“When pain and sickness wring the brow,A health-restoring medium thou.”
“When pain and sickness wring the brow,A health-restoring medium thou.”
“When pain and sickness wring the brow,A health-restoring medium thou.”
And, if we admire it for its beauty and esteem it as a beverage, how inconceivably should these feelings be intensified by the knowledge that its remedial virtues are in nowise inferior to its other qualities!
The next in importance of the great health agencies is Fresh Air. Perhaps we ought to class it as the most important, for although people have been known to live for days without water, yet without air their hours would be quickly numbered. Air is a vital necessity to the human organism, and the fresher the better—it cannot be too fresh. The oxygen gas in the air is the vitalizing element. The blood corpuscles when they enter the lungs through the capillaries are charged with carbonic acid gas (which is a deadly poison), but when brought into contact with the oxygen, for which they have a wonderful affinity, they immediately absorb it, after ejecting the carbonic acid gas. The oxygen is at once carried to the heart, and by that marvelous pumping machine sent bounding through the arteries to contribute to the animal heat of the body.
When it is taken into account that the lungs of an average sized man contain upwards of six hundred millions of minute air cells, the surface area of which represents many thousands of square feet, the danger of exposing such a vast area of delicate tissue to the action of vitiated air can be readily estimated. No matter how nutritious the food may be that is taken into the stomach, no matter how perfect the processes of digestion and assimilation are, the blood cannot be vitalized without fresh air.
It is estimated that the blood is pumped through the lungs at the rate of eight hundred quarts per hour, and that during that period it rids itself of about thirty quarts of carbonic acid gas, and absorbs about the same amount of oxygen. Think for a moment of the madness of obstructing this interchange of elements which is perpetually going on and on which life depends!
It is more especially during the hours of sleep that fresh, pure air is needed, for that is when Nature is busiest, repairing and building up, and calls for larger supplies of oxygen to keep up the internal fires, but her efforts at repairing waste are rendered futile if you diminish the supply of the vitalizing element and compel her to use over again the refuse material she has already cast off.
The late Prof. Willard Parker, in a lecture delivered before a class of medical students, made a very forcible illustration of how the air of a room was vitiated, in the following impressive words: “If, gentlemen, instead of air you suppose this room filled with pure, clean water, and that instead of air you were exhaling twenty times a minute a pint of milk, you can see how soon the water, at first clear and sparkling, would become hazy and finally opaque; the milk diffusing itself rapidly through the water, you will thus be able, also, to appreciate how, at each fresh inspiration you would be taking in a liquid that grew momentarily more impure. Were we able to see the air as we see the water, we would at once appreciate how thoroughly we are contaminating it, and that unless there be some vent for the air thus vitiated, and some opening large enough to admit a pure supply of this very valuable material, we will be momentarily poisoning ourselves, as surely as if we were taking sewage matter into our stomachs.” Don’t leave the matter of a good supply of air to servants. See to it yourself and see that you are not robbed of it. It would be better to trust your eating to an attendant than your breathing. Do that yourself.
In spite of the amount of literature devoted to sanitary matters, it is astonishing how little is understood of the principles of ventilation, and its supreme importance to the general welfare. We do not, of course, refer to ventilation in its broadest scientific sense, such as the securing of an adequate air supply in large auditoriums, for it is a melancholy fact that even our prominent architects not only display a pitiably deficient grasp of that phase of the subject, but of the simple, yet fundamental principles of the science, which every intelligent adult should be familiar with. How many heads of families, for instance, can intelligently ventilate a sleeping room? They will open a window for a few minutes in the morning, without opening the door also, to create a current, and think that is amply sufficient to displace the accumulated carbon dioxide and other substances inimical to health. No wonder so many people are tormented by bad dreams! In sleeping apartments the bed should be in the center of the room—never near a wall. A current of air should be maintained, but without a draught upon the bed. It is better to open the window two inches at the bottom, and the same distance at the top, than to have it open for a foot either at the top or bottom only. If, through inclemency of the weather, or other causes, the window can only be opened for a few minutes, then by waving the door back and forth rapidly ten or a dozen times, the displacement of the vitiated air will be infinitely more rapid and thorough. Considering the length of time that is spent in the sleeping apartment, the paramount importance of a constant supply of fresh air is readily perceived. No matter how perfect digestion and assimilation may be, if the blood is not thoroughly oxygenated, the best of foods fail of their intended effect. Even the least fastidious would object to drinking water that had been used for washing purposes by others; yet it is quite as objectionable to breathe air that is charged with the waste products of bodies that may even be diseased. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of ventilation.
Better let in cold air and put on more bedclothes, as long as you do not sleep in a draught.
Oxygen keeps up the animal heat of the body, and you can really keep warmer in a room with plenty of fresh air than in a close room where the air is vitiated.
But in the sick room fresh air is of paramount importance, not only for the patient, but for the attendants, who are otherwise compelled to inhale the poisonous exhalations from the diseased body.
Let no consideration blind you, either in sickness or in health, to the imperative necessity of plenty of fresh air.
The next great natural agency, and one to which scant attention is paid, compared with its hygienic importance, is Light, but more especially Sunlight.
Light is essential to life. If by some monstrous cataclysm the sun was suddenly extinguished, it is impossible to conceive the misery that would follow. In the event of such a fearful calamity it would require but a very short time to depopulate the earth. We repeat, light is a necessity of existence, and it behooves us all to allow it free access to our dwellings. What if it does bleach carpets and draperies! Its beneficent effects are not to be measured by yards of wool and silk. Love of light is as instinctive as the aversion to darkness. Plants growing in a dark cellar, where but one struggling ray of light enters, will instinctively grow in the direction of that ray. It is questionable whether defective lighting is not productive of as much physical deterioration in the crowded tenement districts as defective ventilation—certainly it is only secondary in degree. Light is necessary. Light is free to all, and why human beings endowed with reason should attempt to exclude it from their dwellings is a thing that passes comprehension. Give the light free access to your dwelling. “Let there be light,” is as imperative now as when the fiat went forth at the dawn of creation.
But Sunlight is the great health-giving agent. The sun is the great source of life. Its rays stimulate the growth of every living organism, and there is no doubt but they exert a chemical action upon living tissue with which we are as yet but imperfectly acquainted. This fact has been recognized of late years, hence our winter resorts are liberally supplied with sun parlors, in which those in quest of health may enjoy the rejuvenating effect of solar heat without exposing themselves to the inclemency of wintry weather. This is a revival of an old Roman custom, for the more opulent of that nation had sun baths on the roofs of their dwellings. Sunshine is as necessary to robust, vigorous health as either air or water. Then seize the full enjoyment of it whenever opportunity offers! It is a stimulant and tonic that has no superior. Go forth into the sunlight on every possible occasion! It is one of Nature’s greatest therapeutic agents, and she bestows it ungrudgingly, without money and without price. If you are wise you will avail yourself of her bounty.
Do not be afraid to let the sunlight penetrate your dwellings, especially the morning sun. Thrifty housewives are prone to regard the actions of the sun’s rays on their carpets and draperies as disastrous in the extreme, but its exclusion from their dwelling is far more disastrous to the health of the inmates. There is, of course, a happy medium in all things, and, therefore, it is not necessary to have the sun’s rays streaming in through every door and window during the whole day; but the entire dwelling should be (as far as possible) thrown open to the vivifying beams of old Sol for a couple of hours in the morning, which at the same time will thoroughly ventilate the building. There is more virtue in sunlight than most people are aware of. Its bactericidal effects are only just beginning to be understood; but if you desire a healthful dwelling, let God’s bright sunshine freely and frequently penetrate every corner of it.
It is astonishing how few people there are who properly estimate the hygienic value of the sun’s rays. A valuable lesson on this point may be learned by observing the lower animals, none of which ever neglect an opportunity to bask in the sun. And the nearer man approaches to his primitive condition the more he is inclined to follow the example of the animals. It is a natural instinct which civilization has partially destroyed in the human race.
The effect of sunshine is not merely thermal, to warm and raise the heat of the body; its rays have chemical and electric functions. As a clever physician lately explained, it is more than possible that sunshine produces vibrations and changes of particles in the deeper tissues of the body, as effective as those of electricity. Many know by experience that the relief it affords to wearing pain, neuralgic and inflammatory, is more effective and lasting than that of any application whatever.
Those who have faceache should prove it for themselves, sitting in a sunny window where the warmth falls full on the cheek.
For nervous debility and insomnia the treatment of all others is rest in sunshine. Draw the bed to the window and let the patient lie in the sun for hours. There is no tonic like it—provided the good effects are not neutralized by ill-feeling. To restore a withered arm, a palsied or rheumatic limb, or to bring a case of nervous prostration up speedily, a most efficient part of the treatment would be to expose the limb or the person as many hours to direct sunlight as the day would afford. With weak lungs let the sun fall on the chest for hours. If internal tumor or ulceration is suspected, let the sun burn through the bear skin directly on the point of disease for hours daily. There will be no doubt left in the mind that there is a curative power in the chemical rays of the sun.
For the chilliness which causes blue hands and bad color, resort to the sun; let it almost blister the skin, and the circulation will answer the attraction.
It is a finer stimulous than wine, electricity or massage, and we are on the verge of great therapeutic discoveries concerning it.
Some years ago a London surgeon, by using the sun’s rays (presumably with a lens), removed a wine mark from a lady’s face, and destroyed a malignant growth in the same way.
Says Dr. Thayer, of San Francisco:
“During a practice of more than a quarter of a century I have found no caustic or cautery to compare with solar heat in its beneficial results. Unlike other caustics, it can be applied with safety on the most delicate tissues and the system receives this treatment kindly. The irritation and inflammation following are surprisingly slight and of short duration, the pain subsiding immediately on removal of the lens. There is a curative power in the chemical rays of the sun yet unexplained.”
Women especially need to make systematic trial of the sun’s healing and rejuvenating rays. The woman who wants a cheek like a rose should pull her sofa pillows into the window and let the sun blaze first on one cheek and then on the other, and she will gain color warranted not to wash off.
Thus it will be seen that the curative properties of sunlight are in nowise overestimated, but in cases of sickness its beneficial action is purely supplementary. The system must first be thoroughly cleansed by “flushing the colon,” then, the ground work of improvement being laid, Fresh Air and Sunlight will prove themselves worthy and efficient colleagues in the task of restoring health.
Singly, each is of intrinsic value, but inadequate to cope with disease single-handed (although they may mitigate it), but combined they form a Trinity so powerful that disease can never successfully oppose them.
The other two factors in Nature’s great Health curriculum, namely, Exercise and Diet, will be considered under separate headings.
Motion is life. The health of both body and mind depend upon it. Inaction means stagnation, a condition fatal to health. Hence the necessity of exercise. As before stated, disuse is as fatal to a piece of machinery as excessive use; in fact, it is far more likely to rust out than to wear out. Activity is essential to life and health and can never be prejudicial, provided that moderation is observed and the muscular system not strained or overworked.
There are thousands of miles of minute tubing in the human body—the arterioles, veins, capillaries and lymphatic vessels. They ramify through every portion of the body tissues, the first carrying the vitalized blood for nourishment of the parts, the second returning the impure blood, charged with the waste of the structures, the third being the intermediate stage between the first and second, while the fourth and last, the lymphatic vessels, collect the surplus nutrition and return it to the circulation. In addition the lymphatics assist in the conveyance of effete matter. Whenever disease germs are present in the system, they first manifest themselves in the lymph, but this fluid being densely populated with phagocytes (white blood corpuscles), the micro-organisms are speedily destroyed, if the body is in a healthy, vigorous condition.
In view of the vital character of the fluids, activity of motion is indispensable for the best performance of their separate functions and exercise supplies the desired stimulus. Whenever a muscle is contracted the blood is wholly or partially expelled from it proportionately to the force of the contraction, and in its escape it carries with it the waste material; but as soon as the muscle is relaxed fresh blood from the arterial supply re-enters the structure, bearing fresh nutrition.
By a wise provision of Nature, the amount of nutrition supplied is always in excess of the waste products removed; that is, all things being equal, so that the more exercise a part is subjected to the more nutrition it receives. This explains the unusual development of certain parts of the body which are called into excessive use in certain occupations. But this unsymmetrical development is a thing to be avoided, as it is usually productive of certain deformities, such as stoop shoulders and certain peculiarities of gait, which are plainly noticeable in men employed in certain avocations.
The reason for this is perfectly simple, and may be expressed in two words—unequal nutrition—for the muscles that are unduly exercised appropriate the nutriment that should be equally distributed, so that the neglected muscles become weakened and stiff. Hence, any system of exercises designated to develop the body should be so arranged as to call into play every muscle in the individual, thus insuring harmonious development in every direction.
Muscular activity stimulates all the functions of the body. It has a most beneficial effect upon all the vital processes, digestion, assimilation and nutrition. The digestive powers work more briskly to prepare the needed nourishment, and the blood circulates more rapidly to carry the material for repair to the parts that need it, so that by moderate physical exercise, judiciously distributed, the whole body is built up and strengthened, and the result is a suppleness of frame and a clearness of head that makes life indeed worth living.
To the invalid it is, of course, idle to talk of active exercise, but there are certain forms of passive exercise accessible to such people. Massage, for instance, which, judiciously administered, will do for the sick, in a modified degree, what active exercise does for the comparatively well. It will stimulate the circulation in the deeper tissues, and set the various fluids of the body moving in a beneficial manner. There is also a mild form of active exercise which may be practised by those who have the misfortune to be confined to bed, and that is by tensing the muscles; such as clenching the hands and contracting the toes, also by gentle contraction of the arms and legs alternately.
But one of the most important factors in quickening and stimulating the movement of the fluids is exercising the lungs, and that can be accomplished with a fair measure of success even by the bed-ridden. Every time the chest cavity is emptied by the expiration of the breath a partial vacuum is created which exerts a tremendous suction power. It is one of the principal forces concerned in the return of the venous blood to the heart, but it also exerts a like effect upon the lymphatic current, hence deep breathing is a valuable exercise for those unable to take any other.
In commencing the development of the body by any system of physical culture, the first and most important thing to do is to develop the lungs. Good lungs and good digestion go together. Before food can be assimilated it must undergo oxygenation, which is neither more nor less than chemical combustion. For this oxygen is necessary, which, uniting with the carbon of the food, results in oxidation, and as the amount of oxygen inhaled depends upon the capacity of the lungs, it will readily be seen how much depends upon those organs. We cannot inhale too much oxygen, while we can take too much food; therefore, the greater the lung capacity the better the digestion.
We referred to the suction power of the empty chest cavity and its stimulating effect upon the fluids of the body. Now, the greater the lung capacity the greater the chest expansion and the vacuum produced by expiration; consequently the stimulating effect upon the fluids is correspondingly augmented.
Test your lungs by inhaling a full breath—inflate them to their full capacity—if it makes you dizzy you are in danger and should proceed at once to strengthen them. The following simple exercises will speedily result in improvement and are easy to practice:
1. When in the open air, walk erect, head up, chin drawn in, shoulders thrown back, thoroughly inflate the lungs and retain the air for a second or two, then expel it gently. Practice this several times a day, and if your employment keeps you in, make time and go out.
Image unavailable: Fig. 1.Fig. 1.
2. The first thing in the morning and the last thing at night, when you have nothing on but your underclothing, stand with your back against the wall and fill the lungs to their utmost capacity, then—retaining the breath—gently tap the chest all over with the open hands. Do this regularly every morning and night, gently at first, but gradually increasing the length of time for holding the breath and the force of the blows as the lungs grow stronger.
3. Stand upright, heels touching, toes turned out. Place the hands on the hips as in Fig. 1, the fingers resting on the diaphragm, the thumbs in the soft part of the back. Now, inflate the lungs and force the air down into the lower back part of the lungs, forcing out the thumbs. Do this half a dozen times at first, gradually increasing the number. Women seldom use this part of the lungs—tight dresses and corsets prevent them.
4. While in the same position, fill the upper part of the lungs full, then force the air down into the lower part of the lungs and back again by alternately contracting the upper and lower muscles of the chest. Do this repeatedly, for, besides being a good lung developer, it is an excellent exercise for the liver.
5. Stand erect, as in Fig. 2, the arms hanging close by the sides, then slowly raise the arms until they are in the same position as Fig. 2, at the same time gradually taking in a full breath until the lungs are completely filled, then, after holding the breath for a few seconds, gradually lower the arms, at the same time gradually expelling the breath. After doing this a few times—while the lungs are full—raise and lower the arms several times quickly.
6. Hold the arms straight out (see dotted lines in Fig. 2), then slowly throw them back behind you as far as possible, at the same time taking a full breath, then bring them slowly back to the front, as at first, expelling the breath while doing so. Do this several times, then fully inflate the lungs, and while holding the breath move the arms backward and forward, in the same way, but quickly. It is important to inflate and empty the lungs fully and completely during this exercise.
7. First rotate the right arm in a circle, as in dotted lines in Fig. 2, downward in front of you a few times, then reverse the movement. Next, thrust the shoulder back as far as it will go and rotate the arm in the same manner. Follow with the left arm in the same manner, then both alternately, but at the same time relax the arms completely, allowing them to become perfectly limp, at the same time filling and emptying the lungs completely.
Image unavailable: Fig. 2.Fig. 2.
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8. Lie flat on the floor, face downward, with the elbows bent and the palms of the hands flat on the floor by the sides, body fully extended. Then, keeping the body perfectly rigid, raise it up by the muscles of the arms alone, until it only rests on the arms and toes, then lower the body gradually until the chest touches the floor, at the same time exercising the lungs to their fullest extent. This may be practiced on a bed or couch to commence with, and should be taken slowly at first, until it can be done half a dozen times without discomfort.
9. Stand as in Fig. 3, fill the lungs completely and force the air down into the lower part of the lungs, as in Exercise 3. Then, keeping the lower limbs perfectly stiff, with muscles tensed, bend the body forward from the middle of the trunk (see dotted lines in Fig. 3, in front), and while doing this empty the lungs quickly. Then straighten up again, at the same time filling the lungs. This should be repeated from 6 to 12 times. Then repeat the operation, but bending backward instead of forward, paying careful attention to the emptying and filling of the lungs. Then, with the lungs full and breath retained, move the body backward and forward quickly several times.
Image unavailable: Fig. 4.Fig. 4.
10. Retaining the same position as in last exercise, move the upper part of the body to the right a few times, then a few times to the left, after each movement returning to the upright position. Then move in the same manner from right to left, alternately. By referring to Fig. 4, you will readily understand the nature of these movements, which not only benefit the lungs, but impart grace and suppleness to the body.
11. Still retaining the attitude as shown in Fig. 4, press the arms and elbows forward as far as possible, at the same time expelling the breath; then press them backward as far as it is possible to force them, at the same time inflating the lungs to their fullest extent.
Completely relax the muscles of the fingers and hands, letting the hands hang limply from the wrists, then shake them up and down and from side to side, as if cracking a whip. Then rotate them from the wrists, as shown in Fig. 5. These movements should all be made with great rapidity, the hands being rendered as near lifeless as possible.
Image unavailable: Fig. 5.Fig. 5.
Next, with the upper part of the arm held out at a right angle from the body, and the forearm hanging downward, completely relax the muscles of the elbow. Then shake and rotate the whole of the forearm in the same manner as described for the hands.
Image unavailable: Fig. 6.Image unavailable: Fig. 7.Image unavailable: Fig. 8.
Allow the arms to hang by the side, now press the shoulder as far back as it will go, then as high as it will go, then forward as far as it will go, and drop it again, then rotate it several times. Do the same with the left, then both together. Strike out with the right hand, tightly clenched, then the left, then both together. Repeat horizontally, right and left, then straight up overhead, then down by the sides.
14. If Figures 6, 7 and 8 are carefully studied, no explanation will be needed. The principal thing to be observed is to keep the body perfectly rigid and use the muscles of the neck only. It is a most valuable exercise and should be carefully and faithfully practiced.
15. Assume the position indicated in Fig. 4, but keep all the muscles of the body (with the exception of the muscles of the hips) perfectly rigid. Now, without bending the knees, bend the body forward as far as you can several times, then backward several times, then to each side successively. Make the bending movements several times in each direction, and be careful not to relax the muscles other than those of the hips; and to conclude the exercise rotate the hips round and round.
Image unavailable: Fig. 9.Fig. 9.
16. Relax the muscles of the right leg, keeping all the other muscles firmly tensed. Then swing the leg from the hip joint, like a pendulum, backward and forward, as shown in Fig. 9. Try to do this without support,
Image unavailable: Fig. 10.Fig. 10.
Image unavailable: Fig. 11.Image unavailable: Fig. 12.
balanced on the one leg, as it materially assists in developing the muscles. Then repeat with the left leg. Next, relax the muscles of the leg from the knee downward, keeping the muscles of the thigh rigid, and swing the leg backward and forward from the knee only (see dotted lines in Fig. 10), and increase the number of movements each day, as the muscles gain strength and you gain experience.
Figures 11 and 12 illustrate some excellent leg exercises, which bring into play certain muscles which usually receive but little exercise, and may be practiced with great advantage.
17. Stand upright, holding yourself firmly and stiffly, then raise yourself up and down on your toes.
1. Raise the arms above the head, alongside the ears, then bring them down with a steady sweep, without bending the knees, until the fingers touch the floor. Be sure to relax the muscles of the neck and allow the head to hang.
2. Place the hands upon the breast and drop the head backward, a little to one side, then bend the body backward as far as possible.
3. Curve the right arm above the head, toward the left shoulder, and allow the weight of the body to rest on the left leg, the right foot being carried slightly outward. Allow the body to hang down as far as possible on the left side, without straining too much. Then reverse the movement. (See Fig. 13.)
Image unavailable: Fig. 13.Fig. 13.
Is quite a luxury, but few people know how to do it.
Image unavailable: Fig. 14.Fig. 14.
Stand in the position indicated in Fig. 14. Then raise yourself on the tips of your toes and try your best to touch the ceiling. You will appreciate this exercise as a relaxation.
Is only imperfectly understood by the majority of people, and yet it is the key to a graceful carriage, an accomplishment that most people desire to possess, especially ladies. Figures 15 and 16 will serve to illustrate what is necessary to acquire this art and to emphasize the difference between the correct and the incorrect methods.
Image unavailable: Fig. 15.Image unavailable: Fig. 16.Image unavailable: Fig. 17.
Is the natural sequence of correct attitude in standing and may be readily acquired by attention to the illustrations and instruction given here. Stand against the wall, as shown in Fig. 17, with the heels, limbs, hips, shoulders and head all touching and draw the chin inward to the chest. When in this position you will find it uncomfortable, mainly because it is incorrect. Gently free yourself from the wall by swaying the body forward, from the ankles only, keeping the heels touching. You will then be in the correct position, and should walk off, carefully maintaining it. This exercise, if constantly practiced, will give you an easy and graceful carriage that will be the envy of your less fortunate acquaintances.
In the foregoing list of exercises we have carefully omitted all those requiring apparatus of any kind, selecting only such as can be practiced in the privacy of your own room, without assistance from an instructor or paraphernalia of any kind. Dumb bells, Indian clubs, etc., are valuable after a certain degree of muscular improvement has been attained, but when that point is reached we should advise the individual to join a gymnasium and practice further development under a competent instructor.
All the exercises given have been proved of great value in building up the system, and are designed as aids to the preservation of health and the upbuilding of weakly people—not to develop trained athletes. These exercises bring into play a number of muscles that are not called into general use, and thus promote harmonious development of the whole body.
As we have already stated, the human system is in a state of constant change. Disintegration of tissue is taking place during every moment of existence, and the preservation of health depends upon the prompt elimination of the waste material. But the destruction of tissue, due to the daily friction of life, must be made good, and this replacement of substance is effected by the food we eat. It becomes a matter of vital importance, therefore, to every individual to consider the question of eating from the rational standpoint. Owing to the increased prosperity of recent years and the luxurious mode of living rendered possible by it, people have been betrayed into many reprehensible gastronomic practices. In the olden days, when man toiled hard for existence, food was produced within his own immediate radius and luxuries were unknown; but now, with rapid ocean transportation, the ends of the earth are ransacked and laid under tribute to furnish delicacies to tempt the palate. The ease with which food may now be procured and the almost illimitable variety offered to man for his selection has tempted him into indulgences that have been productive of much evil. Although over indulgence in eating is a very ancient offense, yet, as before stated, the multiplicity of foods has given an impetus to this injurious habit, in combination with the cunningly devised methods of preparation which the modern cook has evolved.
It is a grave mistake to suppose that it is necessary to eat a large quantity of food to become healthy and strong. The system only needs sufficient nourishment to repair the waste that has taken place. Besides, the digestive fluids are not secreted in an indefinite quantity, but in proportion to the immediate need. Hence, food taken in excess of requirements, being only partially digested, acts as a foreign substance; i. e., a poison, and in addition unduly taxes the system to dispose of the unnecessary waste.
Hunger is the natural expression of the needs of the system for nutrition. Appetite is the index as to the quantity of food that should be taken to replace the loss by waste. It should never be overruled. Appetite is a wise provision of Nature. Gluttony is a degrading habit. Yet numbers of people attempt to justify the gratification of their gluttonous proclivities by the statement that they are “blessed with a good appetite,” while the truth of the matter is, they are cursed with an inordinate lust for food. If people were more temperate in the pleasures of the table, the purveyors of remedies for dyspepsia would find their incomes considerably lessened. Satisfy your hunger, by all means, but do not pander to the vice of gluttony.
Instead of “eating to live,” a large proportion of people simply “live to eat.” But sooner or later Nature exacts the penalty for violation of one of her cardinal laws, which is “temperance.” An outraged stomach will not always remain quiescent, and when the reaction comes, the offender realizes that “they who sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind.”
But people may, and do, continually do violence to that long suffering organ, the stomach, without being gluttons—we refer to the habit, so universally practiced in this country, of bolting the food without properly masticating it. So long as this iniquitous practice is persisted in, and the equally hurtful one of swallowing large quantities of liquids with the meals, and so long as sufficient time is not given the food to digest, just so long will you suffer from a disordered stomach. Speaking generally, Americans are a nation of dyspeptics, because they are perpetually in a hurry. The acquisition of wealth, in moderation, is a commendable pursuit, but it is the height of folly to sacrifice the priceless jewel of health to acquire it. But it is a fact, nevertheless, that the average American considers eating an unprofitable interference with business, without stopping to weigh the advantages of sound health against the almighty dollar.
This habit must be abandoned by those who are addicted to it, before they can expect to regain health or preserve it. Strange, is it not, that a race, proverbial for having an eye to the main chance, should fail to recognize the financial wisdom of husbanding their health, a factor so important in successful business enterprises! They might, with advantage, copy the example of John Bull in the matter of eating.
The average Englishman regards his meals as a solemn responsibility, and tarries long at the table. The consequence is that with them dyspepsia is the exception and not, as with Americans, the rule.
What to eat, when to eat and how to eat are questions more nearly involving the health and happiness of humanity than is generally recognized.
From the days of Pythagoras down to the present time it has been a moot question whether a vegetable or meat diet was best for man. Each side can present equally strong arguments; each can point to exceptional instances of physical development under the different methods; each can point to ill results that follow rigid adherence to one method or the other, so that the natural inference would be that a happy mean between the two extremes presents the only rational solution of the question.
Even the most rabid partisan of the meat diet will readily admit that the flesh of animals is not indispensable to existence; while, on the other hand, the fact that the Indians in this country would subsist for months (without apparent discomfort) solely upon a diet of “pemmican” (dried buffalo flesh) affords ample proof that a meat diet is not without its advantages.
Diet is largely a matter of latitude. The whale blubber diet of the Esquimaux would be impossible at the equator, while the fruit and pulse diet of the tropics would prove totally inadequate to support life at the North Pole. Nature always prompts the individual to select the articles of food best adapted to his bodily needs, according to the climatic conditions; hence, when a man endeavors to live on the same dietary in the tropics that he has been accustomed to in the temperate zone, digestive disturbances are sure to follow.
It is one thing to sit at home theorizing about dietetics and settling all the food problems (on paper) to one’s entire satisfaction; but it is quite a different matter to practically test the effects of different dietary tables under varying climatic conditions. The writer does not claim to be an expert dietician, but there are few spots on the habitable globe that he has not visited; scarcely an edible article that he has not partaken of; scarcely a known species of human being that he has not eaten with, except the Patagonians and the Esquimaux; so that he is not entirely without experience, and it may be just possible that practical experience thus gained may be as valuable as statistics compiled in an office from data collected from different sources.
We often have the Eastern peoples (notably the Japanese and Hindoos) quoted as examples of physical health and endurance, and the adoption of a vegetarian diet urged on those grounds; but these extremists seem to lose sight of the fact that these peoples are the descendants of vegetarians for centuries past; that they have inherited the tastes of their progenitors, and have evolved their present physical condition through a long period of development along those lines. To say nothing of the impracticability of suddenly converting a nation to the principles of vegetarianism, radical changes abruptly undertaken are always productive of ill effects.
It will help us to a proper understanding of the food question to consider right here what causes old age, or, rather, the physical signs of bodily infirmity that almost invariably accompany it. We are all familiar with the wrinkled body surface, the shrunken limbs and the stiffness of joints that particularly affect the aged, and are so accustomed to regard these outward manifestations of infirmity as inevitable, that few stop to inquire whether it is natural that this should be so. Undoubtedly, these are natural effects, being the result of the operation of natural law, but if mankind lived more in harmony with Nature, these symptoms should not manifest themselves before the age of ninety or a hundred, if even then.
What is termed old age is simply ossification (solidification of the tissues), and this is due to the constant deposition in the system of earthy substances. The result of these deposits being retained in the system is: that there is an excess of mineral matter in the bone tissue, which renders it brittle, and accounts for the susceptibility to fracture in advanced life; it causes a change in the structure of all the blood vessels, great and small, thickening their walls and thus reducing their calibre and also rendering them brittle. With diminished capacity the blood vessels fail to convey the requisite nutrition to the tissues, and a general lowering of the vitality follows. The capillaries no longer supply the skin with its needed pabulum, hence it loses its elasticity and color—grows yellow and forms in furrows. The circulation being sluggish, the deposition of these earthy substances in the neighborhood of the various joints and the muscular structures is facilitated, and we have the stiffness of joints and muscular pains that usually accompany age. The supply of blood to the brain and nerve substance is curtailed in the same manner, and for lack of sustenance these structures commence to decay, which accounts for diminished mental activity and sensory impressions. As the process continues there may be almost complete obliteration of the capillaries, while the larger vessels may become so thickened that their capacity is sometimes reduced three-fifths. Then comes death.
Then, since old age is due to the cause just described, it follows, as a perfectly logical deduction, that if we can prevent the introduction of these substances into the system, or even check them, then the duration of life and preservation of function should be proportionately prolonged.
What are these substances and whence are they obtained? They consist of carbonate and phosphate of lime, principally, with small quantities of the sulphates of lime and magnesia, and a small percentage of other earthy matters. These substances are taken into the system in the food we eat and the water we drink, and it has been estimated that enough lime salts are taken into the system during an average lifetime to form a statue the size of the individual. Of course, the greater part is eliminated by the natural processes, but enough is retained to make ossification a formidable fact. Of the disastrous effects of a preponderance of these mineral salts in the system we have a notable example in the Cretins, a people in the Swiss Alps, who are the victims of premature ossification, their bodies being stunted, rarely attaining a greater height than four feet, and exhibiting all the signs of old age at thirty years; in fact, they seldom live longer than that. In this case the cause is directly traceable to the excess of calcium salts in the drinking water, for although heredity plays an important part in this matter, yet children from other parts, if brought into the region at an early age, soon manifest the symptoms and speedily become Cretins in fact.
Most people are familiar with what is known among housewives as the formation of “fur” in the common tea kettle. This is nothing more nor less than the precipitation of the lime salts by evaporation. Four and five pounds’ weight of this substance has been known to collect in this manner in a single vessel in twelve months. Many people are under the mistaken impression that boiling the water removes the lime. Not so. The precipitation only relates to that proportion of the water that has been evaporated; the remainder (in all probability) possesses a slightly higher percentage of solids than it originally did. So great is the proportion of mineral substance taken into the system in drinking water that it is safe to assert that, if after maturity was reached only distilled or other absolutely pure water was partaken of, life would be prolonged fully ten years. Up to the mature age it would be inadvisable, as the salts are necessary for bone formation. Good filtered rain water, or melted snow, are entirely free from mineral deposits, but if they have stood for any length of time it is advisable to boil them before using, to destroy any organic matter.
But it is not in water alone that these pernicious earthy matters are found. All food substances contain them to a greater or lesser extent. The order in which foods stand in the matter of freedom from earthy impurities is as follows: Fruits, fish, animal flesh (including eggs), vegetables, cereals; so that the advocates of a strictly vegetable diet find themselves confronted by the formidable fact that their mainstay is that class of foods that contain the largest proportion of those substances that hasten ossification. Ample proof is at hand that a strictly vegetable diet results in what is known as atheroma (chalky deposit), an affection of the arteries. Dr. Winckler, an enthusiastic food reformer, who wrote extensively on the subject under the nom de plume of Dr. Alanus, and practised a strict vegetarian diet for some years, was compelled to abandon it, on account of the above disease manifesting itself. Numerous similar cases were observed by Raymond, in a monastery of vegetarian friars, and among the poorer Hindoos, who live almost exclusively on rice, this trouble is of frequent occurrence.
The reason of this is obvious. Vegetable food is richer in mineral salts than animal food, and consequently, more are introduced into the blood. There are exceptions, for instance, fruits, which are an ideal food, for several excellent reasons. To commence with, they contain less earthy matter than any other known organic substance; they contain upward of 70 per cent, of the purest kind of distilled water—distilled in Nature’s laboratory; and distilled water is an admirable solvent, and is ready for immediate absorption into the blood, and, lastly, the starch of the fruit has, by the sun’s action, been converted into glucose, and is practically ready for assimilation. In point of nutritive value, fruits may be classed in order as follows: Dates, figs, bananas, prunes, apples, grapes.
Bread has long been known as the “staff of life,” and although it forms the main dietary staple for large numbers of people, that does not in any way prove its eligibility as an article of food. We have seen that cereals contain a very large proportion of inorganic matter (the mineral salts), and wheat is as richly endowed in this respect as any of its fellows. Wheat is rich in heat producing qualities, which is due to the quantity of starch it contains. Now, this starch must be converted into glucose before the system can appropriate it, and as exhaustive experiments have shown that not more than four per cent. of the starch is converted by the ptyalin in the saliva, the principal work of dealing with the starch devolves upon the duodenum, or second stomach, the fluids of the main stomach having no action upon it.
Now, this extra and unnecessary work falling upon the duodenum entails a delay in the process of digestion, and a corresponding delay in assimilation, so a habit of intestinal inactivity is induced, and the seeds of constipation are sown, because the starchy foods, being slow in giving up their nutritive elements, the refuse is proportionately backward in being eliminated. Fruits, on the contrary, although equally rich in heat producing qualities, yet on account of the previous natural transmutation of starch into glucose, are in a condition for immediate appropriation by the system, and consequently absorption of nutrition and elimination of waste are equally prompt. This partially explains the aperient action of fruits, although there is a chemical reason also. For the reasons above stated, lightly baked bread should never be eaten; it should be toasted thoroughly brown first, by which the first step in the conversion of the starch is accomplished.
Regarding the relative digestibility of white and brown (whole wheat) bread there is considerable diversity of opinion, but in a series of experiments described by Dr. John B. Coppock, in the “Herald of Health,” England, it was shown that in equal portions of 100 ounces, ¼ ounce more of the white bread was digested, than of the brown; but the proportion of proteids (muscle and tissue forming constituents) digested, was as follows: white bread, 85½ ounces; brown bread, 88¾ ounces, or 3¼ ounces more nutrition obtained from the brown bread than from the white. In any event, we are forced to the conclusion that as an article of food, bread has hitherto had a value placed upon it to which it was not legitimately entitled.
Nature has designed albumen as the staple of nutrition for man, and primarily, vegetable albumen; hence fruits form as nearly as possible a perfect food, containing, as they do, this important constituent in addition to the advantages previously mentioned.
Nuts are an excellent article of diet, as they contain a large percentage of proteid (muscle-forming) substance, and fats—both in a state of almost absolute purity, but are somewhat deficient in starch. To those who feel that they really cannot do without meat, nuts certainly offer the best substitute. There are preparations of nuts on the markets now, called nut-meats, but our advice would be, to eat all nuts without preparation, only being careful to masticate them thoroughly. The peanut is the first in rank for nutritive value, next comes the chestnut, and third, the walnut.
Our objection to nut-meats applies to all forms of concentrated foods, that is, that they do not give the digestive functions the proper amount of exercise. They do not afford sufficient opportunity for mastication, hence the food is not properly insalivated. And, again, in normal conditions, Nature demands a certain amount of bulk, that the digestive organs may have something to contract upon. It is the nature of the muscular structures to grow if exercised, and there is no reason to doubt that the stomach and intestinal muscles respond to this stimulus. Bulk is especially necessary in the intestinal canal, to supply a certain amount of irritative stimulation, for the purpose of exciting peristalsis. That is one reason why whole wheat bread is preferable to white, on account of the bran, which not only supplies the bulk, but favors elimination by its irritative action.
Before proceeding any further we would call attention to the following table, showing the nutritive ingredients in food substances, and their several functions. The ingredients are classified in four divisions: 1, Proteids; 2, Fats; 3, Starches, or carbo-hydrates; 4, Mineral matters. This is the main classification; but to enable it to be better understood, we subdivide it as follows:
In this classification, water is not taken into account, for the reason that it is not a true nutrient, although of vital importance to the body. Now, let us consider what ultimately becomes of these substances—how Nature utilizes them in the physical economy. Protein is used to build up the solid tissues of the body, the muscles and tendons. It is also a source of nutrition for brain and nerve substance, and partially serves as fuel. Fats simply form fatty tissue and serve as fuel to maintain the heat of the body, by combustion or oxidation. Carbo-hydrates mainly serve as fuel, owing to the large percentage of carbon they contain, which readily unites with the oxygen. The mineral matters, which are also largely obtained from water, are employed in the formation of bone, and are also utilized in the blood and in other ways.
Thus we see that each constituent of the food substance fulfills a specific purpose, and the secret of a correct and nutritious diet lies in the selection of such foods as will furnish the proper proportion of each constituent to serve the purpose for which it is designed. Any deviation from this rule must of necessity result in digestive disturbance, more or less, and although one or two digressions from the path of correct alimentation may not result in anything worse than a slight inconvenience, yet persistence in dietetic errors will inevitably terminate in physical demoralization.
Authorities differ as to the actual proportion the nutritive ingredients should bear to each other in the daily ration; but after comparing the statements advanced by different food experts, we think the following figures will represent a fair average of the various tables. The reader will see that 100 parts of carbo-hydrates is taken as the basis of calculation, the figures opposite the other ingredients representing the proportion they should bear to the basic figure.
With the above table in mind, it will be easy to select foods that will furnish, when combined, the proper proportion of each ingredient—that is—approximately, and to assist in the selection, we subjoin a condensed list of the more important articles of food, showing the percentage of each ingredient, as proved by analysis. We would call attention to the fact that animal foods may slightly differ in the ratio of the ingredients, owing to the food upon which the animal has been raised, and its physical condition; and, owing to peculiarities of soil, vegetable foods may differ in like manner, but for practical purposes it will be found sufficiently correct.
In 100 Parts.
TABLE A.Showing the relative digestibility of various foods.
Since the elements are seldom, if ever, found in the proper proportion in any food substances, it becomes necessary to exercise judgment in selecting them, so that something like a well-balanced diet may be obtained; so as a further aid to enable the reader to make his selection judiciously, we would call attention to Table A on page 139 and Table B below. Table A shows the proportion of various foods that is ordinarily digested, while Table B points out the time required for different articles of food to digest.
TABLE B.LENGTH OF TIME REQUIRED FOR DIGESTION OF DIFFERENT ARTICLES OF FOOD.