Part 12

LESSON XVII

NERVOUSNESS ITS CAUSE AND CURE

The nerves of the human body are the most important, the most complex, and probably the least understood of any part of the human anatomy. In conditions of health they are never heard from, therefore every expression of the nervous system is a symptom of some abnormal physical condition.

The usual term "nervousness" conveys to the mind of the average person such conditions as sleeplessness, restlessness, lack of mental and physical tranquillity, but to the trained mind of the food scientist or physician, it means mental aberration, hallucinations, morbidity, mental depression, lack of self-confidence, uncertainty, loss of memory, fear of poverty, anticipation of accident, tragedy, death, insanity, and a multitude of things that never happen. Language cannot adequately describe or convey to the mind of another person the strange impressions that sweep o'er the mind--the mental anguish caused by an ordinary case of nervous indigestion. Those only who can understand why many good men and women sometimes take their own lives, or commit some great crime, are those who have experienced the same affliction.

If we could correctly interpret the various symptoms given to the brain from the nervous system, and would heed these symptoms, the body might be kept in almost perfect health under all conditions of civilized life.

The lack of fresh air and exercise is always told by nervous expression, but the most important and significant message conveyed by the nerves at the brain is that concerning food and general nutrition. Instinct often leads us to fresh air and exercise, but with our food it is vastly different. We acquire a taste for certain things; the habit grows upon us, and though the nerves tell the story to our senses over and over, we heed it not because we are held behind the bars of habit by the tyranny of appetite. In this respect the tobacco fiend, the drug fiend, and the food fiend are all in the same class.

CAUSES

Nervousness usually has its origin in disorders of the functions of metabolism, assimilation and elimination. In other words, somewhere between the time the food is first taken into the system, and the time the poisonous débris of the food and the body waste is finally eliminated, there are some grievous faults of function.

Some deficiency in the activity and in the secreting power of any of the digestive organs; some defect in the assimilation of the finished pabulum; some short-coming in the process by which oxygen is carried through the system to convert the "end-products" into less toxic substances for final excretion--any or all of these causes may conspire to produce nervousness. These may again, in their turn, be due to causes that arise within the mind, inhibiting the proper functional activity of the body.

But overfeeding, or eating the wrong combinations of food, and lack of proper elimination, are probably the most frequent causes of nervousness. When we take into the system more food than the body requires, there is bound to be a certain amount of it which cannot be utilized to build tissue, or furnish heat, or supply mineral salts.

This excess food, under the influence of fermentative processes, breaks down into various poisonous products. This is especially true of the albuminous elements of the food. For these, in the heat and moisture of the small intestine, rapidly undergo a process of rotting--this is exactly what it is--and develop some of the most virulent organic poisons known to man.

They exercise a profound depression upon all the physiological functions, and cause an actual toxic degeneration of the nervous protoplasm. This, in turn, causes nerve irritability, insomnia, and many of those protean symptoms roughly grouped under the head of neurasthenia.

To completely relieve the condition means that a thorough reform in habits,--and particularly in dietetic habits--must be undertaken.

Excesses of every kind--even of play or work--must be stopped. All possible sources of worry must be removed. Rest and recreation should be made quite as important--in fact more so, than house-work or business.

Sleep, and plenty of it, should be secured at all costs. Eight hours are none too many--although ten would be better.

Needless to say, the question of diet is of prime importance. The use of tea, coffee, tobacco, alcohol, and all stimulant beverages, as well as condiments, should be discontinued.

Plain, wholesome food--with an ample supply of lecithin (or nerve fat) such as eggs, milk, olive oil, etc., should be taken liberally.

All sources of fermentation--especially those forms due to an excess of starch, sugars, and acids, should be avoided. Careful attention should be given to securing free bowel movement.

And, above all, an equable frame of mind should be cultivated; the way to defeat this purpose is to overwork and worry in order to accumulate the thing called property.

The desire to accumulate property has for its excuse immunity from work at some future time so that we can enjoy life, but experience teaches us that the physical cost of this effort defeats the very purpose for which we are striving.

THE REMEDY

The victim of nervousness should first seek a complete change of environment, and engage in pleasant, and, if possible, profitable occupation.

Thousands of people become nervous wrecks by pursuing work for which they have no natural taste or ability, and many become nervous from the monotony of environment. This is especially true with women, and while it is exceedingly difficult for countless housewives and mothers to escape from this monotony, yet they can secure relief by becoming interested in some work of a public or quasi-public nature, or by taking up a "hobby" that has for its purpose some form of public good.

All people love the plaudits and esteem of their fellow-creatures, and there is nothing that will relieve the monotony and bring that satisfaction which all of us desire more quickly than earnest labor in a worthy cause. Therefore, this is one of the first and the best remedies for that character of nervousness caused by the monotony and narrowed life of the average woman.

The most prolific cause of nervousness, however, is incorrect, unnatural habits of eating and drinking, therefore, the logical remedy must be found in simplifying, leveling, and making the diet conform to the requirements of the body governed, of course, by age, occupation, etc.

The nervous person should eliminate from the diet acids, sweets (see Lesson VIII, Vol. II, pp. 313 and 332), flesh foods, and all stimulating beverages.

The following menus, with variations according to the available supply of fruits and vegetables in season, should be adopted:

SUGGESTIONS FOR SPRING