FACTORS INFLUENCING DIGESTION
As before stated, it is not the food eaten, but that which the body digests and assimilates, or appropriates to its needs, which counts; many factors influence such nourishment. The principal ones are the forceful circulation, the breathing of plenty of oxygen, and the resultant free elimination of waste.
The Appetite
If one has no appetite, by far the safest method is to abstain from food until the system calls for it, or to eat but a very little of the lightest food at regular meal times; be careful not to mince between meals nor to eat candy nor pickles. Be sure that the lack of appetite is not due to mental preoccupation which does not let the brain relax long enough for the physical needs to assert themselves. One should relax the brain in pleasant thoughts during a meal.
If the appetite is lacking, because of physical exhaustion, it is unwise to eat, because the digestive organs are tired, and to load a tired stomach with food, still further weakens it and results in indigestion. The better plan is to drink two glasses of cold water and lie down for an hour; if there is still no desire for food, drink freely of water, but abstain from food until hungry.
This should not lead one into forming the habit of irregular eating, however. The stomach forms habits and the supply of food must be regular, just as the nursing child must be fed regularly, or digestive disturbance is sure to result.
A wise provision of Nature makes the system, in a normal condition, its own regulator, protesting against food when it has not assimilated or eliminated that consumed. One should learn to obey such protests and cut down the quantity when Nature calls “enough.”
There are exceptions, however. Some phases of indigestion result in a gnawing sensation in the stomach, which is often mistaken for a desire for food. This is not a normal appetite. Water will usually relieve it.
Often loss of appetite is the result of a clogging of intestines or liver, or to an excess of bile, which, not having been properly discharged into the intestines, has entered the blood stream. An excess of bile and poisons, indicating a torpid liver, often expresses itself in a dull mental force, the toxins deadening the nerve cells. Nature does not call for more food until she has eliminated the excess of waste.
It is commonly stated that the body will call for what the system requires. This may have been true of the aborigines, who ate their food in its natural state, and, to a certain extent, it is true to-day, but condiments and stimulants, to make the food “appetizing,” have unduly stimulated the nerves and perverted the natural taste; foods containing their natural amount of spices or extractives no longer tempt one. Those whose nerves are highly keyed, form the habit of seasoning the food too strongly, making it too stimulating. This undue stimulant calls for more food at the time of eating than a normal appetite would demand. The taste being cultivated for the stimulant, the habit of eating too much food is formed.
There is a difference between the cultivated and the normal appetite. A child rarely shows a desire for stimulants or condiments, unless unwisely encouraged by an adult, who does it,—not because it is good for the child, but because the individual himself has cultivated a taste for it. It is as easy to form healthful tastes and habits of eating as unhealthful ones, and care should especially be exercised in the formation of healthful habits by the growing child.
The simple foods, in their natural state, are in the right condition to be digested, with the aid of heat to break the cellular coverings of the globules of some of them, but time, energy, muscular activity, nerve force, and money are spent in combining, seasoning, and cooking foods in such a manner as often to render them difficult of digestion.
Deep breathing of fresh air, to throw off the poisonous carbon dioxid and to supply an abundance of oxygen to oxidize the waste, thus putting it in condition to be expelled from the system; brisk exercise to accelerate the circulation, that the blood may carry the oxygen freely and that the tissues may liberate the carbon dioxid and other waste; and a copious drinking ofwater, are the best tonics for loss of appetite or for a lack of vitality.
Economy in Food
It is economy, therefore, to keep the digestive organs and the circulation and tissues strong, in order that all foods eaten may yield returns, instead of hampering activity.
The food which furnishes the most tissue-building substance and yields the most heat and energy, with the least refuse, is the economical food. In the selection of food for any individual, the result to be gained from the food must be borne in mind. If one is doing heavy muscular work, more protein to rebuild tissue, as well as more carbohydrates and fats to produce energy, are required than if one’s habits of work are sedentary. In mental work, where the brain is continually active, proteins are required to re-supply the brain tissue, but the fats and carbohydrates may be lessened. This would seem to contradict the theory that where one’s habits are sedentary and the brain alone is active, the proteins are not required. In sedentary occupation, the carbohydrates and fats are stored within the system, clogging it and producing torpid liver, constipation, and obesity,—unlessthe brain is sufficiently active to use all of the fuel in brain energy.
In a dietary study of the following tables, the question should be to provide the largest quantity of nutriment at the lowest cost, with due attention to palatability and variety. In the selection of meats, for instances, while beefsteak may cost twice as much as beef stew, it must be borne in mind that beefsteak contains very little waste, and it contains a large proportion of albuminoids, or the tissue building proteins, while, in the beef stew, the bones and the connective tissue predominate; the proteins yielded from the beef stew are a large proportion gelatinoids and extractives,—not the tissue building albuminoids. This would not hold in comparing the cheaper and the more expensive cuts in the same kind of beefsteak; the cheaper cuts often yield quite as much nutriment as the more expensive ones. Round steak is just as nourishing as porter-house and much cheaper.
Much is said about the bacteria present in the atmosphere, the microbes in the food, etc., that one is puzzled to know, not only what to eat, but how to breathe, and, in fact, which way to turn to avoid them; but microbes and bacteria have beenpresent in the atmosphere and in matter everywhere since time began. They are a part of the natural surroundings, and the body, if kept in strong vitality, has sufficient resistive power to enable one to live unharmed by them. The danger lies in allowing the system to run down and the vital force to ebb, so that the body becomes an easy prey to them.
Habit and Regularity of Eating.
There is no doubt but that thehabitof eating governs one’s convictions of what the system requires. One is inclined to think that a desire for a food is a requirement of Nature; yet it may simply be the continuance of a habit. The vital organs form habits just as one forms a habit of walking, sitting or of carrying the head or the hands, and habit re-asserts itself.
If a mother feeds her babe every three hours the child will usually wake and call for food about this period. If she has formed the habit of nursing the child every two hours, it will call for food in about two hours, even though all symptoms indicate that the child is over fed.
It is important that both child and adult establish regular and hygienic habits because the digestive juices secrete themselvesat the regular periods established.A right habit is as easily formed, and as difficult to change, as a wrong one.
If one forms the habit of eating a certain amount of food, the stomach calls for about the same amount, and when one first begins to change the quantity it protests, whether the change be to eat more or less.
Few people form the habit of drinking sufficient water,—particularly if they have been taught that water at meals is injurious. In this busy life, few remember to stop work and drink water between meals, and if not consumed at the meal time the system suffers. Many people look “dried up.”
The habit of drinking two glasses of water upon first arising, and six more during the day is an important one.
Frequency of Meals
There is no doubt but that a large number of people overload the digestive organs. This, as well as the bolting of food, insufficiently masticated, cannot be too strongly denounced.All food should be chewed to a pulp before swallowed.
As a relief from overeating, many theorists are advocating two meals a day, but the work of the average man isplanned into morning and afternoon sessions, and the three meals have been arranged accordingly.
Where two meals a day are eaten, the first meal should be at nine or ten o’clock in the morning and the second meal at five or six o’clock in the afternoon; whereas, for the average person who eats two meals a day, the custom is to go without food until the midday meal, and then to eat two meals within six hours, with nothing more for eighteen hours.
The argument in favor of two meals a day has been that the digestive system is inactive during sleep, and, therefore, the system is not ready for a meal upon arising, but the latest experiments (Pawlow) show that digestion continues during sleep, though less actively. It must be borne in mind that the average evening meal is eaten about six o’clock and that there are about four waking hours between this meal and the sleep period; also, that the average individual is awake and moderately active an hour before the morning meal. This gives five waking hours between the evening and the morning meal. About the same time, five hours, elapses between the morning and the midday meal, and between the midday and theevening meal, so that three meals a day divide the digestion periods about evenly.
More frequent meals, served in lighter quantity, with greater regularity, so that the system is not overloaded at any one meals, is rational for delicate, or undernourished nerves and tissues. The little child is fed regularly every three hours.
Effect of Exercise and Breathing upon Digestion
Daily exercise and the habit of full breathing are absolutely necessary that the waste of the system may be fully liberated, that the nourishment may be carried freely to every tissue, and that sufficient oxygen may be carried through the blood to oxidize the waste, or, to put it into condition to be thrown off.
The necessity of oxygen as food is evident. The body will subsist about forty days upon the food stored within it, without re-supply, but it can endure only a few seconds without oxygen, because heat, occasioned by the union of oxygen with carbon and hydrogen, is necessary to keep up the physical activity termed “life.”The necessity of habits of full, correct breathing cannot be too fully emphasized.The quantity of oxygen, daily consumed,should fully equal the sum of all other food elements.[6]
Oxygen is necessary to cause combustion of fats, starches and sugars, just as it is necessary to cause combustion of carbon in wood, or coal.
The heat from “burning” wood is produced by the oxygen of the air uniting with hydrogen and carbon, forming carbon-dioxid (carbonic acid gas) and water.
The light in the burning of wood is caused by the rapid combustion of the carbonic acid gas. The same combustion occurs within the body continuously, though more slowly, hence no light is produced.
The carbon in the body is liberated and brought into contact with more oxygen in the blood through exercise and full breathing, just as a fire is fanned to flame by bringing more oxygen into contact with the fire, by means of a draught of air. Keep all air away from a fire and it “goes out,” or ceases to unite with the oxygen, and no heat is produced; keep all air from within the body, by cessation of breathing, and it also becomes cold. A room in whichthe air is impure, containing insufficient oxygen, is heated with difficulty,—the body which is not constantly supplied with pure air generates very little body heat. The effect of oxygen in the creation of heat is practically demonstrated by repeatedly filling the lungs with air while out in the cold. The body will become quickly warmed on the coldest day by this practice.
Deep breathing aids digestion and assimilation, not alone because of the regular exercise given to the pancreas, the spleen, the stomach, and the liver by the correct movement of the diaphragm, but because of the latent heat which the oxygen liberates within the digestive organs and out among the tissues.
While the chemical action of food creates activity within, this activity is materially aided by exercise, and oxygen is imperative, as shown above. Exercise and oxygen are also necessary for chemical action in tearing down waste and in putting raw material into condition to be appropriated to the body needs.
Two glasses of water in the morning and fifteen minutes’ brisk exercise of well selected movements, to start a forceful circulation and to surge the water through the vital organs, are a daily necessity ifone is to keep clean and strong within. It is as important to cleanse the body within as without. It is the method employed by all men and women who would retain strong vital forces to a ripe old age. They fully enjoy the mereLIVING.
“Tired” or Disturbed Balance
Since the condition of the body so materially affects the digestion, absorption, and metabolism of food, as well as the elimination of waste, it is not amiss to discuss it here.
The habit of eating when too tired and then at once going to work, so that the blood is called from the stomach, is almost sure to result in indigestion.
The average person is tired because the brain and nerves are more active than the muscles and is rested by muscular exercise, or change of work.
The regular work of the body in keeping up the heart action and the circulation and in renewing and relieving waste, requires a certain quantity of oxygen to liberate energy. This energy the system, in normal condition, with normal breathing, readily furnishes, but when that used in undue muscular work is more than that being liberated at the time, through combustion, the energy required for the constantbodily needs is called upon, and the muscles, nerves and tissues are then in the state termed “tired.” They remain so until sufficient oxygen has liberated more potential energy than is needed for the work constantly going on in the body. When a sufficient supply of oxygen has been consumed to equal the demand, the body is in a state of rest.
In mental work the nerves and the brain call for the surplus energy, while in muscular work the tissues require it, hence undue work, either mental or physical, expresses itself in bodily fatigue, until the oxygen equals the demand in all parts of the body.
A torpid condition of body, producing inertness, means that the waste of the system is not relieved. It may be that by reason of insufficient breathing of pure air, sufficient oxygen is not consumed to put the waste in condition to be eliminated. This poisonous carbon dioxid being hoarded, dulls the nerve sensation and the brain action and produces more or less of stupor. It may be because the circulation in some part of the body is clogged (most often the portal circulation through the liver), so that sufficient oxygen is not carried to that part.
Relief from this “inertness” is experienced most quickly by exercise in the fresh air, that the circulation may be quickened and the oxygen more freely carried to each part. Exercise in one’s room by the open window, or at least with the air in the room pure, is often preferable to outdoor exercise, because the body can be nude, or so loosely clothed that the oxygen may not only enter the lungs but also circulate about the pores of the skin. Fifteen minutes of brisk exercise in one’s room is better than a five-mile walk, because if the exercises be intelligently selected, every organ and tissue is used, while walking exercises only about one-fourth of the muscles. If the circulation is clogged, the exercising must be kept up persistently, until the obstruction is removed and particular attention must be given to the supply of fresh air in the room.
After sleeping in a room with impure air, one arises fatigued, because of insufficient oxygen to liberate the energy required for circulation and catabolism, and because the carbonic acid gas cannot be relieved without oxygen to cause combustion. As stated above, if the poisonous carbonic acid gas remains in the system,it deadens the nerve sensation and produces a semi-stupor.
The relief, then, from the state of body we call “tired,” is in the distribution of the circulation, calling the blood from the unduly distended capillaries, and supplying the normal quantity of oxygen. Rightly directed physical exercise renews the circulation to all parts, incites deep breathing, and puts the body in the state of harmony called “rest.”
Harmony, either mental or physical,is rest.
With a little more intelligence in keeping up the supply and demand of oxygen, in establishing correct breathing habits, and in understanding the law of distribution of circulation, which means the harmony of forces, this tired world could draw a deep, restful breath.
Influence of the Mind
The state of the mind has much to do in regulating the digestive system. Cheerful thoughts put the nerves of the entire organism in a natural state, while disagreeable thoughts put the nerves in a tense, unnatural condition. The nerves to the digestive system are affected by the tensity of the mind, just as the nerves to any other part of the body. Asan illustration of this;—if one thinks ugly, disagreeable thoughts for a continuous period, actual illness results. These thoughts affect the digestion in such a manner that the appetite sometimes entirely wanes. All so-called “new thoughts,” “ologies,” or “isms,” conducive to the formation of the habit of looking upon the bright side of life, or of looking for good and joy in life, put the nerves in a natural state, affecting the digestion and consequently the health. The practice is ChristianSense.
The nerves control, to a great degree, the peristaltic movements of the stomach and the action of the absorption cells, as well as the cells which secrete the digestive juices. Thus it is that a food which one likes is not only more palatable, but it will digest more readily, because the digestive juices flow more freely.
It is well, therefore, to begin the meal with something which tastes particularly good, that the flow of these digestive juices may be incited. For this reason, if one cares for fruit, it is an excellent custom to begin the meal with fruit, or with soup, containing protein extractives, which stimulate the flow of digestive juices. The habit of finishing a meal with some tastydessert, is based upon the scientific principle that by so doing the gastric juices will flow more freely after the meal, thus aiding in its digestion.
Dainty service in a sick-room, because of the psychic effect of a meal daintily served, is of utmost importance. Because of the effect upon the mind the sight of a meal served upon soiled linen will almost stop the flow of gastric juice and destroy the desire for food, while a meal daintily served upon dainty linen, with garnishings and tasteful table decorations, incites the flow of gastric juices.
The careful wife and mother, who notes the appetites of members of her family failing, should attend carefully to the garnishing of her dishes and to serving them in a neat, attractive manner; also to changing her table decorations, as far as may be consistent, so that the eye as well as the sense of smell and taste may be pleased.
It is strange, but it is true, that just a fresh flower, or a new table decoration, may so put the mind of one who is afflicted with nervous indigestion in a receptive state that the meal more readily digests, while an untidy table, or a lot of food served untidily would retard digestion.One may be able to control the thoughts under most circumstances but the above is a physiological fact.
Sometimes the sight of quantities of food turns one against it. The custom among hearty eaters, of serving a plate too plentifully, destroys the appetite of one whose digestion is not so hearty.
Our grandmothers’ overloaded tables, with sufficient food of various kinds to serve many times the number of participants, might stimulate the appetite of hearty, strong men, while the very sight of so much might turn the appetite of one more delicate, whose system did not crave food.
FOOTNOTES:[6]Editor’s Note.—Measurements of eighteen thousand women show that sixty-two per cent of women use only about one-half of their lung capacity and less than nine per cent use their full capacity.
[6]Editor’s Note.—Measurements of eighteen thousand women show that sixty-two per cent of women use only about one-half of their lung capacity and less than nine per cent use their full capacity.
[6]Editor’s Note.—Measurements of eighteen thousand women show that sixty-two per cent of women use only about one-half of their lung capacity and less than nine per cent use their full capacity.