Part 38

One egg, whipped five minutes; sugar to taste; flavor with lemon or fruit-juice

A glass of water

LUNCHEON

A salad of anything green

Liberal portion of boiled onions

DINNER

Spinach, or a green salad, same as at luncheon

Green beans, or peas, if in season, rejecting all the fiber; or, carrots or parsnips

Two whipped eggs

Baked banana, with butter or oil

These menus are intended as a general guide. They may be modified by selecting such articles, in the same general class, as are in season.

The following list of foods may be drawn upon to compose the menus, at the various seasons of the year:

----------------+----------------+----------------+---------------- | | | SPRING | SUMMER | FALL | WINTER | | | ----------------+----------------+----------------+---------------- | | | Asparagus | Carrots | Artichokes | Carrots Beets | Cauliflower | Beets | Parsnips Cabbage | Eggplant | Brussels | Potatoes Dandelion | Lettuce | sprouts | Pumpkin Lettuce | Okra | Carrots | Squash Onions | Onions | Cauliflower | Peas | Romaine | Eggplant | Potatoes | Spinach | Okra | Spinach | Squash | Potatoes | | Tomatoes | Squash | | | Sweet potatoes | | | Tomatoes | | | | ----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------

CHRONIC OR SEVERE CASES OF APPENDICITIS

The errors in diet that cause fermentation and superacidity in the stomach will also cause fermentation and inflammation in the intestines.

A constipated condition in the intestines so hinders the natural flow of food-matter that in extreme cases of inflammation and suppuration the congested matter might be forced into the vermiform appendix, thus causing what is termed "appendicitis," and under these conditions the removal of the appendix might be advisable, but in the opinion of the writer more lives have been sacrificed on the operating table than the old-fashioned doctors ever lost from "bowel inflammation" before this dis-ease was named "appendicitis," and before the knife was applied as a remedy.

There should be injected into the rectum a tablespoonful of olive-oil, followed immediately by an enema of hot water at a temperature of about 115 degrees. This should be retained as long as possible. In order to aid in this process, the head might be lowered, and the feet slightly elevated so as to relieve the strain upon the rectal muscles. In very severe cases an ice pack may be placed over the lower abdomen for five minutes. The ice pack should be kept in place until the temperature is lowered and the pain relieved.

THE DIET IN SEVERE CASES OF APPENDICITIS

From three to four quarts of cool water should be taken the first day and all food omitted. The second day fruit-juices and olive-oil should be administered. This treatment should be continued for several days, or until the pain is relieved, when the diet for milder cases may be adopted in a reduced or limited form.

DANGERS OF INTESTINAL CONGESTION

All conditions of bowel inflammation are caused primarily by congestion of fecal matter in the intestinal tract. That which will relieve congestion, therefore, will, by removing the causes, relieve inflammation. Intestinal congestion has become one of the most common disorders among civilized people, because of the fact that a large percentage of the coarse material known as cellulose fiber has been removed from their food by super-civilized methods of preparation. For instance, in modern milling methods, every trace of cellulose is removed from the grain, leaving nothing but a white mass of unbalanced food material, largely carbohydrates, and the peelings are removed from all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Thus the diet of civilized man has become woefully impoverished in cellulose and mineral salts, with the result that there is nothing left in the diet to stimulate the liver and the peristaltic activity of the intestinal tract.

This condition is largely augmented by flesh food, all sedative drugs, and intoxicating drinks which have become so conspicuous in the diet of modern civilization.

The intestinal (digestive and eliminative) organs of man, through the millions of years of his development, have been built up on the primitive plan. They have been shaped by the process of ages to accommodate coarse food, therefore a generous amount of non-nutritive cellulose is absolutely necessary to both the digestion of food and the elimination of waste. The liberal use of cereal bran puts back into the diet that which modern milling methods have taken out of it.

The use of wheat bran and the seeds of grapes in the treatment of appendicitis has both a scientific and a common-sense basis. The bran and the seeds pass into the various folds, wrinkles and turns of the intestines, and sweep out the congested fecal matter which is undergoing decomposition and causing inflammation. After the bowels have been thoroughly cleansed, the patient should adopt a fresh vegetable diet selected from the list heretofore given, drinking an abundance of water both at meals and between meals.

Under these conditions most symptoms of appendicitis will disappear, and if the diet is made to consist of a sufficient quantity of coarse food, all causes of bowel inflammation will be removed.