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 |