Starvation
Food must be taken into the body in sufficient quantity and quality so that bodily function may be maintained. The term starvation is a technical one meaning a lack of sufficient food, although it is used loosely to mean a condition resulting from lack of assimilation. After the food in the stomach has been completely digested and the process of assimilation has reached a certain stage, vibrations are carried from the tissue cells to the brain. These enable the intelligence to know in what stage of assimilation the food is, and these vibrations are interpreted as hunger, the sensation being localized in the stomach. In the normal individual this sensation will appear soon enough to enable the introduction of food into the stomach so that its digestion may be completed before any injury from lack of nutrition occurs to the tissues. In other words, a provision has been made whereby food will be called for in sufficient time to enable Innate Intelligence to prepare this food for the tissue cells, so that there will be a new supply as soon as the process of assimilation has been completed. If food is not taken into the stomach when the sensation of hunger is manifested this sensation in the course of time will result in extreme bodily weakness and faintness. In certain incoördinations sensations may be produced which will be interpreted by the educated mind as hunger. Therefore, it is necessary to make a distinction between the sensations of hunger and the sensations from incoördinations of the stomach. In a dyspeptic condition there is an almost constant sensation of hunger, and the individual may eat much more food than can be digested. Very often, in these cases, the food is taken into the stomach so rapidly that there is not sufficient time for the gastric secretions to act upon it. In this way much more food may be taken into the stomach than is actually required by the tissue cells. It is obvious that we must have a proper amount of food in balanced rations, and also that this food be properly digested in order to be assimilated by the tissues. If food is not properly digested it can not be assimilated.
Inanition
There may be a condition obtained in the body resulting from a lack of assimilation of food by the tissues, even though there is a sufficient amount of food taken into the body. This condition is known technically as inanition. Death will result in a short time when food is completely withheld whether the condition is that of starvation or inanition. There may be an interference with transmission of mental impulses to the digestive organs. This will interfere with digestion, and inanition will result because the food which is not properly digested can not be assimilated even though the tissue cells are perfectly normal. Inanition may also result from an interference with transmission, which prevents the tissue cells from performing their normal function in the process of assimilation. In this way the tissues starve for the want of food, not because there is a lack of nutrition in the body, but because the food taken into the system has not been properly broken down by the digestive secretions, or if it has been properly digested it has not been assimilated. It is a recognized fact that a large percentage of growing children are underweight. Authors differ as to the percentage. It ranges all the way from 15% to 60%. This condition is not necessarily caused by an insufficient amount of proper food, for the condition has been found more prevalent among the children of the wealthy than among those of the poorer classes. This shows that the cause for such malnutrition is within the child and not in the food that he is eating. In the large majority of cases it is either because the food is not being properly digested or is not being assimilated after it has been digested. It is quite necessary that there be a properly balanced diet, but even a perfectly balanced diet will not guarantee perfect assimilation. This can be accomplished only through unhindered transmission and expression of mental impulses in all parts of the body.
Balanced Rations
Properly balanced rations will enable Innate Intelligence to promote the growth and maintain the processes of the body with the greatest ease and the least necessity for the adaptative expenditure of internal energy. Much attention has been given the science of nutrition. At one time there was great importance attached to the chemical composition of foods, special attention being given to the proteins, carbohydrates and fats contained in the diet. Later it was thought that certain inorganic salts were necessary. Great stress has been placed upon the caloric value of food. The latest students in the science of nutrition have emphasized the value of vitamins.
A properly balanced diet should contain sufficient calories and inorganic salts, especially iron, phosphorus, calcium and iodin. There should be a sufficient variety of foods to provide the necessary vitamins. It is also thought that a certain amount of roughage is necessary. If we expect the best results from our digestive tract we should strive to keep the balance approximately the same each day. This is not because Innate Intelligence is unable to adapt the body to a great variety of food, but it is more to prevent a necessity for such extreme adaptation. To illustrate: If we constantly introduce too much acid into the stomach, it necessitates an adaptative action on the part of Innate Intelligence in the production of an alkali to neutralize the acid. Since we know so little educationally about nutrition, it is wise for us to eat as great a variety of foods as possible, and especially is this necessary in providing a balanced ration for growing children.
In considering food we must not forget the importance of proper digestion and assimilation. In Chiropractic the diet is of little importance, providing the functional activities of the body are maintained at normality.