Part 17

{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.

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has become regular, the milk period should be reduced, and the breadless diet extended until the milk is entirely withdrawn.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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

Constipating Foods Laxative Foods --------------------- --------------- All white flour products All green salads Blackberries Apples Cheese Apricots Chestnuts Beet-tops Corn-starch Celery Fine corn-meal Figs Macaroni Peaches Oatmeal Persimmons Red meat Plums Rice Prunes Spaghetti Spinach Sweet potatoes Turnips-tops White bread Wheat bran Whole wheat

Constipating Beverages Laxative Beverages ------------------------ -------------------- All alcoholic stimulants Mineral water containing magnesia Chocolate Unsweetened fruit-juice Cocoa Water--lime-free Coffee Cream Lime-water Milk (In small quantities) Tea

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.

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