go into details here regarding
hydrotherapy.
No matter what one's ideas may be on the subject of bathing, there can
hardly be more than one opinion regarding the application of dry
friction to the skin. Those who have noted its excellent results feel
that it should be a daily routine. It should be practiced either morning
or evening, or both. From five to ten minutes spent thus daily will pay
high dividends in health. A vigorous rubbing is exercise not only for
the skin, but for nearly every muscle in the body.
The dry rubbing keeps the surface circulation vigorous. The surface
circulation, and especially the circulation in the hands and the feet,
is the first part that begins to stagnate. Blood stagnation means the
beginning of the process which results in old age. In other words, dry
friction to the skin helps to preserve health and youth. Skin that is
not exercised often becomes very hard and scales off particles of
mineral matter.
If women would put less dependence on artificial beautifiers and more on
scientific massage, they would get much better results. They would avoid
many a wrinkle and save their complexions. The neck and the face should
never be massaged downwards. The strokes should be either upwards or
from side to side, the side strokes generally being toward the median
line. Such massaging will prevent the sagging of the face muscles for
years and help to keep the face free from wrinkles and young in
appearance. The massaging should be rather gentle, for if it is too
vigorous the tendency is to remove the normal amount of fat that pads
and rounds out the face. Men can do the same thing, but most men have no
objection to wrinkles.
However, most men do object to baldness, which can be prevented in
nearly every case. To produce hair on a polished pate is a different
proposition. It is indeed difficult. If you will look at a picture of
the circulation of the blood in the scalp, you will notice that the
arteries supplying it come from above the eye sockets in front, from
before and behind the ears on the sides, and from the nape of the neck
in the rear. They spread out and become smaller and smaller as they
travel toward the top of the head, and especially toward the back. The
scalp is well supplied with blood, but it is not given much exercise.
The tendency is for the blood stream to become sluggish, deposits
gradually forming in the walls of the blood-vessels, which make them
less elastic and decrease the size of the lumen. The result is less food
for the hair roots and food of inferior quality.
This process of cutting off the circulation in the scalp is largely
aided by the tight hats and caps worn by men, which compress the
blood-vessels. It is quite noticeable that people with round heads have
a greater tendency to become bald than those with more irregular heads.
The reason is probably that the hats fit more snugly on the round-headed
people. There are many exceptions. Women are not so prone to baldness as
men, because they wear hats that do not exclude the air from the hair
nor do they compress the blood-vessels.
Let those men who dislike to lose their hair massage the scalp for a
short while daily, beginning above the eyes, in front of the ears and at
the nape of the neck and going to the top of the head. Then let them
wear as sensible hats as possible, avoiding those that exert great
pressure on the blood-vessels that feed the scalp. Thus they will not
only be able to retain their hair much longer than otherwise, but the
hair that is well fed does not fade as early as that which lives on half
rations.
In the case of preserving the hair, an ounce of prevention is worth a
ton of cure. The man who can produce a satisfactory hair restorer that
will give results without any effort on the part of the men can become a
millionaire in a short time.
The hair is a modified form of skin. Each hair is supplied with blood,
and the reason that the hair stands up during intense fear is that to
the lower part of the shaft is attached a little muscle. During fear
this contracts, as do other involuntary muscles, and then the hair
stands up straight instead of being oblique.
As a rule people protect the skin too much. The best protection they
have against cold is a good circulation. With a poor circulation it is
difficult to keep warm in spite of much clothing. Coldness is also
largely a state of mind. People get the idea of cold into the head and
then it is almost impossible for them to keep warm. On the same winter
day we may see a man in a thick overcoat trying to shrink into himself,
shivering, while a lady passes blithely by, with her bosom bared to the
wind.
The face tolerates the cold, because it is used to it, the neck and the
upper part of the chest likewise, and so it would be with the skin of
the entire body if we accustomed it to be exposed. We use too heavy
clothes. It is a mistake to hump the back and draw in the shoulders
during cold weather, for this reduces the lung capacity, thus depriving
the body of its proper amount of oxygen. The result is that there is not
enough combustion to produce the necessary amount of heat.
Wool is warm covering, the best we have. However, it is very irritating
to the skin and has a tendency to make the wearer too warm. It does not
dry out readily. Consequently the wearer remains damp a long time after
perspiring. The result is a moist, clammy skin. A skin thus pampered in
damp warmth becomes delicate, and like other hot-house products unable
to hold its own when exposed to inclement weather. A good way to take
cold easily is to wear wool next to the skin. The best recipe for
getting cold feet is to wear woolen stockings. Wear cotton or linen or
silk next to the skin. Cotton is satisfactory and cheap. Linen is
excellent, but a good suit of linen underwear is too costly for the
average purse. Remie, said to be the linen of the Bible, is highly
recommended by some.
Those working indoors should wear the same kind of underwear summer and
winter, and it should be very light. If people use heavy underwear in
heated rooms, they become too warm. The consequence is that when they go
out doors they are chilled, and if they are not in good physical
condition colds and other diseases generally result. By wearing outer
garments according to climatic conditions one can easily get all the
protection necessary. Those who take the proper food and enough exercise
and dry friction of the skin will not require or desire an excessive
amount of clothing. The feel of the wintry blast on the skin is not
disagreeable.
If we would only give the skin more exercise, through rubbing, and more
fresh air, we would soon discard much of our clothing, and wear but
enough to make a proper and modest appearance in public, with extra
covering on cold days. Nothing can be much more ridiculous and
uncomfortable than a man in conventional attire on a hot summer's day.
Of course, thin, nervous people should not expose themselves too much to
the cold.
Most of the diseases known by the name of skin diseases, are digestive
troubles and blood disorders manifesting in the skin. As soon as the
systemic disease upon which they depend disappears, these so-called skin
diseases get well. Erysipelas is one of the so-called germ diseases, but
it is controlled very quickly by a proper diet. It can not occur in
people until they have ruined their health by improper living. Pure
blood will not allow the development of the streptococcus erysipelatis
in sufficient numbers to cause trouble. First the disease develops and
then the germ comes along and multiplies in great numbers, giving it
type.
Acne, which is very common for a few years after puberty, shows a bad
condition of the blood. Even during the changes that occur at puberty no
disease will manifest in healthy boys and girls. About this time the
young people eat excessively, the result being indigestion and impure
blood. The changes that occur in the skin make it a favorable place for
irritations to manifest. Let the boys and girls eat so that they have
bright eyes and clean tongues and there will be very little trouble from
disfiguring pimples.
Eczema is generally curable by means of proper diet and the same is true
of nearly all skin diseases that afflict infants.
There are diseases of the skin due to local irritants, such as the
various forms of trade eczema, scabies (itch), and pediculosis
(lousiness), but the fact remains that nearly all skin diseases fail to
develop if the individual eats properly, and most of them can be cured,
after they have developed, by proper diet and attention to hygiene
generally. If the diet is such that irritants are manufactured in the
alimentary tract and absorbed into the blood, and then excreted through
the skin, where enough irritation is produced to cause disease, it is
useless to treat with powders and salves.
Correct the dietetic errors and the skin will cure itself. Specialists
in skin diseases often fail because they treat this organ as an
independent entity, instead of considering it as a part of the body
whose health depends mostly upon the general health.
CHAPTER XXII.
EXERCISE.
Nature demands of us that we use our mental and physical powers in order
to get the best results. Man was made to be active. In former times he
had to earn his bread in the sweat of his face or starve. Now we have
evolved, or is it a partial degeneration, into a state where a sharp
mind commands much more of the means of sustenance than does physical
exertion. The consequence is that many of those equipped with the
keenest minds fail to keep their bodies active. This helps to lessen
their resistance and produces early death.
Some exercise is needed and the question is, how much is necessary and
how is it to be taken so that it will not degenerate into drudgery?
There are very few with enough persistence to continue certain
exercises, no matter how beneficial, if they become a grind.
The amount required depends upon the circumstances. Ordinarily, a few
minutes of exercise each day, supplemented with some walking and deep
breathing will suffice. About five minutes of vigorous exercise night
and morning are generally enough to keep a person in good physical
condition, if he is prudent otherwise.
Many strive to build up a great musculature. This is a mistake, unless
the intention is to become an exhibit for the sake of earning one's
living. Big muscles do not spell health, efficiency and endurance. Even
a dyspeptic may be able to build big muscles. What is needed for the
work of life is not a burst of strength that lasts for a few moments and
then leaves the individual exhausted for the day, but the endurance
which enables one to forge ahead day after day.
It is generally dangerous to build up great muscles, for if the
exercises that brought them into being are stopped, they begin to
degenerate so fast that the system with difficulty gets rid of the
poisons. Then look out for one of the diseases of degeneration, such as
inflammation of the kidneys or typhoid fever.
The great muscles exhibited from time to time upon the variety stage and
in circuses are not normal. Man is the only animal that develops them,
and they are not brought about by ordinary circumstances. Once acquired,
they prove a burden, for they demand much daily work to be kept in
condition.
Good muscles are more serviceable than extraordinary ones. Vigorous
exercise is better than violent exercise. It is well known that many of
our picked athletes, men with great original physical endowment, die
young. The reason is that they have either been overdeveloped, or at
some time they have overtaxed their bodies so in a supreme effort at
vanquishing their opponents that a part of the vital mechanism has been
seriously affected. Then when they settle down to business life they
fail to take good care of themselves and they degenerate rapidly.
Exercising should not be a task, for then it is work. It should be of a
kind that interests and pleases the individual, for then it is
accompanied by that agreeable mental state from which great good will
come to the body. It is necessary for us to think enough of our bodies
to supply them with the activity needed for their welfare and we should
do this with good grace.
Exercise enough to bring the various muscles into play and the heart
into vigorous action. Office workers should take exercises for the part
of the body above the waist, plus some walking each day. All should take
enough exercise to keep the spine straight and pliable. Bending
exercises are good for this purpose, keeping the knees straight and
touching the floor with the fingers. Then bend backward as far as
possible. Then with hands on the hips rotate the body from the waist.
It is very desirable to keep the body erect, for this gives the greatest
amount of lung space, and gives the individual a noble, courageous
appearance and feeling. The forward slouch is the position of the ape.
It is not necessary to pay any attention to the shoulders, if the spine
is kept in proper position, for the shoulders will then fall into the
right place. Being straight is a matter of habit. No one can maintain
this position without some effort. At least, one has to make the effort
to get and retain the habit. Most round-shouldered people could school
themselves in two or three months to be straight.
Those who are moderate in eating need less exercise than others. Too
great food intake requires much labor to work it off. When the food is
but enough to supply materials for repair, heat and energy, there is no
need of great effort to burn up the excess. To exercise much and long,
then eat enough to compel more exercise, is a waste of good food, time
and energy. Be moderate in all things if you would have the best that
life can give you.
Always make deep breathing a part of the exercise. No matter what one's
physical troubles may be, deep breathing will help to overcome them. It
will help to cure cold feet by bringing more oxygen into the blood. It
will help to drive away constipation by giving internal massage to the
bowels. It will help to overcome torpid liver by the exercise given that
organ. It will help to cure rheumatism by producing enough oxygen to
burn up some of the foreign deposits in various parts of the body. As an
eye-opener deep breathing has alcohol distanced. It costs nothing and
has only good after effects. Moreover, deep breathing takes no time. A
dozen or more deep breaths can be taken morning and night, and every
time one steps into the fresh air, without taking one second from one's
working time. To have health good blood is necessary, and this can not
be had without taking sufficient fresh air into the lungs.
Proper clothing must also be taken into consideration in connection with
breathing and exercise. The clothes must be loose enough to allow free
play to limbs, chest and abdomen. Men and women were not shaped to wear
two and three inch heels. Those who persist in this folly must pay the
price in discomfort and an unbalanced body.
The time to take exercise depends upon circumstances. It is best not to
indulge for at least one or two hours after a hearty meal, for exercise
interferes with digestion. A very good plan is to take from five to
twenty-five minutes of exercise, according to one's requirement, before
dressing in the morning and after undressing at night. Those who take
exercises in a gymnasium or have time for out door games will have no
difficulty in selecting proper time.
Dumbbells, Indian clubs, weights, patent exercisers and gymnasium stunts
are all right for those who enjoy them. One thing to bear in mind is
that short, choppy movements are not as good as the larger movements
that bring the big muscles into play.
It is well to exercise until there is a comfortable feeling of fatigue.
If this is done the heart works vigorously, sending the blood rapidly to
all parts of the body, and the lungs also come into full play to supply
the needed oxygen. This acts as a tonic to the entire system.
The body must be used to keep it from degenerating. A healthy body gives
courage and an optimistic outlook upon life. A sluggish liver can hide
the most beautiful sunrise, but a healthy body gives the eye power to
see beauty on the most dreary day.
Those who are not accustomed to exercise will be very, sore at first, if
they begin too vigorously. The soreness can be avoided by taking but two
or three minutes at a time at first, and increasing until the desired
amount is taken daily.
If the muscles get a little sore and stiff at first, do not quit, for by
continuing the exercises, the soreness soon leaves. Many begin with
great enthusiasm, which soon burns itself out. Excessive enthusiasm is
like the burning love of those who "can't live" without the object of
their affection. It burns so brightly that it soon consumes itself. Go
to work at a rate that can be kept up. To exercise hard for a few weeks
or a few months and then give it up will do no good in the end. However,
a person may occasionally let a day or two pass by without taking
exercise with benefit. Avoid getting into a monotonous grind.
I believe that the very best exercises are those which are taken in the
spirit of play. No matter who it is, if he or she will make the effort,
time enough can be found occasionally to spend at least one-half of a
day in the open, and this is very important. We can not long flourish
without getting into touch with mother nature, and we need a few hours
each week without care and worry in her company. Many immediately say,
"I can't." Get rid of that negative attitude and say, "I can and I
will." See how quickly the obstacles melt away. There are many who are
slaves to duty. They believe that they must grind away. They think they
are indispensable. The world got along very well before they were born
and it will roll on in the same old way after they are gathered to their
fathers. The thing to do is to break the bonds of the wrong mental
attitude and then both time and opportunity will be forthcoming.
I shall comment on only a few of the outdoor exercises that are
excellent.
Swimming is one of the finest. There is a great deal of difference
between swimming and taking a bath in a tub. Some people cannot remain
in the water long, but if they have any resistance at all and are
active, there will be no bad results. In swimming it is well to take
various strokes, swimming on the back, on the side, and on the face.
This brings nearly every muscle in the body into play and if the swimmer
does not stay in too long it makes him feel fine. If a feeling of
chilliness or weariness is experienced, it is time to quit the water,
dry off well and take a vigorous dry rub. Swims should always be
followed with considerable rubbing. The use of a little olive oil on the
body, and especially on the feet, is very grateful. No special rule can
be laid down for the duration of a swim, but very thin people should
generally not remain in the water more than fifteen minutes, and stout,
vigorous ones not over an hour. It is best not to go swimming until two
hours have elapsed since the last meal.
Every boy and every girl should be taught to swim, for it may be the
means of preserving their lives. It is not difficult. For the benefit of
those who start the beginners with the rather tedious and tiresome
breast stroke, will say that the easiest way to teach swimming is to get
the learner to float on his back. I have taught boys to float in as
little as three minutes, and after that everything else is easy. When
the beginner can float, he can easily start to paddle a little and make
some progress. Then he can turn on his side and learn the side stroke,
which is one of the best. Then he can turn on the face and learn various
strokes. This is not the approved way of learning to swim, but it is the
easiest and quickest way.
To float simply means to get into balance in the water. It is necessary
to arch the body, making the spine concave posteriorly, and bending the
neck well backward at first. In the beginning it is a great aid to fill
the lungs well and breathe rather shallow. This makes the body light in
the water. Tell the beginner that it does not make any difference
whether the feet sink or stay up. It is only necessary to keep the face
above water while floating. If there is the slightest tendency to sink,
bend the neck a little more, putting the head, farther back in the
water, instead of raising it, as most of the learners want to do.
Remember that the trunk and neck must be kept well arched, the head well
back in the water. The moment the beginner doubles up at waist or hips
or bends the neck forward, raising the head, he sinks.
For speed and fancy swimming professional instruction should be
obtained. Swimming is one of the best all-round developers, as well as
one of the most pleasant of exercises.
Golf is no longer a rich man's game. The large cities have public links.
For an office man it is a splendid game. Women can play it with equal
benefit. The full vigorous strokes, followed with a walk after the ball,
then more strokes, exercise the entire body. It is good for young and
old, and for people in all walks of life.
Tennis is splendid for some people. Those who are very nervous and
excitable should play at something else, for they are apt to play too
hard and use up too much energy. Overexercising is just as harmful as
excesses in other lines. Tennis requires quickness and is a good game
for those who are inclined to be sluggish, for it wakes them up.
Horseback riding is also a fine exercise. The companionship with an
intelligent animal, the freedom, the fresh air, the scenery, all give
enjoyment of life, and the constant movement acts as a most delicious
tonic. There is only one correct way to ride for both sexes, and that is
astride. The side saddle position keeps the spine twisted so that it
takes away much of the benefit to be derived from riding. Out west the
approved manner of riding for women is astride. The women of the west
make a fine appearance on horseback.
Tramping is possible for all. If there are hills to be climbed, or
mountains, so much the better. Put on old clothes and old shoes and have
an enjoyable time. Fine apparel under the circumstances spoils more than
half of the pleasure.
Playing ball or bicycle riding may be indulged in with benefit. It is
not fashionable to ride on bicycles today, yet it is a pleasant mode of
covering ground, and if the trunk is kept erect it is a good exercise.
Jumping rope, playing handball, tossing the medicine ball and sawing
wood are good forms of exercise and great fun. The spirit of play and
good will easily double the value of any exercise that is taken.
Dancing is also good if the ventilation is adequate and the hours are
reasonable.
Under various conditions vicarious exercises are valuable, and by that I
mean such forms of exercise as massage, osteopathic treatment or
vibratory treatment. If anything is wrong with the spine, get an
osteopath or a chiropractor. They can help to remedy such defects more
quickly than anyone else. They are experts in adjustments and thrusts.
Some people take exercises while lying in bed or on the floor. One good
exercise to take while lying on the back is to go through the motions of
riding a bicycle. Another is to lie down, then bend the body at the
hips, getting into a sitting position; repeat a few times. Another is to
face the floor, holding the body rigid, supported on the toes and the
palms of the hands; slowly raise the body until the arms are straight
and slowly lower it again until the abdomen touches the floor; repeat
several times.
It is impossible to go into detail regarding various exercises here.
Those who wish to take care of themselves can easily devise a number of
good ones, or they can employ a physical culture teacher to give them
pointers. Here as elsewhere, good sense wins out. It is not necessary to
give much time to exercise, but a little is valuable. Those who labor
with their hands often use but few muscles, and it would be well for
them to take corrective exercises so that the body will remain in good
condition.
There is no excuse for round shoulders and sunken chests. A few weeks,
or at most a few months, will correct this in young people. The older
the individual, the longer it takes. If the vertebrae have grown
together in bony union no correction is possible.
It is as necessary to relax as it is to exercise. When weary, take a few
minutes off and let go physically and mentally. A little training will
enable you to drop everything, and even if it is for but five minutes,
the ease gives renewed vigor. It does not matter what position is
assumed, if it is comfortable and allows the muscles to lose all
tension. At such times it is well to let the eyelids gently close,
giving the eyes a rest. Eye strain is very exhausting to the whole body
and often results in serious discomfort.
Many do not know how to relax. They think they are relaxed, yet their
bodies are in a state of tension. When relaxed any part of the body that
may be raised falls down again as though it were dead. People who do
much mental work are at times so aroused by ideas that refuse to release
their hold until they have been worked out or given expression that they
can not sleep for the time being. A few minutes of relaxation then gives
rest. When the problem has been solved, the worker is rewarded with
sweet slumbers. An occasional night of this kind of wakefulness does no
harm, provided no such drugs as coffee, alcohol, strychnine and morphine
are used.
We are undoubtedly intended to be useful. Normal men and women are not
content unless they are helpful. Hence we have our work or vocation.
However, people who get into a rut, and they are liable to if they work
all the time at one thing, lose efficiency. Therefore it is well to have
an avocation or a hobby to sharpen mind and body.
It does not make much difference what the hobby is, provided it is
interesting. We waste much time that could give us more pleasure if it
were intelligently employed. An hour a day given to a subject for a few
years in the spirit of play will give a vast fund of information and may
in time be of inestimable benefit.
Those who labor much with the hands would do well to take some time each
day for mental recreation, and those who work in mental channels should
get joy and benefit from physical efforts. A few hobbies, depending upon
circumstances, may be: Photography, music, a foreign language, the
drama, literature, history, philosophy, painting, gardening, raising
chickens, dogs or bees, floriculture, and botany. Some people have
become famous through their hobbies. They are excellent for keeping the
mind fluid, which helps to retain physical youth.
There is something peculiarly beneficial about tending and watching
growing and unfolding things. It is well known that women remain young
longer than men. We have good reason to believe that one of the causes
is their intimate relation with children. Growing flowers, vegetables,
chickens and pups have the same influence in lesser degree. Tender,
helpless things bring out the best qualities in our natures. We can not
be on too intimate terms with nature, so, if possible, select a hobby
that brings you closely in contact with her and her products.
CHAPTER XXIII.
BREATHING AND VENTILATION.
The respiratory apparatus is truly marvelous in beauty and efficiency.
Medical men complain about nature's way of constructing the alimentary
canal, saying that it is partly superfluous, but no such complaint is
lodged against the lungs and their accessories.
The respiratory system may be likened in form to a well branched tree,
with hollow trunk, limbs and leaves: The trachea is the trunk; the two
bronchi, one going to the right side and the other to the left side, are
the main branches; the bronchioles and their subdivisions are the
smaller branches and twigs; the air cells are the leaves.
The trachea and bronchi are tubes, furnished with cartilaginous rings to
keep them from collapsing. They are lined with mucous membrane. The
bronchi give off branches, which in turn divide and subdivide, until
they become very fine. Upon the last subdivisions are clustered many
cells or vesicles. These are the air cells and here the exchange takes
place, the blood giving up carbonic acid gas and receiving from the
inspired air a supply of oxygen. This exchange takes place through a
very thin layer of mucous membrane, the air being on one side and the
blood capillaries on the other side.
The whole respiratory tract is lined with mucous membrane. This membrane
is ciliated, that is, it is studded with tiny hairlike projections,
extending into the air passages. These are constantly in motion, much
like the grain in a field when the wind is gently blowing. Their
function is to prevent the entry of foreign particles into the air
cells, for their propulsive motion is away from the lungs, toward the
external air passages.
In some of the large cities where the atmospheric conditions are
unfavorable and the air is laden with dust and smoke, the cilia are
unable to prevent the entrance of all the fine foreign particles in the
air. Then these particles irritate the mucous membrane, which secretes
enough mucus to imprison the intruders. Consequently there is
occasionally expulsion of gray or black mucus, which should alarm no one
under the circumstances, if feeling well. Normally the mucous membrane
secretes only enough mucus to lubricate itself, and when there is much
expulsion of mucus it means that either the respiratory or the digestive
system, or both, are being abused. At such times the sufferer should
take an inventory of his habits and correct them.
The air cells are made up of very thin membrane. So great is their
surface that if they could be flattened out they would form a sheet of
about 2,000 square feet. We can not explain satisfactorily why it is
that through their walls there is an exchange of gases, nor how the
respiratory system can act so effectively both as an exhaust of harmful
matter and a supply of necessary elements. The distribution of the blood
capillaries, so tiny that the naked eye can not make them out, is
wonderful. Under the microscope they look like patterns of delicate,
complex, beautiful lace.
The lungs are supplied with more blood than any other, part of the body.
A small part of it is for the nourishment of the lung structure, but
most of it comes to be purified. After the blood has traveled to various
parts of the body to perform its work as a carrier of food, and oxygen
and gatherer of waste, it returns to the heart and from the heart it is
sent to the lungs. There it gives up its carbonic acid gas and receives
a supply of oxygen. Then it returns to the heart again and once more it
is sent to all parts of the body to distribute the vital element,
oxygen.
The lungs give off watery vapor, a little animal matter and considerable
heat, but their chief function is to exchange the carbonic acid gas of
the blood for the oxygen of the air. When the fats, sugars and starches,
in their modified form, are burned in the body to produce heat and
energy, carbonic acid gas and water are formed. The gas is taken up by
the blood stream, which is being deprived of its oxygen at the same
time. This exchange turns the blood from red into a bluish tinge. The
red color is due to the union of oxygen with the iron in the blood
corpuscles, forming rust, roughly speaking.
The fine adjustment that exists in nature can be seen by taking into
consideration that animals give off carbon dioxide and breathe in
oxygen, while vegetation exhales oxygen and inhales carbon dioxide. In
other words, animal life makes conditions favorable for plant growth,
and vegetation makes possible the existence of animals.
An animal of the higher class can live several days without water,
several weeks without food, but only a very few minutes without oxygen.
When the blood becomes surcharged with carbonic acid gas, and oxygen is
refused admittance to the lungs, life ceases in about five or six
minutes. From this it can easily be seen how important it is to have a
proper supply of oxygen. Acute deprivation of this element is
immediately fatal, and chronic deprivation of a good supply helps to
produce early deterioration and premature death. The lungs can easily be
kept in good condition, and when we ponder on the beautiful and
effective way in which nature has equipped us with a respiratory
apparatus and an inexhaustible store of oxygen, surely we must
understand the folly of not helping ourselves to what is so vital, yet
absolutely free.
Wrong eating and impure air are largely responsible for all kinds of
respiratory troubles, from a simple cold to the most aggravated form of
pulmonary tuberculosis. Exercise and deep breathing will to a great
extent antidote overeating, but there is a limit beyond which the lungs
refuse to tolerate this form of abuse.
Experiments have shown that if the carbonic acid gas thrown off daily by
an adult male were solidified, it would amount to about seven ounces of
solid carbon, which comes from fats, sugars and starches that are burned
in the body. It is well to remember that there are various forms of
burning or combustion. Rapid combustion is exemplified in stoves and
furnaces, where the carbon of coal or wood rapidly and violently unites
with oxygen. Slow combustion takes place in the rotting of wood, the
rusting of iron and steel and the union of oxygen with organic matter in
animal bodies. Both processes are the same, varying only in rapidity and
intensity.
People who daily give off seven ounces of carbon are overworking their
bodies. They take in too much food and consequently force too great
combustion. This forcing has evil effects on the system, for under
forced combustion the body is not able to clean itself thoroughly. Some
of the soot remains in the flues (the blood-vessels) and is deposited in
the various parts of the engine (the body). Result: Hardening, which
means loss of elasticity and aging of the body. Aging of the body
results in deterioration of the mind. Proper breathing is fine, but
unless it is also accompanied by proper eating it does not bring the
best results.
The atmospheric air contains about four parts of carbonic acid gas to
10,000 parts of air. The exhaled air becomes quite heavily charged with
this gas, about 400 to 500 parts in 10,000. It does not take long before
the air in a closed, occupied room is so heavily charged with this gas
and so poor in oxygen that its constant rebreathing is detrimental. The
blood stream becomes poisoned, which immediately depresses the physical
and mental powers. Warning is often given by a feeling of languor and
perhaps a slight headache. People accustom themselves to impure air so
that they apparently feel no bad effects, but this is always at the
expense of health. The senses may be blunted, but the evil results
always follow. To keep a house sealed up as tightly as possible in order
to keep it warm saves fuel bills, but the resultant bodily deterioration
and disease cause enough discomfort and result in doctor bills which
more than offset this saving. It is poor economy.
A constant supply of the purest air obtainable must be furnished to the
lungs; otherwise the blood becomes so laden with poison that health, in
its best and truest sense, is impossible.
The air should be inhaled through the nose. It does not matter much how
it is exhaled. The nose is so constructed that it fits the air for the
lungs. The inspired air is often too dry, dusty and cold. The normal
nose remedies all these defects. The mucous membrane in the nasal
passages contains cilia, which catch the dust. The nasal passages are
very tortuous so that during its journey through them the air is warmed
and takes up moisture.
Habitual mouth breathing is one of the causes of the hardening and
toughening of the mucous membrane of the respiratory passages, for the
mouth does not arrest the irritating substances floating in the air, nor
does it sufficiently warm and moisten the inspired air. Irritation
produces inflammation and this in turn causes thickening of the
membranes. Then it is very easy to acquire some troublesome affliction
such as asthma. Very cold air is irritating, but the passage through the
nose warms it sufficiently.
The evil results of mouth breathing are well seen in children, in whom
it raises the roof of the mouth and brings the lateral teeth too close
together. Then the dentists have to correct the deformity and the
children are forced to suffer protracted inconvenience. This mouth
breathing is mostly due to wrong feeding, especially overfeeding, which
causes swelling of the mucous membrane, thus impeding the intake of the
air through the nose and forcing it through the mouth. The chief
curative measure is obvious. Cut down the child's food supply and give
food of better quality. Remember that children should not be fat.
Normal breathing is rhythmical, with a slight rise of the abdomen and
chest during inspiration and a slight falling during expiration. Watch a
sleeping baby, and you will understand what is meant. The ratio of
breathing to the beating of the heart is about one to four or five.
Whatever accelerates the heart causes more rapid breathing and vice
versa. Breathing is practically automatic, and were we living under
natural conditions we should need to pay no attention to it, but
inasmuch as our mode of life prevents the full use of the lungs a little
intelligent consideration is necessary to attain full efficiency.
The body should be left as free as possible by the clothes and
especially is this true of the chest and waist line. Women sin much
against themselves in this respect. Most of them find it absolutely
necessary for their mental welfare to constrict the lower part of the
chest and the waist line a great part of the time, for really it would
not do to be out of fashion. The statue of Venus de Milo is generally
considered to represent the highest form of female beauty and perfection
in sculptural art. If living women would consent to remain beautiful,
instead of being slaves to fashion, it would be much better for
themselves and for the race. A corseted woman can not breathe properly,
even if she can introduce her hand between the body and her corset to
prove that she is not constricted. The natural curves of women are more
graceful than those produced by the corset. It would be an easy matter
to give the breasts sufficient support, if they need support, without
constricting the body, and then take enough exercise to keep the waist
and abdomen firm and in shape to accord with a normal sense of what is
beautiful and proper.
Woman does right in being as good looking as possible, and it would do
man no harm to imitate her in this, for truly, "Beauty is its own excuse
for being." But beauty and fashion seldom go hand in hand. Look at the
modes which were the fashion, and you will be compelled to say that many
of them are offensive to people of good taste. American women should
cease imitating the caprice of the women of the underworld of Paris.
There are indications that women are liberating themselves somewhat from
the chains of fashions, as well as from other ridiculous things, so let
us hope that they will soon be brave enough to look as beautiful as
nature allows them to be, both in face and figure.
The lungs, like every other part of the body, become weakened when not
used. The chest cavity enlarges during inspiration, but this enlargement
is prevented if there is constriction of the lower ribs and the waist.
The normal breathing is abdominal. Such breathing is health-imparting.
It massages the liver gently with each breath and is mildly tonic to the
stomach and the bowels. It truly gives internal exercise. It helps to
prevent constipation.
Shallow breathing causes degeneration of lung tissue, and indirectly
degeneration of every tissue in the body, for it deprives the blood of
enough oxygen to maintain health. It also prevents the internal exercise
of the abdominal organs, which is a necessary activity of the normal
organism. Shallow breathers only use the upper parts of the lungs. It is
not to be wondered at that the lower parts easily degenerate. In
pneumonia, for instance, the lower part is usually first affected, and
in tuberculosis one often can get the physical indications in the lower
part of the lungs posteriorly before they can be found any other place.
The upper parts have to be used and consequently they get more exercise
and more blood and hence become more resistant. It is well known that
when the upper part of the lungs become affected the disease is very
grave.
Men, as well as women, are guilty of shallow breathing. Many men are
very inactive and their breathing becomes sluggish. This can be remedied
by taking vigorous exercise and a few breathing exercises. Because
abdominal breathing is the correct way, some physical culturists, who
mix the so-called New Thought with their system, advocate exercising and
concentrating the mind on the abdomen at the same time. This is
unnecessary, for the proper exercises and the right attitude will cause
abdominal breathing without giving the abdomen special thought.
Man was evidently intended to earn his food through physical exertion
and exercise, and so long as he did this the lungs were compelled to
expand. A few running exercises or hill or mountain climbs will suffice
to prove the truth of this statement. However, now that man can ride on
a street car and earn, or at least get, his daily bread by sitting in an
office, it is necessary to exercise a little in order to get good
results. The farmer who sits crouched up on a plow, mower or binder also
fails to use his lungs, but if he gets out and pitches hay or bundles of
grain, he is sure to get what oxygen he needs.
Everyone should get into the habit of breathing deeply several times a
day. Upon rising in the morning, go to the open window or out of doors
and take at least a dozen slow, deep breaths, inhaling slowly, holding
the air in the lungs a few moments and exhaling slowly. This should be
repeated noon and night. Every time when one is in the fresh air, it is
well to take a few full breaths. By and by the proper breathing will
become a habit, to the great benefit of one's health.
There are many breathing exercises, but every intelligent being can make
his own exercises, so I shall describe but one. Have the hands hanging
at the sides, palms facing each other. Inhale slowly and at the same
time bring the arms, which are to be held straight, forward and upward,
or outward and upward, carrying them as far up and back over the head as
possible. The arm motion is also to be slow. About the time the arms are
in the last position a full inspiration has been taken. Hold the
position of the arms and the breath a few seconds and then slowly exhale
and slowly bring the arms back to the first position. Repeat ten or
twelve times. If while one is inhaling and raising the arms, one also
slowly rises on the toes and slowly resumes a natural foot position
while exhaling, the exercise will be even better.
Hollow-chested young people can attain a good lung capacity and good
chest contour in a very reasonable time. Persistence in proper breathing
and proper exercise will have remarkable results in even two or three
months, and at the same time nature will be painting roses on pallid
cheeks. It is easy to increase the chest expansion several inches. Those
who expand less than three and one-half inches should not be satisfied
until they have gone beyond this mark. Elderly people can also increase
their chest expansion and breathing capacity, but it takes more time,
for with the years the chest cartilages have a tendency to harden and
even to ossify. The less breathing the sooner the ossification comes.
Many people are afraid of night air, for which there is no reason. The
absence of sunshine at night does no more harm than it does on cloudy
days. During the night, of all times, fresh air is needed, for less is
used, and what little is breathed should be of as good quality as
circumstances permit. Open the windows wide enough to have the air
constantly changing in the bedroom. During the winter it will be
necessary to put additional clothes on the bed, for no one can obtain
the best of slumbers while chilled. Some may find it a better plan to
use artificial heat in the foot of the bed. At any rate, during cold
weather better covering is required for the legs and for the feet than
for any other part of the body. People with good resistance can sleep in
a draught without the least harm, but ordinary people should not sleep
in a draught. It is easy to use screens so that the wind does not blow
upon the face. If the air is kept stirring in the chamber the sleeper
gets enough without being in a current.
Some are in the habit of closing their bedroom windows and doors at
night and opening them for a thorough airing during the day. If the
bedrooms must be closed, close them during the day and open them wide at
night, for that is when the pure air is needed. It does not make much
difference whether they are open or closed while being unoccupied. It is
actually sickening to enter some bedrooms and be compelled to breathe
the foul air.
When people are ill the rooms should have fresh air entering at all
times. Sick people give off more poisons than do those in good health
and they need the oxygen to burn up the deposits in the system.
An early morning stroll while most people are in bed is very
instructive. It will be found that some houses are shut up as tightly as
possible and that only a few are properly ventilated. A person who
insists on keeping his window open in winter is often looked upon as a
freak. What is the result of this close housing? The first result is
that the blood is unable to obtain the required amount of oxygen and is
poisoned by the rebreathing of the air in the room. In the morning the
sleeper wakes feeling only half rested, and it takes a cup of coffee or
something else to produce complete awakening. The evil results are
cumulative, and after a while the bad habit of breathing impure air at
night will be a great factor in building disease of some kind.
One reason why some are so afraid of fresh air, especially at night, is
that they become so autotoxemic through bad habits, especially improper
eating habits, that a slight draught causes them to sneeze and often
catch cold and they believe that the fresh air causes the irritation.
This is not so. The irritability comes from within, not from without.
After becoming accustomed to good ventilation at night it is almost
impossible to enter into restful slumbers in a stuffy room.
Savages are singularly free from respiratory diseases, and the reason is
without doubt that they do not house themselves closely. In some parts
of the world they fear to let civilized men enter their abodes, for they
may bring respiratory diseases.
Not only the homes, but public places, such as street cars, theaters,
schools and churches are too often poorly ventilated. Sleeping, or
rather dozing in church is so common that it is a matter of jest. My
experience has been that drowsiness comes not from the dullness of
sermons, but from the impossibility of getting a breath of good air in
many churches.
Please remember that exhaled air is excretory matter, and that it is
both unclean and unwholesome to consume it over and over again.
Draughts do not cause colds. Cold air does not cause colds. Wet clothes
do not cause colds: These things may be minor contributory factors, but
the body must be in poor condition before one can catch cold. Colds are
generally caught at the table. Lack of fresh air also helps to produce
colds, as well as other diseases.
The tendency in our country is to heat buildings too much. Europeans are
both surprised and uncomfortable when they first enter our dwellings or
public meeting places. The temperature in a dwelling should not be
forced above seventy degrees Fahrenheit by means of artificial heating.
The temperature required depends very much upon one's mental attitude
and habits. Those who take enough exercise have good circulation of the
blood in the extremities, and therefore do not need so much artificial
heat. The best heating is from within.
CHAPTER XXIV.
SLEEP.
A young baby should sleep almost all the time, and it will if
intelligently cared for. Overfeeding is the bane of the baby's life and
is the cause of most of its restlessness. The first few months the baby
should be awake enough to take its food, and then go to sleep again. As
it grows older it sleeps less and less.
There is no fixed time for an adult to sleep. The amount varies with
different individuals. The idea is quite prevalent that eight hours
nightly are necessary. This may be true for some. Many do very well on
seven hours' sleep, and even less. The great inventor, Thomas Edison, is
said to have had but very little sleep for many years, and it is
reported that when interested in some problem he would miss a night or
two. Yet he has lived longer than the average individual and is now in
good health. Very few have done as much constructive work as he. Many
other prominent people have been light sleepers.
As people grow older they require less sleep than they did in youth. It
is not uncommon for septuagenarians to sleep but five hours nightly.
Although we can not say how much sleep any individual may require, each
person can find out for himself, and this is much better than to try to
live by rules, which are often erroneous.
Those who live as they should otherwise and select a definite hour for
retiring and adhere to it, except on special occasions, get all the
sleep that is necessary. They awake in the morning refreshed, ready to
do a good day's work.
During sound sleep all conscious endeavors cease. The vital organs do
only enough work to keep the body alive. The breathing is lighter, the
circulation is slower and in sound sleep there is no thinking. This
letting up in the great activity of body and mind gives an opportunity
for the millions of cells, of which the body is composed, to take from
the blood what is needed to restore them to normal. During the day many
of these cells become worn and weary. At night they recuperate. Hence
undisturbed sleep is very important.
Many believe that "early to bed and early to rise" is the proper way,
that the hours of sleep before midnight are more refreshing and
invigorating than those after. This is merely a belief, perhaps a good
one. Early retiring leads to regularity, which is very desirable. Late
retiring often means loose mental and physical habits. Those who are
regular about their time of retiring and live well otherwise feel
refreshed whether they go to bed early or late. Children should always
retire early, otherwise they do not get enough sleep. The night is the
natural sleeping time for most creatures, as well as for man. This is a
heritage of ages. There was no artificial illumination during the stone
age. Man could do nothing during the darkness, so he rested. However,
those who must work at night find no trouble in sleeping during the day.
The tendency among men is the same as among animals, to sleep more in
winter than in summer, not that more sleep is required, but because the
winter nights are longer.
Children should go to bed early. They require more sleep than adults
because of the greater cell activity. Also, children who stay up late
generally become irritable and nervous.
It is not well to eat immediately before retiring. The sleep following a
late meal is generally interrupted, and there is not that feeling of
brightness and clearness of mind, with which one should awake, next
morning.
Lunching before going to bed is a bad habit. Some believe they must have
an apple, or perhaps a glass of milk, before retiring, for they think
that this will bring sleep. The body should not be burdened with extra
food to digest during the sleeping hours. This time should be dedicated
to the restoring of the body, and the blood contains ample material.
Dreaming is largely a bad habit. A normal individual rarely dreams, and
then generally following some imprudence. Dreams begin in childhood and
are then due principally to excessive food intake. As a producer of
nightmares overfeeding has no equal. During adult life dreaming is
caused by bad physical and mental conduct, plus the habit which was
formed in childhood. Fear, anger, worry, stimulants, too much food,
impure air and too warm clothes are some of the causes that produce
dreams. Like other bad habits, dreaming is difficult to overcome once it
is firmly established. The cure consists in righting one's other bad
habits and in not thinking about the dreams. A sleep that is disturbed
by dreams is not as sound as it should be and consequently not as
refreshing as normal sleep. The conscious mind is not completely at rest
and, the subconscious mind is running riot. Normal sleep is complete
unconsciousness. This is the sleep of the just and must be earned.
Before retiring all the clothes worn during the day should be removed.
The night apparel should be light--cotton, linen or silk. The bed
should be comfortable, but not too soft. There should be enough covering
to keep the sleeper comfortably warm, but not hot. Those who cover
themselves with so many quilts or blankets that they perspire during the
night are not properly refreshed. It prevents sound sleep and makes the
skin too sensitive. It reduces a person's resistance to climatic
changes. The feet should be kept warm, even if necessary to put
artificial heat in the foot of the bed. During cold weather the feet and
the legs should have more covering than the rest of the body. From the
waist up the covering should be rather light.
Sound sleep is dependent on relaxation of mind and body. Those who live
the day over after going to bed do not go to sleep quickly or easily.
This habit should be overcome. Do business at the business place, during
business hours, if you would have the mind fresh. There are days so full
of cares that the night does not bring mental relaxation, but those who
have begun early in life to practice self-control find these days
growing fewer as the years roll by. When they learn their true
relationship to the rest of humanity, to the universe and to eternity,
they are generally willing and able to let the earth rotate and revolve
for a few hours without their personal attention. They realize that
worry and anxiety waste time and energy.
Many complain that they can not sleep. This they repeat to themselves
and to others many times a day. At night they ask themselves why they
can not sleep. They do it so often that it becomes a powerful negative
suggestion frequently strong enough to prevent their going to sleep. It
is an obsession. Real insomnia exists only in the mind of the sufferer.
Every physician, sooner or later, has experience with people who say
that they can not sleep. The doctors who give such patients sleeping
powders or potions make a grave mistake. These drugs are taken at the
expense of some of the physical structures, and the day of settlement
always comes. Perhaps it will find the patient with bankrupted nerves or
a failing heart. To be effective, the size of the dose must be increased
from time to time. At last the result will be some disease, either
physical or mental.
Those who insist that they "do not sleep at all," or that they sleep
"but a few minutes" each night, sleep a few hours, but they make
themselves believe that they do not sleep. We are compelled to sleep,
and even those who "do not sleep at all" can not remain awake
indefinitely.
Those who are troubled with the no-sleep obsession will soon realize
that they sleep as well as others if they cease thinking and talking so
much about the subject. I have seen people suffering from this bad habit
recover in one week. Those who have been taking drugs to induce sleep
generally have a few bad nights when they give them up, after which the
nervous storm subsides and sleep becomes normal. All drugs should be
discarded. The physician who understands more about the working of
nature than about the giving of drugs will have the best success in
these cases. Soothing sleep always comes to people possessed of a
controlled mind in a healthy body.
If the day has been exhausting and the nerves are so alive and wrought
up that sleep will not come, do not allow the mind to delve into worry
about it. Do not say to yourself: "I wish I could sleep. Why can't I
sleep?" Such fretful thinking produces mental tension, which drives
sleep away. Instead, say to yourself: "I am very comfortable. I am
having a refreshing rest. It does not matter whether I sleep or not." By
all means relax the body. Choose a comfortable position and remain
quiet, having the muscles relaxed. It is remarkable how soon a relaxed
body brings tranquility to a disturbed mind. Let a man in pugnacious
mood relax his face and his fists and in a very short time his anger
vanishes. It makes no difference whether a person sleeps eight hours on
a certain night. If he is fairly regular about going to bed he will get
enough sleep. Those who realize this truth do not complain of insomnia.
Most people who think much have an occasional night when an idea takes
such strong possession of the brain and demands so forcibly to be put
into proper shape, that they can not sleep. Under such circumstances it
is as well to to get up and work out the idea. Three or four nights like
that in the course of a year will do no harm.
People rarely sleep well when lying on the back. If the theory of
evolution is correct, we were not intended to lie on our backs during
sleep. A good position is to lie on the right side, the right leg being
anterior to the left, both being flexed. Another position that is
restful to many is to lie on the abdomen, the arms extended away from
the body.
The breathing should be entirely nasal. It will not be nasal if there is
obstruction in the nose. A healthy person who breathes through his mouth
at night must use autosuggestion to overcome the habit. He should
suggest to himself, "I will breathe through the nose; I will keep my
lips together." If he persists in this, closes the mouth when he goes to
sleep, in time the mouth-breathing will cease, and with it the
disagreeable habit of snoring. The harmfulness of mouth-breathing is
explained in another chapter.
At all times the bedroom should be well ventilated. Some people are in
the habit of sleeping in unventilated bedrooms, but upon rising in the
morning they throw the windows open and give the room a good airing. The
ventilation does not do much good except when there is someone in the
room. During the day the bedroom could be closed with very little harm
ensuing, though it is best to have it sunned and aired as much as
possible.
The sleeping porch is excellent. Outdoor sleeping is all right and it is
not a modern fad. Where Benjamin Franklin got his information I do not
know, but he has this to say about outdoor sleeping: "It is recorded
that Methusaleh, who, being the longest liver, may be supposed to have
best preserved his health, that he slept always in the open air; for
when he had lived five hundred years an angel said to him: 'Arise,
Methusaleh, and build thee an house, for thou shalt live five hundred
years longer.' But Methusaleh answered, and said: 'If I am to live but
five hundred years longer, it is not worth while to build me an house; I
will sleep in the air as I have been used to do.'" This may partly
account for some of his many years. His alleged conversation with the
angel indicates that he was a man of equanimity.
Under ordinary circumstances those who sleep indoors should have one
sash of window fully open for each person in the chamber, or more. It is
well to have plenty of fresh air, but it is not best to sleep in a
draught. When the wind is blowing through the windows it is not
necessary to have them wide open, for an aperture of four inches will
then give as much fresh air as a sash opening in calmer weather.
It is best to get up promptly upon awakening in the morning. Remaining
in bed half asleep is productive of slothfulness. Too much sleeping and
dozing make one dull.
Those who overeat require more sleep than moderate people. The
sluggishness and sleepiness following a too heavy meal are familiar to
all. Animals that do not get food regularly, but are dependent on the
vicissitudes of preying for their nourishment, often gorge themselves so
that they can not stay awake, but fall into a stupor, which may last for
days. Man, who is generally assured of three meals a day, has no excuse
for this form of self-abuse, but unfortunately he practices it too
often. It is a gross habit, one in which people of refinement will not
continue to indulge.
Young children should take a nap each day. They are so active that they
need this rest. Adults can with profit take a short nap, not to exceed
thirty minutes, after lunch. Those who are nervous owe it to themselves
to take a nap. Those who use the brain a great deal will find the midday
nap a great restorer. If sleep will not come, they should at least close
their eyes and remain relaxed for a short time. A long nap makes one
feel stupid.
Those unfortunate people who are addicted to various enslaving drugs,
such as cocaine and morphine, often are very light sleepers. They are
deteriorating physically, mentally and morally. Such people are ill and
are no guides to the needs of healthy people.
Coffee drinking is a destroyer of sound sleep. At first the coffee seems
to soothe the nerves, but in a few hours it has the opposite effect. The
habitual use of coffee helps to bring on premature nervous instability
and physical degeneration.
Sleep is self-regulating. If we are normal otherwise we need give the
subject no thought except to select a regular time to go to bed and get
up promptly in the morning upon awaking.
It is easy to drive away sleep. Those who wish to enjoy this sweet
restorer at its best must be regular.
CHAPTER XXV.
FASTING.
Fasting is one of the oldest of remedial measures known to man, not only
for the ills of the body, but for those of the soul. Oriental lore and
literature make frequent reference to fasts. From the Bible we learn
that Moses, Elijah and Christ each fasted forty days, and no bad effects
are recorded.
Addison knew the value of fasting and temperance. He wrote that,
"Abstinence well-timed often kills a sickness in embryo and destroys the
seeds of a disease." Unfortunately, he did not live as well as he knew
how. Hence his brilliant mind had but a short time in which to work and
the world is the loser.
Our own great philosopher, Benjamin Franklin, had the same knowledge,
for he wrote, "Against disease known, the strongest fence is the
defensive virtue, abstinence."
There is much prejudice against fasting, because people do not
understand what fasting is and what it accomplishes. Fasting is not
starving. To fast is to go without food when the body is in such
condition that food can not be properly digested and assimilated. To
starve is to go without food when the body is in condition to digest and
assimilate food and needs nourishment.
It is quite generally believed that if food is withheld for six or seven
days the result will be fatal. Under proper conditions one can go
without food for two or three months. Perhaps most people could not do
without food for the latter period, but fasts of that duration are on
record. Fat people can live on their tissues for a long time before they
are reduced to normal weight, and slender ones can live on water for an
extended period.
Prolonged fasts should not be taken unless necessary, and then they
should be taken under the guidance of someone who has had experience and
is possessed of common sense. If a person is fearful or surrounded by
others who instill fear into him, he should not take a prolonged fast.
The gravest danger during the fast is fear. It takes many weeks to die
from lack of food, but fear is capable of killing in a few days, or even
in a few hours. The healer who undertakes to direct fasts against the
wishes of the patient's friends and relatives, who have more influence
than he has, injures himself professionally and throws doubt upon the
valuable therapeutic measure he advocates.
The indications that a fast is needed are pain and fever and acute
attacks of all kinds of diseases. Some of the more common diseases that
call for a complete cessation of eating are: The acute stage of
pneumonia, appendicitis, typhoid fever, neuralgia, sciatica,
peritonitis, cold, tonsilitis, whooping cough, croup, scarlet fever,
smallpox and all other eruptive diseases; colics of kidneys, liver or
bowels; all acute alimentary tract disturbances, whether of the stomach
or of the bowels.
Sometimes it is necessary to fast in chronic diseases, especially when
there is pain, but as a rule chronic diseases yield to proper hygienic
and dietetic treatment without a fast, provided they are curable. Here
is where many people who advocate fasting go to extremes. A fast is the
quickest way out of the trouble, but it is at times very unpleasant. By
taking longer time the result can be obtained by proper living and the
patient is being educated while he is recovering. In chronic cases it is
especially important to eat properly.
The only disease of which I know that seems to be unfavorably influenced
by fasting is pulmonary tuberculosis in well advanced stages. Such
patients quickly lose weight and strength on a fast, and they have great
difficulty in regaining either. Perhaps others have had different
experiences and have made observations that do not agree with this, for
cases of tuberculosis have been reported cured through fasting. It is
well to bear in mind that every case that is diagnosed pulmonary
tuberculosis is not tuberculosis. Many supposed-to-be cases of
tuberculosis, some of them so diagnosed by most reputable specialists,
are nothing more than lung irritation due to the absorption of gas and
acid from the digestive tract. When the indigestion is cured, the
so-called tuberculosis disappears. These are the only tubercular cases
that I have seen benefited by fasts, and the improvement is both quick
and sure.
Doubtless tuberculosis in the first stages could be cured by fasting,
followed by proper hygienic and dietetic care, for at first tuberculosis
is a localized symptom of disordered nutrition. In this stage the
disease is no more dangerous than many other maladies that are not
considered fatal. The subjects brought to the dissecting table show
plainly that a large proportion of them have at some time had pulmonary
tuberculosis, the lesions of which were healed, and they afterwards died
of some other affliction. However, if a patient is received after the
manifestation of profuse night sweats, great flushing of the cheeks,
high fever daily, emaciation, expulsion of much mucus from the lungs,
and the presence of great lassitude and weakness, the rule is that the
nutrition is so badly impaired that nothing will bring the patient back
to normal. Under such circumstances fasting hastens death. The family
and friends are not reticent about placing the blame on the healer.
Moderate feeding will prolong life and add to the comfort of the
sufferer. The customary overfeeding hastens the end.
Cancer is said to be cured by fasting, but this is very, very doubtful.
It is often difficult to differentiate between cancer and benignant
tumors at first. Benignant tumors frequently disappear on a limited
diet. I have seen many tumors disappear under rational treatment,
without resorting to the knife, but I have never seen an undoubted case
of cancer do so, though some of the tumors in question had been
diagnosed cancer. Cancers, in the advanced stages, end in the death of
the patient in spite of any kind of treatment. By being very careful
about the diet, cancer patients can escape nearly all the pain and
discomfort that generally accompany this disease. Moderation would
prevent nearly every case of cancer, and especially moderation in meat
eating. It is a disease that should be prevented, for its cure is very
doubtful.
Colds leave in a few days, with no bad after effects, if no food is
taken.
Typhoid fever treated rationally from the start generally disappears in
from one week to twelve days if nothing but water is given, and fails to
develop the severity that it attains under the giving of foods and
drugs. There are no complications.
Appendicitis is of longer duration, if it is a severe attack, lasting
from two to four weeks, but after the first few days the patient is
comfortable, under a no-food, let-alone treatment. Operation is not
necessary.
In cases of gall-stones, accompanied by jaundice and colic, it is not
necessary to operate. Fasting and bathing will bring the body back to
normal in a short time. In such cases it is necessary to give the baths
as hot as they can be borne, and prolong them until the body is relaxed.
It would be easy to enumerate many diseases, telling the benefits to be
derived from fasting, but these point the way and are sufficient.
The one unfailing symptom of a fast is the loss of weight. This loss is
natural and there is nothing alarming about it. As soon as eating is
resumed the loss of weight stops. For a while the weight may then remain
stationary, but the gain is generally prompt. In time the weight will
become normal again.
According to Chosat, the loss sustained by the various tissues in
starvation is as follows:
Fat..................... 93 per cent.
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