Part 36

If the straight front corset cramps the intestines it may cause constipation by restraining their normal exercise during movements of the body in walking, etc. Every woman who wears the straight front corset should take exercises for the intestines morning and night.

The most natural relief for constipation is exercise,—particularly exercise directed to the muscles of the intestines and to the nerve centers controlling them.

Such foods as are laxative in effect, with the free use of water are helpful. Figs and raisins (due to their seeds), prunes, dates, grapes, apples, and rhubarb are laxative, due to their acids. These have best effect when eaten just before retiring.

Oatmeal, or any cereal containing the bran, is laxative,—such as bran bread or green corn.

As must be inferred from the above statement, the cause of the difficulty must first be reached.

Children should be trained to attend to Nature’s call regularly every day. The best time is shortly after breakfast.

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=Enteritis.= (=Inflammation or Catarrh of the Intestines=) is similar in its nature to Gastritis or Catarrh of the Stomach and is treated in a similar manner.

Acute Enteritis, as Acute Gastritis, is usually caused by a strong irritant,—either by some food which disagrees, or by a mass of undigested food. A fast of two or three days is the initial dietetic treatment. A free drinking of water not only soothes the irritated intestines but it cleanses the intestinal tract and assists the kidneys in eliminating elements of fermentation; if these are not eliminated, they will absorb into the blood.

Physicians usually give a course of calomel and castor oil to eliminate all intestinal contents.

After the fast, a liquid and semi-liquid diet is followed until inflammation is relieved. Milk, strained gruels, broths, strained soups, buttermilk, eggs (soft cooked or raw), beef juice, barley water, custards, gelatines, soft puddings, etc., are the foods most nourishing and causing least irritation.

All irritating foods as coarse vegetables, pickles, acid fruits and fruits with coarse seeds, candies, beer, wines and salads should be omitted.

Chronic Enteritis has the same general cause as Acute Enteritis, though its onset is slow and it takes a correspondingly longer time to correct.

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=Dysentery=, if acute, demands complete rest in bed. The diet in both Acute and Chronic cases must be confined to easily digested foods, such as peptonized milk (see page 244), boiled milk, pressed meat juice, and the white of egg, beaten and served with milk. Blackberry brandy, and tea made from wild cherry bark, tend to check the inflammation.

During convalescence, care must be taken not to over-feed. Begin a more liberal diet with a more liberal allowance of beef juice, gradually adding tender beef steak, roast beef, fish, white meat of chicken, eggs, custards, wine jelly, dry toast, blancmange, well boiled rice and other easily digested food. The beef and egg are particularly valuable, because of the anaemia occasioned by the loss of blood.

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is sometimes necessary in cases of ulcer, cancer, or tumor, along the digestive tract. Since food is not absorbed in the large as readily as in the small intestine, the strength cannot be fully maintained through rectal feeding. In cases where the stomach is not able to digest the food, it is the best expedient, however, until the functioning of the stomach is re-established.

The rectum should be prepared about an hour before the feeding by a full injection of water, to thoroughly cleanse the intestine. Place the patient on his side with the hips elevated. If for any reason he cannot lie on his side, let him lie on his back and elevate the foot of his bed. After the water cleansing, inject two or three ounces of water in which a small pinch of salt (6%) has been added and let it go high up into the rectum.

Two to three ounces four to five hours apart is the desirable quantity of rectal nutrition for an adult. The white of egg, beef juice, and milk, all peptonized, are the best foods. The pancreatic trypsin, sold in preparations of “pancreatin” is best. Unless milk is peptonized the casein will be difficult to absorb. The food should always be salted, as salt aids the absorption.

The white of egg should be diluted with four or five times its volume of water; to beef juice add an equal volume of water. The yolk of egg contains too much oil to absorb readily. Fats are not absorbed through the rectum. If egg and beef juice are used without milk, a little sugar may be added. Milk contains sugar in proportion.

It is not advisable to inject wine as it interferes with absorption of other foods.

The nutriment should be forced eight to ten inches up into the rectum to insure absorption. This can be done by using a small injection point on a rubber tube and gently and patiently turning it as it is inserted. The tube may be oiled to prevent irritation.

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The liver is not, in a strict sense. a digestive organ, but it is very dependent upon them, as all products of digestion must pass through it and the starches, sugars and proteins, after they enter the blood, undergo chemical changes here.

For a fuller understanding of the reasons for the following suggestions regarding diet for the liver, the writer would request a re-reading, at this point, of the chapter upon the “Work of the Liver” upon pages 81 to 92.

It will be recalled that the liver acts, not only upon proteins, sugars, and starches,—the nourishing foods, but it also stands guard over poisonous ferments, due to putrefactions absorbed from the intestines, rendering them harmless; to a limited extent it also oxidizes the poisons of alcohol. The fats also pass through the liver.

Since all products of digestion must pass through this organ, it is easy to see how it may be overworked, for it is an undisputed fact that most people eat more food than is required to maintain the body in nitrogenous equilibrium and to supply the necessary heat and energy.