Rest the hands on the rim of a bathtub or on two chairs placed about 2 feet apart. Assume position shown by cut. Lower the body until chest touches the knee; rise, bringing the other knee under the chest, repeating the movement. Execute this movement rapidly as if running, rising first on one foot and then on the other, from 50 to 100 times.If sufficiently strong, this can be taken without support for the hands. This exercise is especially recommended for those suffering from constipation.Every evening, just before retiring, take a glass of water and go through the following movements and deep breathing exercises:
Rest the hands on the rim of a bathtub or on two chairs placed about 2 feet apart. Assume position shown by cut. Lower the body until chest touches the knee; rise, bringing the other knee under the chest, repeating the movement. Execute this movement rapidly as if running, rising first on one foot and then on the other, from 50 to 100 times.
If sufficiently strong, this can be taken without support for the hands. This exercise is especially recommended for those suffering from constipation.
Every evening, just before retiring, take a glass of water and go through the following movements and deep breathing exercises:
Stand erect, feet about 30 inches apart, inhale deeply and strike a blow toward the left with the right fist, passing the left fist behind the back. Alternate this movement, striking toward the right with the left fist, giving the body a swinging and twisting movement.
Stand erect, feet about 30 inches apart, inhale deeply and strike a blow toward the left with the right fist, passing the left fist behind the back. Alternate this movement, striking toward the right with the left fist, giving the body a swinging and twisting movement.
Stand erect, feet about 30 inches apart, hands clasped over head, elbows rigid, inhale deeply. Bend toward the left, describe a complete circle with the clasped hands. Exhale when erect. Reverse, describing a circle in the opposite direction completes the movement.
Stand erect, feet about 30 inches apart, hands clasped over head, elbows rigid, inhale deeply. Bend toward the left, describe a complete circle with the clasped hands. Exhale when erect. Reverse, describing a circle in the opposite direction completes the movement.
Civilization prevents the play instinct
The child from the time it begins to walk until it is ten or twelve years old, or until the pressing hand of necessity forces upon it the power of restraining duty, will in a great measure obey the play instinct or the natural laws of exercise. However, our complex industrial organism forces most of us into its vortex at the very time we are beginning to change the body from the youth to the adult, and the responsibilities with which we are laden, the struggles we carry on, prevent the majority from giving attention to and maintaining a system of developmentexercises which is so vitally important, and which would provide a great store-house of energy to be drawn upon in after years. Inasmuch, therefore, as the conditions under which we exist prevent the free play of our instincts, and the exercise of our natural desire for certain kinds of play or motion, it becomes necessary for us to devise a method of overcoming the repressing influences that crush out the play instinct of civilized man.
Constructive period of life from ages 15 to 25
Constructive exercises should be taken and practised regularly between the ages fifteen and twenty-five. It is largely during this period that the physical condition of the body for the balance of life is determined.
Poisoning and purifying the blood
Many a college youth, endowed by Nature with a sound physical body and a healthy brain, has irreparably injured both by sitting on the end of his spinewith his feet higher than his head, poisoning his blood with tobacco narcotics from a stylish pipe and failing to keep it purified by obeying the laws of motion and of oxidation. Constructive exercises should employ every muscle in the body long enough once in every twenty-four hours to generate sufficient heat to cause perspiration, or at least to force twice the normal quantity of blood to the lungs for purification. Exercise thus taken up to the point of fatigue, and of sufficient duration to use all the nutrition taken in the form of food, will, under favorable conditions, build the body to its highest degree of physical strength, provided we keep Nature supplied with the right kind of material (food) with which to do her work.
In mature life exercise only for repair
After the body has reached maturity, or attained its full growth, the only exerciseneeded is for repair. This it must have or Nature will inflict her inexorable sentence in some form of congestion.
Why the "trunk" requires exercise
In various industrial and professional pursuits the legs, neck, and arms are used enough to keep them in a fair state of repair. That part of the body, therefore, that suffers most for want of motion, or exercise, is the trunk. In this part of the anatomy are located the vital organs controlling not only the circulation and the oxidation of blood, but also those organs upon whose normal action depend solely the questions of digestion, assimilation of food, and elimination of waste.
If properly nourished the body will demand a certain amount of exercise
If the food is selected, combined, and proportioned so as to produce chemical harmony in the stomach, and to meet the requirements of age, temperature of environment, and work, the body will be kept sufficiently chargedwith energy to demand a certain amount of exercise. If the command is obeyed the body can be trained to work automatically, as it were, but where the vocation is sedative, or prevents obedience to these demands, the trunk should be exercised in the open air from thirty to forty minutes daily by flexing, tensing, twisting and bending in every possible way, long enough and rapidly enough to double the normal heart action and inhalations of air.
Necessity of motion for body development
By motion (exercise) the muscles are stimulated in growth, becoming larger and more firm, thus giving strength and symmetry to the body. Food, without proper motion, will not develop muscular tissue to its highest degree. Exercise must be taken to stimulate the growth of the tissues forming the muscle-cells.
Among the benefits derived from exercise, the following may be noted:
Growth produced by exercise
First: Surplus nitrogen is usually cast from the body as waste matter when it is not deposited as muscle tissue by proper exercise. If the diet is balanced, regular exercise will add this nitrogenous substance to the muscle-cells far beyond normal growth, thus causing an actual increase in the size and the number of fibres.
Brain and nerve force increased
Second: A second benefit derived from muscle activity is the consequent change that occurs in brain and in nerve activity. There are certain cells in the brain and in the nervous system which control the movements of the muscles. When these cells are not used, they degenerate, but their use in exercise is not only beneficial in developing a well-rounded nervous mechanism, but also in strengthening the brain-cells that are used in intellectual work.
Blood circulation increased
Third: A third and perhaps most important of all the benefits to be derived from exercise is the general increase in the circulation of the blood. The muscles form a larger proportion of the body-weight than any other group of organs. When general exercise involving the larger muscles is participated in, the demand for food material in this particular muscular tissue is so great as to cause a notable increase in the strength and in the rapidity of the heart beat, and consequent deep breathing. This acceleration of the circulation continues long after the exercise has ceased, thus replenishing and building up the muscles. As a result of the better circulation of the blood, all organs receive an increased blood-supply, and every part of the body shares in the general improvement. This explains why one can do better brain work, or digest food with greater ease after taking moderate exercise.
Evil effect of long-continued exercise
Exercise is constructive up to the point of fatigue, but beyond that point it is destructive. The waste products of all cell-metabolism are harmful and poisonous. When exercise is long continued, the waste matter accumulating therefrom weakens or poisons the cells that secrete them.
Different forms of exhaustion
The products of cell-metabolism are of two classes, and each class has different effects. The first is due to oxidation. A runner, who falls exhausted from shortness of breath, has simply been suffocated by the excess of carbon dioxid in his muscles. After the breath is regained, or, in other words, after the body has had time to throw off the carbon dioxid, the runner is in nearly as good condition as before. A more lasting and serious form of exhaustion is due to the accumulation of nitrogenous decomposition products, which, not being in a gaseousform, cannot be thrown off from the lungs, and hence are not as rapidly or as easily removed from the tissues. The presence in the tissue of these waste-products is the cause of extreme weakness and fatigue.
The causes of soreness or stiffness of the muscles
The well-trained muscles contain only healthy protoplasm, and give off but a small percentage of nitrogenous decomposition products. Let the well-fed person who takes but little exercise, run half a mile, or play a simple game of ball, and the following day the muscles will be stiff and sore; this unusual exertion has caused the breaking down of much loosely organized tissue which could have been made firm and healthy by daily muscular activity.
Why vegetarians have more endurance than meat eaters
Those subsisting upon a low nitrogenous diet, especially vegetarians, are affected much less by fatigue than meat eaters whose muscles contain larger quantitiesof unnecessary nitrogen and nitrogenous decomposition matter.
The diet governs the production and the accumulation of body-waste
The common laws of health demand that sufficient motion be taken every day to prevent the accumulation of carbon dioxid or waste matter throughout the body. Both the production and the accumulation of waste matter depend very largely upon the diet. All animal flesh (food) is undergoing gradual decomposition, and adds its waste matter to that of the body, therefore meat eaters require a much greater amount of exercise to maintain a given standard of blood-purity than do vegetarians.
Numerous schools of physical culture and artificial methods of exercise have flourished in all civilized countries within the past few years. This fact emphasizesthe pressing need for a general change in our methods of living.
The various systems of indoor exercise popularly taught are at the best weak substitutes for the more natural and wholesome forms of combined exercise and re-creation found in outdoor life and outdoor sport. Some of the methods referred to are as follows:
Tensing
Tensing, which consists of slow movements in which opposite muscles are made to pull against each other. The student can easily grasp the principle involved in this system, and from his own ingenuity extend it as fully as he desires.
Vibratory exercises
Vibratory exercises, which are somewhat similar to the tensing system; however, instead of slow movements, the arms or other portions of the body are moved with a rapidly vibrating motion. The effect produced is essentially the same as in the tensing system.
Heavy-weight exercises
Heavy-weight exercises, consisting in the use of heavy dumb-bells or other apparatus in which the actual physical pull exerted by the body in moving the weights is sufficient to try the muscles to their maximum capacity. This system of exercise should be discouraged; while it may add to the mere lifting strength, it takes from the muscles their flexibility, and from the body its agile and supple activity.
Indoor exercises
Indoor exercise with light apparatus such as wooden dumb-bells, Indian clubs, wands, Swedish and Delsartic movements. These forms of exercise, which compose most physical culture drills, as given in schools and gymnasiums, are to be highly recommended. For adults, however, such exercises require considerable indulgence in order to gain much physical benefit therefrom.
Exercise for school children
Exercises of this nature are especially well adapted to school children. Theydepend upon the rhythm of the music, the good fellowship of their companions, and the pride of keeping up with the class to make them interesting. For this reason they are not suitable to the individual who must exercise alone in his room. Dancing can well be considered in this class, and could be highly recommendedDancing as an exerciseas an important exercise and re-creation, were it not so frequently associated with loss of sleep and other forms of intemperance.
Importance of outdoor exercise
All of the above systems are not only at the best imperfect, but poor substitutes for natural exercise, and not likely to be kept up by the ordinary sedative worker. Every individual should, so far as possible, indulge in some form of outdoor exercise, which gives all the advantages of the indoor systems, together with the added advantages of fresh air,mental pleasure, long range of vision, and the general exhilaration that comes from close contact with nature.Exercise for the city dwellerHowever, for the city man outdoor exercises are too difficult to be practised with sufficient regularity to bring the desired results; therefore, it is best to adopt some definite daily program of vigorous muscular exercise which will keep the body in fair physical condition. Exercises of this kind should be made a regular daily habit, and though at times a little tiresome, can, by practise, be made to become the expected thing, so that the day will not seem complete until the daily exercises have been taken.
Exercises giving the best results
From long experience I have found that the following exercises give the greatest benefits with the least expenditure of time and labor. They are all especially designed to promote healthy action of the vital and the abdominal organswhich are so much neglected by the average person.
Every morning, just after rising, and every night, just before retiring, take a glass or two of pure cool water and execute vigorously the following movements:
Exercise No.1—Stand erect, feet about thirty inches apart. Extend arms above head; clasp the hands; hold elbows rigid, and inhale deeply. Bend toward the left and try to touch the floor with the clasped hands, as far from the foot, and as far to the rear as possible. Exhale while returning to position. Inhale deeply, reversing motion to the right. This movement should be repeated from 25 to 50 times.
Exercise No.1—Stand erect, feet about thirty inches apart. Extend arms above head; clasp the hands; hold elbows rigid, and inhale deeply. Bend toward the left and try to touch the floor with the clasped hands, as far from the foot, and as far to the rear as possible. Exhale while returning to position. Inhale deeply, reversing motion to the right. This movement should be repeated from 25 to 50 times.
Exercise No.2—Rest upon the tips of the toes and the palms of the hands. Move the body up and down as far as possible, bending only at the waist line. If the movement is too difficult in this position, the tension may be reduced by resting on the elbows, or on the knees, or on both. Inhale deeply, and exhaust the breath suddenly as if coughing, with the downward motion. This movement should be repeated from 20 to 30 times.
Exercise No.2—Rest upon the tips of the toes and the palms of the hands. Move the body up and down as far as possible, bending only at the waist line. If the movement is too difficult in this position, the tension may be reduced by resting on the elbows, or on the knees, or on both. Inhale deeply, and exhaust the breath suddenly as if coughing, with the downward motion. This movement should be repeated from 20 to 30 times.
Exercise No.3—Rest the hands on the rim of a bathtub, or on two chairs placed about two feet apart. Assume position shown in cut. Lower the body until the chest touches the right knee; rise, and lower the body until the chest touches the left knee. Execute this movement rapidly as if running, risingfirst on one foot and then on the other, swinging the body from side to side with each step or movement.This exercise is especially recommended for those suffering from torpidity of the liver, or from constipation. It should be executed from 100 to 500 times.
Exercise No.3—Rest the hands on the rim of a bathtub, or on two chairs placed about two feet apart. Assume position shown in cut. Lower the body until the chest touches the right knee; rise, and lower the body until the chest touches the left knee. Execute this movement rapidly as if running, risingfirst on one foot and then on the other, swinging the body from side to side with each step or movement.
This exercise is especially recommended for those suffering from torpidity of the liver, or from constipation. It should be executed from 100 to 500 times.
Exercise No.4—Stand erect, feet about thirty inches apart. Inhale deeply, and strike a blow toward the left with the right fist, passing the left fist behind the back. Alternate this movement, striking toward the right with the left fist, giving the body a swinging and twisting movement.
Exercise No.4—Stand erect, feet about thirty inches apart. Inhale deeply, and strike a blow toward the left with the right fist, passing the left fist behind the back. Alternate this movement, striking toward the right with the left fist, giving the body a swinging and twisting movement.
Exercise No.5—Stand erect, feet about thirty inches apart, hands clasped overhead, elbows rigid; inhale deeply.Bend toward the left, describing a complete circle with the clasped hands. Exhale when erect. Reverse; describing a circle in the opposite direction completes the movement. This exercise should be executed from 25 to 50 times.
Exercise No.5—Stand erect, feet about thirty inches apart, hands clasped overhead, elbows rigid; inhale deeply.Bend toward the left, describing a complete circle with the clasped hands. Exhale when erect. Reverse; describing a circle in the opposite direction completes the movement. This exercise should be executed from 25 to 50 times.
Idleness contrary to natural law
The small boy who described work as "anything you don't want to do," and play as "anything you do want to do," had in his mind the fragment of a great truth. True re-creation should affordDiversion,Entertainment, andWork. The average business man who is threatened with a breakdown, and who goes away for a rest, should in reality go to work, but it should be a different kind of work from his routine duties. No one was ever benefited by idleness; it is contrary to nature—contrary to the universal laws of construction which govern all formsof life. If digestion and assimilation have been impaired, if, from errors in eating, or from sedative habits, congestion has taken place in the alimentaryExercise necessary for assimilation and eliminationtract, then muscular work becomes absolutely necessary in order to use more nutrition, to eliminate more poison and waste, and to increase and normalize the peristaltic activity of the intestinal tract.
Hunting and fishing
The business man who likes to hunt and to kill innocent animals; who runs, walks, and thinks, and perspires in the effort, is taking a good kind of re-creation—perhaps the best he knows; but the fat man who sits in a boat all day and catches fish that he cannot use, or slays a cart-load of ducks that he has deceived with a decoy, has received neither benefit nor re-creation; he has only yielded to his primeval instincts to secure his food by slaughter and has been merely entertained—probably debased.
True re-creation
True re-creation for the mental worker is manual work—labor in the open air that requires but little thought. Every business man who values the sacred heritage of health, should provide himself with a place where he can go one day out of each week and chop wood, prepare soil, plant or harvest something, get close to Mother Nature, and receive the blessings of her life-giving sun by day, and rest in her open arms at night. MenWorthless objects for which men struggleare but big children, and, like the child who cries and reaches for the bubble because it reflects the prismatic colors of the sun, most of the things for which they struggle are equally as worthless and deceptive.
The triad of all that is best in life
Mental supremacy, which means the keenest sense of love, justice, and mercy, that great triad of all that is best in man, is all that really pays. If, at the close of every life, the question, "What hasbrought most happiness?" could be answered, it would be, "The Gratitude of my Fellow Men." The average business pursuit is not conducive to this end. It is unfortunate that commercial and financial success are too often secured by methods that produce just the opposite results, therefore the whole life-work of the average man is really reduced to no higher object than that of securing food and shelter, which is the primitive occupation of the lowest forms of life.
Rest in solitude
One day in the week spent close to the soil with gentle cows and horses, affectionate cats and admiring dogs that have no "axe to grind," and one night every week spent in thought and reflection under the wilderness of worlds that whirl through the abyss of space, will sharpen the senses of love, justice, and mercy, give true diversion, true entertainment, true work, and true rest.
A
ACETANILIDVol.Pagecomposition of,II 358effects of,II 358ACIDITYsub, symptoms of,II 462—— remedy for,II 463—— diet in,II 464super, chart indicating dis-eases caused by,I 9ACIDSnitric,I 62—— properties of,I 63hydrochloric,I 64—— uses of,I 65—— preparation of,I 66—— elements of,I 67—— purpose of,I 149—— formation of,I 149bases of,I 68—— tests for,I 69—— neutralization of,I 70Relation of bases to,I 69organic,I 94—— properties of,I 94acetic,I 95—— process of making,I 95oxalic,I 97lactic,I 97malic,I 97
tartaric,I 97citric,I 98uric, in rheumatism,V1179AIRcomposition of,I 32liquefaction of,I 35and oxidation,V1312relative importance of food, water and,V1313ALBUMINsources of,I 129solubility of,I 129coagulation of,I 129ALCOHOLvarieties of,I 91effect of,II 367a poison,II 368ALDEHYDESand ethers,I 93ALKALISprinciples of neutralization of,I 71rules governing neutralization of,I 71AMIDOcompounds,I 128AMMONIAcomposition of,I 60uses of,I 60AMYLOPSINproperties of,I 154
APPENDIX (VERIFORM)dis-eases of (see Appendicitis),II 580functions of,II 581APPENDICITISsymptoms of,II 582treatment of (mild cases),II 583a natural remedy for,II 583diet in,II 584list of foods for,II 585chronic cases of,II 586—— treatment for,II 587—— causes of,II 588diet a factor in,II 589coarse food a factor in,II 590old diagnosis of,II 582menus for,IV 1029APPETITElack of,IV 1081difference between hunger and,IV 1081ARTERIO-SCLEROSIScauses of,I 170food in,I 171ASSIMILATIONdefinition of,III 630ASTHMAdescribed,II 519causes of,II 533symptoms of,II 533remedy for,II 634diet in,II 534foods to eat in,II 535foods to omit in,II 535
ATHLETESselection, combination and proportioning of food for,V1188summer diet for,V1191winter diet for,V1192suggestions regarding diet in exposure to extreme cold or for exertion,V1201AUTOINTOXICATIONdefined,I 247bacteria in,I 247meat a factor in,I 247
B
BACTERIAdiscussed,I 166origin of,I 167not all harmful,I 168species of,I 168producers of,I 168fermentation produced by,I 169growth of,I 169meat a producer of,I 259BANANASvarieties of,III 675how to select and ripen,III 676how to bake,III 677BILEdefined,I 153function of,I 153purposes of,I 153BILIOUSNESScause of,II 466symptoms of,II 466
remedy for,II 466what to eat,II 467what to omit,II 467BRANmeal, composition of,III 683—— bread made from,III 683wheat, composition of,III 681—— medicinal properties of,III 681BLOOD, THEAntipepsin in,I 152glucose in,I 204process of oxidation of,II 346corpuscles of,II 386automatic action of,II 388incorrect feeding cause of impurity of,II 397defective circulation of,II 398exercise a factor in poisoning and purification of,V1331increase of circulation of,V1335BRIGHT'S DIS-EASEdescribed,II 550causes of,II 551symptoms of,II 551prevention of,II 552treatment for,II 553general suggestion in feeding in,II 554foods to eat in,II 555foods to omit in,II 555BROMINdefined,I 73BUSINESS MANa lesson for,V1317examples of poor,V1318
wealth at the expense of health for theV1319the abnormal,V1320what is a good,V1320qualities of a,V1321routine life of the average,V1322bad habits of the average,V1322the ancient remedy for the average,V1322the physician of the average,V1324twelve rules of health for the,V1324-1326BUTTERcomposition of,I 283its value as a food,I 284caloric value of,I 285cocoa, how made,II 338cocoanut, composition of,II 339home-made, how to make,III 674BUTTERMILKhow made,III 674BUTYRINdefined,I 123
C
CALORIESdefinition of,I 199method of determining numbers of,I 202CARBOHYDRATESclassification of,I 106monosaccharids,I 109disaccharids,I 112polysaccharids,I 114purpose of,III 625
CARBONsources of,I 81forms of,I 82properties of,I 83monoxid, properties of,I 87combining power of,I 88and hydrogen compounds,I 88dioxid of,I 83nature of,I 81CASEINsources of,I 130vegetable,I 130CATARRHdescribed,II 519causes of,II 527symptoms of,II 528remedy for,II 528diet for,II 529foods to eat in,II 530foods to omit in,II 530nasal,IV 922—— food a factor in,IV 922—— water drinking in the treatment of,IV 923—— menus for,IV 925CELLULOSEin nutrition,I 119value of,I 119CHARTshowing number of so-called dis-eases caused by superacidity,I 9CHEESEprocesses of making,I 282ripening of,I 283
digestive value of,I 283limburger,I 283manufacture of,I 283CHEMISTRYits relation to food science,I 25combustion in,I 26common elements of,I 27number of elements in,I 28examples of changes due to,I 29symbols of,I 31list of elements in,I 32organic,I 81of foods,I 105of digestion,I 139of metabolism,I 193COLDSdescribed,II 519causes of,II 520, IV 915symptoms of,II 521overeating a cause of,II 521exposure a cause of,II 522remedy for,II 523foods to use for,II 524turkish baths for,II 525value of fresh air for,II 525foods to eat for,II 526foods to omit for,II 526COCAINhabit,II 354uses of,II 354in medicines,II 355