CHAPTER XV.
HYGIENE OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS.
273. It is a law of the system, that each organ is excited to healthy and efficient action, when influenced by its appropriate stimulus. Accordingly, nutrient food, that is adapted to the wants of the system, imparts a healthy stimulation to the salivary glands during the process of mastication. The food that is well masticated, and has blended with it a proper amount of saliva, will induce a healthy action in the stomach. Well-prepared chyme is the natural stimulus of the duodenum, liver, and pancreas; pure chyle is the appropriate excitant of the lacteal vessels.
274. The perfection of the digestive process, as well as the health of the general system, requires the observance of certain conditions. These will be considered under four heads:—1st. The Quantity of food that should be taken. 2d. Its Quality. 3d. The Manner in which it should be taken. 4th. The Condition of the system when food is taken.
275. The QUANTITY of food necessary for the system varies. Age, occupation, temperament, temperature, habits, amount of clothing, health and disease are among the circumstances which produce the variation.
273–330. Give the hygiene of the digestive organs. 273. Give a law of the system. What is the appropriate stimulus of the salivary glands during mastication? Of the stomach? Of the duodenum? Of the lacteal vessels? 274. What does the perfection of the digestive organs require? 275. What exert an influence on the quantity of food necessary for the system?
276. The child and youth require food to promote the 130 growth of the different parts of the body. The more rapid the growth of the child, the greater the demand for food. This accounts for the keen appetite and vigorous digestion in childhood. When the youth has attained his full growth, this necessity for nutriment ceases; after this period of life, if the same amount of food is taken, and there is no increase of labor or exertion, the digestive apparatus will become diseased, and the vigor of the whole system diminished.
Observation. When the body has become emaciated from want of nutriment, either from famine or disease, there is an increased demand for food. This may be gratified with impunity until the individual has regained the usual size, but repletion should be avoided.
277. Food is required to repair the waste, or loss of substance that attends action. In every department of nature, waste, or loss of substance, attends and follows action. When an individual increases his exercise,—changes from light to severe labor,—or the inactive and sedentary undertake journeys for pleasure, the fluids of the system circulate with increased energy. The old and exhausted particles of matter are more rapidly removed through the action of the vessels of the skin, lungs, kidneys, and other organs, and their places are filled with new atoms, deposited by the small blood-vessels.
278. As the chyle supplies the blood with the newly vitalized particles of matter, there is, consequently, an increased demand for food. This want of the system induces, in general, a sensation of hunger or appetite, which may be regarded as an indication of the general state of the body. The sympathy that exists throughout the system accords to 131 the stomach the power of making known this state to the nervous system, and, if the functions of this faithful monitor have not been impaired by disease, abuse, or habit, the call is imperious, and should be regarded.
276. At what age is the appetite keen and the digestion vigorous? Why? What is said in regard to the quantity of food when the youth has attained his growth? What exception, as given in the observation? 277. Give another demand for food. What effect has increased exercise upon the system? 278. How are the new particles of matter supplied? What does this induce?
279. When exercise or labor is lessened, the quantity of food should be diminished. When a person who has been accustomed to active exercise, or even hard manual labor, suddenly changes to an employment that demands less activity, the waste attendant on action will be diminished in a corresponding degree; hence the quantity of food should be lessened in nearly the same proportion as the amount of exercise is diminished. If this principle be disregarded, the tone of the digestive organs will be impaired, and the health of the system enfeebled.
280. This remark is applicable to those students who have left laborious employments to attend school. Although the health is firm, and the appetite keen from habit, yet every pupil should practise some self-denial, and not eat as much as the appetite craves, the first week of the session. After some days, the real wants of the system will generally be manifested by a corresponding sensation of hunger.
Observation. It is a common observation that in academies and colleges, the older students from the country, who have been accustomed to hard manual labor, suffer more frequently from defective digestion and impaired health than the younger and feebler students from the larger towns and cities.
281. Food is essential in maintaining a proper temperature of the system. The heat of the system, at least in part, is produced in the minute vessels of the several organs, by the union of oxygen with carbon and hydrogen, which the food and drink contain. The amount of heat generated, is greatest 132 when it is most rapidly removed from the system, which occurs in cold weather. This is the cause of the system requiring more food in winter than summer.
279. Why should the quantity of food be diminished when the exercise is lessened? What effect if this principle be disregarded? 280. To what class is this remark applicable? What is often observed among students in academies and colleges? 281. State another demand for food. What is one source of heat in the body?
Observation. Persons that do not have food sufficient for the natural wants of the system, require more clothing than those who are well fed.
282. The last-mentioned principle plainly indicates the propriety and necessity of lessening the quantity of food as the warm season approaches. Were this practised, the tone of the stomach and the vigor of the system would continue unimpaired, the “season complaints” would be avoided, and the “strengthening bitters” would not be sought to create an appetite.
Observation. Stable-keepers and herdsmen are aware of the fact, that as the warm season commences, then animals require less food. Instinct teaches these animals more truly, in this particular, than man allows reason to guide him.
283. The quantity of food should have reference to the present condition of the digestive organs. If they are weakened or diseased, so that but a small quantity of food can be properly digested or changed, that amount only should be taken. Food does not invigorate the system, except it is changed, as has been described in previous paragraphs.
Observation. When taking care of a sick child, the anxiety of the mother and the sufferings of the child may induce her to give food when it would be highly injurious. The attending physician is the only proper person to direct what quantity should be given.
Why do we eat more in the winter than in the summer? What practical observation is given? 282. Why should the quantity of food be lessened as warm weather commences? What would be avoided if this principle were obeyed? 283. Why should the present condition of the digestive organs be regarded in reference to the quantity of food? Mention an instance in which it would be injudicious to give food.
284. The quantity of food is modified, in some degree, by 133 habit. A healthy person, whose exercise is in pure air, may be accustomed to take more food than is necessary. The useless excess is removed from the system by the waste outlets, as the skin, lungs, liver, kidneys, &c. In such cases, if food is not taken in the usual quantity, there will be a feeling of emptiness, if not of hunger, from the want of the usual distention of the stomach. This condition of the digestive organs may be the result of disease, but it is more frequently produced by inordinate daily indulgence in eating, amounting almost to gluttony.
285. Large quantities of food oppress the stomach, and cause general languor of the whole body. This is produced by the extra demands made on the system for an increased supply of blood and nervous fluid to enable the stomach to free itself of its burden. Thus, when we intend to make any extraordinary effort, mental or physical, at least for one meal, we should eat less food than usual, rather than a greater quantity.
286. No more food should be eaten than is barely sufficient to satisfy the appetite. Nor should appetite be confounded with taste. The one is a natural desire for food to supply the wants of the system; the other is an artificial desire merely to gratify the palate.
287. Although many things may aid us in determining the quantity of food proper for an individual, yet there is no certain guide in all cases. It is maintained by some, that the sensation of hunger or appetite is always an indication of the want of food, while the absence of this peculiar sensation is regarded as conclusive evidence that aliment is not demanded. 134 This assertion is not correct, as an appetite may be created for food by condiments and gormandizing, which is as artificial and as morbid as that which craves tobacco or ardent spirits. On the other hand, a structural or functional disease of the brain may prevent that organ from taking cognizance of the sensations of the stomach, when the system actually requires nourishment. Observation shows, that disease, habit, the state of the mind, and other circumstances, exert an influence on the appetite.
284. Show the effect of habit upon the quantity of food that is eaten. What is said in regard to inordinate eating? 285. What is the effect of eating large quantities of food? What suggestion when an extraordinary effort, either mental or physical, is to be made? 286. How much food should generally be eaten? 287. What is the assertion of some persons relative to the quantity of food necessary for the system?
Observation. Dr. Beaumont noticed, in the experiments upon Alexis St. Martin, that after a certain amount of food was converted into chyme, the gastric juice ceased to ooze from the coats of the stomach. Consequently, it has been inferred by some writers on physiology, that the glands which supply the gastric fluid, by a species of instinctive intelligence, would only secrete enough fluid to convert into chyme the aliment needed to supply the real wants of the system. What are the reasons for this inference? There is no evidence that the gastric glands possess instinctive intelligence, and can there be a reason adduced, why they may not be stimulated to extra functional action as well as other organs, and why they may not also be influenced by habit?
288. While all agree that the remote or predisposing cause of hunger is, usually, a demand of the system for nutrient material, the proximate or immediate cause of the sensation of hunger is not clearly understood. Some physiologists suppose that it is produced by an engorged condition of the glands of the stomach which supply the gastric juice; while others maintain that it depends on a peculiar condition of the nervous system.
289. The QUALITY of the food best adapted to the wants of the system is modified by many circumstances. There are 135 many varieties of food, and these are much modified by the different methods of preparation. The same kind of food is not equally well adapted to different individuals, or to the same individual in all conditions; as vocation, health, exposure, habits of life, season, climate, &c., influence the condition of the system.
What does observation show? 288. What is said of the causes of hunger? 289. Why is not the same kind of food adapted to different individuals?
290. All articles of food may be considered in two relations: 1st, As nutritive. 2d, As digestible. Substances are nutritious in proportion to their capacity to yield the elements of chyle, of which carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen are the most essential; they are digestible in proportion to the facility with which they are acted upon by the gastric juice. These properties should not be confounded in the various articles used for food.
291. As a “living body has no power of forming elements, or of converting one elementary substance into another, it therefore follows that the elements of which the body of an animal is composed must be in the food.” (Chap. III.) Of the essential constituents of the human body, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen are the most important, because they compose the principal part of the animal body; while the other elements are found in very small proportions, and many of them only in a few organs of the system. ([Appendix G.])
Observation. Nitrogen renders food more stimulating, particularly if combined with a large quantity of carbon, as beef. Those articles that contain the greatest amount of the constituent elements of the system are most nutritious. As milk and eggs contain all the essential elements of the human system, so they are adapted to almost universal use, and are highly nutritious.
290. In what proportion are substances nutritious? Digestible? Why does beef stimulate the system? What is said of milk and eggs?
292. The following table, by Pereira, in his treatise on 136 Food and Diet may aid the student in approximating to correct conclusions of the quantity of nutriment in different kinds of food, and its adaptation to the wants of the system.
TABLE,
SHOWING THE AVERAGE QUANTITY OF DRY, OR SOLID MATTER, CARBON, NITROGEN, AND MOISTURE, IN DIFFERENT ARTICLES OF DIET.
| One hundred Parts. | Dry Matter. | Carbon. | Nitrogen. | Water |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrowroot, | 81.8 | 36.4 | 18.2 | |
| Beans, | 85.89 | 38.24 | 14.11 | |
| Beef, fresh, | 25 | 12.957 | 3.752 | 75 |
| Bread, rye, | 67.79 | 30.674 | 32.21 | |
| Butter, | 100 | 65.6 | ||
| Cabbage, | 7.7 | 0.28 | 92.3 | |
| Carrot, | 12.4 | 0.30 | 87.6 | |
| Cherries, | 25.15 | 74.85 | ||
| Chickens, | 22.7 | 77.3 | ||
| Codfish, | 20 | 80 | ||
| Cucumbers, | 2.86 | 97.14 | ||
| Eggs, whites, | 20 | 80 | ||
| Eggs, yolk, | 46.23 | 53.77 | ||
| Lard, hog’s, | 100 | 79.098 | ||
| Milk, cow’s, | 12.98 | 87.02 | ||
| Oats, | 79.2 | 40.154 | 1.742 | 20.8 |
| Oatmeal, | 93.4 | 6.6 | ||
| Olive-oil, | 100 | 77.50 | ||
| Oysters, | 12.6 | 87.4 | ||
| Peaches, | 19.76 | 80.24 | ||
| Pears, | 16.12 | 83.88 | ||
| Peas, | 84 | 35.743 | 16 | |
| Plums, greengage, | 28.90 | 71.10 | ||
| Potatoes, | 24.1 | 10.604 | 0.3615 | 75.9 |
| Rye, | 83.4 | 38.530 | 1.417 | 16.6 |
| Suet, mutton, | 100 | 78.996 | ||
| Starch, potato, | 82 | 36.44 | 18 | |
| Starch, wheat, | 85.2 | 37.5 | 14.8 | |
| Sugar, maple, | 42.1 | |||
| Sugar, refined, | 42.5 | |||
| Sugar, brown, | 40.88 | |||
| Turnips, | 7.5 | 3.2175 | 0.1275 | 92.5 |
| Veal, roasted, | 52.52 | 14.70 | ||
| Wheat, | 85.5 | 39.415 | 1.966 | 14.5 |
Note. Let the pupil mention those articles of food that are most nutritious, from a review of this table, and the last four paragraphs.
293. Those articles that do not contain the essential elements of the system should not be used as exclusive articles of diet. This principle has been, and may be illustrated by experiment. Feed a dog with pure sugar, or olive-oil, (articles that contain no nitrogen,) for several weeks, and the evil effects of non-nitrogenous nutriment will be manifested. At first, the dog will take his food with avidity, and seem to thrive upon it; soon this desire for food will diminish, his body emaciate, his eye become ulcerated, and in a few weeks he will die; but mix bran or sawdust with the sugar or oil, and the health and vigor of the animal will be maintained for months. A similar phenomenon will be manifested, if grain only be given to a horse, without hay, straw, or material of like character. ([Appendix H.])
294. Some articles of food contain the elements of chyle in great abundance, yet afford but little nutriment, because they are difficult of digestion; while other articles contain but a small quantity of these elements, and afford more nourishment, because they are more easily affected by the digestive process.
293. How has the effect of non-nitrogenous nutriment been illustrated? 294. Why do some articles of food that contain the elements of chyle afford but little nutriment? Why do articles that contain a small quantity of these elements afford more nourishment? 295. How was the time required for digesting different articles of food ascertained?
295. The following table exhibits the general results of experiments made on Alexis St. Martin, by Dr. Beaumont, when he endeavored to ascertain the time required for the digestion of different articles of food.[10] The stomach of St. Martin was ruptured by the bursting of a gun. When he recovered from the effects of the accident under the surgical care of Dr. Beaumont, the stomach became adherent to the 139 side, with an external aperture. Nature had formed a kind of valve, which closed the aperture from the interior, and thus prevented the contents of the stomach from escaping; but on pushing it aside, the process of digestion could be seen. Through this opening, the appearance of the coats of the stomach and food, at different stages of digestion, were examined.
TABLE,
SHOWING THE MEAN TIME OF DIGESTION OF THE DIFFERENT ARTICLES OF DIET.
| Articles. | Preparation. | Time h. m. |
|---|---|---|
| Apples, sour, hard, | Raw, | 2 50 |
| Apples, sour, mellow, | Raw, | 2 |
| Apples, sweet, do., | Raw, | 1 30 |
| Bass, striped, fresh, | Broiled, | 3 |
| Beans, pod, | Boiled, | 2 30 |
| Beef, fresh, lean, rare, | Roasted, | 3 |
| Beef, fresh, lean, dry, | Roasted, | 3 30 |
| Beef steak, | Broiled, | 3 |
| Beef, with salt only, | Boiled, | 3 36 |
| Beef, with mustard, | Boiled, | 3 10 |
| Beef, fresh, lean, | Fried, | 4 |
| Beef, old, hard, salted, | Boiled, | 4 15 |
| Beets, | Boiled, | 3 45 |
| Bread, wheat, fresh, | Baked, | 3 30 |
| Bread, corn, | Baked, | 3 15 |
| Butter, | Melted, | 3 30 |
| Cabbage head, | Raw, | 2 30 |
| Cabbage, with vinegar, | Raw, | 2 |
| Cabbage, | Boiled, | 4 30 |
| Cake, sponge, | Baked, | 2 30 |
| Carrot, orange, | Boiled, | 3 15 |
| Catfish, | Fried, | 3 30 |
| Cheese, old, strong, | Raw, | 3 30 |
| Chicken, full-grown, | Fricas’d, | 2 45 |
| Codfish, cured, dry, | Boiled, | 2 |
| Corn, green, & beans, | Boiled, | 3 45 |
| Corn bread, | Baked, | 3 15 |
| Corn cake, | Baked, | 3 |
| Custard, | Baked, | 2 45 |
| Dumpling, apple, | Boiled, | 3 |
| Ducks, domesticated, | Roasted, | 4 |
| Ducks, wild, | Roasted, | 4 30 |
| Eggs, fresh, | Boiled hard, | 3 30 |
| Eggs, fresh, | Boiled soft, | 3 |
| Eggs, fresh, | Fried, | 3 30 |
| Eggs, fresh, | Raw, | 2 |
| Flounder, fresh, | Fried, | 3 30 |
| Fowl, domestic, | Boiled, | 4 |
| Fowl, domestic, | Roasted, | 4 |
| Goose, | Roasted, | 2 30 |
| Lamb, fresh, | Broiled, | 2 30 |
| Liver, beef’s, fresh, | Broiled, | 2 |
| Meat hashed with vegetables, | Warm’d, | 2 30 |
| Milk, | Boiled, | 2 |
| Milk, | Raw, | 2 15 |
| Mutton, fresh, | Roasted, | 3 15 |
| Mutton, fresh, | Broiled, | 3 |
| Mutton, fresh, | Boiled, | 3 |
| Oysters, fresh, | Raw, | 2 55 |
| Oysters, fresh, | Roasted, | 3 15 |
| Oysters, fresh, | Stewed, | 3 30 |
| Parsnips, | Boiled, | 2 30 |
| Pig, sucking, | Roasted, | 2 30 |
| Pigs’ feet, soused, | Boiled, | 1 |
| Pork, fat and lean, | Roasted, | 5 15 |
| Pork, recently salted, | Boiled, | 4 30 |
| Pork, recently salted, | Fried, | 4 15 |
| Pork, recently salted, | Broiled, | 3 15 |
| Pork, recently salted, | Raw, | 3 |
| Pork, steak, | Broiled, | 3 15 |
| Potatoes, Irish, | Boiled, | 3 30 |
| Potatoes, Irish, | Baked, | 2 30 |
| Rice, | Boiled, | 1 |
| Sago, | Boiled, | 1 45 |
| Salmon, salted, | Boiled, | 4 |
| Sausage, fresh, | Broiled, | 3 20 |
| Soup, beef, vegetables, and bread, | Boiled, | 4 |
| Soup, chicken, | Boiled, | 3 |
| Soup, mutton, | Boiled, | 3 30 |
| Soup, oyster, | Boiled, | 3 30 |
| Suet, beef, fresh, | Boiled, | 5 30 |
| Suet, mutton, | Boiled, | 4 30 |
| Tapioca, | Boiled, | 2 |
| Tripe, soused, | Boiled, | 1 |
| Trout, salmon, fresh, | Boiled, | 1 30 |
| Trout, salmon, fresh, | Fried, | 1 30 |
| Turkey, domesticated, | Roasted, | 2 30 |
| Turkey, | Boiled, | 2 25 |
| Turkey, wild, | Roasted, | 2 18 |
| Turnips, flat, | Boiled, | 3 30 |
| Veal, fresh, | Broiled, | 4 |
| Veal, fresh, | Fried, | 4 30 |
| Venison steak, | Broiled, | 1 35 |
296. In view of this table, the question may be suggested, Is that article of food most appropriate to the system which is most easily and speedily digested? To this it may be replied, that the stomach is subject to the same law as the muscles and other organs; exercise, within certain limits, strengthens it. If, therefore, we always eat those articles most easily digested, the digestive powers will be weakened; if over-worked, they will be exhausted. Hence the kind and amount of food should be adapted to the maintenance of the digestive powers, and to their gradual invigoration when debilitated.
Observation. Food that is most easily digested is not always most appropriate to a person convalescing from disease. If the substance passes rapidly through the digestive process, it may induce a recurrence of the disease. Thus the simple preparations which are not stimulating, as water-gruel, are better for a sick person than the more digestible beef and fish.
297. The question is not well settled, whether animal or vegetable food is best adapted to nourish man. There are nations, particularly in the torrid zone, that subsist, exclusively, on vegetables; while those of the frigid zone feed on fish or animal food. In the temperate zone, among civilized nations, a mixed diet is almost universal. When we consider the organization of the human system, the form and arrangement of the teeth, the structure of the stomach and intestines, we are led to conclude, that both animal and vegetable food is requisite, and that a mixed diet is most conducive to strength, health, and long life.
296. How is the question answered, whether that article is most appropriate to the system which is most easily digested? Give observation. 297. What is said of the adaptation of animal and vegetable food to man?
298. The food should be adapted to the distensible character of the stomach and alimentary canal. The former will be full, if it contain only a gill; it may be so distended as to contain a quart. The same is true of the intestines. If the food is concentrated, or contains the quantity of nutriment which the system requires, in small bulk, the stomach and intestines will need the stimulation of distention and friction, which is consequent upon the introduction and transit of the innutritious material into and through the alimentary canal. If the food is deficient in innutritious matter, the tendency is, to produce an inactive and diseased condition of the digestive organs. For this reason, nutrient food should have blended with it innutritious material. Unbolted wheat bread is more healthy than hot flour cakes; ripe fruits and vegetables than rich pies, or jellies.
Observation. 1st. The observance of this rule is of more importance to students, sedentary mechanics, and those individuals whose digestive apparatus has been enfeebled, than to those of active habits and firm health.
2d. The circumstance that different articles of food contain different proportions of waste, or innutritious matter, may be made practically subservient in the following way: If, at any particular season of the year, there is a tendency to a diarrhœa, an article that contains a small proportion of waste should be selected for food; but, if there is a tendency to an inactive or costive condition of the intestinal canal, such kinds of food should be used as contain the greatest proportion of waste, as such articles are most stimulating to the digestive organs, and, consequently, most laxative.
299. In the selection of food, the influence of season and climate should be considered. Food of a highly stimulating character may be used almost with impunity during the cold 141 weather of a cold climate; but in the warm season, and in a warm climate, it would be very deleterious. Animal food, being more stimulating than vegetable, can be eaten in the winter but vegetable food should be used more freely in the spring and summer.
298. What is said of the distensible character of the stomach and alimentary canal? What is the effect of eating highly concentrated food? Why is the unbolted wheat bread more healthy than flour cakes? Give observation 1st. Observation 2d. 299. What kind of food is adapted to cold weather? To warm weather?
300. The influence of food on the system is modified by the age of the individual. The organs of a child are more sensitive and excitable than those of a person advanced in years. Therefore a vegetable diet would be most appropriate for a child, while stimulating animal food might be conducive to the health of a person advanced in life.
Observation. When the digestive organs are highly impressible or diseased, it is very important to adopt a nutritious, unstimulating, vegetable diet, as soon as the warm season commences.
301. Habit is another strong modifying influence. If a person has been accustomed to an animal or vegetable diet, and there is a sudden change from one to the other, a diseased condition of the system, particularly of the digestive apparatus, usually follows. When it is necessary to change our manner of living, it should be done gradually.[11]
302. Some temperaments require more stimulating food than others. As a general rule, those persons whose sensations are comparatively obtuse, and movements slow, will be benefited by animal food; while those individuals whose constitutions are highly impressible, and whose movements are quick and hurried, require a nutritious and unstimulating vegetable diet.
300. What kinds of food are appropriate to old age? Why? What kinds to childhood? Why? 301. What is the effect when there is a sudden change from a vegetable to an animal diet? How should all changes of the system be made? 302. Do different temperaments require different kinds of food? What general rule is given?