Under the paralyzing influence of the stimulant upon the inhibitory nerves, the organism now draws upon the reserve stores of nerve fats and vital energies for the necessary strength to accomplish the extra nightwork.
At the same time, the organism remains awake and active during the time it should be replenishing energy for the next day's work, which means that the latter also has to be done at the expense of the reserve supply of life force.
During sleep only do we replenish our reserve stores of vitality. The expenditure of vital energies ceases, but their liberation in the system continues.
Therefore sleep is the "sweet restorer." Nothing can take its place. No amount of food and drink, no tonics or stimulants can make up for the loss of sleep. Continued complete deprivation of sleep is bound to end in a short time in physical and mental exhaustion, in insanity and death.
That the body, during sleep, acts as a storage battery for vital energy is proved by the fact that in deep, sound sleep the aura disappears entirely from around the body.
The aura is to the organism what the exhaust steam is to the engine. It is formed by the electromagnetic fluids which have performed their work in the body and then escape from it, giving the appearance of a many-colored halo.
With the first awakening of conscious mental activity after sleep, the aura appears, indicating that the expenditure of vital force has recommenced.
In the above diagram we have an illustration of the true effect of stimulants upon the system. The heavy line A-B represents the normal level of available vital energy in a certain body for a given time, say, for twenty-four hours. At point C a stimulant is taken. This paralyzes the inhibitory nerves and temporarily precipitates the fatigue products from the blood.
As we have seen, this allows an increased, unnatural expenditure of vital energy, which raises the latter to point D. But when the effect of the stimulant has been spent, the vital energy drops from the artificially attained high point not only back to the normal level, but below it to point E.
The increased expenditure of vital energy was made possible at the expense of the reserve supply of vitality; therefore the depression following it is in proportion to the preceding stimulation. This is in accordance with the law: "Action and reaction are equal, but opposite."
The falling of the vital energy below the normal to point E is accompanied by a feeling of exhaustion and depression which creates a desire to repeat the pleasurable experience of an abundant supply of vitality, and thus leads to a repetition of the artificial stimulation. As a result of this, the expenditure of vitality is again raised above the normal to point F, only to fall again below the normal, to G, etc.
In this way the person who resorts to stimulants to keep up his strength or to increase it, is never normal, never on the level, never at his best. He is either overstimulated or abnormally depressed. His efforts are bound to be fitful and his work uneven in quality. Furthermore, it will be only a matter of time until he exhausts his reserve supply of nerve fats and vital energy and then suffers nervous bankruptcy in the forms of nervous prostration, neurasthenia or insanity.
Such a person is acting like the spendthrift whose capital in the bank allows him to expend ten dollars a day, but who, instead, draws several times the amount of his legitimate daily interest. There can be but one outcome to this: in due time the cashier will inform him that his account is overdrawn.
The same principles hold true with regard to stimulants given at the sickbed.
One of the arguments I constantly hear from students and physicians of the "Old School" of medicine is: "Some of your methods may be all right, but what would you do at the sickbed of a patient who is so weak and low that he may die at any moment? Would you just let him die? Would you not give him something to keep him alive?"
I certainly would, if I could. But I do not believe that poisons can give life. If there is enough vitality in that dying body to react to the poisonous stimulant by a temporary increase of vital activity, then that same amount of vitality will keep the heart beating and the respiration going a little longer at the slower pace. Nature regulates the heartbeat and the other functions according to the amount and availability of vital force. If the heart beats slow, it is because Nature is trying to economize vitality.
In the inevitable depression following the artificial whipping up of the vital energies, many times the flame is snuffed out entirely when otherwise it might have continued to burn at the slower rate for some time longer.
However, I do not deny the advisability of administering stimulants in cases of shock. When a shock has caused the stopping of the wheels of life, another shock by a stimulant may set them in motion again.
The Effects of Stimulants upon the Mind
The mental and emotional exhilaration accompanying the indulgence in alcohol or other poisonous stimulants is produced in a similar manner as the apparent increase of physical strength under the influence of these agents. Here, also, the temporary stimulation and seeming increase of power are effected by paralysis of the governing and restraining faculties of mind and soul: of reason, modesty, reserve, caution, reverence, etc.
The moral, mental and emotional capacities and powers of the human entity are governed by the same principle of dual action that controls physical activity. We have on the one hand the motor or driving impulses, and on the other hand the restraining and inhibiting influences.
In these higher realms appetite, passion, imagination and desire correspond to the motor nervous system in the physical organism, and the power of the will and the reasoning faculties represent the inhibitory nervous system.
The exhilarating and stimulating influence of alcohol and narcotics such as opiates or hashish upon the animal spirits and the emotional and imaginative faculties is caused by the benumbing and paralyzing effect of these stimulants upon the powers of will, reason and self-control, the brakes on the lower appetites, passions and desires which fire the emotional nature and the imagination. However, what is gained in feeling and imagination, is lost in judgment and logic.
Alcohol, nicotine, caffein, theobromine, lupulin (the bitter principle of hops), opium, cocaine, morphine, etc., when given in certain doses, all affect the human organism in a similar manner.
In small quantities they seemingly stimulate and animate; in larger amounts they depress and stupefy. In reality, they are paralyzers from the beginning in every instance, and their apparent, temporary tonic effect is deceptive. They benumb and paralyze not only the physical organism, but also the higher and highest mental and moral qualities, capacities and powers.
These higher and finer qualities are located in the front part of the brain. In the evolution of the species from lower to higher, the brain gradually developed and enlarged in a forward direction. Thus we find in the lowest order of fishes that all they possess of brain matter is a small protuberance at the end of the spinal cord. As the species and families rose in the scale of evolution, the brain developed proportionately from behind forward and became differentiated into three distinct divisions: the medulla oblongata, the cerebellum, and the cerebrum.
The medulla oblongata, situated at the base of the brain where it joins the spinal cord, contains those brain centers that control the purely vegetative, vital functions: the circulation of the blood, the respiration, regulation of animal heat, etc.
The cerebellum, in front of and above the medulla, is the seat of the centers for the coordination of muscular activities and for maintaining the equilibrium of the body.
The frontal brain or cerebrum contains the centers for the sensory organs, also the motor centers which supply the driving impulses for the muscular activities of the body, and in the occipital and frontal lobes, the centers for the higher and highest qualities of mind and soul, which constitute the governing and restraining faculties on which depend the powers of self-control.
Thus we see that the development of the brain has been in a forward direction, from the upper extremity of the spinal cord to the frontal lobes of the cerebrum, from the low, vegetative qualities of the animal and the savage to the complex and refined activities of the highly civilized and trained mind.
It is an interesting and most significant fact that paralysis of brain centers caused by alcohol and other stimulants, or by hypnotics and narcotics, proceeds reversely to the order of their development during the processes of evolution.
The first to succumb are the brain centers in the frontal lobes of the cerebrum, which control the latest-developed and most-refined human attributes. These are: modesty, caution, reserve, reverence, altruism. Then follow in the order given: memory, reason, logic, intelligence, will power, self-control, the control of muscular coordination and equilibrium and finally consciousness and the vital activities of heart action and respiration.
When the conscious activities of the soul have been put to sleep, the paralysis extends to the subconscious activities of life or vital force. Respiration and heart action become weak and labored, and may finally cease entirely.
In order to verify this, let us study the effects of alcohol, the best-known and most-used of stimulants. Many people believe that alcohol increases not only physical strength, but mental energy also. Regular medical science considers it a valuable tonic in all cases of physical and mental depression. It is often administered in surgical operations and in accidents with the idea of prolonging life. I have frequently found the whisky or brandy bottle at the bedside of infants and on it the directions of the attending physician.
Watch the effect of this tonic on a group of convivial spirits at a banquet. Full honor is done to the art of the chef, and the wine flows freely. The flow of animal spirits increases proportionately; conviviality, wit and humor rise by leaps and bounds. But the apparent joy and happiness are in reality nothing but the play of the lower animal impulses, unrestrained by the higher powers of mind and soul.
The words of the afterdinner speaker who, when sober, is a sedate and earnest gentleman, flow with unusual ease. The close and unprejudiced observer notices, however, that what the speaker has gained in eloquence, loquacity and exuberance of style and expres-sion, he has lost in logic, clearness and good sense.
As King Alcohol tightens his grasp on the merry company, the toasters and speakers lose more and more their control over speech and actions. What was at first mischievous abandon and merry jest, gradually degenerates into loquaciousness, coarseness and querulous brawls. Here and there one of the maudlin crowd drops off in the stupor of drunkenness.
If the liquor is strong enough and if the debauch is continued long enough, it may end in complete paralysis of the vital functions or in death.
Hypnotism and Obsession
Again, we find the seeming paradox of stimulation by paralysis exemplified in the phenomena of hypnotism and obsession. The abnormally exaggerated sensation, feeling and imagination of the subject under hypnotic control are made possible because the higher, critical and restraining faculties and powers of will, reason and self-control are temporarily or permanently benumbed and paralyzed by the stronger will of the hypnotist or of the obsessing intelligence.
There is a most interesting resemblance between the effects of stimulants, narcotics or hypnotic control and blind, unreasoning faith. The latter also benumbs and paralyzes judgment and reason. It gives full sway to the powers of imagination and thus may produce seemingly miraculous results.
This explains the modus operandi of faith cures as well as the fitful strength of the intoxicated and the insane, or the beautiful dreams and delusions of grandeur of the drug addict.
The close resemblance and relationship between hypnotic control and faith became vividly apparent to me while witnessing the performance of a professional hypnotist. His subject on the stage was a young woman who, under his control, performed extraordinary feats of strength and resistance. Several strong men could not lift or move her in any way.
What was the reason? In the ordinary, waking condition her judgment and common sense would tell her: "I cannot resist the combined strength of these men. Of course, they can lift me and pull me here and there." As a result of this doubting state of mind, she would not have the strength to resist.
However, the control of the hypnotist had paralyzed her reasoning faculties and therewith her capacity for judging, doubting and not believing. Her subconscious mind accepted without question or the shadow of a doubt the suggestion of the hypnotist that she did possess the strength to resist the combined efforts of the men and as a result she actually manifested the necessary powers of resistance.
It is an established fact that the impressions (records) made upon the subconscious mind under certain conditions as, for instance, under hypnotic influence absolutely control the activities of the physical body.
Does not this throw an interesting light on the power of absolute faith, on the saying: "Everything is possible to him who believeth?" Blind, unreasoning faith benumbs and paralyzes judgment and reason in similar manner as hypnotic control or stimulants and in that way gives free and full sway to the powers of imagination and autosuggestion for good or ill, for white magic or black magic, according to the purpose for which faith is exerted.
It also becomes apparent that such blind, unreasoning faith cannot be constructive in its influence upon the higher mental, moral and spiritual faculties. These can be developed only by the conscious and voluntary exercise of will, reason and self-control.
From the foregoing it will have become evident that we cannot increase vital force in the body through any artificial means or methods from without, by food, drink or stimulant. What we can and should do, however, is to put the organism into the best possible condition for the liberation and manifestation of life force or vital energy.
The more normal the chemical composition of the blood, and the more free the tissues are from clogging impurities, poisons and mechanical obstructions, such as lesions of the spinal column, the more abundant will be the liberation and the available supply of vital energy.
Therefore perfect, buoyant health, which ensures the greatest possible efficiency and enjoyment of life, can be attained and maintained only by strict adherence to the natural ways of living and, when necessary, by the natural treatment of diseases.
Natural Dietetics
The chemical composition of blood and lymph depends upon the chemical composition of food and drink, and upon the normal or abnormal condition of the digestive organs.
The purer the food and drink, the less it contains of morbid matter and poison-producing materials and the more it contains of the elements necessary for the proper execution of the manifold functions of the organism, for the building and repair of tissues and for the neutralization and elimination of waste and systemic poisons, the more "normal" and the more "natural" will be the diet.
The system of dietetics of the Nature Cure school is based upon the composition of MILK, which is the only perfect natural food combination in existence.
In its composition, milk corresponds very closely to red, arterial blood and contains all the elements which the newborn and growing organism needs in exactly the right proportions, providing, of course, that the human or animal body which produces the milk is in good health and lives on pure and normal foods.
Therefore, if any food combination or diet is to be "normal" or "natural," it must approach in its chemical composition the chemical composition of milk or of red, arterial blood. This furnishes a strictly scientific basis for an exact science of dietetics, and proves true not only in the chemical aspect of the diet problem, but also in every other aspect and in its practical application.
The "regular" school of medicine pays little or no attention to rational food regulation. In fact, it knows nothing about it, because "natural dietetics" are as yet not taught in medical schools. As a result of this condition, the dietary advice given by the majority of Old School practitioners is something as follows: "Eat what agrees with you: plenty of good, nourishing food. There is nothing in dietetic fads. What is one man's meat is another man's poison, etc."
However, if we study dietetics from a strictly scientific point of view, we find that certain foods—among these especially the highly valued flesh foods, eggs, pulses and cereals—create in the system large quantities of morbid, poisonous substances, while on the other hand fruits and vegetables, which are rich in the organic salts, tend to neutralize and to eliminate from the system the waste materials and poisons created in the processes of protein and starch digestion.
The accumulations of waste and systemic poisons are the cause of the majority of diseases arising within the human organism. Therefore it is imperative that the neutralizing and eliminating food elements be provided in sufficient quantities.
On this turns the entire problem of natural dietetics. While the "Old School" of medicine looks upon starches, sugars, fats and proteins as the only elements of nutrition worthy of consideration, Nature Cure aims to reduce these foods in the natural dietary and to increase the purifying and eliminating fruits and vegetables.
In this volume we cannot go into the details of the diet question. They will be treated in full in our ~Vegetarian Cookbook~ and in our volume on ~Natural Dietetics.~ We shall say here in a general way that in the treatment of chronic diseases, with few exceptions, we favor a strict vegetarian diet for the reason that most chronic diseases are created, as before stated, by the accumulation of the "feces of the cells" in the system.
Every piece of animal flesh is saturated with these excrements of the cells in the form of uric acid and many other kinds of acids, alkaloids of putrefaction, xanthines, ptomaines, etc. The organism of the meat eater must dispose not only of its own impurities produced in the processes of digestion and of cell metabolism, but also of the morbid substances that are already contained in the animal flesh.
Since the cure of chronic diseases consists largely in purifying the body of morbid materials, it stands to reason that a "chronic" must cease taking these in his daily food and drink. To do otherwise would be like sweeping the dirt out of a house through the front door and carrying it in again through the back door.
Whether one approves of strict vegetarianism as a continuous mode of living or not, it will be admitted that the change from a meat diet to a nonmeat diet must be of great benefit in the treatment of chronic diseases.
The cure of chronic conditions depends upon radical changes in the cells and tissues of the body, as explained in Chapter Twenty. The old, abnormal, faulty diet will continue to build the same abnormal and disease-encumbered tissues. The more thorough and radical the change in diet toward normality and purity, the quicker the cells and tissues of the body will change toward the normal and thus bring about a complete regeneration of the organism.
Anything short of this may be palliative treatment, but is not worthy the name of cure.
Natural Foods
In the following I shall give the outline a natural diet regimen which has been found by experience to meet all requirements of the healthy organism, even when people have to work very hard physically or mentally. In case of disease, certain modifications may have to be made according to individual conditions. Persons in a low, negative state, whether physical, mental or psychical, may temporarily require the addition of flesh foods to their diet.
Dietetics In A Nutshell
Food Classes
Predominant
Chemical
Elements
Functions in Vital Processes
Foods in Which the Elements of the Respective Groups Predominate
Carbohydrates
Starches and Dextrines
Carbon
Oxygen
Hydrogen
Producers of Heat and Energy
CEREALS: The inner, white parts of wheat, corn, rye, oats, barley, buckewheat and rice. VEGETABLES: Potatoes, pumpkins, squashes. FRUITS: Bananas. NUTS: Chestnuts
Carbohydrates
Sugars
Carbon
Oxygen
Hydrogen
Producers of
Heat and
Energy
VEGETABLES: Melons, beets, sorghum. FRUITS: Bananas, dates, figs, grapes, raisins. DAIRY PRODUCTS: Milk. NATURAL SUGARS: Honey, maple sugar. COMMERCIAL SUGARS: White sugar, syrup, glucose, candy. NUTS: Cocoanuts.
Hydrocarbons
Fats and
Oils
Carbon
Oxygen
Hydrogen
Producers of
Heat and
Energy
FRUITS: Olives. DAIRY PRODUCTS: Cream, butter, cheese. NUTS: Peanuts, almonds, walnuts, cocoanuts, Brazil nuts, pecans, pignolias, etc. COMMERCIAL FATS: Olive oil, peanut oil, peanut butter, vegetable-cooking oils. THE YOKES OF EGGS
Proteids
Albumen
(white of egg)
Gluten
(grains)
Myosin
(lean meat)
Carbon
Oxygen
Hydrogen
Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Sulphur
Producers of Heat and Energy;
Building Materials for Cells and Tissues
CEREALS: The outer, dark parts of wheat, corn, rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, and rice. VEGETABLES: The legumes (peas, beans, lentils), mushrooms. NUTS: Cocoanuts, chestnuts, peanuts, pignolias (pine nuts), hickorynuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, etc. DAIRY PRODUCTS: Milk, cheese. MEATS: Muscular parts of animals, fish, and fowls.
Organic Minerals
Organic
Mineral
Elements
Sodium
Na
Ferrum (Iron)
Fe
Calcium (Lime)
Ca
Potassium
Magnesium
Mg
Manganese
Mn
Silicon
Si
Chlorine
Cl
Flourine
Fl
Eliminators:
Bone, Blood, and Nerve
Builders;
Antiseptics:
Blood Purifiers;
Laxitives;
Cholagogues;
Producers of
Electro-magnetic Energies
THE RED BLOOD OF ANIMALS. CEREALS: The hulls and outer, dark layers of grains and rice. VEGETABLES: Lettuce, spinach, cabbage, green peppers, watercress, celery, onions, asparagus, cauliflower, tomatoes, string-beans, fresh peas, parsley, cucumbers, radishes, savoy, horseradish, dandelion, beets, carrots, turnips, eggplant, kohlrabi, oysterplant, artichokes, leek, rosekale (Brussels sprouts), parsnips, pumpkins, squashes, sorghum. FRUITS: Apples, pears, peaches, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, plums, prunes, apricots, cherries, olives. BERRIES: Strawberries, huckleberries, cranb \erries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, gooseberries, currants. DAIRY PRODUCTS: Milk, buttermilk, skimmed milk. NUTS: Cocoanuts.
In the accompanying table entitled "Dietics In A Nutshell" we have divided all food materials into five groups:
(Carbohydrates): Starches. (Carbohydrates): Dextrins and sugars. (Hydrocarbons): Fats and oils. (Proteids): white of egg, lean meat, the gluten of grains and pulses, the proteins of nuts and milk. (Organic Minerals): Iron, sodium calcium, potassium, magnesium, silicon. These are contained in largest amounts in the juicy fruits and the leafy, juicy vegetables.
As a general rule, let one-half of your food consist of Group V and the other half of a mixture of the first four groups.
If you wish to follow a pure food diet, exclude meat, fish, fowl, meat soups and sauces and all other foods prepared from the dead animal carcass.
This is brief and comprehensive. When in doubt, consult this rule.
Also do not use coffee, tea, alcoholic beverages, tobacco or stimulants of any kind.
Good foods are:
Dairy Products: milk, buttermilk, skimmed milk, cream, butter, freshcottage cheese. fermented cheeses, as American, Swiss, Holland andDeBrie, should be used sparingly. The stronger cheeses likeCamembert and Roquefort should not be used at all
Eggs: Raw, soft-boiled or poached, not fried or hard-boiled. Eggs should be used sparingly. Two eggs three times a week or on an average one egg a day, is sufficient.
White of egg is much easier to digest than the yolk, therefore the whites only should be used in cases of very weak digestion. Beaten up with orange juice, they are both palatable and wholesome; or they may be beaten very stiff and served cold with a sauce of prune juice or other cooked fruit juices. This makes a delicious and very nutritive dish.
Honey is a very valuable food and a natural laxative. It is not generally known that honey is not a purely vegetable product, but that in passing through the organism of the bee it partakes of its life element (animal magnetism).
Honey is one of the best forms of sugar available. The white sugar is detrimental to health, because it has become inorganic through the refining process. The brown, unrefined granulated sugar or maple sugar should be used instead.
Figs, dates, raisins, bananas and all the other sweet fruits are excellent to satisfy the craving of the organism for sweets.
Cereal Foods: Rice, wheat, oats, barley, are good when properly combined with fruits and vegetables and with dairy products. Use preferably the whole-grain preparations such as shredded wheat or corn flakes. Oatmeal is not easily digestible; it is all right for robust people working in the open air, but not so good for invalids and people of sedentary habits.
Thin mushes are not to be recommended, because they do not require mastication and therefore escape the action of the saliva, which is indispensable to the digestion of starchy foods.
Avoid the use of white bread or any other white-flour products, especially pastry. White flour contains little more than the starchy elements of the grain. Most of the valuable proteins which are equal to meat in food value and the all-important organic salts which lodge in the hulls and the outer layers of the grain have been refined out of it together with the bran. The latter is in itself very valuable as a mechanical stimulant to the peristaltic action of the bowels.
In preference to white bread eat Graham bread or whole rye bread. Our health bread forms the solid foundation of a well-balanced vegetarian diet. It is prepared as follows:
Take one-third each of white flour, Graham flour and rye meal (not the ordinary Bohemian rye flour, but the coarse pumpernickel meal which contains the whole of the rye, including the hull).
Make a sponge of the white flour in the usual manner, either with good yeast or with leavened dough from the last baking, which has been kept cold and sweet. When the sponge has risen sufficiently, work the graham flour and rye meal into it. Thorough kneading is of importance. Let rise slowly a second time, place in pans, and bake slowly until thoroughly done.
By chemical analysis this bread has been found to contain more nourishment than meat. It is very easily digested and assimilated and is a natural laxative. Eaten with sweet butter and in combination with fruits and vegetables, it makes a complete and well balanced meal.
A good substitute for bread is the following excellent whole wheat preparation: Soak clean, soft wheat in cold water for about seven hours and steam in a double boiler for from eight to twelve hours, or cook in a fireless cooker over night. Eat with honey and milk or cream, or with prune juice, fig juice, etc., or add butter and dates or raisins. This dish is more nutritious than meat, and one of the finest laxative foods in existence.
Nuts are exceedingly rich in fats (60 percent) and proteins (15 percent), but rank low in mineral salts. Therefore they should be used sparingly, and always in combination with fruits, berries or vegetables. The coconut differs from the other nuts in that it contains less fats and proteins and more organic salts. The meat of the coconut together with its milk comes nearer to the chemical composition of human milk than any other food in existence.
Vegetables
Leguminous Vegetables, such as peas, beans and lentils in the ripened state are richer in protein than meat (25 percent), and besides they contain a large percentage of starchy food elements (60 percent); therefore they produce in the process of digestion large quantities of poisonous acids, alkaloids of putrefaction and noxious gases.
They should not be taken in large quantities and only in combination cooked or raw vegetables. As a dressing use lemon juice and olive oil.
Peas and beans in the green state differ very much from their chemical composition in the ripened state. As long as these vegetables are green and in the pulp, they contain large quantities of sugars and organic minerals, with but little starch and protein. As the ripening process advances, the percentages of starches and proteins increase, while those of the sugars and of the organic minerals decrease. The latter retire into the leaves and stems (polarization).
In the green, pulpy state these foods may, therefore, be classed with Group II (Sugars) and with Group V (Organic Minerals), while in the ripened state they must be classed with Groups I (Starches) and Groups IV (Proteids).
Dried peas, beans and lentils are more palatable and wholesome when cooked in combination with tomatoes or prunes.
The Leafy and Juicy Vegetables growing in or near the ground are very rich in the positive organic salts and therefore of great nutritive and medicinal value. For this reason they are best suited to balance the negative, acid-producing starches, sugars, fats and proteins.
Lettuce, spinach, cabbage, watercress, celery, parsley, savoy cabbage, brussels sprouts, Scotch kale, leek and endive rank highest in organic mineral salts. Next to these come tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, radishes, onions, asparagus, cauliflower and horseradish.(See also Group V in "Dietetics in a Nutshell.")
Splendid, cooling summer foods, rich in the blood-purifying organic salts, are watermelons, muskmelons. cantaloupes, pumpkins, squashes and other members of the melon family.
The green vegetables are most beneficial when eaten raw, with a dressing of lemon juice and olive oil. Avoid the use of vinegar as much as possible. It is a product of fermentation and a powerful preservative which retards digestion as well as fermentation, both processes being very much of the same character.
Use neither pepper nor salt at the table. They may be used sparingly in cooking. Strong spices and condiments are more or less irritating to the mucous linings of the intestinal tract. They paralyze gradually the nerves of taste. At first they stimulate the digestive organs; but, like all other stimulants, in time they produce weakness and atrophy.
Cooking of Vegetables
While most vegetables are not improved by cooking, we do not mean that they should never be cooked. Many diet reformers go to extremes when they claim that all the organic salts in fruits and vegetables are rendered inorganic by cooking. This is an exaggera-tion. Cooking is merely a mechanical process of subdivision, not a chemical process of transformation. Mechanical processes of division do not dissolve or destroy organic molecules to any great extent.
Nevertheless, it remains true that the green leafy vegetables are not improved by cooking. It is different with the starchy tubers and roots like potatoes, turnips, etc., and with other starchy foods such as rice and grains. Here the cooking serves to break up and separate the hard starch granules and to make them more pervious to penetration by the digestive juices.
How to Cook Vegetables
After the vegetables are thoroughly washed and cut into pieces as desired, place them in the cooking vessel, adding only enough water to keep them from burning, cover the vessel closely with a lid and let them steam slowly in their own juices.
The leafy vegetables (cabbage, spinach, kale, etc.), usually contain enough water for their own steaming.
Cook all vegetables only as long as is required to make them soft enough for easy mastication. Do not throw away a drop of the water in which such vegetables as carrots, beets, asparagus, oyster plant, egg plant, etc., have been cooked. Use what is left for the making of soups and sauces.
The organic mineral salts contained in the vegetables readily boil out into the water. If the vegetables, as is the usual custom, are boiled in a large quantity of water, then drained or, what is still worse, pressed out, they have lost their nutritive and medicinal value. The mineral salts have vanished in the sink, the remains are insipid and indigestible and have to be soaked in soup stock and seasoned with strong condiments and spices to make them at all palatable.
Fruits and Berries
Next to the leafy vegetables, fruits and berries are the most valuable foods of the organic minerals group. Lemons, grapefruit, oranges, apples are especially beneficial as blood purifiers. Plums, pears, peaches, apricots, cherries, grapes, etc., contain large amounts of fruit sugars in easily assimilable form and are also very valuable on account of their mineral salts.
The different kinds of berries are even richer in mineral salts than the acid and subacid fruits. In the country homes of Germany they are always at hand either dried or preserved to serve during the winter not only as delicious foods but also as valuable home remedies.
Fruits and berries are best eaten raw, although they may be stewed or baked. Very few people know that rhubarb and cranberries are very palatable when cut up fine and well mixed with honey, being allowed to stand for about an hour before serving. Prepared in this way, they require much less sweetening and therefore do not tax the organism nearly as much as the ordinary rhubarb or cranberry sauce, which usually contains an excessive amount of sugar.
Cooking of Fruits
It is better to cook apples, cranberries, rhubarb, strawberries, and all other acid fruits without sugar until soft, and to add the sugar afterward. Much less sugar will be required to sweeten them sufficiently than when the sugar is added before or during the cooking.
Dried fruits rank next to the fresh in value, as the evaporating process only removes a large percentage of water, without changing the chemical composition of the fruit in any way. Prunes, apricots, apples, pears, peaches and berries may be obtained in the dried state all through the year. Dates, figs, raisins and currants also come under this head.
Olives are an excellent food. They are very rich in fats (about 50 percent), and contain also considerable quantities of organic salts. They are therefore a good substitute for animal fat.
Avoid factory-canned fruits. In the first place, they have become deteriorated by the cooking process and secondly, they usually contain poisonous chemical preservatives. Home-preserved fruits and vegetables are all right providing they do not contain too much sugar and no poisonous preservative.
Bananas differ from the juicy fruits in that they consist almost entirely of starches, dextrines and sugars. They belong to the carbohydrate groups and should be used sparingly by people suffering from intestinal indigestion.
However, we do not share the belief entertained by many people that bananas are injurious under all circumstances. We consider them an excellent food, especially for children.
Mixing Fruits and Vegetables
Many people, when they first sit down to our table, are horrified to see how we mix fruits and vegetables in the same meal. They have been taught that it is a cardinal sin against the laws of health to do this. After they overcome their prejudice and partake heartily of the meals as we serve them, they are greatly surprised to find that these combinations of vegetables and juicy fruits are not only harmless, but agreeable and highly beneficial.
We have never been able to find any good reason why these foods should not be mixed and our experience proves that no ill effects can be traced to this practice except in very rare instances. There are a few individuals with whom the mixing of fruits and vegetables does not seem to agree. These, of course, should refrain from it. We must comply with idiosyncrasies until they are overcome by natural living.
Eating fruits only or vegetables only at one and the same meal limits the selection and combination of foods to a very considerable extent and tends to create monotony, which is not only unpleasant but injurious. The flow of saliva and of the digestive juices is greatly increased by the agreeable sight, smell and taste of appetizing food and these depend largely upon its variety.
With very few exceptions, every one of our patients (and we have in our institution as fine a collection of dyspeptics as can be found anywhere) heartily enjoys our mixed dietary and is greatly benefited by it.
Mixing Starches and Acid Fruits
Occasionally we find that one or another of our patients cannot eat starchy foods and acid fruits at the same meal without experiencing digestive disturbances. Whenever this is the case, it is best to take with bread or cereals only sweet, alkaline fruits such as prunes, figs, dates, raisins, or, in their season, watermelons and cantaloupes or the alkaline vegetables such as radishes, lettuce, onions, cabbage slaw, etc. The acid and subacid fruits should then be taken between those meals which consist largely of starchy foods.
A Word About the Milk Diet
When we explain that the natural diet is based upon the chemical composition of milk because milk is the only perfect natural food combination in existence, the question comes up: "Why, then, not live on milk entirely?" To this we reply: While milk is the natural food for the newborn and growing infant, it is not natural for the adult. The digestive apparatus of the infant is especially adapted to the digestion of milk, while that of the adult requires more solid and bulky food.
Milk is a very beneficial article of diet in all acid diseases, because it contains comparatively low percentages of carbohydrates and proteins and large amounts of organic salts.
However, not everybody can use milk as a food or medicine. In many instances it causes biliousness, fermentation and constipation.
In cases where it is easily digested, a straight milk diet often proves very beneficial. As a rule, however, it is better to take fruits or vegetable salads with the milk.
Directly with milk may be taken any sweetish, alkaline fruits such as melons, sweet pears, etc., or the dried fruits, such as prunes, dates, figs, and raisins, also vegetable salads. With the latter, if taken together with milk, little or no lemon juice should be used.
All acid and subacid fruits should be taken between the milk meals.
A patient on a milk diet may take from one to five quarts of milk daily, according to his capacity to digest it. This quantity may be distributed over the day after the following plan:
Breakfast: One to three pints of milk, sipped slowly with any of the sweetish, alkaline fruits mentioned above, or with vegetable salads composed of lettuce, celery, raw cabbage slaw, watercress, green onions, radishes, carrots, etc
10:00 A.M.: Grapefruit, oranges, peaches, apples, apricots, berries, grapes or other acid and subacid fruits.
Luncheon: The same as breakfast.
3:00 P.M. The same as 10 a.m.
Supper: The same as breakfast. An orange or apple may be taken before retiring.
When it is advisable to take a greater variety of food together with large quantities of milk, good whole grain bread and butter, cream, honey, cooked vegetables, moderate amounts of potatoes and cereals may be added to the dietary.
Buttermilk
Buttermilk is an excellent food for those with whom it agrees. In many instances a straight buttermilk diet for a certain period will prove very beneficial. This is especially true in all forms of uric acid diseases.
Sour milk or clabber also has excellent medicinal qualities and may be taken freely by those with whom it agrees.
Drinks
It has been stated before that coffee, tea and alcoholic beverages should be avoided.
Instead of the customary coffee, tea or cocoa, delicious drinks, which are nutritious and at the same time nonstimulating, may be prepared from the different fruit and vegetable juices. They may be served cold in hot weather and warm in winter. Recipes for fruit and vegetable drinks will be included in our new Vegetarian Cookbook, now in preparation.
If more substantial drinks are desired, white of egg may be added or the entire egg may be used in combination with prune juice, fig juice or any of the acid fruit juices. Other desirable and unobjectionable additions to beverages are flaked nuts or bananas mashed to a liquid.
The juice of a lemon or an orange, unsweetened, diluted with twice the amount of water, taken upon rising, is one of the best means of purifying the blood and other fluids of the body and, incidentally, clearing the complexion. The water in which prunes or figs have been cooked should be taken freely to remedy constipation.
As a practical illustration, I shall describe briefly the daily dietary regimen as it is followed in our sanitarium work.
Breakfast consists of juicy fruits, raw, baked or stewed, a cereal (whole wheat steamed, cracked wheat, shredded wheat, corn flakes, oat meal, etc.), and our health bread with butter, cottage cheese or honey. Nuts of various kinds, as well as figs, dates, or raisins, are always on the table. To those of our patients who desire a drink, we serve milk, buttermilk or cereal coffee.
Twice a week we serve eggs, preferably raw, soft boiled or poached.
Luncheon is served at noontime and is composed altogether of acid and subacid fruits, vegetable salads or both. We have found by experience that, by having one meal consist entirely of fruits and vegetables, the medicinal properties of these foods have a chance to act on the system without interference by starchy and protein food elements.
Dinner is served to our patients between five and six. The items of the daily menu comprise relishes, such as radishes, celery, olives, young onions, raw carrots, etc., soup, one or two cooked vegetables, potatoes, preferably boiled or baked in their skins, and a dessert consisting of either a fruit combination or a pudding.
We serve soup three times a week only, because we believe that a large amount of fluid of any kind taken into the system at meal time dilutes and thereby weakens the digestive juices. For this reason it is well to masticate with the soup some bread or crackers or some vegetable relish.
As drinks we serve to those who desire it water, milk or buttermilk.
Prunes or figs, stewed or raw, are served at every meal to those who require a specially laxative diet.
Acid Diseases
The origin, progressive development and cure of acid diseases are very much the same whether they manifest as rheumatism, arteriosclerosis, stones (calculi), gravel, diabetes, Bright's disease, affections of the heart or apoplexy.
The human body is made up of acid and alkaline constituents. In order to have normal conditions and functions of tissues and organs, both must be present in the right proportions. If either the acid or the alkaline elements are present in excessive or insufficient quanitities, abnormal conditions and functions, that is, disease will be the result.
All acids, with the exception of carbonic acid, exert a tensing influence upon the tissues of the body, while alkalies have a relaxing effect. The normal functions of the body depend upon the equilibrium between these opposing forces.
Acidity and alkalinity undoubtedly play an important part in the generation of electricity and magnetism in the human organism. Every electric cell and battery contains acid and alkaline elements; and the human body is a dynamo made up of innumerable minute electric cells and batteries in the forms of living, protoplasmic cells and organs.
It has been claimed that what we call vital force is electricity and magnetism, and that these forces are manufactured in the human body. This, however, is but a partial statement of the truth. It is true that vital force manifests in the body as electricity and magnetism, but life or vital force itself is not generated in the system.
Life is a primary force; it is the source of all activity animating the universe. From this primary force other, secondary forces are derived, such as electricity, magnetism, mind force, nerve and muscle force, etc.
These secondary, derived forces cannot be changed back into vital force in the human organism. Nothing can give life but LIFE itself.
When the physical body is dead, as we call it, the life which left it is active in the spiritual body. It is independent of the physical organism just as electricity is independent of the incandescent bulb in which it manifests as light.
After this digression we shall return to our study of the cause and development of acid diseases. Nearly every disease originating in the human body is due to or accompanied by the excessive formation of different kinds of acids in the system, the most important of which are uric, carbonic, sulphuric, phosphoric and oxalic acids. These, together with xanthines, poisonous alkaloids and ptomaines, are formed during the processes of protein and starch digestion and in the breaking down and decay of cells and tissues.
Of these different waste products, uric acid causes probably the most trouble in the organism. The majority of diseases arising within the human body are due to its erratic behavior. Together with oxalic acid, it is responsible for arteriosclerosis, arthritic rheumatism and the formation of calculi.
Dr. Haig of London has done excellent work in the investigation of uric-acid poisoning, but he becomes one-sided when he makes uric acid the scapegoat for all disease conditions originating in the organism. In his philosophy of disease he fails to take into consideration the effects of other acids and systemic poisons. For instance, he does not mention the fact that carbonic acid is produced in the system somewhat similarly to the formation of coal gas in the furnace; and that its accumulation prevents the entrance of oxygen into the cells and tissues, thus causing asphyxiation or oxygen starvation, which manifests in the symptoms of anemia and tuberculosis.
Neither does Dr. Haig explain the effects of other destructive by-products formed during the digestion of starches and proteins. Sulphurous acid and sulphuric acid (vitriol), as well as phosphorus and phosphoric acids actually burn up the tissues of the body. They destroy the cellulose membranes which form the protecting skins or envelopes of the cells, dissolve the protoplasm and allow the latter to escape into the circulation. This accounts for the symptoms of Bright's disease, the presence of albumen (cell protoplasm) in blood and urine, the clogging of the circulation, the consequent stagnation and the accumulation of blood serum (dropsy) and the final breaking down of the tissues (necrosis) resulting in open sores and ulcers.
Excess of phosphorus and the acids derived from it overstimulates the brain and the nervous system, causing nervousness, irritability, hysteria and the different forms of mania.
An example of this is the distemper of a horse when given too much oats and not enough grass or hay. The excess of phosphorus and phosphoric acids formed from the protein materials of the grain, if not neutralized by the alkaline minerals contained in grasses, hay or straw, will overstimulate and irritate the nervous system of the animal and cause it to become nervous, irritable and vicious. These symptoms disappear when the rations of oats are decreased and when more fresh grass or hay is fed in place of the grain.
Similar effects to those produced upon the horse by an excess of grains are caused in the human organism, especially in the sensitive nervous system of the child, by a surplus of protein foods, of meat, eggs, grains and pulses.
Still, when patients suffering from overstimulation of the brain and nervous system consult their doctor, his advice in almost every instance is: "Your nerves are weak and overwrought. You need plenty of good, nourishing food (broths, meat and eggs), and 'a good tonic.'"
The remedies prescribed by the doctor are the very things which caused the trouble in the first place.
As stated before, uric acid is undoubtedly one of the most common causes of disease and therefore deserves especial attention. Through the study of its peculiar behavior under different circumstances and influences, the cause, nature and development of all acid diseases will become clearer.
Like urea, uric acid is one of the end products of protein digestion. It is formed in much smaller quantities than urea, in proportion of about one to fifty, but the latter is more easily eliminated from the system through kidneys and skin.
The principal ingredient in the formation of uric acid is nitrogen, one of the six elements which enter into all proteid or albuminous food materials, also called nitrogenous foods. Uric acid, as one of the by-products of digestion, is therefore always present in the blood and, in moderate quantities, serves useful purposes in the economy of the human and animal organism like the other waste materials. It becomes a source of irritation and cause of disease only when it is present in the circulation or in the tissues in excessive amounts.
How Uric Acid Is Precipitated
The alkaline blood takes up the uric acid, dissolves it and holds it in solution in the circulation until it is carried to the organs of depuration and eliminated in perspiration and urine. If, however, through the excessive use of nitrogenous foods or defective elimination, the amount of uric acid in the system is increased beyond a certain limit, the blood loses its power to dissolve it and it forms a sticky, glue-like, colloid substance, which occludes or blocks up the minute blood vessels (capillaries), so that the blood cannot pass readily from the arterial system into the venous circulation.
This interference with the free passing of the blood is greater in proportion to the distance from the heart, because the farther from the heart, the less the force behind the circulation. Therefore we find that slowing up of the blood currents, whether due to uric acid occlusion or any other cause, is more pronounced in the surface of the body and in the extremities than in the interior parts and organs.
This occlusion of the surface circulation can be easily observed and even measured by a simple test. Press the tip of the forefinger of one hand on the back of the other. A white spot will be formed where the blood has receded from the surface on account of the pressure. Now observe how quickly or how slowly the blood returns into this white patch.
Dr. Haig says that, if the reflux of the blood take place within two or three seconds, the circulation is normal and not obstructed by uric acid. If, however, the blood does not return for four or more seconds, it is a sign that the capillary circulation is obstructed by colloid uric acid occlusion.
In this connection I would call attention to the fact that the accumulation of carbonic acid in the cells and tissues, and the resulting oxygen starvation, may produce similar interference with the circulation and result in the same symptoms, including the slow reflux of blood after pressure, as those which Dr. Haig ascribes to the action of uric acid only.
When this obstruction of the circulation by uric or carbonic acid prevails throughout the body, the blood pressure is too high in the arterial blood vessels and in the interior organs, such as heart, lungs, brain, etc., and too low in the surface, the extremities and in the venous circulation. The return flow of the blood to the heart through the veins is sluggish and stagnant because the force from behind, that is, the arterial blood pressure, is obstructed by the uric acid which clogs the minute capillaries that form the connection between the arterial and the venous systems.
Because of this interference with the normal circulation and distribution of the blood, uric acid produces many annoying and deleterious effects. It irritates the nerves, the mucous membranes and other tissues of the body, thus causing headaches, rheumatic pains in joints and muscles, congestion of blood in the head, flushes, dizziness, depression, fainting and even epilepsy.
Other results of uric acid irritation are: inflammatory and catarrhal conditions of the bronchi, lungs, stomach, intestines, genitourinary organs; rapid pulse; palpitation of the heart; angina pectoris; etc.
These colloid substances occlude the minute excretory ducts in liver, spleen, kidneys and other organs, interfering with their normal functions and causing the retention of morbid matter in the system.
All these troublesome and destructive effects of uric acid poisoning may be greatly augmented by excessive accumulation of sulphuric, phosphoric and other acids, and by the formation of ptomaines and poisonous alkaloids during the metabolism of proteid substances.
The entire group of symptoms caused by the excess of uric acid in the system and the resulting occlusion of the capillary blood vessels by colloid substances is called ~collemia~ [a glutinous or viscid condition of the blood].
If in such a condition as collemia the amount of uric acid in the circulation is still farther increased by the taking of uric acid-producing food and drink and the saturation point of the blood is reached, that is, if the blood becomes overcharged with the acid, a curious phenomenon may be observed: the collaemic symptoms suddenly disappear as if by magic, giving way to a feeling of physical and mental buoyancy and strength.
This wonderful change has been wrought because the blood has lost its capacity for dissolving uric acid and holding it in solution and the acid has been precipitated, thrown out of the circulation and deposited in the tissues of the body.
After a period of rest, that is, when no uric acid-or xanthine-producing foods have been taken for some time, say, overnight, the blood regains its alkalinity and its capacity for dissolving and carrying uric acid and begins to reabsorb it from the tissues. As a consequence, the blood becomes again saturated with uric acid and the collaemic symptoms reappear.
This explains why the hilariousness and exaltation of spirits at the banquet is followed by "Katzenjammer" [hangover] in the morning. It also explains why many people do not feel fit for their day's work unless they take a stimulant of some kind on arising. Their blood is continually filled with uric acid to the point of saturation and the extra amount contained in the coffee or alcohol repeats the process of uric-acid precipitation, the temporary stimulation and relief.
Every time this precipitation of uric acid from the circulation is repeated, some of the morbid materials remain and accumulate in different parts and organs. If these irritating substances become lodged in the joints and muscles, arthritic or muscular rheumatism is the result. If acids, xanthines and oxalates of lime form earthy deposits along the walls of arteries and veins, these vessels harden and become inelastic, and their diameter is diminished. This obstructs the free circulation of the blood and causes malnutrition of the brain and other vital organs. Furthermore, the blood vessels become brittle and break easily and there is danger of hemorrhages.
This explains the origin and development of arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and apoplexy.
Apoplexy may also be caused by other acids and drug poisons which soften, corrode and destroy the walls of the blood vessels in the brain.
In individuals of different constitutions, accumulations of uric acid, xanthines, oxalates of calcium and various other earthy substances form stones, gravel or sandy deposits in the kidneys, the gall bladder and in other parts and organs.
The diseases caused by permanent deposits of uric acid in the tissues are called arthritic diseases, because the accumulations frequently occur in the joints.
Thus we distinguish two distinct stages of uric acid diseases: the collaemic stage, marked by an excess of uric acid in the circulation and resulting in occlusion of the capillary blood vessels, and the arthritic stage, marked by permanent deposits of uric acid and other earthy substances in the tissues of the body.
During the prevalence of the collaemic symptoms, that is, when the circulation is saturated with uric acid, the urine is also highly acid. When precipitation of the acid materials from the blood into the tissues has taken place, the amount of acid in the urine decreases materially.
I have repeatedly stated that xanthines have the same effect upon the system as uric acid. Caffeine and theobromine, the narcotic principles of coffee and tea, are xanthines; and so is the nicotine contained in tobacco. Peas, beans, lentils, mushrooms and peanuts, besides being very rich in uric acid-producing proteins, carry also large percentages of xanthines, which are chemically almost identical with uric acid and have a similar effect upon the organism and its functions.
From what has been said, it becomes clear why the meat-eater craves alcohol and xanthines. When by the taking of flesh foods the blood has become saturated with uric acid and the annoying symptoms of collaemia make their appearance in the forms of lassitude, headache and nervous depression, then alcohol and the xanthines contained in coffee, tea and tobacco will cause the precipitation of the acids from the circulation into the tissues of the body, and thus temporarily relieve the collaemic symptoms and create a feeling of well-being and stimulation.
Gradually, however, the blood regains its alkalinity and its acid-dissolving power and enough of the acid deposits are reabsorbed by the circulation to cause a return of the symptoms of collaemia. Then arises a craving for more alcohol, coffee, tea, nicotine or xanthine-producing foods in order to again obtain temporary relief and stimulation, and so on, ad infinitum.
The person addicted to the use of stimulants is never himself. His mental, moral and emotional equilibrium is always unbalanced. His brain is muddled with poisons and he lacks the self-control, the clear vision and steady hand necessary for the achievement of success in any line of endeavor.
We can now understand why one stimulant craves another, why it is almost impossible to give up one stimulant without giving up all others as well.
From the foregoing it will have become clear that the stimulating effect of alcohol and of many so-called tonics depends upon their power to clear the circulation temporarily of uric and other acids. Those who have read this chapter carefully, will know why this effect is deceptive and temporary and why it is followed by a return of the collaemic symptoms in aggravated form, and how these are gradually changed into chronic arthritic uric acid diseases.
In order to give a better idea of the various phases of uric acid poisoning, I have used the following illustration in some of my lectures:
A man may carry a burden of fifty pounds on his shoulders without difficulty or serious discomfort. Let this correspond to the normal solving-power and carrying-capacity of the blood for uric acid. Suppose you add gradually to the burden on the man's back until its weight has reached one-hundred and fifty pounds. He may still be able to carry the burden, but as the weight increases he will begin to show signs of distress. This increase of weight and the attendant discomfort correspond to the increase of uric acid in the blood and the accompanying symptoms of collaemia.
If you increase the burden on the man's shoulders still further, beyond his individual carrying-capacity, a point will be reached when he can no longer support its weight and will throw it off entirely. This climax corresponds to the saturation point of the blood, when the limit of its acid-carrying capacity is exceeded and its acid contents are precipitated into the tissues.
The Treatment of Acid Diseases
The treatment of acid diseases is the same as of all other diseases that are due to the violation of Nature's laws: purification of blood and tissues from within and building up of the vital fluids (blood and lymph) on a natural basis through normal habits of eating, dressing, bathing, breathing, working, resting and thinking as outlined in other parts of this volume.
In severe cases which have reached the chronic stage, the treatment must be supplemented by the more aggressive methods of strict diet, hydrotherapy, curative gymnastics, massage, manipulation and homeopathic medication.