Maintaining Health (Formerly Health and Efficiency)

by Rasmus Larssen Alsaker

It is well to bear in mind how this comes about: First there is overeating; too much food improperly prepared is taken into the blood stream; this makes the blood impure; deposits, causing hardening of the tissues and reduction of the lumen of the vessels, are formed; the blood grows more impure and the circulation sluggish; the tissues are constantly bathed in impure blood, causing further degeneration. When a certain point is reached nature can tolerate no more and life flits away.

Those who wish to remain young must give some thought to the selection of their food, especially if they are hearty eaters. If only sufficient food is taken to keep the body well nourished it does not make much difference what is eaten, provided it contains sufficient of fresh foods, for when only enough food is taken to supply fuel and repairing material, the food will all be used and none is left to ferment in the digestive tract and form deposits in the body. The body will then keep itself clean, or at least the formation of deposits takes place so slowly that it is hardly perceptible. This can be compared with the process taking place in the flues of a boiler. Stoke properly and they remain clean. Choke the firebox with an excess of coal and the combustion is so incomplete that the flues are soon filled up and the grates are often burned out. Just so with the body: Feed too heavily and the digestive organs are burned by the abnormal amount of acid produced and the blood-vessels are filled with debris.

As most people lack the self-control to eat a normal amount of food, they should select foods that are compatible and that are not too concentrated. Too much meat causes degeneration of all parts of the body and hardening. Too much starch causes acidity and hardening. The fruits and the light vegetables have a tendency to overcome these degenerating processes.

Starch is surely the chief offender in aging people. It is such a concentrated food that overeating is easy, especially when it is taken in the soft forms, such as mushes, fresh bread, griddle cakes and mashed potatoes. If people would masticate their starchy foods thoroughly it would greatly reduce the danger of overeating. It is common to eat bread three times a day and in addition to take potatoes once or twice a day. Those who consume so much starch carry into the system more food than can be used and more of the mineral salts than can be excreted. The result is the formation of deposits, chiefly of lime carbonate and lime phosphate; fatty deposits are also common.

In order to live long and comfortably it would be well to reduce the starch intake to once a day. The meats also are objectionable when taken in excess. To them can be attributed the chief blame for the formation of gelatinous deposits in the body. However, they do not carry so much earthy matter into the blood stream as do the starches. It is best to partake of meat but once a day, or even more seldom. Meat should certainly not be taken more than twice a day even by those who are advanced in years. People who care enough for starch to take it three times a day, or are compelled to live chiefly upon it, grow old and homely more quickly than do those who are able to partake more plentifully of the more expensive proteins. The flesh obtained from young animals and birds is not so heavily charged with earthy matters as is that which is obtained from old animals and birds.

Fruits and nuts do not carry so much earthy matter as do the starches and meats. The sweet fruits could with profit partly take the place of the starchy foods. The sugar they contain, which has the same nutritive value as starches, needs very little preparation before entering the blood stream. Thus a large part of the energy required for starch digestion is saved. On the other hand, the use of too much refined sugar is even worse than an excessive intake of starch. Nuts are not difficult to digest if they are well masticated..

The objection to acid fruits during the latter years of life is that they thin the blood and cause chilliness. This is true if they are partaken of too liberally. It is not necessary to refrain from eating acid fruits, but they should be taken in moderation and the mild ones should be selected. Pears, mild apples and grapes are better than oranges, grapefruits and apricots. Those who have learned moderation can eat all the fruit desired, for they will not be harmed by what a normal appetite craves.

Vegetables carry considerable earthy matter, but on account of their helpfulness in keeping the blood sweet they should be eaten several times a week.

Those who think that overeating of starch is too harshly condemned are referred to the horse. When he is allowed to roam about and partake of his natural food, grass, he stays well and lives to be forty or more years old. When compelled to eat great quantities of corn and oats, which are very rich in starch, the horse becomes listless and slow at an early age. He is old at fifteen and before twenty he is generally dead. When horses suffer from stiffness in the joints a few weeks spent in pasture, where they have nothing but green grass and water, remove the stiffness and make them younger. This shows what partaking of nature's green salad does for them. Any good stock man will tell you that feeding too much grain "burns a cow out." It does exactly the same for a human being, burns him out and fills him with clinkers. Many people think that it is a hardship to be moderate in eating and drinking, but it is not. It brings such a feeling of well-being and comfort that it is unbelievable to those who have not experienced it.

Many envy the rich, thinking that they can and do live riotously. Rich men must live as simply as though they were poor or else they soon lose the mental efficiency that brought them their fortunes, for when health is gone mental power is reduced.