Golf is no longer a rich man's game. The large cities have public links. For an office man it is a splendid game. Women can play it with equal benefit. The full vigorous strokes, followed with a walk after the ball, then more strokes, exercise the entire body. It is good for young and old, and for people in all walks of life.
Tennis is splendid for some people. Those who are very nervous and excitable should play at something else, for they are apt to play too hard and use up too much energy. Overexercising is just as harmful as excesses in other lines. Tennis requires quickness and is a good game for those who are inclined to be sluggish, for it wakes them up.
Horseback riding is also a fine exercise. The companionship with an intelligent animal, the freedom, the fresh air, the scenery, all give enjoyment of life, and the constant movement acts as a most delicious tonic. There is only one correct way to ride for both sexes, and that is astride. The side saddle position keeps the spine twisted so that it takes away much of the benefit to be derived from riding. Out west the approved manner of riding for women is astride. The women of the west make a fine appearance on horseback.
Tramping is possible for all. If there are hills to be climbed, or mountains, so much the better. Put on old clothes and old shoes and have an enjoyable time. Fine apparel under the circumstances spoils more than half of the pleasure.
Playing ball or bicycle riding may be indulged in with benefit. It is not fashionable to ride on bicycles today, yet it is a pleasant mode of covering ground, and if the trunk is kept erect it is a good exercise. Jumping rope, playing handball, tossing the medicine ball and sawing wood are good forms of exercise and great fun. The spirit of play and good will easily double the value of any exercise that is taken.
Dancing is also good if the ventilation is adequate and the hours are reasonable.
Under various conditions vicarious exercises are valuable, and by that I mean such forms of exercise as massage, osteopathic treatment or vibratory treatment. If anything is wrong with the spine, get an osteopath or a chiropractor. They can help to remedy such defects more quickly than anyone else. They are experts in adjustments and thrusts.
Some people take exercises while lying in bed or on the floor. One good exercise to take while lying on the back is to go through the motions of riding a bicycle. Another is to lie down, then bend the body at the hips, getting into a sitting position; repeat a few times. Another is to face the floor, holding the body rigid, supported on the toes and the palms of the hands; slowly raise the body until the arms are straight and slowly lower it again until the abdomen touches the floor; repeat several times.
It is impossible to go into detail regarding various exercises here. Those who wish to take care of themselves can easily devise a number of good ones, or they can employ a physical culture teacher to give them pointers. Here as elsewhere, good sense wins out. It is not necessary to give much time to exercise, but a little is valuable. Those who labor with their hands often use but few muscles, and it would be well for them to take corrective exercises so that the body will remain in good condition.
There is no excuse for round shoulders and sunken chests. A few weeks, or at most a few months, will correct this in young people. The older the individual, the longer it takes. If the vertebrae have grown together in bony union no correction is possible.
It is as necessary to relax as it is to exercise. When weary, take a few minutes off and let go physically and mentally. A little training will enable you to drop everything, and even if it is for but five minutes, the ease gives renewed vigor. It does not matter what position is assumed, if it is comfortable and allows the muscles to lose all tension. At such times it is well to let the eyelids gently close, giving the eyes a rest. Eye strain is very exhausting to the whole body and often results in serious discomfort.
Many do not know how to relax. They think they are relaxed, yet their bodies are in a state of tension. When relaxed any part of the body that may be raised falls down again as though it were dead. People who do much mental work are at times so aroused by ideas that refuse to release their hold until they have been worked out or given expression that they can not sleep for the time being. A few minutes of relaxation then gives rest. When the problem has been solved, the worker is rewarded with sweet slumbers. An occasional night of this kind of wakefulness does no harm, provided no such drugs as coffee, alcohol, strychnine and morphine are used.
We are undoubtedly intended to be useful. Normal men and women are not content unless they are helpful. Hence we have our work or vocation. However, people who get into a rut, and they are liable to if they work all the time at one thing, lose efficiency. Therefore it is well to have an avocation or a hobby to sharpen mind and body.
It does not make much difference what the hobby is, provided it is interesting. We waste much time that could give us more pleasure if it were intelligently employed. An hour a day given to a subject for a few years in the spirit of play will give a vast fund of information and may in time be of inestimable benefit.
Those who labor much with the hands would do well to take some time each day for mental recreation, and those who work in mental channels should get joy and benefit from physical efforts. A few hobbies, depending upon circumstances, may be: Photography, music, a foreign language, the drama, literature, history, philosophy, painting, gardening, raising chickens, dogs or bees, floriculture, and botany. Some people have become famous through their hobbies. They are excellent for keeping the mind fluid, which helps to retain physical youth.
There is something peculiarly beneficial about tending and watching growing and unfolding things. It is well known that women remain young longer than men. We have good reason to believe that one of the causes is their intimate relation with children. Growing flowers, vegetables, chickens and pups have the same influence in lesser degree. Tender, helpless things bring out the best qualities in our natures. We can not be on too intimate terms with nature, so, if possible, select a hobby that brings you closely in contact with her and her products.
The respiratory apparatus is truly marvelous in beauty and efficiency. Medical men complain about nature's way of constructing the alimentary canal, saying that it is partly superfluous, but no such complaint is lodged against the lungs and their accessories.
The respiratory system may be likened in form to a well branched tree, with hollow trunk, limbs and leaves: The trachea is the trunk; the two bronchi, one going to the right side and the other to the left side, are the main branches; the bronchioles and their subdivisions are the smaller branches and twigs; the air cells are the leaves.
The trachea and bronchi are tubes, furnished with cartilaginous rings to keep them from collapsing. They are lined with mucous membrane. The bronchi give off branches, which in turn divide and subdivide, until they become very fine. Upon the last subdivisions are clustered many cells or vesicles. These are the air cells and here the exchange takes place, the blood giving up carbonic acid gas and receiving from the inspired air a supply of oxygen. This exchange takes place through a very thin layer of mucous membrane, the air being on one side and the blood capillaries on the other side.
The whole respiratory tract is lined with mucous membrane. This membrane is ciliated, that is, it is studded with tiny hairlike projections, extending into the air passages. These are constantly in motion, much like the grain in a field when the wind is gently blowing. Their function is to prevent the entry of foreign particles into the air cells, for their propulsive motion is away from the lungs, toward the external air passages.
In some of the large cities where the atmospheric conditions are unfavorable and the air is laden with dust and smoke, the cilia are unable to prevent the entrance of all the fine foreign particles in the air. Then these particles irritate the mucous membrane, which secretes enough mucus to imprison the intruders. Consequently there is occasionally expulsion of gray or black mucus, which should alarm no one under the circumstances, if feeling well. Normally the mucous membrane secretes only enough mucus to lubricate itself, and when there is much expulsion of mucus it means that either the respiratory or the digestive system, or both, are being abused. At such times the sufferer should take an inventory of his habits and correct them.
The air cells are made up of very thin membrane. So great is their surface that if they could be flattened out they would form a sheet of about 2,000 square feet. We can not explain satisfactorily why it is that through their walls there is an exchange of gases, nor how the respiratory system can act so effectively both as an exhaust of harmful matter and a supply of necessary elements. The distribution of the blood capillaries, so tiny that the naked eye can not make them out, is wonderful. Under the microscope they look like patterns of delicate, complex, beautiful lace.
The lungs are supplied with more blood than any other, part of the body. A small part of it is for the nourishment of the lung structure, but most of it comes to be purified. After the blood has traveled to various parts of the body to perform its work as a carrier of food, and oxygen and gatherer of waste, it returns to the heart and from the heart it is sent to the lungs. There it gives up its carbonic acid gas and receives a supply of oxygen. Then it returns to the heart again and once more it is sent to all parts of the body to distribute the vital element, oxygen.
The lungs give off watery vapor, a little animal matter and considerable heat, but their chief function is to exchange the carbonic acid gas of the blood for the oxygen of the air. When the fats, sugars and starches, in their modified form, are burned in the body to produce heat and energy, carbonic acid gas and water are formed. The gas is taken up by the blood stream, which is being deprived of its oxygen at the same time. This exchange turns the blood from red into a bluish tinge. The red color is due to the union of oxygen with the iron in the blood corpuscles, forming rust, roughly speaking.
The fine adjustment that exists in nature can be seen by taking into consideration that animals give off carbon dioxide and breathe in oxygen, while vegetation exhales oxygen and inhales carbon dioxide. In other words, animal life makes conditions favorable for plant growth, and vegetation makes possible the existence of animals.
An animal of the higher class can live several days without water, several weeks without food, but only a very few minutes without oxygen. When the blood becomes surcharged with carbonic acid gas, and oxygen is refused admittance to the lungs, life ceases in about five or six minutes. From this it can easily be seen how important it is to have a proper supply of oxygen. Acute deprivation of this element is immediately fatal, and chronic deprivation of a good supply helps to produce early deterioration and premature death. The lungs can easily be kept in good condition, and when we ponder on the beautiful and effective way in which nature has equipped us with a respiratory apparatus and an inexhaustible store of oxygen, surely we must understand the folly of not helping ourselves to what is so vital, yet absolutely free.
Wrong eating and impure air are largely responsible for all kinds of respiratory troubles, from a simple cold to the most aggravated form of pulmonary tuberculosis. Exercise and deep breathing will to a great extent antidote overeating, but there is a limit beyond which the lungs refuse to tolerate this form of abuse.
Experiments have shown that if the carbonic acid gas thrown off daily by an adult male were solidified, it would amount to about seven ounces of solid carbon, which comes from fats, sugars and starches that are burned in the body. It is well to remember that there are various forms of burning or combustion. Rapid combustion is exemplified in stoves and furnaces, where the carbon of coal or wood rapidly and violently unites with oxygen. Slow combustion takes place in the rotting of wood, the rusting of iron and steel and the union of oxygen with organic matter in animal bodies. Both processes are the same, varying only in rapidity and intensity.
People who daily give off seven ounces of carbon are overworking their bodies. They take in too much food and consequently force too great combustion. This forcing has evil effects on the system, for under forced combustion the body is not able to clean itself thoroughly. Some of the soot remains in the flues (the blood-vessels) and is deposited in the various parts of the engine (the body). Result: Hardening, which means loss of elasticity and aging of the body. Aging of the body results in deterioration of the mind. Proper breathing is fine, but unless it is also accompanied by proper eating it does not bring the best results.
The atmospheric air contains about four parts of carbonic acid gas to 10,000 parts of air. The exhaled air becomes quite heavily charged with this gas, about 400 to 500 parts in 10,000. It does not take long before the air in a closed, occupied room is so heavily charged with this gas and so poor in oxygen that its constant rebreathing is detrimental. The blood stream becomes poisoned, which immediately depresses the physical and mental powers. Warning is often given by a feeling of languor and perhaps a slight headache. People accustom themselves to impure air so that they apparently feel no bad effects, but this is always at the expense of health. The senses may be blunted, but the evil results always follow. To keep a house sealed up as tightly as possible in order to keep it warm saves fuel bills, but the resultant bodily deterioration and disease cause enough discomfort and result in doctor bills which more than offset this saving. It is poor economy.
A constant supply of the purest air obtainable must be furnished to the lungs; otherwise the blood becomes so laden with poison that health, in its best and truest sense, is impossible.
The air should be inhaled through the nose. It does not matter much how it is exhaled. The nose is so constructed that it fits the air for the lungs. The inspired air is often too dry, dusty and cold. The normal nose remedies all these defects. The mucous membrane in the nasal passages contains cilia, which catch the dust. The nasal passages are very tortuous so that during its journey through them the air is warmed and takes up moisture.
Habitual mouth breathing is one of the causes of the hardening and toughening of the mucous membrane of the respiratory passages, for the mouth does not arrest the irritating substances floating in the air, nor does it sufficiently warm and moisten the inspired air. Irritation produces inflammation and this in turn causes thickening of the membranes. Then it is very easy to acquire some troublesome affliction such as asthma. Very cold air is irritating, but the passage through the nose warms it sufficiently.
The evil results of mouth breathing are well seen in children, in whom it raises the roof of the mouth and brings the lateral teeth too close together. Then the dentists have to correct the deformity and the children are forced to suffer protracted inconvenience. This mouth breathing is mostly due to wrong feeding, especially overfeeding, which causes swelling of the mucous membrane, thus impeding the intake of the air through the nose and forcing it through the mouth. The chief curative measure is obvious. Cut down the child's food supply and give food of better quality. Remember that children should not be fat.
Normal breathing is rhythmical, with a slight rise of the abdomen and chest during inspiration and a slight falling during expiration. Watch a sleeping baby, and you will understand what is meant. The ratio of breathing to the beating of the heart is about one to four or five. Whatever accelerates the heart causes more rapid breathing and vice versa. Breathing is practically automatic, and were we living under natural conditions we should need to pay no attention to it, but inasmuch as our mode of life prevents the full use of the lungs a little intelligent consideration is necessary to attain full efficiency.
The body should be left as free as possible by the clothes and especially is this true of the chest and waist line. Women sin much against themselves in this respect. Most of them find it absolutely necessary for their mental welfare to constrict the lower part of the chest and the waist line a great part of the time, for really it would not do to be out of fashion. The statue of Venus de Milo is generally considered to represent the highest form of female beauty and perfection in sculptural art. If living women would consent to remain beautiful, instead of being slaves to fashion, it would be much better for themselves and for the race. A corseted woman can not breathe properly, even if she can introduce her hand between the body and her corset to prove that she is not constricted. The natural curves of women are more graceful than those produced by the corset. It would be an easy matter to give the breasts sufficient support, if they need support, without constricting the body, and then take enough exercise to keep the waist and abdomen firm and in shape to accord with a normal sense of what is beautiful and proper.
Woman does right in being as good looking as possible, and it would do man no harm to imitate her in this, for truly, "Beauty is its own excuse for being." But beauty and fashion seldom go hand in hand. Look at the modes which were the fashion, and you will be compelled to say that many of them are offensive to people of good taste. American women should cease imitating the caprice of the women of the underworld of Paris. There are indications that women are liberating themselves somewhat from the chains of fashions, as well as from other ridiculous things, so let us hope that they will soon be brave enough to look as beautiful as nature allows them to be, both in face and figure.
The lungs, like every other part of the body, become weakened when not used. The chest cavity enlarges during inspiration, but this enlargement is prevented if there is constriction of the lower ribs and the waist. The normal breathing is abdominal. Such breathing is health-imparting. It massages the liver gently with each breath and is mildly tonic to the stomach and the bowels. It truly gives internal exercise. It helps to prevent constipation.
Shallow breathing causes degeneration of lung tissue, and indirectly degeneration of every tissue in the body, for it deprives the blood of enough oxygen to maintain health. It also prevents the internal exercise of the abdominal organs, which is a necessary activity of the normal organism. Shallow breathers only use the upper parts of the lungs. It is not to be wondered at that the lower parts easily degenerate. In pneumonia, for instance, the lower part is usually first affected, and in tuberculosis one often can get the physical indications in the lower part of the lungs posteriorly before they can be found any other place. The upper parts have to be used and consequently they get more exercise and more blood and hence become more resistant. It is well known that when the upper part of the lungs become affected the disease is very grave.
Men, as well as women, are guilty of shallow breathing. Many men are very inactive and their breathing becomes sluggish. This can be remedied by taking vigorous exercise and a few breathing exercises. Because abdominal breathing is the correct way, some physical culturists, who mix the so-called New Thought with their system, advocate exercising and concentrating the mind on the abdomen at the same time. This is unnecessary, for the proper exercises and the right attitude will cause abdominal breathing without giving the abdomen special thought.
Man was evidently intended to earn his food through physical exertion and exercise, and so long as he did this the lungs were compelled to expand. A few running exercises or hill or mountain climbs will suffice to prove the truth of this statement. However, now that man can ride on a street car and earn, or at least get, his daily bread by sitting in an office, it is necessary to exercise a little in order to get good results. The farmer who sits crouched up on a plow, mower or binder also fails to use his lungs, but if he gets out and pitches hay or bundles of grain, he is sure to get what oxygen he needs.
Everyone should get into the habit of breathing deeply several times a day. Upon rising in the morning, go to the open window or out of doors and take at least a dozen slow, deep breaths, inhaling slowly, holding the air in the lungs a few moments and exhaling slowly. This should be repeated noon and night. Every time when one is in the fresh air, it is well to take a few full breaths. By and by the proper breathing will become a habit, to the great benefit of one's health.
There are many breathing exercises, but every intelligent being can make his own exercises, so I shall describe but one. Have the hands hanging at the sides, palms facing each other. Inhale slowly and at the same time bring the arms, which are to be held straight, forward and upward, or outward and upward, carrying them as far up and back over the head as possible. The arm motion is also to be slow. About the time the arms are in the last position a full inspiration has been taken. Hold the position of the arms and the breath a few seconds and then slowly exhale and slowly bring the arms back to the first position. Repeat ten or twelve times. If while one is inhaling and raising the arms, one also slowly rises on the toes and slowly resumes a natural foot position while exhaling, the exercise will be even better.
Hollow-chested young people can attain a good lung capacity and good chest contour in a very reasonable time. Persistence in proper breathing and proper exercise will have remarkable results in even two or three months, and at the same time nature will be painting roses on pallid cheeks. It is easy to increase the chest expansion several inches. Those who expand less than three and one-half inches should not be satisfied until they have gone beyond this mark. Elderly people can also increase their chest expansion and breathing capacity, but it takes more time, for with the years the chest cartilages have a tendency to harden and even to ossify. The less breathing the sooner the ossification comes.
Many people are afraid of night air, for which there is no reason. The absence of sunshine at night does no more harm than it does on cloudy days. During the night, of all times, fresh air is needed, for less is used, and what little is breathed should be of as good quality as circumstances permit. Open the windows wide enough to have the air constantly changing in the bedroom. During the winter it will be necessary to put additional clothes on the bed, for no one can obtain the best of slumbers while chilled. Some may find it a better plan to use artificial heat in the foot of the bed. At any rate, during cold weather better covering is required for the legs and for the feet than for any other part of the body. People with good resistance can sleep in a draught without the least harm, but ordinary people should not sleep in a draught. It is easy to use screens so that the wind does not blow upon the face. If the air is kept stirring in the chamber the sleeper gets enough without being in a current.
Some are in the habit of closing their bedroom windows and doors at night and opening them for a thorough airing during the day. If the bedrooms must be closed, close them during the day and open them wide at night, for that is when the pure air is needed. It does not make much difference whether they are open or closed while being unoccupied. It is actually sickening to enter some bedrooms and be compelled to breathe the foul air.
When people are ill the rooms should have fresh air entering at all times. Sick people give off more poisons than do those in good health and they need the oxygen to burn up the deposits in the system.
An early morning stroll while most people are in bed is very instructive. It will be found that some houses are shut up as tightly as possible and that only a few are properly ventilated. A person who insists on keeping his window open in winter is often looked upon as a freak. What is the result of this close housing? The first result is that the blood is unable to obtain the required amount of oxygen and is poisoned by the rebreathing of the air in the room. In the morning the sleeper wakes feeling only half rested, and it takes a cup of coffee or something else to produce complete awakening. The evil results are cumulative, and after a while the bad habit of breathing impure air at night will be a great factor in building disease of some kind.
One reason why some are so afraid of fresh air, especially at night, is that they become so autotoxemic through bad habits, especially improper eating habits, that a slight draught causes them to sneeze and often catch cold and they believe that the fresh air causes the irritation. This is not so. The irritability comes from within, not from without.
After becoming accustomed to good ventilation at night it is almost impossible to enter into restful slumbers in a stuffy room.
Savages are singularly free from respiratory diseases, and the reason is without doubt that they do not house themselves closely. In some parts of the world they fear to let civilized men enter their abodes, for they may bring respiratory diseases.
Not only the homes, but public places, such as street cars, theaters, schools and churches are too often poorly ventilated. Sleeping, or rather dozing in church is so common that it is a matter of jest. My experience has been that drowsiness comes not from the dullness of sermons, but from the impossibility of getting a breath of good air in many churches.
Please remember that exhaled air is excretory matter, and that it is both unclean and unwholesome to consume it over and over again.
Draughts do not cause colds. Cold air does not cause colds. Wet clothes do not cause colds: These things may be minor contributory factors, but the body must be in poor condition before one can catch cold. Colds are generally caught at the table. Lack of fresh air also helps to produce colds, as well as other diseases.
The tendency in our country is to heat buildings too much. Europeans are both surprised and uncomfortable when they first enter our dwellings or public meeting places. The temperature in a dwelling should not be forced above seventy degrees Fahrenheit by means of artificial heating. The temperature required depends very much upon one's mental attitude and habits. Those who take enough exercise have good circulation of the blood in the extremities, and therefore do not need so much artificial heat. The best heating is from within.
A young baby should sleep almost all the time, and it will if intelligently cared for. Overfeeding is the bane of the baby's life and is the cause of most of its restlessness. The first few months the baby should be awake enough to take its food, and then go to sleep again. As it grows older it sleeps less and less.
There is no fixed time for an adult to sleep. The amount varies with different individuals. The idea is quite prevalent that eight hours nightly are necessary. This may be true for some. Many do very well on seven hours' sleep, and even less. The great inventor, Thomas Edison, is said to have had but very little sleep for many years, and it is reported that when interested in some problem he would miss a night or two. Yet he has lived longer than the average individual and is now in good health. Very few have done as much constructive work as he. Many other prominent people have been light sleepers.
As people grow older they require less sleep than they did in youth. It is not uncommon for septuagenarians to sleep but five hours nightly.
Although we can not say how much sleep any individual may require, each person can find out for himself, and this is much better than to try to live by rules, which are often erroneous.
Those who live as they should otherwise and select a definite hour for retiring and adhere to it, except on special occasions, get all the sleep that is necessary. They awake in the morning refreshed, ready to do a good day's work.
During sound sleep all conscious endeavors cease. The vital organs do only enough work to keep the body alive. The breathing is lighter, the circulation is slower and in sound sleep there is no thinking. This letting up in the great activity of body and mind gives an opportunity for the millions of cells, of which the body is composed, to take from the blood what is needed to restore them to normal. During the day many of these cells become worn and weary. At night they recuperate. Hence undisturbed sleep is very important.
Many believe that "early to bed and early to rise" is the proper way, that the hours of sleep before midnight are more refreshing and invigorating than those after. This is merely a belief, perhaps a good one. Early retiring leads to regularity, which is very desirable. Late retiring often means loose mental and physical habits. Those who are regular about their time of retiring and live well otherwise feel refreshed whether they go to bed early or late. Children should always retire early, otherwise they do not get enough sleep. The night is the natural sleeping time for most creatures, as well as for man. This is a heritage of ages. There was no artificial illumination during the stone age. Man could do nothing during the darkness, so he rested. However, those who must work at night find no trouble in sleeping during the day. The tendency among men is the same as among animals, to sleep more in winter than in summer, not that more sleep is required, but because the winter nights are longer.
Children should go to bed early. They require more sleep than adults because of the greater cell activity. Also, children who stay up late generally become irritable and nervous.
It is not well to eat immediately before retiring. The sleep following a late meal is generally interrupted, and there is not that feeling of brightness and clearness of mind, with which one should awake, next morning.
Lunching before going to bed is a bad habit. Some believe they must have an apple, or perhaps a glass of milk, before retiring, for they think that this will bring sleep. The body should not be burdened with extra food to digest during the sleeping hours. This time should be dedicated to the restoring of the body, and the blood contains ample material.
Dreaming is largely a bad habit. A normal individual rarely dreams, and then generally following some imprudence. Dreams begin in childhood and are then due principally to excessive food intake. As a producer of nightmares overfeeding has no equal. During adult life dreaming is caused by bad physical and mental conduct, plus the habit which was formed in childhood. Fear, anger, worry, stimulants, too much food, impure air and too warm clothes are some of the causes that produce dreams. Like other bad habits, dreaming is difficult to overcome once it is firmly established. The cure consists in righting one's other bad habits and in not thinking about the dreams. A sleep that is disturbed by dreams is not as sound as it should be and consequently not as refreshing as normal sleep. The conscious mind is not completely at rest and, the subconscious mind is running riot. Normal sleep is complete unconsciousness. This is the sleep of the just and must be earned.
Before retiring all the clothes worn during the day should be removed. The night apparel should be light—cotton, linen or silk. The bed should be comfortable, but not too soft. There should be enough covering to keep the sleeper comfortably warm, but not hot. Those who cover themselves with so many quilts or blankets that they perspire during the night are not properly refreshed. It prevents sound sleep and makes the skin too sensitive. It reduces a person's resistance to climatic changes. The feet should be kept warm, even if necessary to put artificial heat in the foot of the bed. During cold weather the feet and the legs should have more covering than the rest of the body. From the waist up the covering should be rather light.
Sound sleep is dependent on relaxation of mind and body. Those who live the day over after going to bed do not go to sleep quickly or easily. This habit should be overcome. Do business at the business place, during business hours, if you would have the mind fresh. There are days so full of cares that the night does not bring mental relaxation, but those who have begun early in life to practice self-control find these days growing fewer as the years roll by. When they learn their true relationship to the rest of humanity, to the universe and to eternity, they are generally willing and able to let the earth rotate and revolve for a few hours without their personal attention. They realize that worry and anxiety waste time and energy.
Many complain that they can not sleep. This they repeat to themselves and to others many times a day. At night they ask themselves why they can not sleep. They do it so often that it becomes a powerful negative suggestion frequently strong enough to prevent their going to sleep. It is an obsession. Real insomnia exists only in the mind of the sufferer. Every physician, sooner or later, has experience with people who say that they can not sleep. The doctors who give such patients sleeping powders or potions make a grave mistake. These drugs are taken at the expense of some of the physical structures, and the day of settlement always comes. Perhaps it will find the patient with bankrupted nerves or a failing heart. To be effective, the size of the dose must be increased from time to time. At last the result will be some disease, either physical or mental.
Those who insist that they "do not sleep at all," or that they sleep "but a few minutes" each night, sleep a few hours, but they make themselves believe that they do not sleep. We are compelled to sleep, and even those who "do not sleep at all" can not remain awake indefinitely.
Those who are troubled with the no-sleep obsession will soon realize that they sleep as well as others if they cease thinking and talking so much about the subject. I have seen people suffering from this bad habit recover in one week. Those who have been taking drugs to induce sleep generally have a few bad nights when they give them up, after which the nervous storm subsides and sleep becomes normal. All drugs should be discarded. The physician who understands more about the working of nature than about the giving of drugs will have the best success in these cases. Soothing sleep always comes to people possessed of a controlled mind in a healthy body.
If the day has been exhausting and the nerves are so alive and wrought up that sleep will not come, do not allow the mind to delve into worry about it. Do not say to yourself: "I wish I could sleep. Why can't I sleep?" Such fretful thinking produces mental tension, which drives sleep away. Instead, say to yourself: "I am very comfortable. I am having a refreshing rest. It does not matter whether I sleep or not." By all means relax the body. Choose a comfortable position and remain quiet, having the muscles relaxed. It is remarkable how soon a relaxed body brings tranquility to a disturbed mind. Let a man in pugnacious mood relax his face and his fists and in a very short time his anger vanishes. It makes no difference whether a person sleeps eight hours on a certain night. If he is fairly regular about going to bed he will get enough sleep. Those who realize this truth do not complain of insomnia.
Most people who think much have an occasional night when an idea takes such strong possession of the brain and demands so forcibly to be put into proper shape, that they can not sleep. Under such circumstances it is as well to to get up and work out the idea. Three or four nights like that in the course of a year will do no harm.
People rarely sleep well when lying on the back. If the theory of evolution is correct, we were not intended to lie on our backs during sleep. A good position is to lie on the right side, the right leg being anterior to the left, both being flexed. Another position that is restful to many is to lie on the abdomen, the arms extended away from the body.
The breathing should be entirely nasal. It will not be nasal if there is obstruction in the nose. A healthy person who breathes through his mouth at night must use autosuggestion to overcome the habit. He should suggest to himself, "I will breathe through the nose; I will keep my lips together." If he persists in this, closes the mouth when he goes to sleep, in time the mouth-breathing will cease, and with it the disagreeable habit of snoring. The harmfulness of mouth-breathing is explained in another chapter.
At all times the bedroom should be well ventilated. Some people are in the habit of sleeping in unventilated bedrooms, but upon rising in the morning they throw the windows open and give the room a good airing. The ventilation does not do much good except when there is someone in the room. During the day the bedroom could be closed with very little harm ensuing, though it is best to have it sunned and aired as much as possible.
The sleeping porch is excellent. Outdoor sleeping is all right and it is not a modern fad. Where Benjamin Franklin got his information I do not know, but he has this to say about outdoor sleeping: "It is recorded that Methusaleh, who, being the longest liver, may be supposed to have best preserved his health, that he slept always in the open air; for when he had lived five hundred years an angel said to him: 'Arise, Methusaleh, and build thee an house, for thou shalt live five hundred years longer.' But Methusaleh answered, and said: 'If I am to live but five hundred years longer, it is not worth while to build me an house; I will sleep in the air as I have been used to do.'" This may partly account for some of his many years. His alleged conversation with the angel indicates that he was a man of equanimity.
Under ordinary circumstances those who sleep indoors should have one sash of window fully open for each person in the chamber, or more. It is well to have plenty of fresh air, but it is not best to sleep in a draught. When the wind is blowing through the windows it is not necessary to have them wide open, for an aperture of four inches will then give as much fresh air as a sash opening in calmer weather.
It is best to get up promptly upon awakening in the morning. Remaining in bed half asleep is productive of slothfulness. Too much sleeping and dozing make one dull.
Those who overeat require more sleep than moderate people. The sluggishness and sleepiness following a too heavy meal are familiar to all. Animals that do not get food regularly, but are dependent on the vicissitudes of preying for their nourishment, often gorge themselves so that they can not stay awake, but fall into a stupor, which may last for days. Man, who is generally assured of three meals a day, has no excuse for this form of self-abuse, but unfortunately he practices it too often. It is a gross habit, one in which people of refinement will not continue to indulge.
Young children should take a nap each day. They are so active that they need this rest. Adults can with profit take a short nap, not to exceed thirty minutes, after lunch. Those who are nervous owe it to themselves to take a nap. Those who use the brain a great deal will find the midday nap a great restorer. If sleep will not come, they should at least close their eyes and remain relaxed for a short time. A long nap makes one feel stupid.
Those unfortunate people who are addicted to various enslaving drugs, such as cocaine and morphine, often are very light sleepers. They are deteriorating physically, mentally and morally. Such people are ill and are no guides to the needs of healthy people.
Coffee drinking is a destroyer of sound sleep. At first the coffee seems to soothe the nerves, but in a few hours it has the opposite effect. The habitual use of coffee helps to bring on premature nervous instability and physical degeneration.
Sleep is self-regulating. If we are normal otherwise we need give the subject no thought except to select a regular time to go to bed and get up promptly in the morning upon awaking.
It is easy to drive away sleep. Those who wish to enjoy this sweet restorer at its best must be regular.
Fasting is one of the oldest of remedial measures known to man, not only for the ills of the body, but for those of the soul. Oriental lore and literature make frequent reference to fasts. From the Bible we learn that Moses, Elijah and Christ each fasted forty days, and no bad effects are recorded.
Addison knew the value of fasting and temperance. He wrote that, "Abstinence well-timed often kills a sickness in embryo and destroys the seeds of a disease." Unfortunately, he did not live as well as he knew how. Hence his brilliant mind had but a short time in which to work and the world is the loser.
Our own great philosopher, Benjamin Franklin, had the same knowledge, for he wrote, "Against disease known, the strongest fence is the defensive virtue, abstinence."
There is much prejudice against fasting, because people do not understand what fasting is and what it accomplishes. Fasting is not starving. To fast is to go without food when the body is in such condition that food can not be properly digested and assimilated. To starve is to go without food when the body is in condition to digest and assimilate food and needs nourishment.
It is quite generally believed that if food is withheld for six or seven days the result will be fatal. Under proper conditions one can go without food for two or three months. Perhaps most people could not do without food for the latter period, but fasts of that duration are on record. Fat people can live on their tissues for a long time before they are reduced to normal weight, and slender ones can live on water for an extended period.
Prolonged fasts should not be taken unless necessary, and then they should be taken under the guidance of someone who has had experience and is possessed of common sense. If a person is fearful or surrounded by others who instill fear into him, he should not take a prolonged fast. The gravest danger during the fast is fear. It takes many weeks to die from lack of food, but fear is capable of killing in a few days, or even in a few hours. The healer who undertakes to direct fasts against the wishes of the patient's friends and relatives, who have more influence than he has, injures himself professionally and throws doubt upon the valuable therapeutic measure he advocates.
The indications that a fast is needed are pain and fever and acute attacks of all kinds of diseases. Some of the more common diseases that call for a complete cessation of eating are: The acute stage of pneumonia, appendicitis, typhoid fever, neuralgia, sciatica, peritonitis, cold, tonsilitis, whooping cough, croup, scarlet fever, smallpox and all other eruptive diseases; colics of kidneys, liver or bowels; all acute alimentary tract disturbances, whether of the stomach or of the bowels.
Sometimes it is necessary to fast in chronic diseases, especially when there is pain, but as a rule chronic diseases yield to proper hygienic and dietetic treatment without a fast, provided they are curable. Here is where many people who advocate fasting go to extremes. A fast is the quickest way out of the trouble, but it is at times very unpleasant. By taking longer time the result can be obtained by proper living and the patient is being educated while he is recovering. In chronic cases it is especially important to eat properly.
The only disease of which I know that seems to be unfavorably influenced by fasting is pulmonary tuberculosis in well advanced stages. Such patients quickly lose weight and strength on a fast, and they have great difficulty in regaining either. Perhaps others have had different experiences and have made observations that do not agree with this, for cases of tuberculosis have been reported cured through fasting. It is well to bear in mind that every case that is diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis is not tuberculosis. Many supposed-to-be cases of tuberculosis, some of them so diagnosed by most reputable specialists, are nothing more than lung irritation due to the absorption of gas and acid from the digestive tract. When the indigestion is cured, the so-called tuberculosis disappears. These are the only tubercular cases that I have seen benefited by fasts, and the improvement is both quick and sure.
Doubtless tuberculosis in the first stages could be cured by fasting, followed by proper hygienic and dietetic care, for at first tuberculosis is a localized symptom of disordered nutrition. In this stage the disease is no more dangerous than many other maladies that are not considered fatal. The subjects brought to the dissecting table show plainly that a large proportion of them have at some time had pulmonary tuberculosis, the lesions of which were healed, and they afterwards died of some other affliction. However, if a patient is received after the manifestation of profuse night sweats, great flushing of the cheeks, high fever daily, emaciation, expulsion of much mucus from the lungs, and the presence of great lassitude and weakness, the rule is that the nutrition is so badly impaired that nothing will bring the patient back to normal. Under such circumstances fasting hastens death. The family and friends are not reticent about placing the blame on the healer. Moderate feeding will prolong life and add to the comfort of the sufferer. The customary overfeeding hastens the end.
Cancer is said to be cured by fasting, but this is very, very doubtful. It is often difficult to differentiate between cancer and benignant tumors at first. Benignant tumors frequently disappear on a limited diet. I have seen many tumors disappear under rational treatment, without resorting to the knife, but I have never seen an undoubted case of cancer do so, though some of the tumors in question had been diagnosed cancer. Cancers, in the advanced stages, end in the death of the patient in spite of any kind of treatment. By being very careful about the diet, cancer patients can escape nearly all the pain and discomfort that generally accompany this disease. Moderation would prevent nearly every case of cancer, and especially moderation in meat eating. It is a disease that should be prevented, for its cure is very doubtful.
Colds leave in a few days, with no bad after effects, if no food is taken.
Typhoid fever treated rationally from the start generally disappears in from one week to twelve days if nothing but water is given, and fails to develop the severity that it attains under the giving of foods and drugs. There are no complications.
Appendicitis is of longer duration, if it is a severe attack, lasting from two to four weeks, but after the first few days the patient is comfortable, under a no-food, let-alone treatment. Operation is not necessary.
In cases of gall-stones, accompanied by jaundice and colic, it is not necessary to operate. Fasting and bathing will bring the body back to normal in a short time. In such cases it is necessary to give the baths as hot as they can be borne, and prolong them until the body is relaxed.
It would be easy to enumerate many diseases, telling the benefits to be derived from fasting, but these point the way and are sufficient.
The one unfailing symptom of a fast is the loss of weight. This loss is natural and there is nothing alarming about it. As soon as eating is resumed the loss of weight stops. For a while the weight may then remain stationary, but the gain is generally prompt. In time the weight will become normal again.
According to Chosat, the loss sustained by the various tissues in starvation is as follows:
Fat………………… 93 per cent.
Blood………………. 75 "
Spleen……………… 71 "
Pancreas……………. 64 "
Liver………………. 52 "
Muscles…………….. 43 "
Nervous tissues………. 2 "
This table was made from animal experimentation, but agrees very well with other observations, except in the loss of blood, which others have found to be less than 20 per cent. It will be noticed that the highest tissue, nervous tissue, is hardly affected, but the lowest tissue, fat, almost disappears.
When an individual needs to fast, his body is suffering from the ingestion of too much food and poor elimination. He overworks his nutrition and overdraws on his nervous energies so much in other lines that the body is unable to throw off the debris which should leave by way of the kidneys, the bowels, the skin and the lungs. He is poisoned by his retained excretions, suffering from what is called autointoxication or self-poisoning. He is filthy internally and needs a cleaning. If he has abused himself so that he lacks the power to assimilate food and throw off waste at the same time, obviously it is proper to stop eating until the lost power is regained. In cases of fever it is a physical crime to eat, for the glands cease secreting the normal juices. The mouth becomes parched for lack of saliva, and the gastric and intestinal juices are not secreted in proper amount or quality. Food eaten under such circumstances is not digested. The internal temperature in fever is above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and it does not take long for food to decay in such temperature, especially such aliments as milk and broth, which are the favorite foods for fever patients. These alimentary substances are excellent for growing nearly all the germs that are found in the body in disease.
When in pain, it is harmful to eat, for the secretions are then perverted and digestion is interfered with. All violent emotions, such as hatred, jealousy, and anger, mean that no food should be taken until the body has had the opportunity to relax and regain some of its tone. Such emotions do not thrive so well in healthy individuals as among the sick, but then perfect health is a rarity.
When going without food people are subject to various symptoms, which depend as much on the temperament as on the physical conditions. A hysterical woman can scare inexperienced attendants into doing her will by her antics. She may make them believe that she is dying. On the other hand, well balanced, fearless people can fast for weeks with very little annoyance. Fasting is not always pleasant and there are a number of symptoms that are often present.
The faster loses weight, at first often as much as two pounds a day. This is mostly water. After the first ten days the loss may be but one-half of a pound, or less, per day. The loss of weight is greatest in heavy people and in those who have high fevers.
The tongue becomes badly coated, and the breath foul, showing that the mucous membrane is busy throwing out waste. The tongue remains coated until the system is clean, and then it clears off. Most people feel weak when they attempt to walk or work, but they feel strong when resting. Others, who are badly food-poisoned, gain strength as the system eliminates the harmful substances from the body. For a day or two the craving for food may be quite insistent and persistent. Then hunger generally leaves and does not return until the tongue is clean. The mind becomes clearer as the body becomes cleaner. This benefit to the spirit, or the soul, has been recognized by religious organizations for centuries.
A little discharge of blood from the bowels at first should cause no alarm. In some cases a great deal of yellow mucus is thrown into the lower bowel. The liver at times throws off so much bile that it makes the patient alarmed. This should cause no uneasiness. When the bile is forced upward into the stomach it is very disagreeable. The discharges from the bowels are often very dark.
There is a tendency toward chilliness, especially to have cold hands and feet. Skin eruptions and heart palpitations are occasional symptoms. Nervous, irritable and fearful people have symptoms too numerous to mention. The more they are sympathized with the worse they become.
Many medical men have misinterpreted the symptoms of the fast, and hence they have condemned the procedure. They see the foul coating on the tongue, the loss of weight and at times peculiar mental manifestations. They can smell the foul breath and the disagreeable odor from the skin and from the bowel discharges. These they interpret as signs of physical deterioration and degeneration. These manifestations indicate that the entire body is cleansing itself, throwing out impurities that have accumulated, because the system has had so much work to do that it has lacked the power to be self-cleansing. Nothing is needed to prove this fact except to continue the fast until the odors disappear and the tongue becomes clean.
The bad odors given off by the body resemble the odors in severe fevers with much wasting, and hence they alarm those who have had little or no experience with protracted fasts. These odors are often bad at the end of about one week of fasting, though there is no fixed period for their appearance. They should cause no alarm for they simply indicate that the body is cleansing itself, and that is exactly what is desired. Under proper conditions I have neither seen nor heard of a fatality coming from a short fast. Those who are in such physical shape that they will die if fasted from five to ten days would die if they were fed.
Another symptom that may alarm the attendant is the lowered blood pressure. This is natural and should cause no anxiety. Eating and drinking keep the blood pressure up. When the food intake is decreased, the blood pressure is reduced. When the food intake is stopped, the blood pressure is still further reduced. This fact should give the intelligent healer the hint to reduce the food intake in such abnormal conditions as arteriosclerosis and apoplexy. During prolonged fasts the blood pressure generally becomes quite low.
Some fasting people can continue with light work, and when they are able to do this, it is best, for it keeps them from thinking about themselves all the time. If there is a lack of energy, dispense with work and vigorous exercise. In acute diseases there is no choice. One is compelled to cease laboring. In chronic diseases it depends on the patient and the adviser.
Dismiss fear from the mind and do not discuss the fast or any of the symptoms with anyone except the adviser. It is best not to tell any outsiders about the fast, for the public has some queer ideas on the subject. If you are afraid, or if you have to fight with neighbors, friends, relatives, or perhaps with the health authorities, as sometimes happens, it is better not to take the fast.
Drink all the water desired. At first the more one drinks the more quickly the system cleanses itself. A glass of water every hour during the day, or even every half hour is all right. The water may be warm or cold, but it should not be ice-cold nor should it be hot. Both extremes produce irritation.
In acute inflammation of the stomach, nothing should be given by mouth. Small quantities of water may be given by rectum every two or three hours. In appendicitis only very small quantities of water are to be given by mouth at first, until the acute symptoms have subsided. Large quantities of fluid may excite violent peristalsis with resulting pain. In all eases of nausea, give nothing by mouth, not even water, until the nausea is gone. Symptoms are nature's sign language, and when properly interpreted they tell us what to do and what not to do.
Even though there be no thirst or desire for water, some should be taken. If it can be taken by mouth give at least a glassful every two hours, not necessarily all at once. Some are so sensitive that one-half of a glass of water is all they can tolerate. If the stomach objects to water, give it by rectum. Always do this in cases of much nausea. After a few days the water intake may be reduced.
Take a quick sponge bath every day and if there is any inclination toward chilliness, the water should be tepid or warm. Follow with a few minutes of dry towel friction. People who are overweight, with good heart and kidney action, can take prolonged hot baths, if they wish. An olive oil rub immediately after the bath, about twice a week, is grateful. However, this is not necessary.
The colon is to be washed out every day. No definite amount of water can be prescribed. Occasionally enemas are taken under difficulties, for some cramp when water is introduced into the bowel. Those who are not accustomed to enemas should use water about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. One quart is a small enema. Two quarts make a fairly large one. Introduce the water, lie still for a few minutes and then allow it to pass out. If the bowels are very foul, use two or three washings. If there is much fermentation, use some soda in the water. Salt, about a tablespoonful to two quarts of water, stimulates the bowels, but its disadvantage is that it draws water from the intestinal walls, thus robbing the blood of a part of its fluid. The same is true of glycerin. Perhaps the least harmful ingredient that can be put into the water to stimulate action is enough pure castile soap to render the water opaque. The soap, however, has a tendency to wash away too much of the mucus which lubricates the bowel. On the whole, nothing is better than plain water. If it gives good results use nothing else.
Those who are very sensitive and weak often find that the expulsion of water from the bowel not only further weakens them, but causes pain. In such cases Dr. Hazzard recommends a rectal tube (not a colon tube), which is very good, for it allows the emptying of the bowel without any cramping. The tube is to be inserted about six inches.
To take the enema, assume either the knee-chest position (kneeling with the shoulders close to the floor) or lie on the right side with the hips elevated. These positions allow water to flow into colon by aid of gravity.
When it is necessary to supply liquid to the body by rectum, simply introduce a pint or less of plain water, moderately warm. Repeat as often as necessary to keep away thirst, which will rarely be more than every three hours.
Keep the body warm at all times. If it is difficult to keep warm, go to bed and use enough covers, having the windows open enough to supply fresh air. At night use artificial heat in the foot of the bed. If hot-water bottles, warm bricks or stones are used, they should be quite large; otherwise they become cold by two or three o'clock in the morning, when heat is most needed. If a large receptacle, such as a jug, is used to keep the water in, the bed clothes are lifted off the patient's feet, and this is often a great relief.
No special food is suited to break all fasts on. It is necessary to begin with plain food in moderation. Overeating or eating of indigestible food at this time may result in sickness and even in death. If the faster lacks self-control, the food should be brought to him in proper quantities by the attendant.
If the fast has lasted but two or three days, no special precautions are necessary, except that the first few meals should be smaller than usual.
As indiscretions in eating compel nearly all fasts it is necessary to do a little better than previously, or the fast must be repeated. It is best to live so that fasts are not necessary.
If the fast has been prolonged it is best to begin feeding liquid foods. What shall we feed? That depends on the patient and circumstances. The juice of the concord grape is not good for it ferments too easily. Many of those who are compelled to fast or else die have been so food-poisoned, and their digestive organs have been in such horrible condition for years that they have been unable to eat acid fruits. This is especially true of those who consume large quantities of starch. Sometimes they are unable to eat fruit for a while after the fast. At other times the irritability of the digestive organs disappears while food is withheld. For such people broths and milk may be employed.
The juice of oranges, pineapples, California grapes, cherries, blackberries or tomatoes may be given. The tomatoes may be made into broth and strained, but nothing is to be added to this broth except salt. Stout people should do well on fruit juices. They are not to be so highly recommended for very thin, nervous people, for fruit juices are both thinning and cooling. Milk is very useful, and may be given either sweet or clabbered or in the form of buttermilk.
Thin, nervous people can safely be given broths, preferably of lamb, mutton or chicken. Trim away all the fat, grind up the lean meat, and allow it to simmer (not boil) until all the juices are extracted from the meat. Strain and put away to cool. When cold, skim off the fat. Then warm the broth and serve. This broth is not to be seasoned while it is being cooked, but a little salt may be added when it is ready to serve. To one pound of lean meat there should be about one quart of broth. A teacupful to begin with is enough for a meal, and it is often necessary to give less than this. The gravest mistake is to be in a hurry about returning to full meals. The remarks about moderate feeding also apply to milk and fruit juices.
Ordinarily, fasts are not broken on starchy foods, but this may be done at times to advantage, especially in cases that have been accustomed to large quantities of starch and but little of the fresh raw foods. The starch must, however, be in an easily digestible state and should be in the form of a very thin gruel made of oatmeal or whole wheatmeal. It should be cooked four to six hours and dressed with nothing but a little salt. A few can break the fast on a full meal without any bad results, but most people can not do it without suffering and the results may be fatal. So it is a safe rule to break the fast on simple liquid food, taken in moderation.
Four or five days after breaking the fast, one should be able to eat the ordinary foods. The following is a suggestion of the manner in which to feed immediately after a fast of about two weeks:
First day: Tomato broth once; mutton broth twice.
Second day: Breakfast, orange juice. Lunch, buttermilk. Dinner, sliced tomatoes.
Third day: Breakfast, buttermilk. Lunch, salad of lettuce and tomatoes, dressed with salt. Dinner, poached egg, celery.
Fourth day: Breakfast, baked apple and milk. Lunch, toasted bread and butter. Dinner, lamb chops, stewed green peas, celery.
If a meal causes distress, omit the next one and continue omitting meals until comfort and ease have returned. If the digestion is very weak, or if the illness has been protracted, do not feed solids as soon as recommended above. In all cases it is necessary to exercise self-control, moderation and common sense.
The meals must be moderate. Gradually increase until the amount of food taken is sufficient to do the necessary bodily rebuilding. The longer the fast, the more care should be exercised in the beginning. It is no time to experiment.
If the fast is to be of permanent benefit it is necessary to learn how to eat properly afterwards, and to put this knowledge into practice. This is the most important part to emphasize, yet all the books I have read on the subject have failed to pay any attention to it. In nearly every case the fast is necessary because of repeated mistakes in eating and drinking. Those mistakes built bodily ills in the first place and if the faster goes back to them they will do it again. The disease does not always take on the same type as it did in the first place, but it is the same old disease. During a fast there is recuperation because the body has a chance to become clean, and a clean body can not long remain unbalanced, provided there are no organic faults. By making mistakes in eating after the fast is over, the body again becomes foul and full of debris and that means more disease. Perhaps it may not require more than one-third as much abuse to cause a second break-down as it did to bring about the first one.
Some people fast repeatedly, and are somewhat proud of it. They should be ashamed of the fact that they must fast time after time, for it shows either ignorance or a weak, undeveloped will power. The fast should teach every intelligent being that it is an emergency measure, and emergencies are but seldom encountered in a well regulated life.
Food debauches following fasts should be avoided. A little will power properly applied will prevent them. Gross eating may compel another fast. We must eat and it is better to eat so that we can take sustenance regularly than to be compelled to go without food at various intervals. He who is moderate in his eating, uses a fair degree of intelligence in the selection of his food, is temperate in other ways and considerate and kind in his dealings with others will not be ill.
A fast is efficacious in clearing up a brain that is unable to work well because it is bathed in unclean blood. It is remarkable how well the brain works when the stomach is not overworked. Overfeeding the body causes underfeeding of the brain. On a correct diet the brain is efficient and clear and able to bear sustained burdens.
There is no question but that a fast, followed by a light diet, containing less of the heavily starchy and proteid foods and more of the succulent vegetables and fresh fruits, with their cleansing juices and health-imparting salts, would result in the recovery of over one-half of the insane. Most of them are suffering functionally and here the outlook is very hopeful. Christ cured a lunatic "by prayer and fasting." Proper feeding would work wonders in prisons. It would also be very beneficial for wayward girls and young men who are passion's slaves. St. Peter recommended fasting as an aid to morality, which is another evidence of the profundity of his wisdom.
How long should a fast last? Until its object has been accomplished. It is rarely necessary to fast a month, but sometimes it is advisable to continue the fast for forty days, or even longer. If the fast is taken on account of pain, continue until the pain is gone. If for fever, until there is no more fever. In chronic cases it is not always necessary to continue the fast until the tongue is clean. When the patient is free from pain and fever and comfortable in every way, start feeding lightly. People who are thin and have sluggish nutrition, one symptom of which is dirty-gray mucous membrane in mouth and throat, should not be fasted any longer than it is absolutely necessary, for they generally react slowly and poorly.
If people would miss a meal or two or three as soon as they begin to feel bad, no long fasts would be necessary, because when the system first begins to be deranged it very quickly rights itself when food is withheld. It is impossible for a serious disease to develop in a fasting person, unless he is in an exceptionally bad physical condition at the beginning of the fast, for when food is withheld there is nothing for disease to feed upon. No new disease can originate during a fast.
Fasts often bring people back to health, who can not recover through any other means known to man, unless it be eating almost nothing—a semi-fast. Occasionally a patient dies while on a long fast or immediately thereafter, but please remember that millions die prematurely on this earth every year who never missed their meals for one day. Also remember that those who go on prolonged fasts are generally "hopeless cases," who have been given up to die by medical men. People who fast generally become comfortable, so why envy a few men and women an easy departure when they are no longer able to live, and why heap undeserved censure on those who are doing their best to ease the sufferers by means of our most valuable therapeutic measure, fasting?
There is much prejudice against fasting, but a calm study of the facts will remove this. Typhoid fever, conventionally treated, often proves fatal in 15 per cent. or more of the cases and those who survive have to undergo a long, uncomfortable illness which often leaves them so weakened and with such degenerated bodies that the end is frequently a matter of a few months or years. Pneumonia and tuberculosis find a favorable place to develop and in these cases prove very fatal. On the other hand, cases of typhoid treated by the fast, and the other hygienic measures necessary, recover in a short time, there are no evil sequels and the body is in better condition than it was before the onset of the disease. I have never seen a fatality in a properly treated case, and the mortality is conspicuous by its absence. It is the same in curable chronic diseases. Where feeding and medicating add to the ills, fasting with proper living afterwards brings health.
It is also well to remember that where one individual dies while fasting (not from the effects of fasting, but from the disease for which the fast was begun), perhaps one hundred thousand starve because they have too much to eat. Silly as this may sound, it is the truth, and this is s the explanation: Overfeeding causes digestive troubles and a breakdown of the assimilative and excretory processes. The more food that is taken while this condition exists the less nourishment is extracted from it. The food ferments pathologically, instead of physiologically, and poisons the body. The more that is eaten under the circumstances, the worse is the poisoning and at last the tired body wearily gives up the fight for existence, perhaps after a long chronic ailment has been suffered, or perhaps during the attack of an acute disease. The chief cause of death is too much food.
Avicena, the great Arabian physician, treated by means of prolonged fasts.
For the benefit of those who fear the effects of fasts of a few days' duration a few quotations are given from various sources:
"My next marked case is a wonderful illustration of the self-feeding power of the brain to meet an emergency, and a revelation, also, of the possible limitations of the starvation period. This was the case of a frail, spare boy of four years, whose stomach was so disorganized by a drink of solution of caustic potash that not even a swallow of water could be retained. He died on the seventy-fifth day of his fast, with the mind clear to the last hour, and with apparently nothing of the body left but bones, ligaments, and a thin skin; and yet the brain had lost neither weight nor functional clearness.
"In another city a similar accident happened to a child of about the same age, in whom it took three months for the brain to exhaust entirely the available body-food."—Dr. E. H. Dewey.
This shows the groundlessness of the fear parents have of allowing their children to fast when necessary. It is beneficial for even the babies who need it. In the cases quoted above the conditions were very unfavorable, for the children were suffering from the effects of lye burns, yet they lived without food seventy-five and ninety days, respectively. If necessary, deprive the children of food, and keep them warm. Then comfort yourself with the fact that they are being treated humanely and efficiently.