Pignolia (the pine) nuts, and green or fresh vegetables uncooked.
The writer knows of a gentleman suffering from a very advanced
case of diabetes, who, in utter despair, adopted a diet consisting
entirely of pine nuts, merely because they appealed to his taste,
while nothing else did. A noticeable change for the better was seen
in a week, especially in regard to the amount of sugar passed in
the urine. He adhered rigidly to this diet for nearly three months.
He then added green salads and carrots, and the seventh and eighth
months a few fresh cooked vegetables, and was pronounced thoroughly
cured before the year had expired. This might have been due partly
to the limited bill of fare, but undoubtedly it was largely due to
the food elements contained in this wonderful product of the Italian
pine.
In cases of Diabetes:
OMIT EAT
Condiments All fresh vegetables, cooked--
Confections preferably in casserole dish
Irritants Nuts
Pastries Baked potatoes
Red meats Coarse whole cereals thoroughly
Stimulants and narcotics cooked--small quantity
Sweets Fish
White flour products Milk (sour)
Very ripe subacid fruit
White meat of fowl
Drink an abundance of pure water.
In treating diabetes, foods containing starch and sugar should not
be wholly eliminated from the diet, but should be administered in
limited proportions, or such quantities as the body could use.
Starches and sugars contained in cereals and legumes, however,
should in extreme cases be omitted because they are difficult to
digest and to assimilate. If the digestion is impaired, the body is
likely to cast out these valuable nutrients through the kidneys,
rather than labor to digest and to assimilate them. The starches and
sugars found in fresh vegetables (See table, Vol. III, p. 614), are
easily digested and assimilated, therefore in cases of diabetes the
body will use or appropriate them, as this entails less energy than
that required to cast them out.
CONSUMPTION
For many centuries chemists, scientists, and medical men generally
have been vainly battling with this dis-ease. It is only within the
past decade that it has been understood or successfully treated.
Consumption is an infection of the lungs by the bacteria called
bacillus tuberculosis. The local inflammation produces lesions,
and the formation of small growths (nodules) of gray, white, or
yellowish tubercles.
[Sidenote: Authorities differ concerning the bacillus]
It is yet an open question and a matter of grave doubt in the minds
of various authorities on this subject as to whether the bacilli is
the real _cause_, or the _result_ of the dis-ease. The fact that a
person or an animal afflicted with tuberculosis was in "susceptible
condition" is much emphasized by all authorities.
[Sidenote: Predisposing conditions and occupations]
Such disorders as catarrh, influenza, chronic colds, etc., are
all predisposing conditions. Such trades as metal grinding,
spinning, weaving, cleaning grain, street sweeping, or any vocation
necessitating the breathing of large quantities of dust, are termed
predisposing occupations, which show very clearly that all writers
are practically agreed that the real cause is undoubtedly due to
imperfect oxidation or impaired use of the lungs.
The above conditions may be brought on from two specific causes--
1 By the habitual overingestion of food, and the consequent
congestion of effete matter in the lungs, brought thither by the
circulation in its effort to dispose of the waste-products by
burning them with oxygen.
2 Through the agency of foreign substances breathed in, which
gradually congest, and prevent thorough oxidation and normal
activity of the excretory function of the lungs.
[Sidenote: Bacilli the result, not the cause of consumption]
The opinion of the writer is that the bacillus above referred to is
the result and not the cause of this dis-ease, and that such living
organisms (bacilli) are created in the economy of Nature to dispose
of this congested matter, just as she, in her provident economy,
disposes of the carcass of a dead animal.
[Sidenote: Facts shown by experiments and by modern treatment of
consumption]
The fact that a tuberculosis culture, deposited in the lungs of
another animal, reproduces the dis-ease, proves nothing, as it may
have been planted in susceptible soil, well prepared for the growth
and the development of the bacteria. The fact that some very healthy
animals did not contract the dis-ease by this method, supports the
theory that if conditions are not favorable the culture is killed
by the process of oxidation. This sustains the theory that the
bacillus tuberculosis is the result, and not the cause of this dread
dis-ease. This theory is further supported by the results of the
most modern and only successful methods of treating it.
CONSUMPTION--THE TREATMENT
When beginning treatment, the tubercular patient should be
restricted as to diet for the purpose of giving Nature an
opportunity to make use of every atom of food taken into the body,
leaving nothing to go to waste.
The diet should consist almost wholly of vegetable fats, sour milk,
nuts, fruits, salads, and eggs, with a limited amount of readily
digestible carbohydrates.
The following menu is given as a fair example of selection as to
quantity and combinations:
BREAKFAST
Cantaloup, orange, grapes, pears, or persimmons
Two or three eggs, whipped five minutes, adding a teaspoonful of
lemon juice, and one of sugar to each egg
LUNCHEON
A green salad eaten with nuts, a dash of lemon juice and olive-oil
One or two fresh vegetables, including a baked potato
One egg prepared as for breakfast
A glass of sour milk
DINNER
A green salad, with nuts and oil
Eggs or buttermilk
One or two fresh vegetables
A baked potato
The above menus may be increased in quantity after the first
week or ten days, at least sufficient to meet all physical
requirements, and the articles may be changed according to
seasons.
[Sidenote: Dietetic suggestions for spring and summer in consumptive
cases]
In spring and summer all kinds of fruits and berries may be used,
and such vegetables as squash, asparagus, spinach, beets, green peas
and beans, turnips, parsnips, carrots, and green corn. All of these
vegetables should be cooked in a casserole dish.
The bowels should be kept free. (See treatment for "Constipation,"
p. 437.) Drink copiously of pure water.
[Sidenote: Suggestions for the treatment of mild cases of
consumption]
If the patient is not far advanced, he should seek employment which
affords constant exercise in the open air, preferably in the hills
or mountains, and the labor should be of such a character as to
cause normal activity of the liver and the bowels, and to enforce
deep respiration. A spirometer or lung-measuring machine should
be secured, and the patient should practise upon this night and
morning, endeavoring each day to register from one to five cubic
inches more than the previous day, until every air cell of the lungs
is opened and the full capacity is reached, which should be about
315 cubic inches for the average man, and 250 for the woman of
normal size.
[Sidenote: General rules of hygiene in consumptive cases]
Contrary to usual customs and theories, the patient should take a
cool sponge bath every morning, in a warm room, except in very
cold weather. It should be followed by a vigorous rub down and
deep breathing. Wear thin cotton under-clothes. Dress as lightly
as possible, except when exposed where exercise or motion cannot
be taken, such as riding in an open car or vehicle. Nature's
method of producing hardihood and increasing endurance is by means
of exposure. The house-plant life is conducive and favorable to
tuberculosis.
[Sidenote: Importance of perfect oxidation]
The most important thing in the treatment of this dis-ease is
perfect oxidation (breathing). Every cell of the lungs should be
filled at every breath. The lungs should be filled to their extreme
capacity, one hundred or more times a day, with pure, fresh,
dustless air. The patient should never breathe the same breath
twice; especially should he not breathe the air that has been used
by other people, or by pet animals in a closed room.
In order to carry out this regimen, it is necessary to live out of
doors day and night, winter and summer.
The tubercular patient should sleep in a tent, or upon an open
piazza every night, regardless of the weather or the temperature of
the atmosphere. If these rules were observed the white plague would
lose some of its terrors.
In cases of Consumption:
OMIT EAT
Coffee Cheese
Meat Eggs
Stimulants { Preferably--
Sweets { Carrots
Tea { Dried beans,
Tobacco Fresh { Onions
vegetables { Peas
{ Parsnips
{ Potatoes
{ Pumpkin
{ Squash
Figs
Milk
Raisins
HEART TROUBLE
[Sidenote: The heart, a sentinel of the body]
The heart may well be called the thermometer of the body. Under
normal conditions it is never heard from, but under abnormal
conditions it is the first and the most reliable sentinel of the
body. It stands eternally on duty and sends its danger signals
to the brain with truthful accuracy, whether the trouble be of
physical, mental, or emotional origin. A word or a sound sent
through the air enters the ear and is analyzed by the brain, but the
heart registers accurately its effect upon the physical body. We see
a face or an occurrence a block away, and through the optic nerves
it is comprehended by the brain, but the heart alone registers or
gives back to the brain the effect upon the body.
[Sidenote: Necessity for heeding the symptoms of the heart]
This little engine, but little bigger than one's fist, pumps about
twenty tons of blood every day above its own level in every body
of average size, besides sending the life fluids of the blood-serum
with lightning speed to the parts of the remotest anatomy, carting
away the effete and poisonous matter to the lungs to be burned with
oxygen, and carrying new building material from cell to cell for
repairs. Should we not, therefore, take good care of, and heed the
warnings of so wonderful a piece of automatic mechanism? Should
we not study all its symptoms told in a language sympathetic and
truthful, and as unerring as the laws that govern the movement of
worlds in space?
[Sidenote: Some undefined technical terms]
The heart gives off various symptoms indicating the different
kinds of sins we commit against the natural laws of our organisms.
Medical men have named some of these symptoms as follows: Dilation,
hypertrophy, atrophy, aneurism, inflammation, valvular derangement,
etc., but in none of their reference works are the causes of these
so-called dis-eases clearly defined. Fatty degeneration is the only
one that is explained, the term meaning that the heart has been
deprived of room in which to do its work, owing to surrounding fatty
accumulations.
HEART TROUBLE--THE CAUSE
The blood enters the heart through the superior venae cavae flowing
to the right lobe or auricle, then it is pumped by the heart beats
to the right ventricle. From here it is forced through the pulmonary
artery to the lungs where it is purified and charged with the oxygen
we breathe. From the lungs the blood returns through the pulmonary
veins to the left auricle of the heart, and then to the left
ventricle. Having passed once through the purifying plant and twice
through the distributing station, it is now sent out through the
large systematic artery and distributed to every capillary cell of
the body.
[Sidenote: Heart trouble caused by (carbon dioxid) gas]
From the accumulation of gas caused by fermenting food the
transverse colon becomes very much distended. This interferes with
the free flow of blood into and out of the heart, causing at times
a very faint heart action from a lack of inflow, and again a very
heavy, rapid action when the blood spurts through. This produces
dizziness and vertigo, and sometimes where the inflow is greater
than the heart can discharge, there is arterial overflow; the heart
ceases action, and the victim falls prostrate, and sometimes dies.
(See "Fermentation--The Symptoms," p. 426.)
[Sidenote: Heart trouble caused by calcareous substances]
Many cases of serious heart trouble are caused by habitual
overeating, especially of grain and grain products. The calcareous
substances from these products are deposited in the capillary
vessels and in the joints, causing rheumatism, rheumatoid
arthritis, sciatica, lumbago, gout, and other evidences of our
lack of knowledge. When the one thus afflicted follows a sedentary
occupation, taking but little fresh air and exercise, a hardening or
stiffening of the arteries is usually the result.
It is safe to say that if one would eat moderately, omit stimulants
and narcotics, take but a limited quantity of starchy foods, a
liberal amount of fresh air, deep breathing and exercise, heart
trouble would be unknown.
HEART TROUBLE--THE REMEDY
[Sidenote: Diet for heart trouble]
For the treatment of those who are afflicted with heart trouble I
would suggest a very limited diet of nuts, fruits, salads, fresh
tuber and green vegetables, eggs, and a limited quantity of coarse
foods, such as boiled whole wheat, wheat bran, grapes (seeds and
all), and all coarse vegetables, with an abundance of mild exercise
and fresh air.
[Sidenote: Exercise for heart trouble]
In cases of heart trouble no greater mistake can be made than to
cease exercise, as is often prescribed by well-meaning doctors. This
is compromising with the enemy, with absolute certainty of ultimate
defeat. Exercise, above all, is the very thing that is most needed.
The patient should begin moderately at first, daily increasing the
time and the tensity of the work until a balance is established
between the intake and the outflow of blood to the heart.
For foods to be eaten and omitted in cases of heart trouble, see p.
573. Also see menus for Fermentation.
DIS-EASES OF THE SKIN
There are two distinct kinds of skin dis-eases, namely--
1 Local
2 Constitutional
The _local_ is that which manifests itself in the form of pimples or
eruptions which come and go, and are of only a few days' duration.
The second, or _constitutional_ kind, is that which manifests itself
by a permanent irritation or inflammation, which is classified as
eczema, psoriasis, etc.
DIS-EASES OF THE SKIN--THE CAUSE
[Sidenote: Local disorders]
The local or temporary disorders are caused and controlled entirely
by diet, usually overeating. Sometimes overingestion of some one
particular food; for instance, too much acid taken in the form of
berries, or citrus-fruits, will often produce an eruption or a rash
within a few hours after eating.
[Sidenote: Eruptions augmented by autointoxication]
That form of pimples or eruptions caused by overeating is usually
augmented by constipation or by some form of intestinal congestion,
which has been given the impressive title of autointoxication.
Autointoxication is a broad word that seems to have been invented,
not for the purpose of explaining, but for the purpose of
evading the necessity of explaining. The meaning of this word
(self-poisoning) has been narrowed down by the profession to
describe the above conditions, but in reality it should be applied
to all forms of self-poisoning by overeating; eating the wrong
combinations of food; the use of all stimulants and narcotics, such
as tobacco, tea, coffee, liquor and wines of all kinds. In fact,
self-poisoning from the last-named sources is as common as from
errors in eating, and much more difficult to control.
Nearly all dis-eases are traceable directly to unexcreted poisons
which the body has been unable to throw off. These poisons are from
two sources:
1 The natural poisons or gases that accumulate in the body
under normal conditions, which, if prevented in any manner from
passing off, will cause some kind of disorder which would come
under the head of autointoxication.
2 The poisons that accumulate under abnormal conditions, such as
hitherto described, and which are very often made manifest by
eruptions of the skin.
[Sidenote: Constitutional disorders]
That form of skin dis-ease known as eczema has baffled the medical
world for many centuries. It has hitherto been treated locally by
the most skilled and learned specialists, in the belief that it
was of bacteriological origin, but modern experiments in the field
of food chemistry have demonstrated the fact that it can be cured
by scientific feeding, therefore it is only fair to assume that
its origin or primary cause is due to some form of self-poisoning,
caused by errors in eating and faulty metabolism.
DIS-EASES OF THE SKIN--THE TREATMENT
If a rash should appear on the skin after eating acid fruit or
berries, one would naturally know the remedy; namely, omit acids,
limit the quantity of food at the next meal, drink copiously of pure
water and breathe an abundance of fresh air. The same general remedy
should be observed in all cases.
[Sidenote: Preliminary treatment for dis-eases of the skin]
The pimples or eruptions will gradually disappear when the causes
are removed, and the same rule will apply to eczema or any chronic
form of skin irritation. The patient should first be put upon a
short fast of two or three days' duration, and caused to perspire
freely each day for an hour or so. This can be accomplished by the
aid of the Turkish bath, but preferably by exercise. On the first
day the fast should be broken by taking either the juice of such
fruits as plums, peaches, apples, grapes, and pears, or the juice of
cantaloup and watermelon.
DIET FOR DIS-EASES OF THE SKIN
The diet should be gradually broadened by the addition of green
salads, uncooked carrots, onions and turnips, and a limited
quantity of such cooked vegetables as spinach, asparagus,
squash, fresh corn, green peas or beans when in season. Later,
the diet should be confined mainly to egg whites, skimmed milk,
nuts, sweet fruits, salads, fresh green vegetables, including a
very limited quantity of sugar and coarse cereals, two or three
times a week.
DIET FOR CHRONIC ECZEMA
In extreme and chronic cases of eczema the diet should be
confined entirely to green salads, sweet fruits, fresh
vegetables, and about two ounces of olive-oil daily, feeding the
body always somewhat below its normal requirements as indicated
by hunger.
Under this diet and regimen the patient will, of course, lose weight
and possibly strength, but the body will so completely make use
of all nutrition and the elimination of all waste will be made so
completely, through the excretory channels, that the dis-ease will
gradually disappear, owing to the removal of its primary causes.
For "Sweet Fruits," see Lesson VIII, p. 313.
APPENDICITIS
There are three large colons in the intestinal tract which form an
inverted U, the "ascending," "transverse," and "descending" colons.
The descending colon is situated on the left side, its lower part
opening into the rectal cavity. The ascending colon, located on the
right side, connects with the small intestines, while the transverse
colon goes across at a point opposite the navel, connecting the two.
[Sidenote: The vermiform appendix a useful organ]
To the lower part of the ascending colon is attached the vermiform
appendix. Authorities are much divided as to the function of this
organ. Many claim that it is a relic of anthropoid man, while others
contend that it is a useful and important part of the anatomy. In
the opinion of the writer it secretes a valuable digestive fluid
and therefore performs a function valuable both to digestion and
to alimentation. In the ascending colon is the only place in
the thirty-six feet of intestinal tubing where the fecal matter
must rise against the law of gravity, therefore, if there is any
congestion throughout this canal, it is most likely to occur in this
colon. While the bowels may seem to act normally, yet, owing to the
tremendous amount of waste matter necessary to be conveyed from
the body, and the peristaltic action involved in moving it along,
especially at this point, some of the fecal matter often lodges
under the small folds and in the flexuous surfaces of this colon,
decomposing and causing an acute form of inflammation. The vermiform
appendix, being attached to this inflamed colon, becomes inflamed
also. In other words, this inoffensive and useful little organ
suffers the penalty of being in bad company.
[Sidenote: Old diagnosis correct]
Thus it is seen that appendicitis, so-called, is merely a
form of fevered or irritated colon; hence the old-fashioned
diagnosis--"bowel inflammation"--before appendicitis became popular,
and profitable, was in reality correct. Knowing the cause--the
physiology of appendicitis--the remedy becomes a simple one.
APPENDICITIS--THE SYMPTOMS
The symptoms of appendicitis (bowel inflammation) are usually pain,
at times sharp, but generally dull, in the lower abdomen on the
right side.
APPENDICITIS--THE TREATMENT (IN MILD CASES)
If the pain is dull and intermittent, the patient should cease work,
especially that vocation which necessitates being on foot, and
spend at least twenty-four hours, most of the time in a sitting or
reclining position. All such substances as meat, cereal and cereal
products, sweets, milk, tea, coffee, cocoa, and all stimulating
beverages should be omitted.
[Sidenote: A natural remedy]
The patient should take high enemas (knee or chest position) of
lukewarm water, thus removing as much of the congested fecal matter
as possible. Take from two to three tablespoonfuls of olive-oil, and
two or three cups of hot water several times a day. The application
of an ice-bag will sometimes afford much relief, and has a tendency
to reduce the inflammatory process. Too much emphasis cannot be laid
upon the fact that in any inflammatory condition of the stomach or
intestines, rest for these organs is imperatively demanded.
APPENDICITIS--THE DIET
After the first day or two, the following diet should be adopted and
continued for a few days until the pain has ceased and the bowels
are restored to normal action:
BREAKFAST
A cup of hot water
One or two exceedingly ripe bananas peeled and baked in a hot
oven
One egg, whipped five minutes; sugar to taste; flavor with lemon
or fruit-juice
A glass of water
LUNCHEON
A salad of anything green
Liberal portion of boiled onions
DINNER
Spinach, or a green salad, same as at luncheon
Green beans, or peas, if in season, rejecting all the fiber; or,
carrots or parsnips
Two whipped eggs
Baked banana, with butter or oil
These menus are intended as a general guide. They may be
modified by selecting such articles, in the same general class,
as are in season.
The following list of foods may be drawn upon to compose the menus,
at the various seasons of the year:
----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------
| | |
SPRING | SUMMER | FALL | WINTER
| | |
----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------
| | |
Asparagus | Carrots | Artichokes | Carrots
Beets | Cauliflower | Beets | Parsnips
Cabbage | Eggplant | Brussels | Potatoes
Dandelion | Lettuce | sprouts | Pumpkin
Lettuce | Okra | Carrots | Squash
Onions | Onions | Cauliflower |
Peas | Romaine | Eggplant |
Potatoes | Spinach | Okra |
Spinach | Squash | Potatoes |
| Tomatoes | Squash |
| | Sweet potatoes |
| | Tomatoes |
| | |
----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------
CHRONIC OR SEVERE CASES OF APPENDICITIS
The errors in diet that cause fermentation and superacidity in
the stomach will also cause fermentation and inflammation in the
intestines.
A constipated condition in the intestines so hinders the natural
flow of food-matter that in extreme cases of inflammation and
suppuration the congested matter might be forced into the vermiform
appendix, thus causing what is termed "appendicitis," and under
these conditions the removal of the appendix might be advisable, but
in the opinion of the writer more lives have been sacrificed on the
operating table than the old-fashioned doctors ever lost from "bowel
inflammation" before this dis-ease was named "appendicitis," and
before the knife was applied as a remedy.
[Sidenote: Treatment in severe cases]