Common Disorders—Their Cause and Cure
HEALTH AND DIS-EASE DEFINED
Health is that condition of the human body in which the functions or activities work together in perfect harmony. Any serious interference with this condition we call dis-ease. Dis-ease, therefore, in its final analysis, is merely the expression of violated natural law.
Three fundamental laws of life
The harmonious working of the life-processes in the human body depends upon three things—(1) nutrition; (2) motion and (3) oxidation. Nutrition is the principal factor that controls the action of the living cells, for, if the body is kept up to its one hundred per cent of energy it will demand a certain amount of motion or exercise, and this will enforce the proper breathing (oxidation). We can see, therefore, that nutrition is the physical basis of all activities of life.
By nutrition as here used I mean to include all chemical substances that may be supplied for the use of the body-cells, also the sum total of all chemical substances in solution in the circulating fluid or blood-plasma which bathes the body-cells.
The phenomenon of death caused by self-poisoning
The stoppage of the heart beat causes the nutritive fluids of the body to cease circulating. The cells are then no longer supplied with nutritive material, and the poisons which they are constantly throwing off accumulate, cell activity ceases, and the phenomenon we call death ensues. Suffocation acts in a very similar manner—oxygen ceases to be supplied to the blood; carbon dioxid accumulates; the vital fluids cease to flow, and death is the result.
Dis-ease has been defined to be an absence of harmonious activity in the body. It may result from the inactivity of some particular function. A stomach which secretes no hydrochloric acid is abnormal or dis-eased. Again, a dis-ease may be due to an overdevelopment of some function, because the man whose stomach secretes more hydrochloric acid than digestion requires is as truly dis-eased as is the man whose stomach secretes too little.
Dis-ease is partial death
Animals starve when fed on salt-free food
Dis-ease may also be defined as partial death, for it is the disturbance or weakening of functions whose complete failure we call death. Starvation illustrates one side of this process. When nutritive material ceases to be supplied, the cells have nothing with which to work, causing disturbance of function (dis-ease), and then partial, or complete death. The man in a desert under a hot sun will starve for water in one-tenth the time that he would starve for solid food. Animals fed on a diet from which all salts have been chemically removed will die in a shorter time than will those from which all food is withheld. This rather interesting fact is due to the rapid utilization of the salts residual in the body during the digestion and the assimilation of the salt-free foods taken. The order in which the withdrawal of nutritive substances will produce starvation is about as follows:
1 Aerial oxygen
2 Water
3 Mineral salts
4 Organic nitrogen
5 Carbohydrates
Examples of drug poisoning
Poisoning by drugs is an excellent illustration of dis-ease and death produced by specific starvation. When a man takes ether, this substance, passing to the brain, immediately interferes with the function of that organ. Insensibility to pain results. If ether is taken in larger quantities, the functions of the brain may be still further interfered with, and the nervous control of the heart beat will be lost, and death will ensue. When castor-oil is taken into the alimentary canal, the irritating substances therein contained inflame the cells of the mucous membrane, and excite them to abnormal secretion, thus disturbing the harmony of the body-activities, and producing dis-ease.
Scientific definition of dis-ease
The examples here referred to are not commonly considered dis-ease, because we know the particular or immediate cause of the physical disturbance. Modern knowledge now shows us that the most prolific cause of what is commonly known as dis-ease is but the interference with cell activities, either by the deficiency or by the excess of nutritive substances, or by the presence of irritating and disturbing poisons. This condition may be caused by an unbalanced diet containing too much of certain nutritive elements, or too little of others, causing surfeiting on the one hand and starvation on the other.
Man still in the childhood state of development
Hunger, thirst, and taste are Nature's language
Health is the normal condition, and in spite of Ingersoll's witticism, it is more "catching than dis-ease." Were it not so, the race would long since have become extinct. With reference to body-health, however, we are still in the childhood stage of development, and the science, therefore, of building man to his highest estate—of lifting his mental, moral, and physical faculties to their highest possible attainment, is worthy the labor of the greatest minds. That person, then, who enjoys the best health, the keenest mentality and power of perception, the highest physical and emotional organism, is he who can select such articles of food as will supply all the constituent parts of the body most nearly in the right or natural proportions. The science of feeding, upon which this mainly depends, becomes possible only when food is taken in accordance with certain fixed, natural laws. These laws are not complicated—they are simple and easy to comprehend. Nature is constantly endeavoring to aid us in their solution. Hunger, thirst, taste—all the instincts and natural desires of the body are merely Nature's language. To interpret this language, and to obey the laws it lays down is man's highest duty to himself and to his race.
There are very few true dis-eases. Nearly all of the abnormal physical expressions given off by the body can be traced to a few primary causes, and most of these causes can be removed by ascertaining and removing other causes that precede them.
Classification of dis-ease, a matter of convenience
The classification of dis-eases is merely a matter of convenience, and is of no practical importance between the food scientist and the patient. It merely enables the one who has studied these classifications to convey his knowledge or information to the lay mind.
The dis-eases which will most interest the student will be those caused by a lack of nutrition, or by a surfeit of nutrition; that is to say, a form of starvation caused by a lack of certain nutritive elements, and overingestion caused by an excess of certain other nutritive elements.
The only practical method of describing dis-ease is by indicating the organs afflicted and the impairment of their functions. Beginning with the stomach, in which, as previously stated, originates probably ninety-one per cent of all human disorders, I will first take up the question of the abnormal action of food caused by overeating.
OVEREATING
The resourcefulness of Nature
Fortunately Nature does not demand exactness. She has made wonderful provision for our errors or our lack of precision. If we eat too much now and then she will cast out the excess. If, however, we habitually overeat, she will store away the surplus in the form of useless fat, or she will decompose it; that is, make an effort to volatilize it and cast it out through the pores of the skin. If our diet is unbalanced, Nature has the power to convert one chemical into another—a secret yet unknown to modern science.
Injurious effects of congested waste matter
While the tendency of Nature is to maintain normality by casting the debris out of the body, she demands that we obey the laws of motion and oxidation. If we do not observe these laws, the debris or matter she cannot use will accumulate, and congestion and constipation will take place. The excess of food thus actually clogs the system and generates in the intestines the poisons which cause autointoxication.
THE EFFECTS OF OVEREATING
The effects of overeating are so far-reaching, and so common among civilized people that a volume might be devoted to this habit and the subject not exhausted. Here, however, I will review only that which is of most importance to the student of dietetics, namely, the causes and a few of the effects of overeating.
Overeating is due to three specific causes:
1 Eating several articles of food at the same meal which are incompatible
2 Taking stimulants at meals
3 Eating too many things at the same meal
(1) Incompatible foods:
When foods are eaten together that are incompatible they usually result in superacidity and sometimes cause a gnawing sensation in the stomach.
(2) Stimulants with meals:
When one takes stimulants such as beer, liquor or wine with meals, the stomach-cells secrete a deficient amount of hydrochloric acid, causing food to leave the stomach too slowly, thereby allowing fermentation to take place and acid conditions to develop.
(3) Too many things at same meal:
Too many things eaten at the same meal may exhaust the digestive juices and cause a condition of subacidity (lack of acid), which is true indigestion, or it may cause just the reverse, too much acid, and therefore produce the same result as in taking stimulants with meals. (See "Causes of Superacidity," item 2, p. 420).
ABNORMAL APPETITE
The cycle of cause and effect
In nearly all cases of overeating Nature's only weapon with which to defend herself is hydrochloric acid, thus the stomach-cells become over-trained in the secretion of acid, and the constant irritation caused by acid fermentation produces abnormal appetite. The desire to satisfy this abnormal craving produces more acid, therefore the cycle of overeating and superacidity is complete.
Disorders originating in the stomach
Standard medical works give about sixty different disorders arising from what is termed dis-eases of nutrition. These include diabetes, gout, arthritis, rheumatism, rickets, scurvy, obesity, emaciation, adiposis dolorosa, and various disorders of the liver, heart, and the circulatory system; also constipation and dozens of disorders under the broad term of autointoxication.
The first step in the practise of scientific eating should be to limit the quantity of food, or, in many cases, to take a complete fast for a brief time.
In the slow stages of human development, Nature seems to have accommodated herself to man's omnivorous habits of eating. She will accept many things that are wholly unfit for food without apparent harm if the quantity is not too great. On the contrary, the results of the most scientific dieting will be injurious if a quantity be taken in excess of that which the body can use.
SUPERACIDITY
We will first consider superacidity because it is usually the first disorder that appears in consequence of wrong eating. It is commonly known as "sour stomach."
The chief cause of superacidity is a wrong combination of foods; and particularly an excess of starchy foods and sugars. The starch and sugar breaks down under the action of fermentation, and develops lactic acid. This further inhibits—or prevents—the normal secretion of hydrochloric acid, and, as a consequence, the albumen molecule is insufficiently converted—the transformation of the protein into peptones and proteoses is incomplete.
As with all acid fermentation, gases are produced in the stomach, which give rise to belching and eructations. This fermentation sometimes occasions a feeling as though there were a solid lump in the stomach. This may come on immediately after eating. And then again, it may not come on for two or three hours after the meal—depending entirely upon the activity of the enzymes that are responsible for the fermentation.
HYPERCHLORHYDRIA
Occasionally the hyperacidity is caused by the presence of a superabundance of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. This condition is called hyperchlorhydria, and gives rise to a boring, gnawing sensation in the pit of the stomach, together with an abnormal desire for food.
SUPERACIDITY—THE CAUSE
The chief causes of superacidity are—
1 Too great a quantity of food
2 Wrong combinations and wrong proportions of food
For instance, a diet consisting of an excess of acid fruits, or sweets and starches, and at the same time an insufficient quantity of other nutrients
3 By poisoning from the use of tea or coffee, liquor, tobacco, and the various stimulating and narcotic drugs used by civilized man
4 An excess of hydrochloric acid
SUPERACIDITY—THE SYMPTOMS
So far as the symptoms are concerned, all the above causes may be considered together, since the ultimate result is the same. The symptoms are named in the order of their various stages or the time acidity has endured:
1 [1]Irritation of the mucous lining of the stomach, expressed by a burning sometimes called "heartburn"
2 Abnormal appetite caused by the irritation of too much hydrochloric acid in the irritated cells of the stomach
Many people mistake these symptoms for evidence of good health, until overeating produces nervous indigestion, and sometimes a complete breakdown.
3 Fevered mouth, and so-called fever-sores on the lips and tongue, both of which are a true mirror of the condition of the stomach
4 [1]A sour fluid rising in the throat from one to two hours after meals
5 White coating on the tongue
6 Faintness, emptiness; in the language of the layman a "hollowness and an all-gone caved-in" feeling
[1] (See "Fermentation—The Symptoms," p. 426)
SUPERACIDITY—THE REMEDY
In all cases of superacidity all fruit, especially that of an acid character, except citrus fruits, should be omitted, and also all sweets except a very limited quantity of maple-sugar and sweet fruits—and these never in conjunction with the meal. Foods containing proteids (nitrogen, albumin and casein), together with fresh green vegetables, should form the principal part of the diet.
One acid will not counteract another
It has been the theory with dietitians that those afflicted with hyperchlorhydria (supersecretion of hydrochloric acid) should not take sweets, but should take acids liberally. This is one of the few instances in which medical guesswork seems to have a foundation of fact. For there is no doubt but that the giving of hydrochloric acid, the normal stomach acid, before a meal, tends to retard and restrict the development of hydrochloric acid during the meal.
It remains true, on the other hand, that the giving of hydrochloric acid after the meal tends always to increase the supply of free and combined hydrochloric acid in the stomach during the process of stomach digestion.
For list of foods to be eaten and omitted in cases of overeating, superacidity, fermentation and gas dilatation, see p. 433. For the importance of water-drinking, see p. 434.
FERMENTATION
Fermentation is the effort of Nature to dispose of or to dissolve things it cannot use; it is the first step in the process of decay.
FERMENTATION—THE CAUSE
The common causes of fermentation are the same as those of superacidity (see p. 420), the difference being that superacidity originates in the stomach, and is confined chiefly to it, while fermentation may take place throughout the entire intestinal tract. The causes are—
1 Overeating
2 Too much acid fruit
3 An excess of sweets
4 Stimulants of the alkaloid group
5 Overeating of cereal products
FERMENTATION—THE SYMPTOMS
Difference between superacidity and fermentation
The first evidence of fermentation is a burning sensation in the stomach, almost exactly as in superacidity, the difference being that in cases of fermentation the symptoms appear later after eating. Superacidity may appear immediately after eating, and the symptoms such as a lump in the stomach, or a sour fluid rising in the throat may also appear within an hour after meals, but fermentation, which produces the same symptoms, does not manifest itself until the acid has acted upon the food, which requires from two to four hours, governed by the time required to digest the different articles of which the meal is composed.
The patient may also experience a fullness; an unpleasant and sometimes painful distention of the bowels.
Results of fermentation
The gas generated by fermentation sometimes passes along down the intestinal tract into the ascending colon, accumulating at the highest point, which is in the transverse colon. This causes the transverse colon to become very much distended and seriously interferes with the blood flow, both into and out of the heart and the lungs.
(See "Gastritis," p. 447; also "Heart Trouble," p. 569).
In considering the symptoms of fermentation, it might be well to return to the question of causes. The primary cause of nearly all conditions of fermentation, either in the stomach or in the intestinal tract, is overeating, or an unbalanced dietary.
This practise indulged in from day to day causes two specific conditions:
1 Fermentation followed by various disorders, usually toxic substances, and catarrh, and ulceration of the stomach
2 Intestinal congestion and physical emaciation
If the stomach and other digestive organs are capable of assimilating this superabundance of food, they force into the tissues an excess which Nature stores up in the form of fat, and if work or activity is not increased, or the food diminished, excessive fat or chronic obesity is the result.
If the first warnings are not observed, and the remedy applied, Nature gives to the disobedient one more impressive signals in the form of nervousness, irritability, abnormal appetite, and sometimes mental depression, which indicates one of the most advanced stages of superacidity.
FERMENTATION—THE REMEDY
The remedy for fermentation is first to eat only such foods as are in chemical harmony, and second to limit the quantity to the actual needs of the body. If the patient is under normal weight, all acid fruits should be eliminated, and the diet should be about as follows:
BREAKFAST
Three or four egg whites and one yolk, whipped five or six minutes; add a large spoonful of sugar and one of cream while whipping
A baked white potato or boiled wheat
A tablespoonful of wheat bran
LUNCHEON
One whole egg whipped five minutes; add sugar and cream to taste while whipping, mix with a glass of milk
A large boiled onion
A baked potato, with butter
Two tablespoonfuls of bran
DINNER
Two fresh vegetables—choice of carrots, corn, turnips, peas, beans, or squash
Spinach, or a salad of lettuce and celery
The whites of two or three eggs, whipped; add sugar and cream while whipping
A baked potato
Wheat bran, cooked as a cereal
From two to three glasses of cool water should be drunk at each meal.
It will be noticed that this bill of fare is composed largely of vegetables, which is right in cases of fermentation.
Despondency, the result of superacidity
The foods named in the above menus will remove the primary causes of fermentation, which in turn is the most prolific cause of that abnormal mental condition called despondency. Under the most favorable social and financial conditions, when every environment is pleasant and seemingly conducive to the highest degree of pleasure and interest in life, the one afflicted with superacidity and fermentation has been known to destroy himself; all life seems gloomy, all effort useless, and the thought "Why should I desire to live?" enters the mind unbidden, until it often takes tangible shape in some rash act. Possibly within the memory of every individual one of these rash acts can be recalled.
The practitioner should make it a special point to ascertain any adverse or depressed mental conditions of his patient and remove them, if possible, by encouragement, sympathetic counsel and optimistic views, all of which have a splendid psychological effect, and which, in nearly all cases of mental depression, are very important.
As the supersecretion of hydrochloric acid becomes less and less, fermentation will gradually disappear; the patient will at once begin to gain weight; the mental conditions will show an immediate improvement, and every part of the anatomy will share in the general upbuilding.
GAS DILATATION
So closely related are gas dilatation, fermentation and superacidity that it might be said they all come from common causes, such as excessive eating, over-consumption of sweets, acid fruits, starches, and the use of tobacco, stimulating beverages and drugs.
GAS DILATATION—THE SYMPTOMS
The symptoms of gas dilatation are practically the same as those given for fermentation, page 426. In addition thereto, however, there is often belching, loss of appetite, a weighty or draggy feeling, and vomiting sometimes an hour or two after meals, or late at night.
Scanty urine and constipation are frequently the results of gas dilatation. In severe cases the stomach drops down below its normal level, causing permanent stomach prolapsus.
To the trained eye, in severe cases, the stomach may be outlined, especially when it is much distended.
For remedy, see "Fermentation," page 428.
See also menus for Gastritis.
IN CASES OF OVEREATING, SUPERACIDITY, FERMENTATION AND GAS DILATATION
| OMIT | EAT |
| All acid fruits | Bananas, very ripe |
| All sweets except sweet fruits | Green salads |
| in limited quantities | Liberal quantity of fresh |
| Cane-sugar | green vegetables |
| Condiments | Limited quantity of blood-less |
| Coffee and tea | meat, such as fish and white meat |
| Cream | of tender fowl |
| Fatty foods | Limited quantity of coarse cereals |
| Gravies | Limited quantity of eggs and |
| Pastries | milk—sweet and sour |
| Stimulating and intoxicating | Melons |
| beverages | Nuts |
| Subacid fruits in extreme cases | Potatoes |
| Tobacco | Sweet fruits—limited quantity |
| White bread | Wheat bran |
| Whole wheat, thoroughly cooked | |
| Whole wheat bread—sparingly |
IMPORTANCE OF WATER-DRINKING
The lack of body-moisture is one of the causes of supersecretion of acid, therefore water is of primary importance in removing the causes of the above disorders. It should be drunk freely immediately on rising, and just before retiring. From two to three glasses should also be drunk at each meal, especially in treating severe cases. Copious water-drinking also relieves irritation of the stomach, thus reducing abnormal appetite.
Patients afflicted with superacidity never have natural thirst.
CONSTIPATION
THE CAUSE
This disorder might be called "civilizatis," so universal has it become among civilized people.
Several conditions may conspire to cause constipation—
1 Premature stomach digestion
2 Neutralization of the bile by excessive acid
3 Eating too much starchy food
4 Flesh-eating
5 Sedentary habits or lack of proper exercise
6 A diet too refined—lacking in roughness, cellulose or "fodder"
7 The use of sedatives, stimulants, and narcotics, such as tea, coffee, liquor, tobacco, and drugs, especially of the alkaloid group
While most of these are direct causes, the primary cause, however, goes back to superacidity—premature stomach-digestion.
In cases of superacidity the liver is nearly always more or less inactive. Just why this is so is not definitely known, but in the opinion of the writer it is caused by the neutralization of bile by the excess of acid. Be this as it may, nearly all cases of superacidity are accompanied by intestinal congestion, commonly called constipation, or by intermittent diarrhea and constipation.
CONSTIPATION—THE REMEDY
Laxative drugs an offense to the body
It is believed by the medical profession, and generally accepted by the public, that certain drugs act upon the alimentary tract with beneficial effect in cases of intestinal congestion. This is untrue. The facts are the intestines act upon the drug. The drug is an offense to Nature, and when it is taken into the stomach and passed on to the intestines, the body-fluids are severely drawn upon to neutralize the poison, and to cast it out. The result, therefore, of taking poisons, miscalled "laxatives," is that each time the act is repeated, the liver and the peristaltic muscles are weakened, and rendered more and more abnormal, and less and less able to perform their natural functions.
Suggestions for the relief of constipation
That system of treatment which has been prescribed for fermentation will, in most cases, relieve constipation. The treatment should be varied, however, according to the age and the occupation of the patient, governed by the season of the year, or the foods available at the time of treatment. If diagnosis of the patient reveals the fact that constipation has been caused primarily by overeating, the quantity of food should be reduced, and the articles changed so as to include a generous quantity of cellulose (coarse foods).
The following bill of fare may be given under ordinary conditions:
Immediately on rising, take two or three cups of water, the juice of one or two oranges, or half a pound of grapes, swallowing the seeds and pulp whole, masticating only the skins. Devote from eight to ten minutes to vigorous exercise, especially movements Nos. 3 and 5, as shown in "Exercise and Re-creation," Vol. V, pp. 1344 and 1345.
BREAKFAST
Half a cup of coarse wheat bran, cooked ten minutes; serve with thin cream
Whole wheat, boiled five or six hours
One or two very ripe bananas, with either nuts or thin cream
LUNCHEON
One or two fresh vegetables
A "two-minute" egg or a very small portion of fish
A heaping tablespoonful of bran
DINNER
Two of the following vegetables: Corn, carrots, peas, beans, parsnips, turnips, onions
A baked potato
Celery, lettuce, or anything green, with nuts
One egg
A tablespoonful of wheat bran
From one to two glasses of water should be drunk at each of these meals.
These menus are merely suggestive. They may be varied according to judgment, depending upon the habits and the environments of the patient. Curative feeding for constipation is one of the most important departments of this work, and will receive special consideration in the volume of Menus.
FOODS THAT MAY BE SUBSTITUTED FOR ONE ANOTHER
The menus may also be varied by substituting the articles herein given for other things of the same general class.
| Examples: | |
| {Evaporated peaches | |
| Dried fruits | {Evaporated apricots |
| {Prunes |
The above are all in the same general class, and may be substituted for one another.
| {Dates | ||
| Sweet fruits | {Figs | —All form another class |
| {Raisins | ||
| {Eggs | ||
| Dairy products | {Milk | |
| and Meats | {Fish | |
| {Fowl |
These compose the nitrogenous group, and may be substituted for one another.
| {Carrots | ||
| Vegetables | {Parsnips | —Are in the same group |
| {Turnips | ||
| {Beans | ||
| Legumes | {Peas | —Are in the same general class |
| {Lentils | ||
| {Barley Rice | ||
| Cereals | {Corn Rye | |
| {Oats Wheat |
Barley, corn, oats, rice, rye and wheat are the six great staples, which grouped are called cereals. They form the carbohydrate class of grains, and may be substituted for one another. In cases of constipation, however, whole wheat and rye are preferable, owing to the large amount of bran they contain.
| {Dandelion | ||
| {Kale | ||
| Edible succulent | {Lettuce | —Belong to same class |
| Plants | {Parsley | |
| {Romaine | ||
| {Spinach | ||
| Citrus fruits | {Grapefruit | |
| {Lemons | ||
| {Limes | ||
| {Oranges |
All citrus-fruits (fruits containing citric acid), so far as their action upon the liver is concerned, have practically the same effects, and substantially the same nutritive value.
Milk may be laxative or constipating
Whether or not milk is constipating depends entirely upon how it is taken, and the articles with which it is combined. In small quantities, from one to two glasses at a time, milk is constipating. However, if taken at intervals of fifteen or twenty minutes, a quantity is very soon taken, greater than the hydrochloric acid of the stomach can convert into curd, therefore the surplus quantity becomes rather laxative. In many years' experience I have rarely treated a case of constipation that would not readily yield to milk and to coarse vegetables, or bran, if taken in this way; however, the milk diet should not be given longer than two or three days at one time. After this period adopt the menus herein given, varying them by selecting different articles from the several groups named. When the bowel action has become regular, the milk period should be reduced, and the breadless diet extended until the milk is entirely withdrawn. (See "Emaciation—The Remedy," p. 482)
Hernia due to abdominal pressure
Man undoubtedly sprang from anthropoid stock. His original position of locomotion was upon his four feet. The intestines, therefore, rested upon a flexible belly surface, but since he has risen and changed his two front paws into hands, the intestines are inclined, with every step, to sag to the bottom of the abdominal cavity, and are prevented from so doing only by small ligaments attached to the abdominal walls. Hernia or rupture is exceedingly common owing to this downward pressure in the lower part of the abdominal cavity. The position maintained while walking, therefore, is not conducive to the relief of that pressure in the abdomen, which is the direct cause of hernia, and often the cause of very stubborn intestinal congestion.
Remedial and counteractive exercises
It is obvious, therefore, that this condition needs remedial exercise. It will be observed that all the movements given in the lesson on "Exercise and Re-creation" bring the trunk to a horizontal position with the body leaning forward. All of these movements are designed to counteract this abdominal pressure.
Exercise a necessity in counteracting constipation
I go thus into detail for the purpose of showing the great necessity of these exercises, especially in cases of constipation, and of insisting that they be executed vigorously and regularly. The most beneficial diet that could be prescribed will not relieve and cure constipation unless it is supplemented by certain remedial exercises or movements. This is true because Nature contemplates a certain amount of motion exactly as she contemplates a certain amount of nutrition, and her laws governing motion are just as mandatory and her penalties just as certain.
Proper nourishment promotes natural desire for exercise
Nutrition is of more importance because it is more fundamental, and it is more fundamental because when the body is naturally nourished, there is created a surplus amount of energy which will compel a certain amount of motion, and this in turn will cause deep or full breathing. Therefore the well-fed person will take his exercise because he has an appetite for it, or because the superabundance of energy forces him to do it in obedience to the same law that produces hunger. Hence the perfectly nourished body will conform automatically to the other two great physical laws of motion and of oxidation.
In cases of constipation:
| OMIT | EAT |
| Baked beans | All fresh vegetables |
| Chestnuts | Apricots |
| Cheese | Bananas |
| Coffee, tea, chocolate | Grapes—seeds, skins and all |
| Corn products | Nuts |
| Cream | Peaches |
| Flesh food of all kinds | Plums |
| Intoxicants | Prunes |
| Milk | Succulent plants |
| Oatmeal | Tomatoes |
| Rice | Wheat bran |
| Sweet potato | Whole wheat |
| Tobacco | Rye |
| White flour products |
Drink plain water with meals.
GASTRITIS
Gastritis is a word meant to describe a chronic and a painful condition of stomach and of intestinal irritation. When the stomach becomes much irritated from constant fermentation of food, and from the resultant presence of acid, certain articles such as milk, fruit-acids, and starchy foods will cause rapid accumulation of gas, which becomes exceedingly painful and sometimes dangerous.
Gas, the primary cause of heart trouble
The majority of deaths from so-called heart-failure is caused directly by the accumulation of gas from the fermenting mass of food in the stomach and in the intestines. These organs become greatly inflated, and their pressure against all the vital organs, and against the arteries leading into and out of the lungs and the heart so impair the circulation that the heart action becomes very irregular—first slow and faint; sometimes skipping a beat, and again violent and palpitating. When the congested blood spurts through into the heart it is called "arterial overflow," and the old diagnostician seems to have been content with giving this a name. It is certain they have not yet given the world a remedy, as the regular profession is still prescribing such drugs as bicarbonate of soda, bismuth subnitrate, and nux vomica, none of which can give more than temporary relief, and that is accomplished by neutralizing the acid at the tremendous expense of the cells that secrete it.
GASTRITIS—THE CAUSE
Gastritis is caused:
1 By the use of stimulants
2 Irritating foods, condiments, etc.
3 Overeating, especially of acid fruits, starches and sweets
4 Cirrhosis of the liver is sometimes one of the secondary causes of gastritis
GASTRITIS—THE SYMPTOMS
The symptoms are usually a dull pain in the region of the stomach and upper intestines, a swollen full feeling, now and then biting pains, followed by a dark vomit, especially when the attack comes late at night.
Gastritis is often confused with gastric cancer, and in diagnosis it is difficult to speak with authority as to whether the case is ordinary gastritis, as above described, gastric ulcer, or gastric cancer. The diagnostician in making up his opinion must be governed largely by the time the condition has endured, and the immediate causes, giving especial care to the food and drink that has been consumed just prior to the attack.
GASTRITIS—THE REMEDY
In severe cases the patient should be given a glass of cool water. In fact, one of the best means of allaying the inflammation of gastritis—or as a matter of fact any other inflammation—is cool water.
All food should be omitted for at least twenty-four hours, then the patient should be given vegetable juice prepared as follows:
Grind spinach, carrots, squash, or turnips, any two or three of these, very fine; cook about ten minutes in enough water to make a pint of thin vegetable soup. Put through a colander; strain through a coarse cloth, discarding the pulp. Give this to the patient every two hours in quantities not more than one or two ounces, dependent upon the condition.
The diet may be varied by changing vegetables, always selecting one green plant such as spinach, lettuce, beet or turnip-tops. As the patient improves more of the pulp may be used. After the second or third day a thin puree may be used, care being exercised not to overfeed.
Foods to be used in the treatment of gastritis
In milder cases the patient should be fed after the same methods, only more of the vegetable pulp may be used, thereby increasing the strength of the diet after four or five days; or, when the patient shows signs of substantial recovery, egg whites, baked potatoes, and the ordinary fresh vegetables may be given in moderate quantities.
Inasmuch as stomach fermentation is the beginning or parent cause of gastritis, the causes, symptoms, and menus given for fermentation would apply in cases of gastritis, limiting the quantity of food according to the severity of the condition.
In cases of gastritis:
| OMIT (In severe cases) | EAT (In severe cases) |
| Coffee | Baked bananas |
| Condiments | Egg whites |
| Flesh foods | Lettuce |
| Fruit | Puree of tender beans |
| Intoxicants | Puree of tender carrots |
| Starchy foods | Puree of tender corn |
| Sweets | Puree of tender peas |
| Tea | Spinach |
| Tobacco | Squash |
| Vegetable juices |
In the earlier stages of acute gastritis, all foods should be omitted except, perhaps, vegetable juices. (See recipe, p. 451.)
See also Fermentation and Superacidity, pp. 424 and 418.
NERVOUS INDIGESTION
Mental effects of nervousness
There are millions of nerve fibers leading out from the stomach and alimentary tract to every part of the anatomy, so that the nervous connection, especially between the stomach and the brain, is very direct and sensitive. The stomach seems to bear the same relation to the brain that a basket bears to a balloon so far as their nervous connection is concerned. Thus it is that the irritated stomach produces an irritable temper, insomnia, forgetfulness, and a lack of ability to concentrate the thoughts. These are the milder symptoms or first warnings.
NERVOUS INDIGESTION—THE CAUSE
The use of stimulants or narcotics, such as tea, coffee, liquor and tobacco are most prolific causes of nervousness. These drugs act upon the body in a dual capacity: (1) They excite or raise the nervous system above normal, only to drop it below when the reaction takes place. (2) In addition to this, they irritate the stomach and the intestines by causing superacidity.
Nervousness caused by sedatives and narcotics acts both upon the mental and the physical organism, and the source of such nervousness can be easily traced by ascertaining the habits of the patient.
Abnormal appetite for sweets and starches
When the patient has used stimulants and narcotics long enough to cause nervousness, the mucous membrane of the stomach is usually in a state of irritation. The presence of blood, under these conditions, causes abnormal appetite, frequently followed by overeating, especially of sweets, starches, and acids, for which the patient usually has a great craving. This is followed by fermentation, and comes into or envelops superacidity and must necessarily be classed with it.
Overeating and the constant use of stimulants and narcotics will, after a time, cause a chronic state of fermentation, and the stomach will seldom be free from acid, the constant presence of which will ultimately cause gastric ulcer, and perhaps stomach carcinoma.
NERVOUS INDIGESTION—THE SYMPTOMS
Nature's final symptoms
The more advanced stages of stomach irritation which are expressed by nervousness cause melancholia and a gloomy sort of pessimism. These are among the last signals the stomach gives to the brain before final collapse, and if these signals are not heeded, the victim may expect to go down in the maelstrom of nervous prostration within twelve months from the time the first signals are given. These fits or spells of melancholia often come on suddenly. The palms of the hands become moist with a cold, clammy perspiration, and the mind is flooded with a train of thoughts such as "What's the use of living?" "Why all this struggle for mere existence?" The victim of this condition invariably believes that his mind is becoming affected; that he is becoming insane, and will soon be a public charge, and shunned by those whom he loves. While under these spells many people take their own lives rather than face what they believe to be insanity and ostracism.
The patient should be made acquainted with his true condition, and shown that it is only temporary, and that all such thoughts are mere mental aberrations which will disappear when the causes of stomach irritation are removed.
The above-named symptoms always point with certainty to an irritated stomach, the severity of which can be determined by the symptoms above described.
Difference between stomach and intestinal irritation
Stomach irritation is expressed largely through the mind, as in irritability, nervousness and melancholia, while intestinal irritation is generally expressed by some physical symptom, such as restlessness, twitching of the muscles and a general lack of physical tranquillity.
There is another form of nervousness believed to be caused by overwork, business worries, etc. With these opinions the writer does not agree. If the body is properly fed one is not likely to overwork. Nature will demand rest, and sleep will come while at the desk, or when following the plow.
Acidity the cause of worry
Investigators are much divided on the question of whether worry causes superacidity, or superacidity causes worry. The experience of the writer in treating several thousand cases of stomach acidity has proved beyond a doubt that acid fermentation and stomach irritation are the primary causes, and what is commonly called "worry" is merely a symptom or result of this condition. It is quite evident, therefore, that all forms of nervousness must go back to the food question for final solution.
NERVOUS INDIGESTION—THE REMEDY
Nervous indigestion should be treated as follows:
1 The patient should employ his time in pleasant but useful occupation
2 As to diet, omit the following:
| All red meats | |
| Acid fruits | |
| Bread and cereals | |
| Condiments | |
| Pickles | |
| {Such as— | |
| {Candies | |
| Sweets | {Cane or maple-sugar |
| {Dates and figs | |
| {Desserts and pastries of all kinds | |
| {Sirups |
3 The diet should consist of—
An abundance of green salads
Baked potatoes (Including the skins)
Egg whites
Fats—limited quantity—
Such as—
Dairy butter
Nut butter
Olive-oil
Nuts
Fresh vegetables—not canned
{Beans
Legumes {Peas
{Lentils
In cases of Nervous Indigestion:
| OMIT | EAT |
| Acid fruits | Baked potatoes |
| Bread and cereals | Fats (limited quantity) |
| Coffee and tea | Fresh vegetables |
| Condiments | Green salads |
| Desserts and pastries | Legumes |
| Pickles | Limited quantity of milk (preferably |
| Red meats | sour) |
| Stimulants of all kinds | White of eggs |
| Sweets | |
| Tobacco |
The experience of the writer for many years has been that the fewer the articles composing the diet, the better the progress could be made in treating nervous indigestion. In many instances, the mono-diet system (eating only one kind of food at a meal) has been adopted with excellent results.
SUBACIDITY
Indigestion is a term used to describe the condition caused by food remaining in the stomach over Nature's time-limit. In such cases there is usually a lack of hydrochloric acid. This disorder is sometimes called hyperchlorhydria. The expression of indigestion, which is a lack of acid, and the expression superacidity or hyperchlorhydria, which is too much acid, are often confusing, inasmuch as both conditions cause a feeling of heaviness or a lump in the stomach. (See "Superacidity," p. 419.)
SUBACIDITY—THE CAUSE
The most prolific cause of subacidity is sedentary habits or lack of activity. This is especially true of young people, while in adults, or those who have passed forty, the usual cause is incorrect eating, or an unbalanced diet.
Another cause of subacidity is the overconsumption of flesh foods. Flesh requires considerable acid for dissolution; sometimes more than is normally supplied by the stomach, and consequently results in indigestion or non-dissolution.
The over-consumption of either starchy foods or sweets may produce the same result. It is therefore obvious that this particular disorder is caused primarily either by overeating or by an unbalanced dietary.
SUBACIDITY—THE SYMPTOMS
1 Brown coating on the tongue—
The white coating on the tongue always indicates too much acid, hence predigestion; while the brown coating indicates insufficient acid, hence indigestion. The white coating shows the action of the acid on the stomach lining, while the brown coating shows the decomposition of food matter in the stomach, usually accompanied by an offensive breath.
2 Gas in the stomach—
Gas sometimes appears in the stomach immediately after eating. This shows that food, in a state of fermentation, remains in the stomach from a previous meal. It also shows that the stomach may be prolapsed; that is, dropped down below its normal level. A sort of pocket is thus frequently formed in which a small quantity of food remains from one meal to another, causing an immediate formation of gas after eating.
SUBACIDITY—THE REMEDY
The logical remedy is to limit the amount of food to the actual requirements of the body, and especially to balance the daily bill of fare in conformity to the chemistry of nutrition.
Diet in cases of subacidity
In cases of chronic indigestion or impoverished acid secretions, it often becomes necessary to prescribe a counteractive diet, the composition of which should be determined by the cause of the disorder. If the cause be over-consumption of meat, the patient should be given a breakfast of acid fruits, and nuts and salads; while if the cause be over-consumption of starchy foods, all legumes and grain products of every kind should be omitted, and a diet of subacid fruits, an abundance of green salads, and even some flesh now and then, such as tender fish or fowl, should be prescribed.
In all cases the special object should be to prescribe an amount of food for the first few days somewhat below the normal requirements of the body, and after the counteractive diet has been taken for three or four days, the menu should be balanced daily as to nutritive elements. By observance of these rules, together with a reasonable observance of the laws of exercise, fresh air and deep breathing, the most obstinate cases of indigestion or subacidity can be overcome.
In cases of Subacidity:
| OMIT | EAT |
| Cereals | All acid fruits with meals |
| Coffee and tea | Buttermilk |
| Flesh foods | Fish |
| Liquors | Fresh vegetables |
| Sweets | Potatoes |
| Tobacco | Sautern wine, sparingly |
| White bread | Succulent plants |
| Tea | |
| Tomatoes | |
| Wheat bran | |
| Whole wheat |
See "Diet in cases of subacidity," p. 464.
BILIOUSNESS
Biliousness is the supersecretion of bile; that is to say, more of this fluid is secreted by the liver than is required for the ordinary processes of digestion, and the excess passes into the stomach.
BILIOUSNESS—THE CAUSE
Biliousness is caused, in a majority of cases, by the overconsumption of fats, milk, eggs, and sweets, or by taking stimulants, especially such as malted or brewed liquors.
BILIOUSNESS—THE SYMPTOMS
The presence of bile in the stomach interferes with the stomach-secretion, thus causing faulty digestion and severe headache, usually starting at the back of the head and ending in a severe pain over the eyes. The complexion becomes sallow and there is a general decline in strength and vitality.
BILIOUSNESS—THE REMEDY
The logical remedy is to remove the above causes by eliminating from the diet such articles as tea, coffee, distilled, brewed and malted liquors of every character, and sweets, selecting such foods as will give to the body all the elements of nutrition, and so combining them as to furnish these elements in the right proportions.
(See menus for "Constipation," Vol. III, p. 761).
In cases of Biliousness:
| OMIT | EAT |
| Coffee and tea | Bananas |
| Cream | Coarse cereals |
| Egg yolks | Egg whites |
| Fats | Fresh vegetables |
| Intoxicants | Fruit |
| Milk | Melons |
| Sweets | Nuts |
| Wines and liquors of all kinds | Succulent plants |
| blah | Wheat bran |
CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER
THE CAUSE
Cirrhosis of the liver, or Hanot's Disease, is a condition characterized by degeneration of the liver cells, usually associated with a fatty infiltration.
While there are many conditions that may cause cirrhosis, the principal one, perhaps, is excessive indulgence in alcohol. Thus the disease is frequently called "hob-nailed liver," "gin-liver," etc.
Cirrhosis of the liver is a disease that is almost invariably fatal in from one to two years—although, if the process is not far advanced, and the cause is removed, the patient may recover tolerable health.
It is absolutely necessary that further irritation of the liver, caused by the drinking of alcohol, be stopped. Close attention should be paid to the catarrhal condition of the stomach and bowels, which is usually associated with cirrhosis. (See chapter on Catarrh.)
CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER—THE SYMPTOMS
The symptoms are usually pain in the epigastrium; nausea and sometimes vomiting in the morning; general loss of vitality and ambition; sallow complexion. A dull aching or a throbbing pain is often experienced, followed by a heavy, sluggish feeling, especially on rising in the morning. Alternate constipation and diarrhea, and enlargement of the liver are frequent symptoms. In the atrophic variety, however, the liver shrinks in size.
CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER—THE TREATMENT
The diet should be nutritious, yet simple, so as to put as little labor as possible upon the already impaired digestion. Fats should be restricted, and starchy foods should be closely limited, so as not to set up additional fermentation.
A liberal service of plain wheat bran should be taken at least twice a week in order to insure active intestinal peristalsis.
All stimulants, narcotics, sweets, condiments and irritating foods of every character should be omitted. The patient should drink copiously of pure water at meals, omitting all other beverages.
In cases of Cirrhosis of the Liver:
| OMIT | EAT |
| Acid fruits, except the | All legumes |
| citrus fruits | Edible succulent plants |
| Condiments | Fresh vegetables |
| Fats | Green corn |
| Gravies | Liberal quantity of wheat |
| Red meats | bran |
| Stimulants and narcotics | Limited quantity of— |
| Sweets | Apples Oranges |
| White bread | Bananas Peaches |
| Grapes Pears | |
| Grape fruit Plums | |
| Lemons | |
| Nuts | |
| Potatoes | |
| Salads | |
| Whole wheat thoroughly cooked |
Cirrhosis of the liver is always aggravated by the overconsumption of sweets, starches, fats and intoxicating beverages. Sweet and starchy foods should be limited and intoxicants of all kinds should be entirely omitted. An abundance of pure water should be taken at meals.
PILES OR HEMORRHOIDS
THE CAUSE
Piles or hemorrhoids are usually the result of chronic constipation; or, they may occur from violent exercise, or a shock. The straining at stool when constipated has a most potent influence in causing piles, as well as the passage of hard, dry feces. In both of these cases the rectal mucous surfaces are torn loose or detached from the supporting walls, and the cells fill with blood, thereby becoming very greatly distended.
PILES OR HEMORRHOIDS—THE SYMPTOMS
The first symptoms are usually itching of the mucous membrane of the anus. In the second stage a bloody discharge will appear with the feces, and in the more advanced cases the rectal mucous membrane will protrude.
PILES OR HEMORRHOIDS—THE TREATMENT
How to relieve the strain upon the rectal lining
When it is first discovered that there is a slight protrusion of the rectal mucous membrane from the anus, great care should be taken in evacuation of the feces. The first or direct cause of this condition is usually congestion; that is, the feces in the rectal cavity forms into a hard mass. When this condition appears, just before each evacuation, inject into the rectum, with a small rectal syringe, a tablespoonful of olive-oil, followed by a pint or two of lukewarm water, taken as an ordinary enema, and retain two or three minutes. Then place the first and the middle fingers, one on each side of the anus, and press gently so as to relieve the strain upon the rectal lining. The feces, if very hard, can be worked back and forth until broken up, and evacuation made easy. By this means I have known many cases of bleeding piles or hemorrhoids to be permanently cured.
It is exceedingly difficult to cure chronic cases in which the membrane has been torn from the walls for many years. However, Nature never tires of doing her work of repair, and if these suggestions are religiously observed, even chronic cases can be greatly relieved, and sometimes permanently cured.
For diet, see menus for constipation and fermentation.
Every night, just before retiring, take a light enema and retain it over night; also, take an enema just after rising.
DIARRHEA
THE CAUSE
Diarrhea is in reality not a dis-ease, but a symptom behind which there are always primary causes, usually—
1 Overeating
2 Irritating condiments
3 Wrong combinations of food at meals
4 Poisonous laxative drugs
5 Excess of acids
6 Excess of sweets
7 Sometimes nervous excitement
Diarrhea caused by the last-named condition is usually of temporary duration. Sudden attacks of diarrhea are often caused by exposure, by changes of diet, or by the overconsumption of acids in the form of berries.
Errors in eating the cause of diarrhea
There is no abnormal condition of the alimentary tract that is more directly traceable to errors in eating and drinking than diarrhea and all forms of dysentery. This condition is most generally caused by chronic fermentation, or by the presence of some non-nutritive or foreign substance. It matters not whether this condition comes from the use of poisonous drugs called laxative remedies, or from foods containing foreign or non-nutritive substances, the result is the same.
The habitual taking of drugs sufficiently poisonous to cause the intestinal machinery to exert enough action to cast them out, is a painful and slow process of self-destruction. It frequently happens that the peristaltic muscles become relaxed and give way completely from the habitual use of poisonous cathartics, and chronic diarrhea or dysentery is the result.
DIARRHEA—THE TREATMENT
In ordinary cases of diarrhea one can pursue his usual work provided he observes the suggestions in regard to diet, given below, but in severe cases one should avoid labor or exercise, and remain most of the time in a reclining position. Drink copiously of pure water, and eat very sparingly.
| OMIT | EAT |
| Acid fruits | Boiled rice (thoroughly cooked) |
| All green salads | Boiled sweet milk |
| Coarse foods, such as cabbage, | Cottage cheese |
| celery, turnips, spinach | Ordinary white bread |
| Condiments | Potatoes— |
| Desserts, pastry, etc. | Sweet (baked) |
| Pickles and all foods preserved in | White |
| acids | Puree of rice |
| Red meat and flesh food of ever | Sweet clabbered milk, including |
| kind except very tender fish | the cream |
| and white meat of chicken and | Very tender white meat of chicken, |
| turkey | or turkey, or fish |
| Relishes | |
| Sweets | |
| Tuber vegetables except | |
| sweet and white potatoes |
Omit all beverages at meals except plain water, taking only about one glass.
EMACIATION OR UNDERWEIGHT
Underweight, or lack of adipose tissue, is a condition with which the practitioner will often have to deal, as under nearly all abnormal conditions of the body, called dis-ease, the first result or evidence is loss of weight.
The tendency of a perfectly normal body, after it passes the forty-fifth year, is to become muscular, or what is termed "thin." In all countries those who have lived to a very great age have been termed emaciated. However, there is a normal body-weight that can be maintained, and which indicates normal health.
Effects of emaciation
Emaciation is usually followed by general anemia and a weakening of nearly all the functions of the body. The memory, sight, hearing, all become impaired, while the taste or appetite usually becomes keener or more sensitive. This is caused by irritation of the mucous membrane of the stomach and the consequent presence of too much blood therein, the same as when intoxicating liquors are taken just before meals.
Overwork, loss of sleep, unbalanced diet, worry, grief, or a period of extreme emotional tension, all have a tendency to disturb and derange the processes of metabolism. Under these conditions the body is very likely to lose weight, but there is always a fundamental cause which should be discovered and removed.
EMACIATION OR UNDERWEIGHT—THE CAUSE
There are a number of things which usually conspire to cause emaciation. Named in the order of their generality, they are as follows:
Physical causes of emaciation
1 Overeating
2 Superacidity
3 Stomach and intestinal fermentation
4 Constipation
5 Autointoxication
6 Under-drinking of pure water
7 The use of tobacco, coffee and tea
All of these things tend to cause malassimilation, which is the secondary cause of emaciation. In a majority of cases the loss of weight begins while the body is surfeited with food. In fact, it is nothing uncommon for those suffering most from this condition to consume from three to four times the necessary quantity of food; overeating becomes a habit, and consequent fermentation and toxic substances, usually known as autointoxication, are the results.
The causes of emaciation, according to most authorities, are impoverished blood and malnutrition. With these opinions the writer fully agrees, but the intelligent reader will naturally inquire—What are the causes of impoverished blood and malnutrition? The answer goes directly back to the food question.
Mental causes of emaciation
All mental influences, business, social, or financial worry, contribute their share toward physical emaciation, but when the body is perfectly nourished it is more capable of withstanding these drains because it is made fearless by perfect health. Behind all forms of business and financial trouble is the demon "fear," and fear rests on the uncertainty of our ability to provide creature comforts and necessities; therefore when we have mastered the science of feeding our bodies, and have learned how simply and cheaply this may be done, the mere possession of such knowledge does more than all else to make of us philosophers and students, eliminating fear and worry of every kind, as in health the mind is usually in a state of optimism and tranquillity.
EMACIATION OR UNDERWEIGHT—THE SYMPTOMS
The symptoms of emaciation, of course, are so apparent that it is only necessary to say that when the above-named errors are corrected, and the following symptoms are observed, the normal weight can nearly always be maintained.
So-called cold-sores, fevered lips and canker-sores on the tongue, intestinal congestion, torpidity of the liver, slight headaches, fullness after eating, alternate constipation and diarrhea, are all symptoms that point to the causes of emaciation.
EMACIATION OR UNDERWEIGHT—THE REMEDY
Emaciation is sometimes caused by organic or hereditary dis-eases, but the usual causes are to be found within the field of dietetics. The remedy, therefore, is first to naturalize or normalize the diet as to quantity, selection, proportion, and combinations of food.
In the majority of cases, those who come to the food scientist for treatment will be those who have tried every conceivable remedy except the natural one, therefore they come in a chronic state of emaciation, poisoned by overeating. Never having been instructed in regard to diet, exercise, breathing, bathing, or any other hygienic law, they will, in most cases, require a counteractive or remedial diet. There may be a number of supplementary causes to be considered, but the most important things for the practitioner to ascertain are:
1 Time the patient rises
2 Hour the first meal is eaten
3 Of what that meal consists
4 Time the second meal is eaten
5 Of what the second meal consists
6 Time the third meal is eaten
7 Of what this meal consists
8 All mental influences under which the patient is laboring, especially fear or worry
9 The condition of the bowels as to congestion
10 The amount of liquid taken during the day and at meals
In nearly all emaciated cases it will be found that the patient is suffering from premature fermentation, intestinal and stomach gas, and a congested condition of the bowels commonly known as constipation.
Foods that are necessary in the treatment of emaciation
The first remedy lies in the selection and the combination of foods which are readily soluble and assimilable, and which contain the best flesh and cell-building properties. The chemical properties or elements most necessary are albumin, phosphorus, casein, proteids and carbohydrates. These elements are supplied best by milk, eggs, nuts, sweet fruits and coarse cereals, followed by a limited quantity of fresh green vegetables.
Value of milk and eggs in the remedial diet
The nutriment contained in the egg is all that is required for the young chick, while the nutrient contents of milk is all that is necessary for the young animal. Therefore these two articles contain the most reliable and speedy counteractive elements known to chemistry, but in dealing with the adult they should be supplemented by fresh vegetables, coarse grain, wheat bran, raisins, and the seeds and skins of grapes.
Constipation must be overcome in cases of emaciation
It must be remembered that milk has a constipating tendency when taken in ordinary quantities—from one to two glasses at a meal. Therefore in laying out the diet for the emaciated, it is vitally important to avoid constipation, which may be done by giving milk during the first two or three days in quantities ranging from two and one-half to three and one-half quarts a day, together with a liberal quantity of coarse cereal. (See "Constipation—The Remedy," p. 436.)
These remedial methods may be repeated day by day until a substantial gain in weight is noticed, when the diet may be normalized—such articles selected as will give to the body all the required elements of nourishment in the right proportions.
Chronic emaciation—its cause and remedy
It sometimes happens that the body is thrown into a chronic state of emaciation on account of a catarrhal formation over the mucous membrane of the intestines, which closes the "winking valves" that take up nutriment from the alimentary tract. In such cases coarse cereal or wheat bran, the seeds and skins of fruit, especially grapes, together with milk and eggs, form the best foods known. The milk and the eggs may be forced, not only beyond the limitations of hunger, but beyond the normal needs of the body. By thus forcing them for a short period of time (twenty to thirty days) a physical "trial balance" can be reached, and the body brought to its normal weight, which can be maintained for an indefinite period of time, if the bill of fare is again balanced or leveled according to the chemical requirements governed by the three natural laws, namely, age, temperature of environment, and work.
Diet for extreme constipation in emaciated cases
There is another condition of chronic emaciation which, in the beginning, should sometimes be treated in exactly the opposite way. For instance, when the forcing of casein proteids, albumin and nitrogen (the principal nutrient elements in milk and eggs) produces complications, such as extreme constipation, it becomes necessary to put the patient on a diet composed of coarse cellulose articles and fruit for a period of from three to six days. This should be done in the following manner:
Immediately on rising drink two or three cups of water—lime-free.
BREAKFAST
(One hour later)
The strained juice of two or three sweet oranges, or a bunch of grapes; grapes preferred
A cup of wheat bran, cooked; serve hot, with thin cream
LUNCHEON
Plain wheat and an equal quantity of coarse wheat bran, cooked until very soft; preferably simmered over night
A salad of celery, lettuce and tomatoes, with nuts
DINNER
About four tablespoonfuls of boiled wheat; also one of bran
A baked potato
One fresh vegetable
Drink copiously of water at all meals.
Just before retiring, eat half a pound of grapes, when in season.
After the first or second day this bill of fare may be increased in quantity, and heavier fruits added, such as pears, prunes, and very ripe bananas. After the fourth or fifth day, a salad and a few of the lighter vegetables, such as onions, romaine or cabbage, celery, carrots, or other fibrous vegetables may be included.
After the first week the diet should be composed of fresh vegetables, coarse cereals, eggs, bananas, nuts, salads, and wheat bran.
Those who are emaciated should drink an abundance of water immediately on rising and at meals. They should also take a sufficient quantity of plain wheat bran, or grapes if in season (Concord preferred), eating skins, seeds, and pulp, in order to keep the bowels in normal condition.
In cases of extreme emaciation, loss of appetite, or fermentation, the patient should, for a time, adopt a diet of milk and eggs, alternating as follows:
The first, second, and third days, drink from two and a half to four quarts of milk, in small quantities—one glass at a time. For the next three days, reduce the quantity of milk, and begin taking six eggs a day, increasing the number, until twelve eggs are taken. Alternate between the milk and the eggs, for a month or more, unless the patient responds in weight in a shorter time. When there is a perceptible gain in weight, and normal hunger has been restored, reduce the milk and the eggs, and add the solid foods already suggested.
In cases of Emaciation:
OMIT EAT Acid fruits Bananas Coffee Cheese Condiments Coarse cereals Tea Eggs Tobacco Fruits Wines and liquors Dates, figs, raisins Milk Sweet milk or buttermilk Nuts Vegetables, such as— Beets Lettuce Cabbage Parsnips Carrots Potatoes Celery Spinach Cauliflower Turnips Green beans Green peas The proteid and the carbohydrate foods should predominate in the diet.
| OMIT | EAT | |
| Acid fruits | Bananas | |
| Coffee | Cheese | |
| Condiments | Coarse cereals | |
| Tea | Eggs | |
| Tobacco | Fruits | |
| Wines and liquors | Dates, figs, raisins | |
| Milk | ||
| Sweet milk or buttermilk | ||
| Nuts | ||
| Vegetables, such as— | ||
| Beets | Lettuce | |
| Cabbage | Parsnips | |
| Carrots | Potatoes | |
| Celery | Spinach | |
| Cauliflower | Turnips | |
| Green beans | Green peas |
OBESITY OR OVERWEIGHT
Diet, the governing law of body-weight
It is generally supposed that obesity is a natural result of modern civilization. This theory has no foundation in fact or physiology. Man can be genuinely modern without being obese. The law that governs the growth and graceful symmetry of the human body is based upon dietetics, and the indispensable adjuncts of diet are exercise, oxidation and elimination. A body that is filled with vitality by a perfectly balanced diet will experience the same appetite for motion or exercise that it does for food or drink. Exercise forces more blood to the lungs, and more thorough oxidation is the result. The properly fed young animal, whether brute or human, plays and exercises involuntarily, and the older animal, adequately nourished without being overfed, does not lose its youthful instincts. An observance of the above laws will prevent the accumulation of an excess of fatty tissue.
The following table gives the normal weight of natural healthy adults according to height, also the weights considered thin and obese:
| MALES | FEMALES | ||||||
| Height | Weight | Weight | |||||
| Feet | Inches | Thin | Fat | Normal | Thin | Fat | Normal |
| 5— | — | 95 | 126 | 110 | 93 | 122 | 111 |
| 5— | 1 | 98 | 132 | 115 | 94 | 128 | 116 |
| 5— | 2 | 100 | 138 | 120 | 96 | 134 | 118 |
| 5— | 3 | 106 | 144 | 125 | 102 | 140 | 121 |
| 5— | 4 | 110 | 149 | 130 | 105 | 145 | 126 |
| 5— | 5 | 114 | 155 | 135 | 109 | 151 | 131 |
| 5— | 6 | 116 | 158 | 138 | 112 | 154 | 134 |
| 5— | 7 | 118 | 161 | 140 | 114 | 157 | 136 |
| 5— | 8 | 121 | 164 | 143 | 117 | 160 | 140 |
| 5— | 9 | 126 | 173 | 150 | 123 | 169 | 145 |
| 5— | 10 | 131 | 178 | 155 | 126 | 173 | 150 |
| 5— | 11 | 133 | 184 | 160 | 128 | 179 | 155 |
| 6— | — | 136 | 190 | 165 | 131 | 185 | 160 |
| 6— | 1 | 140 | 192 | 170 | 135 | 187 | 165 |
| 6— | 2 | 148 | 201 | 175 | 143 | 196 | 170 |
| 6— | 3 | 152 | 207 | 180 | 147 | 200 | 175 |
OBESITY—THE CAUSE
A very exhausting treatise could be written upon the cause of obesity, but, summing it all up briefly, corpulency is invariably induced through a direct or indirect violation of the laws of nutrition, as exemplified in their wonderful processes of transforming material called food into pulsating life.
A combination of commissions and omissions generally conspire to produce the obese body. They may be mentioned in the order of their importance:
1 Overingestion of fat-producing foods
2 Omission of the proper amount of motion or exercise
3 Imperfect oxidation (breathing)
4 The overconsumption of fluids
Obesity caused by overeating
In every case of obesity, one or more of these causes are present. If one is blessed with good digestion and good assimilation, or, in other words, if all the nutriment taken into the body is absorbed into the tissues, then the quantity must be regulated by one's work or labor, otherwise any excess of fat-producing food is stored up by provident Nature, contemplating future use; and if it is not used, by actual work, the result is a gradual accumulation of fatty tissue. Again, if a quantity of food commensurate only with the requirements of mental labor be consumed, and only ordinary body-activity indulged in, there is likely to be a gradual decrease in weight, because a considerable percentage of energy is consumed by the mere carrying on of the vital processes.
Obesity caused by drinking malted liquors
The worst form of obesity, however, is that caused by overconsumption of fermented wines or malted liquors. This form of enlarged tissue contributes no strength whatever to its own support. It is as much of a dead weight as a hod of mortar, and much more useless; in fact, all forms of obesity are not only useless weight, but dangerous to life. The obese body is much more liable to contagious and infectious dis-eases, and when once affected, less able to defend itself than the normal body.
OBESITY—THE REMEDY
The control of body-weight rests upon three distinct and separate laws, the first and most important of which is nutrition, the second exercise, and the third oxidation.
The storing of fat regulated by labor or activity
While at the outset body-weight may be controlled by increasing the amount of activity sufficiently to use the surplus which Nature is storing away, if however, the activity ceases and the surplus is not used, then the storing process becomes chronic, and radical remedies both in regard to dietetics and activity must be applied in order to bring the body back to normal.
Amount of fat required daily in different climates
A man of normal weight, say 150 pounds, doing ordinary work in a tropical country, would not need to consume more than an ounce of fat each twenty-four hours, while the same man in a northern climate, where the thermometer ranges from zero to 20 below, could use up, with similar labor, from three to four ounces of pure fat daily. Fats, however, do not produce fat in the human body unless taken largely in excess of its needs. Their primary purpose is to keep up the temperature of the body.
Dietetic suggestions for chronic obesity
Where the weight is only from ten to fifteen pounds above normal, a substantial reduction can be made by merely balancing the diet, but where the accumulation of adipose tissue has become chronic, and the body has taken on from twenty to fifty pounds, or more, above normal, then a diet composed largely of non-acid fruits and fresh vegetables should be adopted for a period of from twenty to thirty days.
Foods that produce fat
Carbohydrates, that is to say starch and sugar, are the principal fat-making nutrients, and all people inclined to take on abnormal weight, as a rule, are very fond of, and eat an excess of starchy foods. A great amount of the casein in milk and the phosphorus in eggs are converted into fat, especially if a quantity be taken in excess of the amount used in effort or work. The fat-producing staple foods are:
All cereal products
All legumes
Bread
Eggs
Milk
Potatoes
In order, therefore, to remove the causes of obesity, one must begin with the diet.
Foods that reduce fat
Eliminate meat and animal fat; ascertain as nearly as possible the amount of carbohydrates necessary for each day and take none in excess of this quantity. This will stop the accumulation of fatty tissue. If the body is obese, and a reduction of weight is desired, the diet should consist of nuts, fruits, salads, fresh vegetables, and a very limited quantity of eggs, omitting starchy foods entirely. After a week or two of this diet, discontinue the use of eggs, reducing the diet entirely to nuts, fruits, fresh vegetables and salads, which in nearly every case will bring a very substantial reduction in weight, even if the patient takes but little exercise and fresh air. If, however, he can be induced to adopt the above diet, and at the same time take two hours' moderate exercise, either in gymnastics or useful labor, with a reasonable amount of exposure to fresh air, the reduction in weight will be greater, and the muscular tissue and vitality will increase.
Inasmuch as fat contributes no item of strength to its own support, if the patient will take a reasonable amount of exercise and fresh air, muscular tissue will increase in the same ratio that fatty tissue decreases.
How menus for obesity may be varied
The menus for obesity may be varied according to the fruits and vegetables at one's command. Fish is the one article among animal food that has much to recommend it, insomuch that it contains an excellent form of proteid and phosphorus. If the taste of the patient should rebel against natural foods, fish would supply these elements better than any form of flesh.
The following articles should compose the general diet for the obese under ordinary conditions:
Buttermilk
Eggs or fish—limited quantity
Fruits
Green salads
Nuts
{ Such as—
{
{ Asparagus
{ Beans
{ Beets
{ Carrots
Fresh vegetables { Celery
{ Parsnips
{ Peas
{ Pumpkins
{ Spinach
{ Squash
{ Turnips
The ordinary obese person should adopt either of the following menus, varying them according to vegetables in season:
Foods should be selected according to vocation
If the patient is doing manual labor, the proteid foods, such as milk, cheese, nuts, fish and eggs should be increased according to the work. If, however, the labor is sedative, such as followed by the average business man, the amounts herein prescribed are sufficient. The breakfast should be taken an hour after rising, and the luncheon early, not later than 12 noon, and the dinner not later than 6 p.m.
The symptoms during the first two or three days will be that of weakness and perhaps hunger, leaving the impression of under-nourishment. This will disappear after the third or fourth day, and strength will not only return to normal, but the body will feel more energetic than before, and there will be a marked increase in the powers of endurance. If the patient can be induced to "fight it out" for a week on these lines, favorable symptoms will develop so fast that the practitioner will be aided in his work by the mental conviction of the patient, and success will be assured.
In cases of Obesity:
Do not drink at meals.
NEURASTHENIA
That disorder of the nerves known as neurasthenia is expressed in general anemia, or a breaking down of the nervous vitality. This does not indicate, however, that neurasthenia is wholly a dis-ease of the nerves; it merely means that through the nerves the symptoms are given to the brain.
Neurasthenia a last or final warning
Neurasthenia is a signal or warning given by the united voice of all the functions of digestion, secretion, and excretion. Therefore, this disorder does not appear until the body has given fair warning in many other ways, and if proper heed had been given the preceding signals, the nerves would have performed their functions without an outcry.
Every so-called dis-ease of the human body, especially of the nervous system, is in reality the voice of Nature telling us of our mistakes, and giving us the opportunity to correct them. Dis-ease, therefore, is not an enemy to the race, but a friend. It is an effort, as it were, in our behalf, of provident Nature to prevent race extinction.
Nearly every seeming misfortune with which we are afflicted can be turned to our benefit. We never take a step upward until we are mentally prepared for it; we never become mentally prepared until we have passed through a certain amount and kind of experience.
Education defined
Education reduced to its last analysis is merely the accumulation and co-ordination of useful knowledge; useful knowledge is accumulated only by and through the art of comparison. The more experience we have, the more comparisons we can make.
Ability to make comparisons, measures, ability to enjoy
Country-raised people control the great industries of the city and lead in the nation's great work because they never become blase. They have always their homely and primitive child life to draw upon for comparisons. Every good thing, every invention, every step forward and upward, every advancement is appreciated and realized exactly according to their ability to compare these things with their opposites.
If the patient should be suffering from mental disturbances called worry, he should be reminded that he is merely a floating mote in the abyss of space, and if the matter composing his form should change from organic to inorganic, from active to inactive; in other words, if he should die, the great planets would move on in their majestic courses and the cosmic scheme would in nowise be interfered with.
NEURASTHENIA—THE CAUSE
Neurasthenia is caused by a violation of the laws of nutrition, such as overeating, taking intoxicants, tea, coffee, tobacco, stimulating and sedative drugs; an oversupply of certain elements of nourishment and an undersupply of others; failure to eliminate waste; a lack of activity or motion, and improper oxidation. These causes removed, nervousness and all neurasthenic tendencies disappear, and Nature asserts herself and produces physical normality.
NEURASTHENIA—THE SYMPTOMS
Neurasthenic symptoms are excitability, irritability, mental depression, insomnia, fatigue, exhaustion, emaciation and sometimes hysteria, which very often result in other local disorders, such as extreme constipation or chronic hyperchlorhydria, with a tendency toward weakened sexuality.
NEURASTHENIA—THE REMEDY
In medical literature there are hundreds of alleged remedies for nervous disorders, yet not one of them attempts to ascertain the causes and to suggest their removal. Drugs only paralyze and stupify the delicate, sensitive nerve fibers that are conveying the intelligence to the brain that something is wrong, and the average man mistakes this for a remedy or a cure.
Unbalanced diet, a primary cause
In the opinion of the writer, neurasthenia would be almost impossible if the body were thoroughly nourished, and the daily bill of fare kept level, or, as we would say in our cash system, "balanced." But when one labors under heavy mental strains, especially that character of burden called worry, and is not properly fed and nourished, the expenditure of force on one side and the lack of supplying it on the other, are very likely to result in an abnormal physical condition called neurasthenia. It is safe to say that all cases of neurasthenia can be traced to improper nourishment on the one hand and abnormal mental tension on the other.
Diet more important than rest
The rest cure has been employed quite successfully for these conditions for many years, and if the proper diet, or what might be called a counteractive or remedial diet, were employed in all the rest cure establishments, they undoubtedly would meet with greater success, but unfortunately some of the best institutions in the country—those best equipped to take care of neurasthenic patients—do not attach any great importance to diet. This comes, no doubt, from the universal lack of information concerning the natural laws governing Food Chemistry, and their particular application to animal life.
Suggestions for the neurasthenic
Neurasthenic patients should first be given rest, which means complete or total diversion from business cares, worry, financial or social responsibility. They should be induced, if possible, to become interested in some special eleemosynary work; some "hobby" that has for its purpose the uplifting of people. The best remedy for the weary or discouraged mind, or the neurasthenic body, is the praise and esteem of people.
The suggestions hitherto given for all kindred disorders will apply in most cases of neurasthenia. (See also "Nervousness—Its Cause and Cure," Vol. V, p. 1211.) The patient should be advised to spend at least from three to four hours a day in the open air and sunshine, when the weather will permit, in some quiet way, walking, driving, or in moderate exercise.
Most important of all is the diet. It should be balanced according to age, labor, and temperature of the atmosphere, and should consist of—
Such foods as will cause normal action of the bowels
Green corn
Nuts
Rich fresh milk
Yolks of eggs
Young beans, peas, or any legume before it hardens
Immature starch composes the best form of carbohydrate food, which is exceedingly necessary in most cases of neurasthenia, unless the patient be obese, in which event it should be reduced to meet only the requirements of the body, and nitrogenous foods should predominate.
A passive form of exercise is very highly recommended, such as all forms of Swedish or mechanical electrical massage. In connection with this the body should be given an olive-oil rub at least twice a week.
In cases of Neurasthenia:
| OMIT | EAT |
| Confections | All legumes |
| Desserts | Cheese |
| Fatty foods | Eggs (yolk) |
| Hot drinks | Fish—very tender |
| Fresh milk | Fresh vegetables |
| Pastries | Green corn |
| Rich gravies | Nuts |
| Red meat | Potatoes |
| Stimulants | |
| Tea and coffee | |
| White flour products |
MALNUTRITION
CAUSE AND REMEDY
Malnutrition is caused mainly by errors in eating, sedentary habits, and lack of fresh air. The remedy, therefore, suggests itself. Level or balance the diet according to the patient's requirements, and advise from two to three hours' vigorous exercise every day, and deep breathing in the open air.
All the causes as well as the cure of malnutrition were discussed under the subject of emaciation. (See "Emaciation," p. 477.)
LOCOMOTOR ATAXIA
THE CAUSE
The principal cause of locomotor ataxia is syphilis, the treatment of which has not been sufficiently thorough. So, after lying latent—sometimes for as long a period as twenty years—the disease breaks out again, the germs (which are called spirochaeta pallida) assume new virulence, and attack the nervous system—usually the posterior column of the spinal cord.
Not infrequently, the optic nerve is also affected, developing what is known as gray atrophy of the nerves. This causes a gradual loss of vision, and finally, relative blindness.
Locomotor ataxia may occasionally be brought on by long-continued exposures to wet and cold, injuries to the spinal column, and by excesses of various kinds. But its chief origin is in syphilis—indeed, most European authorities claim that this is its only origin.
LOCOMOTOR ATAXIA—THE SYMPTOMS
Among the earliest symptoms of ataxia are the so-called lightning or lancinating pains—which come on in paroxyms of varying duration—lasting for hours, or even days at a time. These pains may be burning, tearing, cutting or boring in their nature—and usually affect only the upper half of the body.
There is generally, also, a sense of constriction in the throat—as of a choking by the clutch of a hand—and sometimes regurgitation of food, intense pains around the heart or in the epigastrium—with flatulence, eructations, and hiccough.
A very common symptom is the so-called "girdle," a sensation as though a rope or band were tightly drawn around the body at the waist. One of the earliest noticeable symptoms is the want of co-ordination—ataxia. This is most pronounced in the lower extremities, and is responsible for the unsteadiness of ataxics in walking or standing.
The gait in ataxia is staggering—resembling somewhat the inco-ordination of a man under the influence of alcohol, and there is an exaggerated lifting of the feet and legs with each step. The normal "knee-jerk" reflex—that quick jerk of the foot and lower leg that follows a sharp blow struck below the knee when the leg is held free—is generally abolished. In fact, this failure of the reflexes is usually one of the earliest diagnostic symptoms.
Later in the disease the sphincters of the bladder and the anus lose their power to contract, and there is incontinence of both urine and feces.
THE IMPORTANCE OF DIET
As with any other disease in which there are serious trophic changes, and the generation within the system of toxic products from food decay, it is absolutely indispensable in ataxia to observe the utmost care in the selection of the diet. The food should be light, but nutritious—nourishing and strengthening the system, without, at the same time, putting too great a tax upon the organs of digestion and assimilation.
Particular care should be taken to insure daily movements of the bowels, and to see that the kidneys are flushed with a plentiful supply of water drunk each day.
LOCOMOTOR ATAXIA—THE REMEDY
The generally accepted opinion among medical men is that locomotor ataxia is an incurable disease, and that there is little or nothing that any form of treatment can accomplish that will tend to restore function—or even to arrest the course of the disease, and postpone its fatal termination.
With this opinion I beg leave to differ. I am convinced that, by the proper regulation of the diet, limiting the system only to that which it requires for its complete nourishment—giving ample quantities of those foods that are rich in lecithin (or nerve-fat) and phosphorus—such as eggs, milk, whole wheat bread, fish, roe, etc.—much may be done to arrest the progress of the disease.
This, in combination with the proper kind of exercise—particularly those forms of which the "Fraenkel Movement System" is an example,—will do a wonderful amount of good in re-educating such groups of nerves in the spinal column as have not yet suffered degenerative changes.
The following diet is a mere suggestion, subject to change in order to meet the conditions of temperature, age, and activity.
Immediately on rising, the patient should take a few spoonfuls of strained orange juice and drink a cup of hot water. He should also devote a few minutes to deep breathing, and such moderate exercises as he is able to endure.
BREAKFAST
The whites of four eggs and the yolks of two (If digestion is good, the whites of six eggs may be taken—one yolk to each two whites)
A glass of milk
A tablespoonful of nuts
One very ripe banana with cream
Three or four dates
LUNCHEON
Three or four eggs whipped eight minutes; to each egg add one teaspoonful of lemon juice, and a heaping teaspoonful of sugar; whip this mixture into a quart of milk; drink slowly
DINNER
Smelts, or any small fish
A Spanish onion, baked in casserole dish
Corn bread
Buttermilk or skimmed milk
One fresh vegetable, cooked plain
In addition to this diet, there should be a regular daily schedule of exercise and deep breathing, which the patient should be required to carry out with rigid precision and regularity.
Value of exercise and massage
In nearly all cases of locomotor ataxia the body is unable to cast off the generated poisons, or used-up tissue, the result being that the new building material (food) taken in is not appropriated. This condition of atrophy must be overcome by exercise, massage, fomentation (wrapping the patient in a hot, wet blanket), or by anything that will induce excessive superficial circulation.
If one afflicted with locomotor ataxia can be induced to arise from his lethargy and exert himself, following the methods herein suggested, a gradual increase in strength is very likely to be experienced inside of two or three months, and sometimes a complete arrest of the process may be expected in time.
The writer had a patient, a retired ship captain, who came under his treatment after suffering for twelve years with locomotor ataxia, and after twelve months declared himself cured. The only evidence remaining of his former condition at this writing is shown when he attempts to turn around suddenly, and his control of the lumbar and motor muscles are undergoing such improvement that even this symptom, it seems, will finally disappear.
In cases of Locomotor Ataxia:
| OMIT | EAT | |
| Drugs of every character | Carbohydrates—limited quantity | |
| Intoxicants | Corn hominy | |
| Sex indulgence | Dates, figs, honey | |
| Stimulants and narcotics | ||
| {Beans | ||
| {Buckwheat | ||
| Foods | {Cheese | |
| rich in | {Eggs | |
| proteids | {Fresh corn | |
| and | {Fish | |
| albuminoids | {Milk | |
| such as | {Nuts | |
| {Peas | ||
| {Potatoes | ||
| {Whole wheat | ||
| Rice | ||
| Rye |
COLDS, CATARRH, HAY FEVER, ASTHMA, INFLUENZA
Overeating a common cause of capillary congestion
These disorders are grouped under a general heading because there are a few fundamental laws that affect them all alike. Capillary congestion is a common cause in all these disorders, and anything that will produce this condition will cause, or at least augment catarrh, hay fever, asthma, influenza, and colds. As overeating is the primary cause of congestion throughout the capillary system, it, rather than exposure, is the most common cause of all these disorders. The treatment that will remove or prevent this form of congestion will, therefore, remove a primary cause, when such remedial measures may be employed as each case demands.
COLDS—THE CAUSE
That condition commonly known as a cold is merely a congestion of effete matter and toxic substances in the body-cells, coming from two causes, and, so far as my experience has been able to guide me, from two causes only, namely:
1 Overeating
2 Exposure to violent atmospheric changes
COLDS—THE SYMPTOMS
The symptoms from both causes manifest themselves in exactly the same way, therefore it becomes very necessary to ascertain what the sufferer has been eating, both as to quantity and as to kind of foods during the previous forty-eight hours.
Colds caused by overeating
It often occurs that colds from overeating are cumulative, that is, the patient habitually takes too much fat, sweets, or meat, especially the two latter articles, and these may have been digested, and their nutritive elements may have passed into the circulation, but the body being unable to use them, they finally begin to decompose and are converted into alcohol and other decomposition products. An excess of this effete matter brought to the lungs is called a "cold."
If one who is blessed with good digestion and assimilation should habitually take an amount of nutrition in excess of his needs, it will manifest itself first, perhaps, in the growth of adipose tissue, and later in the various disorders called autointoxication, among which are colds, catarrh, etc.
Colds caused by exposure
If the body be exposed to a violent draft of cold air, and sufficient motion is not exerted to keep the circulation active, or if the feet be exposed to cold and wet, Nature, in obedience to the law of self-defense, closes the pores of the skin against the intrusion, hence the poisonous and effete matter that is constantly passing off through these openings cannot escape, but it is picked up by the blood and carried to the lungs to be oxidized or burned in the process of breathing.
Colds from overeating and exposure, identical
If the amount of poisons thus brought to the lungs be in excess of the amount that can be consumed or burned, a form of congestion will take place (in the lungs) causing first irritation, then suppuration, which must be thrown off in the form of mucus. It matters not whether the congestion is caused by exposure or overeating, the effects are identically the same, and Nature's method of ridding the body of these poisons is the same in either case. The only difference between an ordinary cold and pneumonia is one of degree.
COLDS—THE REMEDY
Since colds are merely a form of congestion, first in the capillary vessels and next in the lungs, the first thing to be done is to cease eating. The misunderstanding of the old adage "stuff a cold and starve a fever" has killed thousands of ignorant but innocent people. Its real meaning is, if you stuff a cold, you will have to starve an internal fever.
In the treatment of colds, I would suggest the following method of procedure:
1 (a) Omit all food except—
| {Such as— | |
| {Apples | |
| Juice of subacid fruits | {Grapes |
| {Peaches | |
| {Plums |
This should be continued until the congestion is relieved, whether it be one day or a week. (For list of subacid fruits, see Lesson VIII, p. 313.)
(b) Drink copiously of pure, cool water
2 Select a light diet of—
Nuts
Salads
White of eggs
Fresh watery vegetables
Limited quantity of carbohydrates
If the cold is severe, a Turkish bath or any treatment that will produce liberal perspiration, will aid in the elimination of body-poisons and the relief of congestion.
Remedial value of fresh air and exercise
Inasmuch as the blood is conveying an excessive amount of poisons to the lungs for oxidation, much depends upon the amount of pure air that is breathed and the cell capacity of the lungs for oxidation; therefore the sufferer, if unable to be out of doors, should be warmly clad and placed before an open window, or on a veranda in the sunshine, if possible, where every breath will be of fresh air. If, however, the patient is able to go out, every moment possible should be spent walking briskly in the open air. Every morning the patient should be given a vigorous "sponge" with a towel dipped in cold water, and rubbed down with a dry one. This should be done in a warm room, with the body well protected from undue exposure. The room should be thoroughly ventilated at night, and in severe cases all garments and sheets used during the day should be thoroughly aired or changed at night.
The old methods of drugging and of excluding the air and sunshine, which is in reality poisoning the patient both within and without, is little less than criminal.
A cool shower, or a sponge bath, together with a vigorous rub every morning immediately on rising, and a normal quantity of natural food, render the body almost entirely immune from colds, la grippe, and all forms of capillary congestion and effete and toxic (poisonous) substances.
(For diet, see volume of Menus, p. 917.)
In cases of Colds:
| OMIT | EAT |
| Confections | Coarse cereals (very little) |
| Desserts | Fresh vegetables |
| Fatty foods | Fruit (See p. 524) |
| Flesh foods | Light vegetable soups |
| Heavy starchy foods | Nuts |
| Intoxicants | Wheat bran |
| Whites of eggs |
CATARRH—THE CAUSE
Decomposition of unused food the primary cause of catarrh
The causes of catarrh are attributed by all old school writers to acute coryza and exposure to irritating dust, or cold, moist, and perhaps infectious air. These may be secondary causes and may augment catarrh after it has appeared, but experience has proved that the primary cause of catarrh is the decomposition of unused food material, and that Nature throws off the decomposition products resulting therefrom, through the nasal passage, in the form of mucus. In the support of this theory I may refer to many cases of ordinary stomach trouble, constipation, torpidity of the liver, etc., that have had my personal care. In nearly all these cases I found that, when the diet was balanced according to the age and the occupation of the patient, with the climate or time of the year, practically all catarrhal symptoms disappeared, and exposure to atmospheric changes, dust, and the usual things that had formerly brought on catarrhal conditions, did not affect the patient.
CATARRH—THE SYMPTOMS
The symptoms of catarrh are constant secretion of nasal mucus, which often passes off into the postnasal and nasopharyngeal spaces. This mucus is usually thin and of a light-colored watery character, varying in quantity according to exposure or activity, the quantity of food eaten, and the temperature of the atmosphere.
CATARRH—THE REMEDY
In the treatment of catarrh, avoid the following:
All meats
Heavy starchy foods (Especially white flour products)
Sweets (See Lesson VIII, p. 334)
The diet should consist of—
A reasonable quantity of proteid foods in the form of—
Beans Peas
Eggs Sour milk
Nuts
Bananas
Coarse cereals—twice a day; such as entire wheat and rye
Fish (small quantity, occasionally)
Fresh vegetables
Green watery salads
Non-acid fruits
Wheat bran—
(Enough to keep the bowels in normal condition)
Nasal breathing
Deep breathing through the nostrils and vigorous exercise should be taken freely, especially just after rising and just before retiring. Special attention should be given to breathing through the nose. When the air is pure, there is nothing more healing and remedial in the treatment of catarrh than the abundant passage of air through the nasal cavities.
In cases of Catarrh:
| OMIT | EAT | |
| All meats | A reasonable | {Beans |
| Heavy starchy foods (white flour | quantity of | {Eggs |
| and grain products) | Proteids | {Nuts |
| Stimulants and narcotics | such as | {Peas |
| Sweets | {Sour milk | |
| Bananas | ||
| Coarse cereals—entire wheat and rye | ||
| Fish, occasionally | ||
| Fresh vegetables | ||
| Green watery salads | ||
| Non-acid fruits |
Take vigorous exercise, together with deep breathing through the nose.
HAY FEVER
Hay fever might be called autumnal catarrh. It is popularly supposed to be irritation of the nasal passages and the bronchial tubes, caused by the flying pollen from various flowers and plants.
HAY FEVER—THE SYMPTOMS
The symptoms of hay fever are usually a salty discharge from the eyes and the nostrils, followed by severe irritation of the mucous lining of the nasal cavity, a sense of fullness in the head, and violent sneezing.
HAY FEVER—THE REMEDY
It has not been the writer's opportunity to examine deeply into the actual causes of hay fever, but it has been his good fortune to cure many cases.
The remedy should be confined to—
Fresh air and sunshine
Close observation of the rules of diet
Total abstinence from all forms of stimulants and narcotics
I would suggest the following diet:
Berries
Eggs
Fish (Limited quantity)
Green and fresh vegetables
Sour milk (Buttermilk)
(Where this kind of milk cannot be obtained, the ordinary
sweet milk will suffice)
The diet must be governed, as already explained in many other cases, by the individual requirements of the patient in regard to the amount of exercise, the temperature of the atmosphere, and the age of the patient. In spring and summer is the ideal time to remove the causes of hay fever and effect its cure. (See Catarrh.)
In cases of Hay Fever:
| OMIT | EAT | |
| Coffee | {Bananas | |
| Confections | {Berries | |
| Condiments | Abundance | {Fresh |
| Liquors and wines | of | {vegetables |
| Tea | {Green salads | |
| Tobacco | {Sweet fruits | |
| White flour products | ||
| Limited | {Eggs | |
| quantity | {Fish | |
| {Sour milk (buttermilk) |
The diet should be governed by amount of exercise, temperature, etc.
ASTHMA
THE CAUSE
The cause of asthma is congestion in, or constriction of, the bronchial tubes. This congestion is usually caused by overeating and the excessive use of narcotics and stimulants such as tobacco, liquors, and beer. The excessive use of sugar and starches, or what is generally known as carbohydrates, will set up a form of difficult breathing, or at least augment asthmatic tendencies. This condition is more likely to occur among those whose lungs are weakened and who have a tendency toward consumption.
ASTHMA—THE SYMPTOMS
There are but few conditions preceding asthma that can properly be called symptoms. The attacks are usually violent and frequently come on late at night. The patient suffers with a sense of asphyxia, which causes the impression of death from suffocation.
ASTHMA—THE REMEDY
The causes of asthma can be removed by diet, fresh air and exercise. If the patient can take a reasonable amount of exercise, sunshine and fresh air, the cure will be more rapid, but if this cannot be done, the diet can be limited so that there will be but little waste, therefore little congestion, and the necessity for exercise and fresh air will be reduced to the minimum.
In cases of asthma, the diet should be confined to—
Egg albumin
Limited quantity of nuts
(No more than two ounces per day)
An abundance of—
Fresh and green vegetables
Fruits
SaladsIf meat be taken at all, it should be confined to fish, young and tender game, or fowl, although these articles are not recommended.
If the patient be obese or above normal weight, the diet given for obesity should be rigidly observed. If of normal weight, the body should be fed somewhat below its physical requirements, even if a radical loss in weight should be experienced for the first three or four weeks.
If the patient is emaciated, then the diet should consist of six or eight eggs, and about one quart of milk daily, together with sweet fruits and fresh vegetables. Milk may be given in larger quantities, up to three quarts daily, if all other food except eggs be omitted.
In cases of Asthma:
| OMIT | EAT | |
| All intoxicants | About two ounces of nuts | |
| Coffee | per day (no more) | |
| Condiments | {Fruits | |
| Confections | Abundance | {Salads |
| Red meat | of | {Fresh green vegetables |
| Tobacco | ||
| Egg albumin | ||
| If any meat, it should be | ||
| fish or tender fowl |
INFLUENZA
THE CAUSE
Bacteria the result, not the cause
This disorder is popularly supposed to be of bacteriological origin, but upon this question the scientific world is much divided. In the opinion of the writer the cause of influenza cannot be traced to bacteria or any other form of germ life. Bacteria is nearly always present in decomposing animal matter. It is the opinion of the writer, therefore, that bacteria is the result and not the cause of influenza. It might be described as an acute activity of the entire system in throwing off accumulated waste or toxic substances. This process of excretion will become more difficult at certain times, during violent changes in temperature, and many people in small communities may be similarly afflicted, which no doubt gives rise to the theory that it is a disease of germ origin.
INFLUENZA—THE SYMPTOMS
The symptoms are headache, languor, sometimes nausea and congestion in the lungs, together with acute irritation of the nasal passages.
INFLUENZA—THE REMEDY
The logical remedy is normal temperature of environment, abundance of fresh air, and omission of all solid food.
There are two specific forms of diet to be recommended—
1 A liquid diet entirely, such as—
Juice of berries
Orange juice
Milk
Very thin vegetable soups
2 Confine diet entirely to—
Nuts
Fruits
Fresh green vegetables
3 Eliminate fats, starches, sugars
Either of the above suggestions will be sufficient to control an ordinary case of influenza if it is rigidly adhered to.
In the spring and summer, the latter diet would be recommended, while in winter, when green and fresh vegetables, fruits, etc., cannot be procured, the milk diet should be given.
In cases of influenza, see menus for colds, hay fever, and catarrh. Take choice, giving preference to those prescribed for hay fever. Whichever menu is chosen, it should be taken in its entirety; that is, do not select the meals from two or three menus.
INSOMNIA
THE CAUSE
The inability to sleep is caused:
1 By intestinal congestion or sluggish intestinal peristalsis
2 By irritation of the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines
3 By the presence of gas, superacidity, and the consequent irritation and excitation of the nerves leading out from the digestive tract
4 By the use of tobacco
5 By the consumption of stimulants and narcotics, which are so universal and so life-destroying
The effects of (4) and (5) upon the stomach are much the same as those of overeating, in that they invariably cause supersecretion of acid, and, in the majority of instances, produce false appetite, thus augmenting the baneful habit of overeating.
INSOMNIA—THE REMEDY
The logical remedy for insomnia is first to eliminate the use of tea, coffee, tobacco, distilled and malted liquors, and drugs of every kind whatsoever, as the ultimate effect upon the stomach of all these things is the same. When this has been done, the amount of food required by the body, governed by the three laws of age, work, and temperature of environment, should be accurately laid out so that the quantity of food may be controlled and overeating avoided.
Cases necessitating a special remedial diet
The diet should also be balanced according to the chemical needs of the body heretofore mentioned. In a a majority of cases, when the food scientist can prevail upon his patient to confine himself to a normal quantity of food, reasonably well balanced as to nutrient elements, the stomach will perform its natural functions, and fermentation with its long train of ills will gradually disappear. This can, in many instances, be accomplished by merely standing out of Nature's way, but in some cases the stomach, liver, intestines, and nervous system have been so long abused and so impaired that they seem to have entered into a conspiracy for mutual protection, hence may not yield to the "normal quantity" or "balanced dietary" remedy. In these cases a remedial diet must be followed, such as will restore the balance by omitting altogether the elements on which the patient had been overfed, and taking an excessive quantity of the elements for the lack of which the patient had been suffering.
The following menus should be adopted in the treatment of ordinary cases of Insomnia:
In cases of insomnia:
| OMIT | EAT |
| Distilled and malted liquors | All fresh vegetables |
| Drugs of every kind | Coarse cereals, boiled whole |
| Desserts | Egg whites |
| Flesh foods | Leafy salads |
| Soda-fountain drinks | Nuts |
| Tea and coffee | Wheat bran, if constipated |
| White bread |
Mastication should be very thorough. Eat sparingly at the evening meal. Two meals a day preferred, 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Drink plain water.
RHEUMATISM—GOUT
These disorders are grouped under the same heading because they are of identical origin.
Why rheumatism manifests itself largely in the joints
In the average body of five feet eight inches in height, there are about 2,000 miles of tubing, classified under the various names of arteries, veins, capillaries, and nerves. Altogether this is called the circulatory system. A vast amount of this system is infinitely small. Every atom of food taken into the circulation that is not used or converted into energy passes into some of these infinitely small tubes and nerve fibers. These tubes are susceptible of considerable expansion in the fleshy part of the body, but where they pass through the joints or cartilage, there is but little expansion. There these undissolved atoms are most likely to congest, therefore the first expression of rheumatism is usually in the joints. If it takes place at the terminals (fingers or toes), it is called gout; if in the muscles, it is called muscular or inflammatory rheumatism. This congestion accounts for the stiffness and lack of elasticity in the joints. These accumulated atoms become in time almost as hard as bone.
RHEUMATISM—THE CAUSE
The cause of both rheumatism and gout are practically the same—that is, overeating, especially of flesh and starchy foods. Meat and bread are the two things that cause nearly all rheumatism, though rheumatic symptoms often appear among vegetarians, caused by the overconsumption of starchy food, especially when acid fruits are used. The ideal diet for producing rheumatism is cereals, white bread, meat, acid fruit and eggs.
RHEUMATISM—THE SYMPTOMS
The symptoms of rheumatism often manifest themselves a year or more before an attack comes on.
The earlier symptoms are—
Languor, stupidity and dulness
in the morning
Impaired circulation and a
sense of body-heaviness
The later symptoms are pain in the joints or muscles, often followed by inflammation and severe soreness and stiffness.
The rheumatic usually has good digestion. In fact, it is the ability of the digestive organs to force more nutrition into the circulation than is needed, that produces this dis-ease.
In nearly all cases of rheumatism and gout the patient will be found to have been a large consumer of starchy food, especially of the cereal family, which is the most difficult of all starches to dissolve.
GOUT—THE CAUSE
An excess of starch causes an excess of acid
The primary cause of gout is faulty metabolism; behind this, however, are other causes. The metabolic process is rendered faulty or incomplete by the overingestion of heavy starchy foods. This excess of starch, which the body is not able to appropriate or use, becomes acted upon by the excess of acid which is always present when too much starch is consumed. This harmful process is often augmented by the eating of fruit-acids such as grapefruit, lemons, oranges, pineapples, and other citrus-fruits. In addition to these causes the uric acid residual in meat and in the yolk of eggs is an important factor in the causation of gouty or rheumatic conditions.
GOUT—THE SYMPTOMS
The earlier symptoms of gout are nervousness, irritability, and sometimes insomnia. In the second stages, shooting pains through the fingers and toes are experienced, and later a swelling or a slight inflammation of these terminals. After this acute condition has existed for perhaps a year, the pain may cease and the joints may begin to swell. Knots are also often formed, especially upon the hands, and sometimes upon the feet.
RHEUMATISM, GOUT—THE REMEDY
The remedy for these disorders may be said to lie wholly within the realm of diet, exercise and oxidation, supplemented by a liberal superficial application of heat, such as Turkish and electric light baths.
In all cases of rheumatism and gout, the following should be omitted:
All acid fruits, such as,
Grapefruit
Lemons
Limes
Oranges
Pineapples
Eggs
Red meats
Starchy foods (Carbohydrate class)
The diet should be confined to—
Fish and white meat of fowl
Fresh vegetables
Nuts
Salads
Sweet and non-acid fruits
(See Lesson VIII, p. 313)
How to prevent the active principle of rheumatism
If the diet were confined wholly to green salads, fresh vegetables and white meats, it would remove the causes of these disorders, and inasmuch as Nature is always striving to create perfect health, the cause being removed, she would begin at once to apply the remedy, by removing the congested mass of undissolved calcareous matter, atom by atom. Thus the active principle of rheumatism would disappear.
Where the joints have become enlarged, the best that can be done is to render them flexible. It is almost impossible to take out of them all the accumulated deposits, and to reduce them to their natural or normal size.
Natural perspiration vs. artificial in the treatment of rheumatism
In addition to the above-named restrictive diet, the patient should be given sufficient exercise each day to generate enough heat to cause perspiration. It is well to remember that one drop of perspiration forced out of the body by activity is worth a dozen drawn out of the body by the application of superficial heat, such as the Turkish bath. Natural perspiration should come from exercise (muscular friction). This is the method designed by Nature to throw poisonous substances to the surface in the form of sweat, thereby demolishing the old cell and making a place for the new. The Turkish bath and massage is the lazy man's method of cheating Nature, and cannot possibly bring as good results as can obedience to the natural law of motion.
In cases of Rheumatism and Gout:
| OMIT | EAT |
| All acid fruits— | Buttermilk |
| Grapefruit | Fish and white meat of fowl |
| Lemons | Fresh vegetables |
| Limes | Nuts |
| Oranges | Potatoes |
| Pineapples | Salads (green) |
| Coffee | Sweet fruits (non-acid) |
| Eggs | |
| Liquors, wines, beers | |
| Red meat | |
| Starchy foods | |
| Tobacco |
Eat rather sparingly, especially at the evening meal.
BRIGHT'S DIS-EASE
This disorder is confined entirely to the kidneys. In its final analysis it is nothing more than consumption or destruction of the kidneys by thrusting upon them a greater amount of waste matter than they are capable of throwing off, the result being (1) irritation; (2) ulceration; (3) suppuration or consumption.
BRIGHT'S DIS-EASE—THE CAUSE
The causes of Bright's dis-ease are overingestion of food, especially sweets, starches and meats; the taking of stimulants and narcotics, and the consequent failure of the body to eliminate the poisons or waste accumulating therefrom.
BRIGHT'S DIS-EASE—THE SYMPTOMS
The symptoms of Bright's dis-ease are scant amount of urine, heavily laden with solids and fatty granules, while leucocytes and even red blood-corpuscles are often shown, especially in advanced cases. Dull pains in the small of the back, and a general weakening in the lumbar regions are common symptoms.
BRIGHT'S DIS-EASE—THE REMEDY
Prevention of Bright's dis-ease by correct feeding
It has been popularly supposed, and announced from many alleged sources of authority, that there is no remedy for this dis-ease, and from the standpoint of Materia Medica this probably is correct, but from the standpoint of the natural scientist there is a remedy. However, Bright's dis-ease, like all others herein discussed, can better be prevented than cured, and under a correct dietetic regimen, with plenty of exercise and fresh air, the kidneys, like every other organ of the body, will perform their normal functions.
When Bright's dis-ease has made its appearance, the first thing to be ascertained is the character of the diet and the general habits of eating and drinking during the previous two or three years; secondly, the occupation or habits of exercise, especially exposure to fresh air and sunshine.
BRIGHT'S DIS-EASE—THE TREATMENT
A very restricted diet should be observed, consisting largely of the following:
Fresh vegetables
Green salads
Subacid fruits
The fine cereals—
(Such as barley and rice)
Milk and eggs—(limited quantity)
All sweets taken should be in the form of sweet fruits. (See Lesson VIII, p. 313).
Milk is very beneficial in this condition—especially when taken in the form of buttermilk, clabbered milk, koumyss or zoolak. The lactic acid ferments in the sour milk help to destroy the germs of putrefaction in the intestines, which are always one of the aggravating causes of Bright's disease.
Sometimes an exclusive acid milk diet for a while works wonders.
Suggestions for diet in different seasons
If the patient is under treatment in the spring and summer, as many green plants and fresh sweet fruits as possible should be taken, in connection with the milk, eliminating cereal starch entirely. In the fall and winter, the many varieties of apples and autumn vegetables may be taken in liberal quantities.
GENERAL SUGGESTIONS FOR BRIGHT'S DIS-EASE
In the majority of cases it is well to first put the patient on a short fast of about twenty-four hours, and then begin the diet with articles containing a liberal quantity of cellulose, such as the entire wheat, boiled; celery, cooked in casserole dish.
Keep the bowels open by the use of wheat bran, or grapes, if they are in season, swallowing skins, seeds and pulp.
As in all sympathetic disorders, an abundance of pure, cool water should be taken and as much time as possible should be spent in the open air and sunshine.
Care should be taken to limit the diet to the minimum so that the excretory organs can easily eliminate all waste matter, and so that there may be no further poisonous accumulations.
In cases of Bright's Dis-ease:
| OMIT | EAT |
| Drugs | Abundance of nuts (Italian pine nut) |
| Flesh of every kind | Fine cereals—barley, rice |
| Intoxicants | Fresh vegetables |
| Rich desserts | Green salads |
| Sweets | Limited quantity of milk and eggs |
| Sweets in form of fruit-sugar, such as | |
| dates, figs, raisins (limited quantity) | |
| Subacid fruits | |
| Wheat bran with evening meal |
The diet should be somewhat restricted.
Drink an abundance of pure water.
DIABETES
This disorder may be described as one of malassimilation from the stomach, liver, kidneys, and intestines, but to the trained student it is better described as a condition in which the capacity of the body to burn or use grape-sugar has become chronically depressed. It is usually supplemented by a lack of physical exercise and elimination of body-poisons.
DIABETES—THE CAUSE
From the above explanation it will be seen that diabetes, like all other dis-eases of the digestive organs, is caused directly by errors in eating—overconsumption of carbohydrates (sweets and starches), and albuminoids. These errors are augmented by inactivity, causing lack of assimilation or utilization of nutritive elements.
DIABETES—THE SYMPTOMS
The symptoms of diabetes are intense thirst and appetite, copious passing of urine and the presence of excessive quantities of sugar and uric acid therein.
DIABETES—THE REMEDY
The selecting, proportioning and balancing of the daily menu, together with an observance of the natural laws hitherto laid out, will prevent diabetes, but after it has made its appearance the remedy lies in simple and limited feeding.
The sufferer should be put upon a rigid diet of fresh vegetables, nuts, fruits, and salads. If the body has not been trained to accept these foods, the diet might consist of the following:
Bloodless (white) meats
Eggs
Fats—reasonable quantity (Olive-oil, butter, cream)
Fish
Fresh vegetables
Green salads—generous quantity
Nuts
If the patient be overweight, the diet should consist largely of subacid fruits and nuts. If underweight, a liberal quantity of sour milk should be given, especially whole soured milk in which the cream is also present.
Diet in extreme cases of diabetes
In extreme cases the patient should be required to subsist upon Pignolia (the pine) nuts, and green or fresh vegetables uncooked. The writer knows of a gentleman suffering from a very advanced case of diabetes, who, in utter despair, adopted a diet consisting entirely of pine nuts, merely because they appealed to his taste, while nothing else did. A noticeable change for the better was seen in a week, especially in regard to the amount of sugar passed in the urine. He adhered rigidly to this diet for nearly three months. He then added green salads and carrots, and the seventh and eighth months a few fresh cooked vegetables, and was pronounced thoroughly cured before the year had expired. This might have been due partly to the limited bill of fare, but undoubtedly it was largely due to the food elements contained in this wonderful product of the Italian pine.
In cases of Diabetes:
| OMIT | EAT |
| Condiments | All fresh vegetables, cooked— |
| Confections | preferably in casserole dish |
| Irritants | Nuts |
| Pastries | Baked potatoes |
| Red meats | Coarse whole cereals thoroughly |
| Stimulants and narcotics | cooked—small quantity |
| Sweets | Fish |
| White flour products | Milk (sour) |
| Very ripe subacid fruit | |
| White meat of fowl |
Drink an abundance of pure water.
In treating diabetes, foods containing starch and sugar should not be wholly eliminated from the diet, but should be administered in limited proportions, or such quantities as the body could use. Starches and sugars contained in cereals and legumes, however, should in extreme cases be omitted because they are difficult to digest and to assimilate. If the digestion is impaired, the body is likely to cast out these valuable nutrients through the kidneys, rather than labor to digest and to assimilate them. The starches and sugars found in fresh vegetables (See table, Vol. III, p. 614), are easily digested and assimilated, therefore in cases of diabetes the body will use or appropriate them, as this entails less energy than that required to cast them out.
CONSUMPTION
For many centuries chemists, scientists, and medical men generally have been vainly battling with this dis-ease. It is only within the past decade that it has been understood or successfully treated.
Consumption is an infection of the lungs by the bacteria called bacillus tuberculosis. The local inflammation produces lesions, and the formation of small growths (nodules) of gray, white, or yellowish tubercles.
Authorities differ concerning the bacillus
It is yet an open question and a matter of grave doubt in the minds of various authorities on this subject as to whether the bacilli is the real cause, or the result of the dis-ease. The fact that a person or an animal afflicted with tuberculosis was in "susceptible condition" is much emphasized by all authorities.
Predisposing conditions and occupations
Such disorders as catarrh, influenza, chronic colds, etc., are all predisposing conditions. Such trades as metal grinding, spinning, weaving, cleaning grain, street sweeping, or any vocation necessitating the breathing of large quantities of dust, are termed predisposing occupations, which show very clearly that all writers are practically agreed that the real cause is undoubtedly due to imperfect oxidation or impaired use of the lungs.
The above conditions may be brought on from two specific causes—
1 By the habitual overingestion of food, and the consequent congestion of effete matter in the lungs, brought thither by the circulation in its effort to dispose of the waste-products by burning them with oxygen.
2 Through the agency of foreign substances breathed in, which gradually congest, and prevent thorough oxidation and normal activity of the excretory function of the lungs.
Bacilli the result, not the cause of consumption
The opinion of the writer is that the bacillus above referred to is the result and not the cause of this dis-ease, and that such living organisms (bacilli) are created in the economy of Nature to dispose of this congested matter, just as she, in her provident economy, disposes of the carcass of a dead animal.
Facts shown by experiments and by modern treatment of consumption
The fact that a tuberculosis culture, deposited in the lungs of another animal, reproduces the dis-ease, proves nothing, as it may have been planted in susceptible soil, well prepared for the growth and the development of the bacteria. The fact that some very healthy animals did not contract the dis-ease by this method, supports the theory that if conditions are not favorable the culture is killed by the process of oxidation. This sustains the theory that the bacillus tuberculosis is the result, and not the cause of this dread dis-ease. This theory is further supported by the results of the most modern and only successful methods of treating it.
CONSUMPTION—THE TREATMENT
When beginning treatment, the tubercular patient should be restricted as to diet for the purpose of giving Nature an opportunity to make use of every atom of food taken into the body, leaving nothing to go to waste.
The diet should consist almost wholly of vegetable fats, sour milk, nuts, fruits, salads, and eggs, with a limited amount of readily digestible carbohydrates.
The following menu is given as a fair example of selection as to quantity and combinations:
BREAKFAST
Cantaloup, orange, grapes, pears, or persimmons
Two or three eggs, whipped five minutes, adding a teaspoonful of lemon juice, and one of sugar to each egg
LUNCHEON
A green salad eaten with nuts, a dash of lemon juice and olive-oil
One or two fresh vegetables, including a baked potato
One egg prepared as for breakfast
A glass of sour milk
DINNER
A green salad, with nuts and oil
Eggs or buttermilk
One or two fresh vegetables
A baked potato
The above menus may be increased in quantity after the first week or ten days, at least sufficient to meet all physical requirements, and the articles may be changed according to seasons.
Dietetic suggestions for spring and summer in consumptive cases
In spring and summer all kinds of fruits and berries may be used, and such vegetables as squash, asparagus, spinach, beets, green peas and beans, turnips, parsnips, carrots, and green corn. All of these vegetables should be cooked in a casserole dish.
The bowels should be kept free. (See treatment for "Constipation," p. 437.) Drink copiously of pure water.
Suggestions for the treatment of mild cases of consumption
If the patient is not far advanced, he should seek employment which affords constant exercise in the open air, preferably in the hills or mountains, and the labor should be of such a character as to cause normal activity of the liver and the bowels, and to enforce deep respiration. A spirometer or lung-measuring machine should be secured, and the patient should practise upon this night and morning, endeavoring each day to register from one to five cubic inches more than the previous day, until every air cell of the lungs is opened and the full capacity is reached, which should be about 315 cubic inches for the average man, and 250 for the woman of normal size.
General rules of hygiene in consumptive cases
Contrary to usual customs and theories, the patient should take a cool sponge bath every morning, in a warm room, except in very cold weather. It should be followed by a vigorous rub down and deep breathing. Wear thin cotton under-clothes. Dress as lightly as possible, except when exposed where exercise or motion cannot be taken, such as riding in an open car or vehicle. Nature's method of producing hardihood and increasing endurance is by means of exposure. The house-plant life is conducive and favorable to tuberculosis.
Importance of perfect oxidation
The most important thing in the treatment of this dis-ease is perfect oxidation (breathing). Every cell of the lungs should be filled at every breath. The lungs should be filled to their extreme capacity, one hundred or more times a day, with pure, fresh, dustless air. The patient should never breathe the same breath twice; especially should he not breathe the air that has been used by other people, or by pet animals in a closed room.
In order to carry out this regimen, it is necessary to live out of doors day and night, winter and summer.
The tubercular patient should sleep in a tent, or upon an open piazza every night, regardless of the weather or the temperature of the atmosphere. If these rules were observed the white plague would lose some of its terrors.
In cases of Consumption:
| OMIT | EAT | |
| Coffee | Cheese | |
| Meat | Eggs | |
| Stimulants | { Preferably— | |
| Sweets | { Carrots | |
| Tea | { Dried beans, | |
| Tobacco | Fresh | { Onions |
| vegetables | { Peas | |
| { Parsnips | ||
| { Potatoes | ||
| { Pumpkin | ||
| { Squash | ||
| Figs | ||
| Milk | ||
| Raisins |
HEART TROUBLE
The heart, a sentinel of the body
The heart may well be called the thermometer of the body. Under normal conditions it is never heard from, but under abnormal conditions it is the first and the most reliable sentinel of the body. It stands eternally on duty and sends its danger signals to the brain with truthful accuracy, whether the trouble be of physical, mental, or emotional origin. A word or a sound sent through the air enters the ear and is analyzed by the brain, but the heart registers accurately its effect upon the physical body. We see a face or an occurrence a block away, and through the optic nerves it is comprehended by the brain, but the heart alone registers or gives back to the brain the effect upon the body.
Necessity for heeding the symptoms of the heart
This little engine, but little bigger than one's fist, pumps about twenty tons of blood every day above its own level in every body of average size, besides sending the life fluids of the blood-serum with lightning speed to the parts of the remotest anatomy, carting away the effete and poisonous matter to the lungs to be burned with oxygen, and carrying new building material from cell to cell for repairs. Should we not, therefore, take good care of, and heed the warnings of so wonderful a piece of automatic mechanism? Should we not study all its symptoms told in a language sympathetic and truthful, and as unerring as the laws that govern the movement of worlds in space?
Some undefined technical terms
The heart gives off various symptoms indicating the different kinds of sins we commit against the natural laws of our organisms. Medical men have named some of these symptoms as follows: Dilation, hypertrophy, atrophy, aneurism, inflammation, valvular derangement, etc., but in none of their reference works are the causes of these so-called dis-eases clearly defined. Fatty degeneration is the only one that is explained, the term meaning that the heart has been deprived of room in which to do its work, owing to surrounding fatty accumulations.
HEART TROUBLE—THE CAUSE
The blood enters the heart through the superior venae cavae flowing to the right lobe or auricle, then it is pumped by the heart beats to the right ventricle. From here it is forced through the pulmonary artery to the lungs where it is purified and charged with the oxygen we breathe. From the lungs the blood returns through the pulmonary veins to the left auricle of the heart, and then to the left ventricle. Having passed once through the purifying plant and twice through the distributing station, it is now sent out through the large systematic artery and distributed to every capillary cell of the body.
Heart trouble caused by (carbon dioxid) gas
From the accumulation of gas caused by fermenting food the transverse colon becomes very much distended. This interferes with the free flow of blood into and out of the heart, causing at times a very faint heart action from a lack of inflow, and again a very heavy, rapid action when the blood spurts through. This produces dizziness and vertigo, and sometimes where the inflow is greater than the heart can discharge, there is arterial overflow; the heart ceases action, and the victim falls prostrate, and sometimes dies.
(See "Fermentation—The Symptoms," p. 426.)
Heart trouble caused by calcareous substances
Many cases of serious heart trouble are caused by habitual overeating, especially of grain and grain products. The calcareous substances from these products are deposited in the capillary vessels and in the joints, causing rheumatism, rheumatoid arthritis, sciatica, lumbago, gout, and other evidences of our lack of knowledge. When the one thus afflicted follows a sedentary occupation, taking but little fresh air and exercise, a hardening or stiffening of the arteries is usually the result.
It is safe to say that if one would eat moderately, omit stimulants and narcotics, take but a limited quantity of starchy foods, a liberal amount of fresh air, deep breathing and exercise, heart trouble would be unknown.
HEART TROUBLE—THE REMEDY
Diet for heart trouble
For the treatment of those who are afflicted with heart trouble I would suggest a very limited diet of nuts, fruits, salads, fresh tuber and green vegetables, eggs, and a limited quantity of coarse foods, such as boiled whole wheat, wheat bran, grapes (seeds and all), and all coarse vegetables, with an abundance of mild exercise and fresh air.
Exercise for heart trouble
In cases of heart trouble no greater mistake can be made than to cease exercise, as is often prescribed by well-meaning doctors. This is compromising with the enemy, with absolute certainty of ultimate defeat. Exercise, above all, is the very thing that is most needed.
The patient should begin moderately at first, daily increasing the time and the tensity of the work until a balance is established between the intake and the outflow of blood to the heart.
For foods to be eaten and omitted in cases of heart trouble, see p. 573. Also see menus for Fermentation.
DIS-EASES OF THE SKIN
There are two distinct kinds of skin dis-eases, namely—
1 Local
2 Constitutional
The local is that which manifests itself in the form of pimples or eruptions which come and go, and are of only a few days' duration. The second, or constitutional kind, is that which manifests itself by a permanent irritation or inflammation, which is classified as eczema, psoriasis, etc.
DIS-EASES OF THE SKIN—THE CAUSE
Local disorders
The local or temporary disorders are caused and controlled entirely by diet, usually overeating. Sometimes overingestion of some one particular food; for instance, too much acid taken in the form of berries, or citrus-fruits, will often produce an eruption or a rash within a few hours after eating.
Eruptions augmented by autointoxication
That form of pimples or eruptions caused by overeating is usually augmented by constipation or by some form of intestinal congestion, which has been given the impressive title of autointoxication. Autointoxication is a broad word that seems to have been invented, not for the purpose of explaining, but for the purpose of evading the necessity of explaining. The meaning of this word (self-poisoning) has been narrowed down by the profession to describe the above conditions, but in reality it should be applied to all forms of self-poisoning by overeating; eating the wrong combinations of food; the use of all stimulants and narcotics, such as tobacco, tea, coffee, liquor and wines of all kinds. In fact, self-poisoning from the last-named sources is as common as from errors in eating, and much more difficult to control.
Nearly all dis-eases are traceable directly to unexcreted poisons which the body has been unable to throw off. These poisons are from two sources:
1 The natural poisons or gases that accumulate in the body under normal conditions, which, if prevented in any manner from passing off, will cause some kind of disorder which would come under the head of autointoxication.
2 The poisons that accumulate under abnormal conditions, such as hitherto described, and which are very often made manifest by eruptions of the skin.
Constitutional disorders
That form of skin dis-ease known as eczema has baffled the medical world for many centuries. It has hitherto been treated locally by the most skilled and learned specialists, in the belief that it was of bacteriological origin, but modern experiments in the field of food chemistry have demonstrated the fact that it can be cured by scientific feeding, therefore it is only fair to assume that its origin or primary cause is due to some form of self-poisoning, caused by errors in eating and faulty metabolism.
DIS-EASES OF THE SKIN—THE TREATMENT
If a rash should appear on the skin after eating acid fruit or berries, one would naturally know the remedy; namely, omit acids, limit the quantity of food at the next meal, drink copiously of pure water and breathe an abundance of fresh air. The same general remedy should be observed in all cases.
Preliminary treatment for dis-eases of the skin
The pimples or eruptions will gradually disappear when the causes are removed, and the same rule will apply to eczema or any chronic form of skin irritation. The patient should first be put upon a short fast of two or three days' duration, and caused to perspire freely each day for an hour or so. This can be accomplished by the aid of the Turkish bath, but preferably by exercise. On the first day the fast should be broken by taking either the juice of such fruits as plums, peaches, apples, grapes, and pears, or the juice of cantaloup and watermelon.
DIET FOR DIS-EASES OF THE SKIN
The diet should be gradually broadened by the addition of green salads, uncooked carrots, onions and turnips, and a limited quantity of such cooked vegetables as spinach, asparagus, squash, fresh corn, green peas or beans when in season. Later, the diet should be confined mainly to egg whites, skimmed milk, nuts, sweet fruits, salads, fresh green vegetables, including a very limited quantity of sugar and coarse cereals, two or three times a week.
DIET FOR CHRONIC ECZEMA
In extreme and chronic cases of eczema the diet should be confined entirely to green salads, sweet fruits, fresh vegetables, and about two ounces of olive-oil daily, feeding the body always somewhat below its normal requirements as indicated by hunger.
Under this diet and regimen the patient will, of course, lose weight and possibly strength, but the body will so completely make use of all nutrition and the elimination of all waste will be made so completely, through the excretory channels, that the dis-ease will gradually disappear, owing to the removal of its primary causes.
For "Sweet Fruits," see Lesson VIII, p. 313.
APPENDICITIS
There are three large colons in the intestinal tract which form an inverted U, the "ascending," "transverse," and "descending" colons. The descending colon is situated on the left side, its lower part opening into the rectal cavity. The ascending colon, located on the right side, connects with the small intestines, while the transverse colon goes across at a point opposite the navel, connecting the two.
The vermiform appendix a useful organ
To the lower part of the ascending colon is attached the vermiform appendix. Authorities are much divided as to the function of this organ. Many claim that it is a relic of anthropoid man, while others contend that it is a useful and important part of the anatomy. In the opinion of the writer it secretes a valuable digestive fluid and therefore performs a function valuable both to digestion and to alimentation. In the ascending colon is the only place in the thirty-six feet of intestinal tubing where the fecal matter must rise against the law of gravity, therefore, if there is any congestion throughout this canal, it is most likely to occur in this colon. While the bowels may seem to act normally, yet, owing to the tremendous amount of waste matter necessary to be conveyed from the body, and the peristaltic action involved in moving it along, especially at this point, some of the fecal matter often lodges under the small folds and in the flexuous surfaces of this colon, decomposing and causing an acute form of inflammation. The vermiform appendix, being attached to this inflamed colon, becomes inflamed also. In other words, this inoffensive and useful little organ suffers the penalty of being in bad company.
Old diagnosis correct
Thus it is seen that appendicitis, so-called, is merely a form of fevered or irritated colon; hence the old-fashioned diagnosis—"bowel inflammation"—before appendicitis became popular, and profitable, was in reality correct. Knowing the cause—the physiology of appendicitis—the remedy becomes a simple one.
APPENDICITIS—THE SYMPTOMS
The symptoms of appendicitis (bowel inflammation) are usually pain, at times sharp, but generally dull, in the lower abdomen on the right side.
APPENDICITIS—THE TREATMENT (IN MILD CASES)
If the pain is dull and intermittent, the patient should cease work, especially that vocation which necessitates being on foot, and spend at least twenty-four hours, most of the time in a sitting or reclining position. All such substances as meat, cereal and cereal products, sweets, milk, tea, coffee, cocoa, and all stimulating beverages should be omitted.
A natural remedy
The patient should take high enemas (knee or chest position) of lukewarm water, thus removing as much of the congested fecal matter as possible. Take from two to three tablespoonfuls of olive-oil, and two or three cups of hot water several times a day. The application of an ice-bag will sometimes afford much relief, and has a tendency to reduce the inflammatory process. Too much emphasis cannot be laid upon the fact that in any inflammatory condition of the stomach or intestines, rest for these organs is imperatively demanded.
APPENDICITIS—THE DIET
After the first day or two, the following diet should be adopted and continued for a few days until the pain has ceased and the bowels are restored to normal action:
BREAKFAST
A cup of hot water
One or two exceedingly ripe bananas peeled and baked in a hot oven
One egg, whipped five minutes; sugar to taste; flavor with lemon or fruit-juice
A glass of water
LUNCHEON
A salad of anything green
Liberal portion of boiled onions
DINNER>
Spinach, or a green salad, same as at luncheon
Green beans, or peas, if in season, rejecting all the fiber; or, carrots or parsnips
Two whipped eggs
Baked banana, with butter or oil
These menus are intended as a general guide. They may be modified by selecting such articles, in the same general class, as are in season.
The following list of foods may be drawn upon to compose the menus, at the various seasons of the year:
| SPRING | SUMMER | FALL | WINTER |
| Asparagus | Carrots | Artichokes | Carrots |
| Beets | Cauliflower | Beets | Parsnips |
| Cabbage | Eggplant | Brussels | Potatoes |
| Dandelion | Lettuce | sprouts | Pumpkin |
| Lettuce | Okra | Carrots | Squash |
| Onions | Onions | Cauliflower | |
| Peas | Romaine | Eggplant | |
| Potatoes | Spinach | Okra | |
| Spinach | Squash | Potatoes | |
| Tomatoes | Squash | ||
| Sweet potatoes | |||
| Tomatoes |
CHRONIC OR SEVERE CASES OF APPENDICITIS
The errors in diet that cause fermentation and superacidity in the stomach will also cause fermentation and inflammation in the intestines.
A constipated condition in the intestines so hinders the natural flow of food-matter that in extreme cases of inflammation and suppuration the congested matter might be forced into the vermiform appendix, thus causing what is termed "appendicitis," and under these conditions the removal of the appendix might be advisable, but in the opinion of the writer more lives have been sacrificed on the operating table than the old-fashioned doctors ever lost from "bowel inflammation" before this dis-ease was named "appendicitis," and before the knife was applied as a remedy.
Treatment in severe cases
There should be injected into the rectum a tablespoonful of olive-oil, followed immediately by an enema of hot water at a temperature of about 115 degrees. This should be retained as long as possible. In order to aid in this process, the head might be lowered, and the feet slightly elevated so as to relieve the strain upon the rectal muscles. In very severe cases an ice pack may be placed over the lower abdomen for five minutes. The ice pack should be kept in place until the temperature is lowered and the pain relieved.
THE DIET IN SEVERE CASES OF APPENDICITIS
From three to four quarts of cool water should be taken the first day and all food omitted. The second day fruit-juices and olive-oil should be administered. This treatment should be continued for several days, or until the pain is relieved, when the diet for milder cases may be adopted in a reduced or limited form.
DANGERS OF INTESTINAL CONGESTION
Causes of appendicitis
All conditions of bowel inflammation are caused primarily by congestion of fecal matter in the intestinal tract. That which will relieve congestion, therefore, will, by removing the causes, relieve inflammation. Intestinal congestion has become one of the most common disorders among civilized people, because of the fact that a large percentage of the coarse material known as cellulose fiber has been removed from their food by super-civilized methods of preparation. For instance, in modern milling methods, every trace of cellulose is removed from the grain, leaving nothing but a white mass of unbalanced food material, largely carbohydrates, and the peelings are removed from all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Thus the diet of civilized man has become woefully impoverished in cellulose and mineral salts, with the result that there is nothing left in the diet to stimulate the liver and the peristaltic activity of the intestinal tract.
Evils of the civilized diet
This condition is largely augmented by flesh food, all sedative drugs, and intoxicating drinks which have become so conspicuous in the diet of modern civilization.
Why coarse food is necessary
The intestinal (digestive and eliminative) organs of man, through the millions of years of his development, have been built up on the primitive plan. They have been shaped by the process of ages to accommodate coarse food, therefore a generous amount of non-nutritive cellulose is absolutely necessary to both the digestion of food and the elimination of waste. The liberal use of cereal bran puts back into the diet that which modern milling methods have taken out of it.
Remedial value of coarse food
The use of wheat bran and the seeds of grapes in the treatment of appendicitis has both a scientific and a common-sense basis. The bran and the seeds pass into the various folds, wrinkles and turns of the intestines, and sweep out the congested fecal matter which is undergoing decomposition and causing inflammation. After the bowels have been thoroughly cleansed, the patient should adopt a fresh vegetable diet selected from the list heretofore given, drinking an abundance of water both at meals and between meals.
Under these conditions most symptoms of appendicitis will disappear, and if the diet is made to consist of a sufficient quantity of coarse food, all causes of bowel inflammation will be removed.