by R L Alsaker
- Book Index:
- ---------------
- Chapter I. Preliminary Considerations.
- Writings on hygiene and health have been accessible for centuries, but never before have books and magazines on these subjects been as numerous as they are today. Most of the information is so ...
- Preliminary Considerations. Part 2
- A part of the price we must pay for being civilized is the exercise of considerable self-control and self-denial, otherwise we must suffer. The state of the individual health is not ...
- Preliminary Considerations. Part 3
- Everything that is worth while must be paid for in some way and the price of continued good health is some basic knowledge and self-control. There are no hardships connected with rational ...
- Preliminary Considerations. Part 4
- No one can cover the field of health completely, for though it is very simple, it is as big as life. The most helpful parts of this book will be those which point the way for each individual to ...
- Preliminary Considerations. Part 5
- The distrust of medical men for healers of the natural school is not hard to explain. Many of the natural healers are men of education and experience, but others lack both, and no matter how ...
- Preliminary Considerations. Part 6
- My words are not inspired by any ill feeling toward the members of the medical profession. I have found medical men to measure well up in every way. They are better educated than the average and ...
- Asepsis And Antisepsis Simply Mean Cleanliness
- The benefits of moderation have been known for thousands of years. Louis Cornaro, who died in 1566, wrote a delightful book on the subject. People know that it is necessary to be moderate, but ...
- Asepsis And Antisepsis Simply Mean Cleanliness. Continued
- Bernarr Macfadden has a large following. He is a strong advocate of physical culture and favors vegetarianism and other changes from conventional life. He educates his readers away from drugs. ...
- Chapter II. Mental Attitude
- On mental questions there is a wide divergence of opinion. At one extreme some say that all is mind, at the other, that life is entirely physical, that the mind is but a refined part of the body... .
- The Right Time To Stop Bad Habits Is Now
- Some people have many pet bad habits. It is often the best policy to attack them one at a time. Those who try to conquer all at once often fail. They backslide, lose self-confidence, become ...
- The Right Time To Stop Bad Habits Is Now. Continued
- But it will not do to be too self-centered or consider one's self of too great importance, for this lessens one's chances of meriting the esteem of others. The well balanced man is not ...
- Worrying Is Slow Suicide
- Elbert Hubbard says that our most serious troubles are those that never happen. Worrying is a very futile employment, for it never does any good, and it reacts evilly upon the one who ...
- Worrying Is Slow Suicide. Part 2
- It is not an easy task to overcome jealousy, but it can be done within a reasonable time if there is a real desire. First get physical health. Then get busy with interesting, useful work. Get ...
- Worrying Is Slow Suicide. Part 3
- To be able to influence others for better is a grand and glorious thing, but it is well to remember that we can not force knowledge which is contrary to popular thought upon others suddenly. ...
- Worrying Is Slow Suicide. Part 4
- It is not necessary to notice every unimportant detail that is not pleasing. Fault-finding, carping and nagging destroy harmony. Disagreements about trifles often lead to broken friendship and ...
- Chapter III. Food
- The human body is so wonderfully made that as yet we have only a poor understanding of it, but we are learning a little each decade, and perhaps in time we shall have a fair knowledge both of ...
- Food. Part 2
- Calcium is needed principally for the bones and for the teeth, but it is also necessary in the blood, where it assists in coagulation. We get sufficient calcium salts in fruits, grains and ...
- Food. Part 3
- Salts are not usually classified as foods, but they are essential to life. Supply the body with all the protein, sugar, starch and fat that it requires, but withhold the salts, and it is but a ...
- Food. Part 4
- Perhaps the most injurious errors are made by people who eat because they wish to gain in weight. They consider themselves below weight and they try to force a gain by overeating. This is a ...
- Chapter IV. Overeating
- All agree that excessive indulgence in alcoholics is harmful physically, mentally and morally. We condemn the too free use of tea and coffee and nearly all other excesses. However, intemperate ...
- Overeating. Part 2
- Why do little children suffer so much from eruptive diseases, whooping cough, tonsilitis, adenoids, diphtheria and numerous other diseases? Because they are overfed. The younger the child the ...
- Overeating. Part 3
- A coated tongue, or an irritated tongue, both due to indigestion, is a concomitant of adenoids. Such diseases do not merely happen. There are good reasons for their appearance. They are not ...
- Overeating. Part 4
- We hear of cases of undernourishment. This doubtless occurs at times in the congested parts of great centers of populations. But there are not so many cases suffering from want of the proper ...
- Chapter V. Daily Food Intake
- It is generally believed that the more we eat the better. Physicians say that it is necessary to eat heartily when well to retain health and strength. When ill it is necessary to consume much ...
- Daily Food Intake. Part 2
- The average loaf of bread weighs about fourteen ounces. Here we are told to devour one-half of a pound of carrots (for which other vegetables such as turnips, parsnips, beets or cabbage may be ...
- Daily Food Intake. Part 3
- Whole wheat bread digests easily enough when eaten in moderation, but it is very difficult to digest when as much as eight ounces are taken at a meal. One can accustom the body to accept this ...
- Daily Food Intake. Part 4
- Serpents, some beasts of prey and savages devour such large quantities of food at times that they go into a stupor. There is no excuse for our patterning after them now that a supply of food is ...
- Chapter VI. What To Eat
- It is very important to eat the right kind of food, but it is even more important to be balanced and use common sense. Those who are moderate in their habits and cheerful can eat almost anything ...
- What To Eat. Part 2
- Dr. Salisbury's career also serves to remind us that a mixed diet is not necessary for the physical welfare of those who eat to live. Vegetarians dwell upon the toxicity of meat. But Dr. ...
- What To Eat. Part 3
- No matter what foods we eat, we are compelled to be careful or they will be unclean. Those who wish clean meat can obtain it. The amount of poison or waste in a proper portion of meat is so ...
- Chapter VII. When To Eat
- Three meals a day is the common plan. This is a matter of habit. Three meals a day are sufficient and should not be exceeded by man, woman or child. Lunching or piecing should never be ...
- Chapter VIII. How To Eat
- It seems that all of us ought to know how to eat, for we have much practice; yet the individuals who know the true principles of nourishing the body are comparatively few. Very few healers are ...
- Eat Only When There Is Hunger
- First, Eat only when there is hunger: Hunger is of two kinds, normal and abnormal. The real or normal hunger was given us by nature to make us active enough to get food. If it were not for ...
- During Acute Illness Fast
- Second, During acute illness fast: This is so obviously correct that we should expect every normal individual to be guided by it. Even the lower animals know this and act accordingly. ...
- Be Moderate In Your Eating
- Third, Be moderate in your eating: This is often very difficult, for most people do not know what moderation is. In infancy the too frequent feeding and the overfeeding begin. The common ...
- Thoroughly masticate all food
- Fourth, Thoroughly masticate all food: Horace Fletcher has written a very enthusiastic book on this subject. Enthusiasm is apt to lead one astray, and even if thorough mastication will not do ...
- Chapter IX. Classification Of Foods
- Food is anything which, when taken into the body under proper conditions, is broken down and taken into the blood and utilized for building, repairing or the production of heat or energy. ...
- Classification Of Foods. Continued
- It is a fact that sugar is easy to digest and that one can soon get energy from it, but feeding is not merely a question of giving digestible aliments, but a question of using foods that are ...
- Chapter X. Flesh Foods
- The food value of meat depends on the amount of fat and protein it contains. Lean meat may contain less than four hundred calories per pound, while very fat meat may contain more than one ...
- Cooking Flesh Foods
- Cooking is an art that should be learned according to correct principles. Every physician should be a good cook. He should be able to go into the kitchen and show the housewife how to prepare ...
- Cooking Flesh Foods. Continued
- It is best to avoid starchy dressings, in fact dressings of all kinds. A well cooked bird needs none, and dressing does not save a poorly cooked one. Most dressings are very difficult to digest.<...
- >Flesh Foods Combinations
- Flesh foods combine best with the succulent vegetables and the salad vegetables or with juicy fruits. It is more usual to take vegetables with flesh than to take fruit, but those who prefer ...
- Chapter XI. Nuts
- Nuts vary a great deal in composition. They are generally the seeds of trees, enclosed in shells, but other substances are also called nuts. The representative nuts are rich in fat and protein, ...
- Cooking Nuts
- Nut butter: Take the nut meats, clean away all the skins and grind fine in a nut mill. Then form into a pasty substance with or without the addition of oil or water, to suit the individual ...
- Chapter XII. Legumes
- Analyses of all foods are approximate. The food value varies with the conditions under which the foods are grown and is not always even approximately the same. =================...
- Cooking Legumes
- The fresh young legumes are to be considered in the same class as succulent vegetables, which are dealt with in the next chapter. Ripe peas, beans and lentils may be cooked alike. ...
- Chapter XIII. Succulent Vegetables
- Most of the vegetables contain from one-half of one per cent to two per cent of indigestible fibre, which is not listed above. This is but a partial list of the succulent vegetables. In ...
- Vegetable Preparation
- These vegetables may be either steamed or prepared in a fireless cooker. The usual way is to cook them in water. Clean the vegetables. Then put them on to cook in enough water to keep ...
- Salad Vegetables
- If possible, salads should be made entirely of raw vegetables and raw fruits. The chief salad vegetables are celery, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, onions and garlic, the two last ...
- Chapter XIV. Cereal Foods
- The cereal foods are important because of their wide distribution and the ease with which they can be prepared and utilized as food. They are very productive and need but little care and hence ...
- Cereal Foods. Continued
- The advocates of white flour say that the bran is too irritating for the bowels and for this reason it should be rejected. There is no danger in eating the entire kernel, after it is ground up. ...
- Cereal Preparations
- Wheat makes the best bread because it contains gluten. Among proteins gluten is unique, because it is so elastic and after it has stretched it has a tendency to retain its place. This is what ...
- Cereal Preparations. Continued
- Toast: Slice any kind of bread fairly thin, preferably stale bread. Place the slices into a moderately hot oven and let them remain there until they are crisp through and through. The ...
- Cereal Combinations
- Starches of the cereal order may be eaten in combination with fats, such as cream, butter, olive oil and other vegetable oils. They combine well with all the dairy products, such as ...
- Chapter XV. Tubers
- The two tubers that are of chief interest are the Irish potato and the sweet potato. The former is easily and cheaply grown on vast areas of land and therefore forms a large part of the food of ...
- Chapter XVI. Fruits
- Apricots, avocados, blackberries, cherries, cranberries, currants, gooseberries, grapes, huckleberries, mulberries, nectarines, olives, pineapples, plums, raspberries and whortleberries are some ...
- Fruit Preparation
- Most fruits are best raw. Then their acids and salts are in their most available form. Those who become uncomfortable after eating acid fruit may know that they have abused their digestive ...
- Fruit Combinations
- Fruits may be combined with almost any food, except that which is rich in starch, and even that combination may be used occasionally, although it is not the best. I have seen people who were ...
- Chapter XVII. Oils And Fats
- Oils and fats are the most concentrated foods we have. Weight for weight, they contain more than twice as much fuel or energy value as any other food. Taken in moderation they are easily ...
- Chapter XVIII. Milk And Other Dairy Products
- The dairy products vary greatly. Some cows give richer milk than others. Butter may be almost pure fat, or it may contain much water and salt. The cheeses are rich or poor in protein and fats ...
- Milk And Other Dairy Products. Part 2
- The objection that milk is indigestible is not borne out by the experience of those who give it under proper conditions. It is true that milk disagrees with a few, but so do such excellent foods ...
- Milk And Other Dairy Products. Part 3
- Fruit and milk make a good combination, but no starchy foods are to be taken in this meal. Take a glass of milk, either sweet or sour, and what fruit is desired, insalivating both the fruit and ...
- Milk And Other Dairy Products. Part 4
- Milk is a complex food, highly organized, and therefore is easily injured or spoiled. The general rule is that the more complex a food is, the more easily it spoils. It is rather difficult at ...
- Milk And Other Dairy Products. Part 5
- It is well to remember that there are bacteria in all ordinary milk, and that if the milk is from healthy cows and is kept clean and cold these bacteria are harmless. Most of them are the lactic ...
- Milk And Other Dairy Products. Part 6
- Cows should have fresh green food all the year, and this can be obtained in winter time by using silage. It is a mistake to give cows too much of concentrated foods, such as oil meals and grains... .
- Milk And Other Dairy Products. Part 7
- Dr. Robert Mond, of London, after investigating for years, has come to the conclusion that sterilized milk predisposes to tuberculosis, instead of preventing it. He believes that milk so treated ...
- Milk And Other Dairy Products. Part 8
- Delicious cottage cheese is also made by using the whole clabbered milk. Hang it up to drain in a bag until it has lost a part of its whey. Then beat it until the curds are rather small, but ...
- Chapter XIX. Menus
- For a balanced dietary we need some building food, protein; some force food, starch, sugar and fat; some of the mineral salts in organic form, best obtained from raw fruits and vegetables; and a ...
- Fruitarians
- I class as fruitarians those who eat only cereals, fruits and nuts. This may not be a correct definition, but after reading much literature on dietetics it is the best I can do. Their ...
- Vegetarians
- It is difficult to give an acceptable definition for vegetarianism. For a working basis we shall take it for granted that those are vegetarians who reject flesh foods. Those who wish can also ...
- Omnivorous People
- In this country, most people are omnivorous. The food is plentiful and people believe in generous living. They put upon their tables at each meal enough variety for a whole day and the custom is ...
- Chapter XX. Drink
- There is but one real beverage and that is water. The other so-called beverages are foods, stimulants or sedatives. Milk is a rich food, one glass having as much food value as two eggs. Coffee, ...
- Drink. Part 2
- Those who have a tendency to drink too much during warm weather will find very slow drinking helpful in correcting it. If there is any digestive weakness, the liquid taken immediately after a ...
- Drink. Part 3
- Chocolate is a valuable food. Those who eat of other aliments in moderation may partake of chocolate without harm, but if chocolate is used in addition to an excess of other food, the results ...
- Drink. Part 4
- Unlike many railways and some other corporations, they do not forbid their employees to drink, but they offer 10 per cent. advance in wages to all who will take and keep--the teetotaler's ...
- Drink. Part 5
- Many professional men use cocaine. It is a favorite with writers. It often shows in their work. Those who write under the inspiration of this drug often do some good work, but they are unable ...
- Chapter XXI. Care Of The Skin
- The skin is neglected and abused. Very few realize how important it is to give this organ the necessary attention. If we were living today as our ancestors doubtless lived, we could neglect the ...
- Care Of The Skin. Part 2
- Whether to take a daily sponge bath or not is a matter of no great importance, and each individual can safely suit himself. If there is quick reaction and a feeling of warmth and well-being ...
- Care Of The Skin. Part 3
- This process of cutting off the circulation in the scalp is largely aided by the tight hats and caps worn by men, which compress the blood-vessels. It is quite noticeable that people with round ...
- Chapter XXII. Exercise
- Nature demands of us that we use our mental and physical powers in order to get the best results. Man was made to be active. In former times he had to earn his bread in the sweat of his face or ...
- Exercise. Part 2
- Dumbbells, Indian clubs, weights, patent exercisers and gymnasium stunts are all right for those who enjoy them. One thing to bear in mind is that short, choppy movements are not as good as the ...
- Exercise. Part 3
- 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 ...
- Chapter XXIII. Breathing And Ventilation
- 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 ...
- Breathing And Ventilation. Part 2
- 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 ...
- Breathing And Ventilation. Part 3
- 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 ...
- Chapter XXIV. Sleep
- 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 ...
- Sleep. Continued
- 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 ...
- Chapter XXV. Fasting
- 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 ...
- Fasting. Part 2
- 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 ...
- Fasting. Part 3
- 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 ...
- Fasting. Part 4
- 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 (...
- Fasting. Part 5
- 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 ...
- Fasting. Part 6
- 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 ...
- Chapter XXVI. Attitude Of Parent Toward Child
- Healthy, happy children are the greatest of all rewards. All parents can have such children, and it is a duty they owe themselves, the children and the race. It is a most pleasant duty, for the ...
- Chapter XXVII. Children
- Statistics are generally very dry and uninteresting, but at times they take on a tragic interest, and the importance of the few submitted here is so great that they should command careful ...
- Prenatal Care
- It is commonly believed that a pregnant woman must eat for two. The wise woman will not increase her food intake. If she is not up to par physically at the time of conception she will generally ...
- Prenatal Care. Continued
- Once a day some kind of proteid food may be taken, but this should also be eaten in moderation, for if it is not, degenerative changes will take place, which will manifest in some one of the ...
- Infancy
- If the baby lives to be one year old, its chances of surviving are fairly good, but during the first year the mortality is appalling. Complete statistics are not available, but in places one-...
- Infancy. Part 2
- These are remarkable facts and bring home at least two truths. First, they confirm the superiority of natural feeding over that of artificial feeding. Second, they show that when the mother is ...
- Infancy. Part 3
- The prevalent idea at present is that various germs, which are found in water, food, air and earth, are responsible for these diseases, but they are not. The fact that infants properly cared for ...
- Infancy. Part 4
- If the vomiting is wrongly interpreted and overfeeding is continued, either the baby dies or the stomach establishes a toleration, passing the trouble on to other parts of the body. One organ ...
- Infancy. Part 5
- Instead of using the same bottle all the time, there should be a number, so that there will be plenty of time to clean them. If three feeds are given each day, there should be six bottles. If ...
- Infancy. Part 6
- Inoculations and vaccinations are serious blunders, often fatal. The animal products that are rubbed or injected into the little body are poisonous. They are the result of degenerative changes--...
- Childhood
- Children may roughly be divided into two types, the robust and the more delicate or nervous ones. The robust children can stand almost all kinds of abuse with no apparent harm resulting, but the ...
- Childhood. Part 2
- When these strong people become sick it is often difficult, or even impossible, to do anything for them, for their habits are so gross and have gained such a mastery that the patients will not ...
- Childhood. Part 3
- Condiments should not be used. Salt is not necessary despite the popular belief to the contrary, though a small amount does no harm. Salt eating is a habit and when carried to excess it is a bad ...
- Childhood. Part 4
- At first the meal is fruit, followed with milk. Buttermilk or clabbered milk may be substituted for sweet milk. A little later, begin giving cottage cheese occasionally in place of milk, if the ...
- Childhood. Part 5
- For those who desire more definite hints regarding feeding of children, an outline has been prepared for several days. This is very simple feeding, but it is the kind of feeding that will make a ...
- The Child's Mental Training
- A healthy body is the child's first requirement. However, if the mental training is poor, giving wrong views of life, a good physique is of but little service. It is quite generally ...
- The Child's Mental Training. Part 2
- Many of the rich children are unfortunate indeed. Some times poor parents have so many children that each one gets scant attention, but the children of many of the rich get no parental attention... .
- The Child's Mental Training. Part 3
- Unfortunately, most of the parents are blind to their own faults, but see very clearly those of others. The mistakes they make in their own families open their eyes to those of others, and then ...
- The Child's Mental Training. Part 4
- If it is decided to administer corporeal punishment, it should have enough sting to it so that it will be remembered. Parents who temper their justice with patience and love are not compelled to ...
- Chapter XXVIII. Duration Of Life
- Old age today brings to mind a picture of decrepitude and decay. This is because there is practically no natural old age. Those who live so that they are unhealthy during the early years of life ...
- Duration Of Life. Part 2
- All are familiar with the records given in the Bible. Whether they are figurative or not it is hard to tell. However, so many cases of longevity are recorded that they in all probability have a ...
- Duration Of Life. Part 3
- So long as there are enough fuel and food, but not too much, and so long as all the debris is carried away, there is health. But let this process be thrown out of balance and there will be ...
- Duration Of Life. Part 4
- Starch is surely the chief offender in aging people. It is such a concentrated food that overeating is easy, especially when it is taken in the soft forms, such as mushes, fresh bread, griddle ...
- Duration Of Life. Part 5
- Frank A. Vanderlip, who is looming large on the financial horizon takes but two meals a day, from which he gets enough sustenance to do good work and he says that this plan makes for efficiency. ...
- Duration Of Life. Part 6
- The daily rub is more important than the daily bath. If we have enough rubbing very little bathing is necessary, for an active skin cleans itself. There are many men who have lived in ...
- Duration Of Life. Part 7
- What is a man to do when he has reached middle age and finds himself degenerating? A man ought to know how to live at forty, but if he does not he should immediately learn. It may be true that ...
- Duration Of Life. Part 8
- Asa Goodwin, of Serrett, Alabama, is one hundred and six years old. His endurance powers are even more remarkable than those of Mrs. Wagoner or Abraham Wilcox. He walks five miles every day. He ...
- Duration Of Life. Part 9
- As a general rule, the starchy foods should be eaten but once a day, but those who are very moderate may take them twice a day without bad results. Vegetarians have eggs and milk to take the ...
- Chapter XXIX. Evolving Into Health
- By the time most people are twenty years old they have some kind of disease. It may be only a slight catarrh, a touch of indigestion, trouble with the eyes, defective hearing, or some other ill. ...
- Evolving Into Health. Continued
- The following is the last half of a month's record of food intake for a man in the thirties. Some years ago he changed his manner of living in order to regain health, in which he succeeded. Now ...
- Chapter XXX. Retrospect
- Several hundred pages have been devoted to those matters which must receive attention in order to have good physical and mental health, so as to be able to get the most out of life and give the ...
