CHAPTER III.

CONSTIPATION.

This is one of the most common disorders of civilized people. The disease may be primary or secondary. The movement of the bowels normally depends on the amount eaten. Some people eat such great quantities that two or three movements are necessary every day in order to carry off the excess of waste. People of moderate habits who eat dry food properly combined need not of necessity have a movement every day in order to maintain health, but such are few. The fecal discharge, if allowed to remain in the colon longer than is natural, accumulates in the folds of the colon, and its fluids are re-absorbed into the circulation while the remainder becomes hard; part of it continues to adhere to the mucus membrane and attracts more accumulation until finally the entire walls of the colon become encrusted with fecal matter. A physic will not always remove the encrusted matter or even loosen it; it may give temporary relief by establishing a small passage way through the accumulation of the colon and some benefit is felt. Thousands of people suffer from such conditions for years without being aware of it. Is it any wonder that men who are thought to be in apparently good health die of apoplexy, paralysis, consumption, appendicitis or Bright’s disease? Besides this nearly all diseases of a contagious nature have their origin in the colon.

The question is often asked why do these conditions exist? Take a lesson from the animals who live on natural sun cooked foods. They masticate their food and obey the call of nature whenever evacuation is necessary.

Constipation may be the result of purely mechanical conditions, such as want of exercise, tight corsets, drug taking, paralytic state of the bowels, strictures or adhesions to neighboring organs from previous inflammations. Under all conditions it is possible to be greatly benefited by a diet suitable in quantity and quality to the individual needs and by correct habits.

Raw foods are more nutritious than cooked foods, if they are pure and fresh and can be digested without difficulty. A change from cooked to raw foods might produce diarrhoea or constipation. The latter condition is generally not dangerous. Constipation from cooked foods is more dangerous.

A daily evacuation of the bowels is not always a sign that the stomach and intestines are in good working order. The bowels can be forced to move by eating of too rich foods.

OBESITY.

There are several different forms of obesity, due to varied causes, and each requires a different form of treatment. The first class suffer from ordinary causes, and can be cured easily by a diet which is suitable in quantity and quality to the particular temperament and occupation and by taking sufficient exercise out of doors. Unless the person is willing to deny himself those foods which create this unnecessary fat, disease or heart failure will follow. The stomach and intestines under the fermentation of sweets, fruits and starches resemble a yeast jar; the follicles of the mucous membrane become filled with beer, alcohol, vinegar and all sorts of irritating acids and paralyze the cells of the secretory glands of the alimentary tract. As a result of this paralysis, an excessive amount of ropy, sticky mucus is poured out, and the patient suffers with lassitude, nervousness, gas and headaches. Under this condition the circulation grows weak, the lower limbs are cold, constipation takes place and often the feet are swollen. If this condition is not relieved by proper dietetic treatment, the lower end of the stomach closes to such an extent as to retain the gasses and alcoholic ferments, thus dilating the stomach to an enormous degree. Later the lower end of the stomach becomes partially paralysed, the portal vein of the liver becomes sluggish and the breathing difficult. As this condition extends farther down to the junction of the small intestine it paralyzes the structures near the appendix and causes appendicitis; or it may congest the intestine extending to the rectum and cause prolapsus or falling of the intestines. If the vital organs are so strong that the latter condition does not occur, there is, nevertheless, a state of starvation, because the muscles are infiltrated by fat, and the nervous tissues can not receive nutriment. The whole body becomes finally congested, paralyzed, and feeble, and mental and physical disease is the result.

To those who are fairly well nourished and have no organic diseases the following suggestions may be of assistance: Begin your change of diet with a fast of a day or two. Take sufficient out of door exercise to bring about a good circulation. If the heart be weak, take only short walks and do not expose the shoulders or chest to hot sun light. Use an umbrella. Drink water between meals according to your normal desire. Eat two meals a day for a while, taking breakfast between nine and ten. The menu may be composed of raw or cooked spinach, celery, string beans, cabbage, onions, mustard greens, dandelion greens, black olives, lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes. Salads with French or mayonnaise dressing are more beneficial than cooked greens. Serve with toasted whole wheat or black bread and butter. Dinner should be taken between three and five and the menu may be composed of baked apples, or apple sauce, ambrosia, apricot sauce, plum sauce, stewed prunes, or clabber milk with sweet sterilized cream and toasted black bread, or of raw fruits such as berries, apples, peaches, oranges, pineapple, or soaked French prunes. Serve plain or with cream. The first four mentioned may be served with lemon and olive oil or mayonnaise dressing (fats properly combined with acids are not fattening). Whole wheat toast or nuts may be served in addition. Later add legumes, eggs and cheese to your diet. For combinations see recipes. Avoid artificial sweets, white flour preparations, wrong combinations of food, and excesses of any kind.

People who are confined to mental or indoor work should take walks and other physical exercise every day in order to equalize the circulation. Those who do domestic work should devote some time each day to mental activity and walks out of doors. People who do not reduce by taking out of door exercise should remain in bed until 10 A. M. for awhile and take exercises with the lower limbs in a horizontal position. The above suggestions are only for conditions where the powers of digestion and assimilation over balance those of elimination. The treatment of special conditions should not be undertaken by the patient alone. The condition that leads to fatty degeneration is also a forerunner of consumption. However, in the latter case the patient has less absorbing power and only assimilates the irritating acids. The brain cells and vital organs become gradually paralyzed by this acid fluid and death follows.

Certain persons of enormous vitality produce pseudo tissue, and develop tumors of various types. The names of the various diseases are many but the causes that produce them are few. Different persons with hereditary tendencies to different constitutional diseases may all trace their ailments to one great cause, that of wrong eating. Chemical and mechanical injuries by drugs and accidents are often secondary causes which help to develop such conditions. People who desire to undergo drugless methods of treatment, such as fasting, dieting or exercises should never do so without the direct care of a physician.

Disease is a sin, produced by improper breeding and feeding and wrong habits. To those who employ physicians I would say: Do not expect to be relieved by paying the doctor for your sins. Leave your arguments at home and take faith with you. Do not expect to be relieved (from ills) in a short time which have been years in the making. If you are poor and helpless you will receive more assistance from doctors than from other human beings. If you are not so unfortunate still do not deceive him. Leave out all shrewdness and business methods. If you expect honesty, give it first; be willing to pay for the advice which has taken many years of hard study and work to acquire. If you meet a dishonest physician, remember that very often he is the product of dishonest treatment by his patients. Do not therefore lose faith in humanity, but seek for another, and be willing to follow his advice, paying for it cheerfully, and you will be happier and healthier.