ORGANS AND CONDITIONS AFFECTING DIGESTION
The purpose of this chapter is to show the work of other than the
digestive organs in assimilation, construction, and elimination.
The _liver_ is commonly called the chemical workshop of the body. The
digested food is carried by the blood (portal veins) to the liver as
soon as it is absorbed from the alimentary canal. As the food materials
filter through the blood capillaries, between the liver cells, several
substances are absorbed, particularly sugar, which is changed into the
animal starch called _glycogen_. It is held in the liver for a few
hours in this form and is then redigested and gradually given to the
blood in the form of sugar.
While the conversion of the sugar is one prominent function of the
liver, it also acts on the proteins—not as they are first passed
through the liver in the blood, but as they are returned to the liver
from the muscle tissue, partly oxidized and broken up into simpler
products. The liver cells absorb and further oxidize and combine them
into nitrogenous waste, which the kidneys throw off in urea.
The liver and the spleen also dissolve the pigment or coloring matter
out of the red blood corpuscles. As these become useless, they are
broken up in the liver and the spleen. The iron is retained by the
liver cells and the remainder is thrown off in the bile.
The liver is on guard for all poisons which pass through it in the
blood. The large part of these toxic substances are absorbed through
the alimentary canal with the foodstuffs. Many of them are the result
of the fermentation of foods which are not digested so promptly or so
thoroughly as they should be, on account of an insufficient secretion
of digestive juices, or on account of a failure to secrete them in
normal proportions, due to inactivity of the stomach and intestines.
Nature thus supplies a guard to oxidize, or break down these poisons
and make them harmless, so that normally they do not affect the nerves
and the blood stream, and, through these, the entire system.
The necessity of correct habits of deep breathing will be readily seen
here, because oxygen is required to break down the poisons as well as
to oxidize the worn-out tissues.
One example of the action of the liver in rendering substances
harmless, is its oxidation of _alcohol_. From one to three ounces of
alcohol a day may be oxidized and made harmless in the liver, varying
according to the individual and to the condition, at different times,
in the same person. If the limit of one to three ounces is exceeded,
the excess is not oxidized and intoxication results. This is the reason
one may become intoxicated at one time when the same amount of liquor
would not appreciably affect one at another.
The _muscles_ play an important part in the use of foods. Most of the
heat is generated in them by the action of the oxygen in the blood
upon the sugar and fats, liberating their latent heat. This heat is
liberated during every moment of the twenty-four hours whether one is
asleep or awake. Of course, more is liberated during exercise, since
the movement of the muscles sets all tissues into activity and the
blood circulates more strongly, bringing a greater supply of oxygen to
them.
It is always well during active exercise to stop frequently and fully
inflate the _lungs_, not only to bring more oxygen to the blood, but
to change the residual air and in the inflation to exercise the lung
tissue more freely, bringing a better supply of nourishment to it. We
forget that the lung tissue as well as every other tissue of the body
needs exercise and a full supply of nourishment.
One should form the habit of breathing fully and deeply—otherwise the
liberated carbon dioxid will cause an increased pressure throughout
the blood stream, particularly about the heart and in the head. This
pressure is relieved when the excess of carbon dioxid has been thrown
off by the lungs. Much dull headache is due to the retention of carbon
dioxid resulting from shallow breathing.
Nature makes the effort to throw off this excess of carbon dioxid by
forcing one to breathe more rapidly while running or taking unusual
exercise.
A certain amount of protein is constantly oxidized in muscular action
also, being broken down into carbon dioxid, water, and a number of
nitrogenous mid-products. The carbon dioxid and water are thrown off
by the lungs, and the partially oxidized nitrogenous waste is carried
to the liver, where it is further oxidized and prepared for excretion
through the kidneys, lungs, skin, and intestines.
Through their stimulant action, the _nerves_ aid in oxidizing food
materials. During periods of rest, food materials are also stored in
the nerve cells. During nervous activity they are oxidized and carried
away through the blood and the lymph. This oxidation of the food,
stored in the nerves, creates nervous energy and heat.
The energy liberated by the nerves resembles electrical energy.
When one is continuously using an excess of nerve activity, all reserve
food material, stored in the nerve cells, is used and the nerves become
undernourished. The result is seen in neurasthenic conditions of
various kinds.
The nerves as well as other tissues require protein to renew their
substance as well as fats and carbohydrates for their energy.
The vasomotor nerves influence digestion to a marked extent by
regulating the blood pressure in the digestive organs and the
consequent rate of speed with which digestion and absorption take
place. They speed up or slow down the movements of the alimentary
canal, thus aiding and preventing the admixture of the food with the
digestive juices. By acting on the glands, they aid or prevent the
secretions from being formed and poured out. They thus materially
affect digestion.
The vasomotor nerve centers are in the medulla oblongata.
The _lungs_ absorb oxygen and eliminate carbon dioxid. They
occasionally throw off a very little organic material.
The carbon dioxid is carried to the lungs from the tissues through the
venous stream and diffused through the walls of capillaries in the
lungs. The oxygen is absorbed in the thin air sacs in the capillary
walls.
If the lungs are cramped by a faulty position of the body, by excess of
fat, or by tight clothing, they cannot expand to their fullest extent.
The blood is thus imperfectly aërated and oxygenized and is not freed
of its waste. The lung tissue is imperfectly exercised, sufficient
blood not being brought to the lung cells to insure their strength.
The cramping of the lungs is due largely to incorrect habits of
standing and sitting.
The _kidneys_ do not absorb as do the lungs, neither do they perform
any anabolic work as does the liver, nor catabolic work as the muscles,
nerves, and the liver. They simply throw off waste matter.
As the blood passes through them urea, uric acid, urates, sulphates,
and sodium phosphates pass from it and with the water are thrown from
the system; hence the kidneys are purifying organs, as are the lungs.
The blood returning from the kidneys through the veins is pure, just as
the blood in the pulmonary vein is pure, while that in the arteries to
the kidneys is impure.
Interference with the action of the kidneys results in an excess
of these substances in the blood and may produce a condition of
intoxication known as uremic poisoning.
The _skin_, by pressure on the capillaries, controls, to some extent,
their dilatation, and thus prevents an excessive loss of fluid. When a
portion of the skin is removed by accident, as after burns, drops of
moisture may be seen gathering on the denuded surface and may result in
considerable loss if the denuded surface is large.
The skin is a protective covering. We are constantly surrounded with
bacteria, dirt, etc., and the skin prevents their absorption.
It contains glands which secrete a fluid fat. This keeps the skin
soft and flexible, preventing it from becoming too dry. The skin also
prevents the underlying tissues from injury through abrasions or
contact with foreign substances, as in various industries.
It also contains sweat glands, which throw off body waste in the form
of salts and moisture in the perspiration; this helps to regulate the
body heat and to aid in keeping the skin soft.
The kidneys and the skin are interdependent; if the kidneys are
inactive the skin must throw off a larger quantity of waste and if
the skin is inactive, or if for any reason its pores are closed, the
kidneys become more active.
The skin also throws off carbon dioxid and, to a slight extent, it
absorbs oxygen.
Besides digesting and absorbing food, the _intestines_ eliminate waste.
In their work of elimination, they pass off all undigested matter. They
also carry off bile pigment, bile salts, mucus, other decomposition
products—also a little unabsorbed fat.
Coarse articles of food containing fibers which do not digest, such
as the bran of grains and the coarser fibers of fruits and vegetables
(much of their substances are not food in the strictest sense), are
valuable, as they increase the peristaltic movements of the intestines
and assist in carrying the waste excretions along their course.
The intestines also carry off the organic refuse which is produced by
the chemical action of oxygen. This refuse consists of carbon dioxid
and the nitrogenous waste.
Combustion, or burning of fuel in any form (oxidation to release latent
heat and energy), always leaves a residue, and it is the work of the
intestines to eliminate much of this refuse. When coal is burned, gas,
smoke, ashes, and cinders constitute the waste; if these were not
allowed to escape or were not removed from a stove the fire would soon
go out—the smoke and gas would smother it and the accumulation of ashes
would prevent the circulation of oxygen.
This is true in the body—the carbon dioxid not being allowed to pass
off would soon put out the fires of life; it would poison the body
and inhibit the action of the nerves. If the waste is not thrown from
the system we notice it in a feeling of lassitude, both mental and
physical. If the nitrogenous waste (like ashes and cinders) is not
eliminated, one will die in convulsions in a few days.
The absolute necessity of a free elimination of waste will be readily
seen. If the engine is to do its work, the engineer sees that it is
kept perfectly clean—otherwise it becomes clogged, works inefficiently,
and soon wears out. The same is true in the body—clogging in any part
overworks and wears out other parts dependent on the work of the
defective one.
Constipation, or a failure of the intestines to eliminate the waste
is a grave menace to the system. The poisonous gases accumulating are
absorbed by the system.
The _blood_ carries the digested food and the oxygen to the various
tissues and organs, which select from among the nutrients offered to
them the ones suited to their growth and repair.
It is the universal medium of exchange.
It carries carbon dioxid to the lungs and the wastes of the tissues to
the other eliminative organs.
It carries impure material to the purifying organs, and pure material
away from them.
When it is lacking in quality or quantity the body suffers and if the
lack continues the body dies.
Every organ contributes its share to the work of the blood and every
organ takes from the blood some of its elements. If the blood pressure
is too low, stagnation may occur. If it is too high an abnormal
condition of the system results.
In fact, on the condition of the blood depends the effective working of
the entire organism.
Constant effort then should be intelligently exerted to eat the proper
foods, to exercise judiciously, to think healthful thoughts, to secure
thorough elimination of waste in order that the whole body shall be fit
for the work which its owner desires it to do.
_SUMMARY_
The processes which the food undergoes in digestion—conversion into
condition to be absorbed by the body; in absorption through the walls
of the intestines and stomach, and the metabolic processes which it
undergoes in being converted into heat and energy and again broken down
and eliminated as waste, are, in brief, as follows:
_The Saliva_ begins the digestion of starches and sugars in the mouth,
and continues this digestion for a time in the stomach.
_The Stomach_, when in normal condition, digests the proteins. If any
proteins fail of digestion in the stomach the process is completed in
the intestines. It has little absorptive power.
_The Small Intestine_ digests and absorbs the fats and continues the
digestion of starches, sugars, fats, and proteins, when this digestion
is not completed in the stomach.
The large part of the food is absorbed through the small intestine,
though a small part is absorbed through the walls of the stomach and
through the large intestine.
Fats are almost entirely absorbed in the small intestine. They are
absorbed through the lacteals and are carried into the blood-stream.
The intestines, aside from their work of digestion and absorption,
excrete bile pigment, bile salts, mucus, and other decomposition
products, also such food materials as are not digested.
_The Liver._ The proteins, the starches (converted into maltose),
and sugars pass into the liver. The sugar (including the sugar in
vegetables, milk, fruits and that used for sweetening as well as the
carbohydrates which have been changed into maltose) is converted into
glycogen in the liver, stored for a time, and again broken down into a
condition in which it may be absorbed into the blood.
The proteins pass through the liver but are not acted on by this organ
until they again return to the liver through the blood stream, after
they have been partly oxidized in the tissues. The liver further
oxidizes them, putting them into condition to be excreted by the
kidneys and intestines.
The liver also breaks up the worn-out red corpuscles putting them into
condition to be eliminated in the bile.
It oxidizes and renders harmless poisonous substances absorbed in the
food, such as fermented food products and alcohol.
The _Muscles_ oxidize the fats and sugars liberating the latent heat
and energy. They partly oxidize proteins which are further broken up in
the liver.
The _Nerves_ oxidize food materials stored in the nerve cells,
providing nervous energy.
The _Lungs_ absorb oxygen and throw off carbon dioxid, watery vapor,
and some organic substances.
The _Kidneys_ and the _Skin_ excrete water, carbon dioxid, and
nitrogenous waste.
The _Blood_ carries the vital elements derived from the food to all the
organs and tissues, keeping them alive and actively functioning. It
also carries waste products to the skin, lungs, kidneys, and intestines
for elimination.
_FACTORS INFLUENCING DIGESTION_
As before stated, it is not the food eaten, but that which the body
digests and assimilates, or appropriates to its needs, which counts.
Many factors influence such nourishment. The principal aids are a
forceful circulation, the plentiful breathing of oxygen, and free
elimination.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: The Appetite]
If one has no appetite, we have been told in the past to abstain from
food until the system calls for it, or to eat but a very little of the
lightest food at regular meal times. This is right, but it deals with
the effect and not the cause of the lack of appetite.
The chances are that this lack is due to retained waste. Whenever there
is too much waste in the system, the chances are that the digestive
organs will not call for more food, and when the appetite is lacking
the effort should be made to see that the system is thoroughly clean.
Every muscle and tissue must be relieved of the excess of waste. The
correction of the lack of appetite, then, is not only abstinence
from food, but brisk exercise, plenty of fresh air in the lungs,
free drinking of water, and the elimination of the waste through the
intestines, skin, lungs, and kidneys.
One should not be led into forming the habit of irregular eating,
however. The stomach forms habits and the supply of food must be
regular, just as the nursing child must be fed regularly, or digestive
disturbance is sure to result.
Care should be taken not to eat between meals nor to eat candy or
indigestible foods.
The lack of appetite may be due to mental preoccupation which does
not let the brain relax long enough for the physical needs to assert
themselves. One should relax the brain in pleasant thought during the
meal.
But the chief thing to bear in mind is to create the demand for food by
relieving the system of its waste, by calling for more supply to the
muscles through exercise, and by giving the system plenty of oxygen
through deep breathing.
The appetite is partly under control of the will and may be trained. It
is more or less capricious and may be satisfied with little, or it may
demand large amounts of food. Grief or worry will destroy it, as will
foul air, and overfatigue.
A voracious appetite may be due to an irritation of the nerves of the
stomach or to a disturbance of digestion of one kind or another. This
is shown by the fact that sometimes those with abnormal appetites are
thin and undernourished because of non-digestion of the food. If the
food is eaten slowly and well chewed, the desire for too great an
amount will be lessened. The food will also be better digested.
The chalk-eating, clay-eating, salt-eating habits are well known. The
desire is largely mental and may be treated by substituting healthful
thoughts for morbid longings, and changing the monotonous or restricted
diet for one more liberal.
If the appetite is lacking because of physical exhaustion, it is unwise
to eat, because the digestive organs are tired, and to load a tired
stomach with food, still further weakens it and results in indigestion.
The better plan is to drink two glasses of cold water and lie down for
an hour.
Lack of appetite and the taste for highly seasoned food may come from
a monotonous diet or one that does not contain sufficient coarse food
or sufficient water to stimulate peristalsis; the result is stagnation
and constipation, with the disorders that follow in its train. The
monotonous diet, from its effect on the mind, results in lack of desire
for food. Both the condition and the appetite are often stimulated and
changed by a greater variety in the kinds of food.
Care should be taken not to form the habit of using stimulants too
freely, particularly with children.
Condiments and stimulants, used to make the food “appetizing,” unduly
stimulate the nerves, and pervert the natural taste, and foods
containing their natural amount of spices or extractives no longer
tempt one. Those whose nerves are highly keyed, form the habit of
seasoning the food too highly. This undue stimulation calls for more
food at the time of eating than a normal appetite would demand. The
taste being cultivated for the stimulant, the habit of eating too much
food is formed.
A wise provision of Nature makes the system, in a normal condition,
its own regulator, protesting against food when it has not assimilated
or eliminated that consumed. One should learn to obey such protests
and cut down the quantity when Nature calls “enough,” and exercise to
eliminate waste, thus creating a better assimilation. Nature does not
call for more food until she has eliminated the excess of waste.
There are exceptions, however. Some phases of indigestion cause a
gnawing sensation in the stomach which is often mistaken for a desire
for food. This is not a normal appetite. Water will usually relieve it.
Often loss of appetite is the result of a clogging of the intestines
or liver, or is due to an excess of bile, which, not having been
properly discharged into the intestines, has entered the blood stream
or regurgitated into the stomach. A torpid liver often expresses itself
in a dull mental force, the toxins deadening the nerve cells.
The lack of desire for exercise of those living in warm climates
results in a sluggish activity of the system. As a result it demands
less food, and habits of excessive seasoning to stimulate the appetite
have been formed.
The desire for excessive stimulants, such as salt, may be a cultivated
taste and the habit should be corrected.
There is a difference between the cultivated and the normal appetite.
A child rarely shows a desire for stimulants such as tea or coffee,
excessive salt, pepper, pickles, catsups, etc., unless unwisely
encouraged by an adult, who does it, _not because it is food for the
child, but because the individual himself has cultivated a taste for
it_.
It is as easy to form healthful tastes and habits of eating as
unhealthful ones, and care should especially be exercised over the
formation of healthful habits in the growing child.
One should not allow himself to become “finicky” or no food will give
him its best service.
Time, energy, muscular activity, nerve force, and money are spent in
combining, seasoning, and cooking foods in such a manner as often to
render them difficult of digestion.
Let me repeat for emphasis—_when the appetite wanes, deep breathing of
fresh air to supply an abundance of oxygen to oxidize the waste, thus
putting it in condition to be expelled from the system, brisk exercise
to accelerate the circulation, that the blood may carry the oxygen
freely and that the tissues may liberate the carbon dioxid and other
waste, and a copious drinking of water, are the best tonics for loss of
appetite or for a lack of vitality_.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Season and Climate]
The food required by the body varies according to the season of
the year and the temperature. Thus, during cold weather, the body
craves hot foods and drinks, and the heavier foods which furnish more
heat-producing elements. In summer, the lighter foods, fruits, and
the proteins supplied in green vegetables instead of in meats, are
relished, and cold foods and drinks are desired as aids in equalizing
the heat of the body. The total amount of food taken in summer may
be lessened because so much food is not required to maintain the body
heat and energy. The lessened amount puts less strain on the digestive
system.
Owing to the increased perspiration, the desire for water is greater
in summer, while in winter or in cool weather, from the opposite
condition, the quantity of water taken is usually insufficient.
In travel, when one shifts with more or less rapidity from one
temperature to another, the diet should not be altered too greatly or
too suddenly; the system must be allowed time to accommodate itself to
the change.
The occupation must be taken into consideration. Great muscular
activity requires a more liberal diet than a sedentary habit, no matter
what the climate may be.
Certain tribes that inhabit the tropics subsist almost entirely on
meat, while many of the inhabitants of Russia and Norway live on
breadstuffs almost to the exclusion of meat.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Age]
It is quite obvious that the food should vary according to the body
needs. The needs of the adult, the child, and the infant vary. The baby
may not take the food which is required by the child from the age of
three to ten, and the aged, not exercising vigorously, does not need
the hearty food of the growing child or the active adult. The need for
food depends, however, on activity more than on years.
It is more difficult to make those in middle and old age, who are
not active, realize that the body no longer needs so much food, due
to the fact that it is not so actively building tissue, and that an
oversupply causes a serious tax on the digestive system. It brings in
its train ills which might easily be avoided by simpler habits and a
little study of the actual needs of the body.
More food than the activity of the system demands, taken in later or
middle life, causes most of the diseases which afflict this period.
Obesity, arteriosclerosis, liver disease, gastro-intestinal diseases,
biliousness, kidney diseases, gout, and allied conditions, can all be
traced to an overtaxed digestive system, with faulty elimination and
weakened organs. These show the rebellion of Nature at being compelled
to work overtime.
While these diseases are most frequent after forty, the condition of
the system which designates age is not always measured by years.
In the ordinary individual who has allowed himself to sit and become
lazy in his habit of life, certain changes in the system occur and the
body needs less food than is required in more active life. There are
not such heavy calls on reserves for repair, either of nerve force or
of material.
Unless active exercises and interests have been kept up, the muscular
system begins to deteriorate, the heart action is slower, and there is
a lessening of nerve tone. Relaxation of the digestive and intestinal
organs occurs, peristalsis is less vigorous, and the glands become
less active, owing to the lessened call for energy. From this cause,
unless the amount of food is reduced in proportion to the body needs,
constipation and other digestive derangements may result.
If one stops physical and mental activity at any age, the vital forces
recede, muscles and vital organs become weak and inactive, and the
waste of the system is not fully eliminated. Such a man at thirty or
forty is physically and mentally older than the man who is in active
business or is taking daily vigorous exercise, at seventy or eighty.
The latter may follow the same diet which he followed at fifty, while
the former should follow the diet of the old man who has stopped active
work.
Young men who through excessive drafts on their vitality have exhausted
their forces often act and look twice their years. For these the diet
should be simple, easily digested, and nutritious, and often reduced in
quantity.
Formerly it was thought that at fifty years of age a man or a woman
was on the down-hill slope; they were considered “aged.” Owing to the
discoveries of scientific tests of the condition of arteries and vital
organs, it is now known that years do not play so large a part in the
matter of age.
A man or a woman at fifty, who is in vigorous mental and physical
health, is in the prime of life, while many from twenty-five to thirty,
who have dissipated their vital forces, may be said to have entered the
age of decrepitude. The saying, “Man is as old as his arteries,” should
be expanded to “Man is as old as his tissues.”
People have thought too long that age is a matter of years. They
need to be aroused to recognize the fact that the condition of age
is a matter of health of body and mind; that the spirit, which sees
to it that the body which it inhabits is kept vigorous and strong by
healthful and happy thoughts and an active interest in the world’s
affairs, is “young,” no matter what the years number. Optimism and
cheer keep one young; pessimism and habits of mental depression age
one.
One of the encouraging signs of the times is that more and more
people are learning to know that their activities need not be given
up because they have reached a certain age. If the children which
formerly needed care, have grown and gone to homes of their own, the
activities of the mother and father are freed to find vent in other
directions. If children no longer need immediate care, the parents
have time to make better conditions for the children of others less
fortunate. They should interest themselves in public questions that
affect these children and their own, indirectly if not directly. New
life and strength have been found by many by changing their activities
and keeping the thoughts young and the interest vivid. The body will
respond marvelously to the mandates of the inner self.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Habit and Regularity of Eating]
There is no doubt that the _habit_ of eating governs one’s convictions
of what the system requires. One is inclined to think that a desire
for a food is a requirement of Nature; yet it may simply be the
continuation of a habit due to indigestion.
Chronic abnormal functioning of the organs, such as is seen in
indigestion, constipation, sluggish liver, etc., are physical habits.
If a mother feeds her babe every three hours the child will usually
wake and call for food about this period. If she has formed the habit
of nursing the child every two hours, it will call for food in about
two hours, even though all symptoms indicate that the child is overfed.
It is important that both child and adult establish regular and
hygienic habits because the digestive juices secrete themselves at the
regular periods established. _A right habit is as easily formed, and as
difficult to change, as a wrong one._
If one forms the habit of eating a certain amount of food, the stomach
calls for about the same amount, and when one first begins to change
the quantity it protests, whether the change be to eat more or less.
Few people form the habit of drinking sufficient water, particularly if
they have been taught that water at meals is injurious. In this busy
life, few remember to stop work and drink water between meals, and if
not consumed at the meal time the system suffers. Many people look
“dried up.”
The habit of drinking two glasses of water on first arising, and six or
eight more during the day is an important one.
There is no doubt that a large number of people constantly overload the
digestive organs. This, as well as the bolting of food, insufficiently
masticated, cannot be too strongly denounced. _All food should be
chewed to a pulp before being swallowed._
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Frequency of Meals]
To avoid overeating, many theorists are advocating two meals a day.
When two meals a day are eaten, the first meal should be at nine or
ten o’clock in the morning and the second meal at five or six o’clock
in the afternoon; whereas, for the average person who eats two meals
a day, this custom means that he goes without food until the midday
meal and then eats two meals within six hours, with nothing more for
eighteen hours.
The argument in favor of two meals a day has been that the digestive
system is inactive during sleep, and, therefore, it is not ready for
a meal on arising. Pawlow’s experiments, however, show that digestion
continues during sleep, though less actively; and it must be borne
in mind that the average evening meal is eaten about six o’clock and
that there are about four waking hours between this meal and the sleep
period; also, that the average individual is awake and moderately
active an hour before the morning meal. This gives five waking hours
between the evening and the morning meal. About the same time, five
hours, elapses between the morning and the midday meal, and between
the midday and the evening meal, so that three meals a day divide the
digestion periods about evenly. If the amount of food supplied by two
meals seems to be sufficient for the needs of the individual, and it is
not practical to eat at the hours stated, then omit the midday meal.
In the strain of business life, returning at once to work, after the
eating of a heavy meal in the middle of the day, calls all of the
surplus blood to the brain; this, in many cases, results disastrously.
For this reason, the taking of the heavy meal at night, when the system
may relax and time be given to proper digestion, has come to be an
institution of city life.
More frequent meals, served in lighter quantity with greater
regularity, so that the system is not overloaded at any one meal, is
rational for delicate or undernourished nerves and tissues.
The reason invalids or those whose digestive organs are delicate should
have the heaviest meal at midday, is because the vigor of the system is
greater at this time than later in the day; the increased temperature
in fever in the late afternoon retards assimilation. Those whose
digestive organs are delicate should not be confined to three meals a
day if less food taken oftener is better borne and assimilated, but the
meals should be at regular times.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Effect of Exercise and Breathing on Digestion]
Food is stored in the muscles for immediate use when needed. If all of
the food supplied to the muscles is not used for their daily needs, an
excess accumulates unless the muscles are exercised sufficiently to
use up the supply. A constant accumulation results in obesity. This
condition, by overlaying the organs with fat, compresses them and
hampers their activity. If the accumulation continues it ultimately
causes a degeneration of the tissues. Apoplexy occurs in those carrying
an excess of fat due to a weakening of the walls of the arteries of the
brain.
The blood, owing to variations in the external temperature, has
a tendency to retreat from the skin through contraction of the
capillaries and to engorge the internal organs. Exercise brings the
blood to the skin and muscles, causing the waste, broken down by the
chemical activity going on every instant of life, to be picked up by
the blood and carried to the eliminating organs. Therefore, since
the blood is needed in the digestive organs during digestion, active
exercise should not be taken immediately after meals.
Exercise taken in the proper amount and at proper times uses up the
excess of material, benefits digestion, aids the work of the liver
and intestines, keeps the circulation active, the waste eliminated,
and results in a feeling of vigor and fitness for one’s work whether
physical or mental.
Exercise should be counted as a necessary part of one’s daily
activities—as necessary as eating one’s meals. If faithfully done the
habit will be formed and the system will soon call for exercise as it
does for food.
The young child’s blood circulates freely, his breathing is
unrestricted, the waste of the system is fully burned up, potential
energy is released, and the result is, he must be active. The effort of
the teacher, or of those having the care of children should be, not to
restrain the child but rather to direct his activity in advantageous
and effective use of his energy.
A little child is an object lesson in alternating exercise, sleep, and
food. Almost every waking moment a child is squirming, twisting, and
turning, using every muscle of his little body, particularly every
vital organ. No excess of waste accumulates in his tissues. The adult
does not, as a rule, twist or turn or freely stretch the muscles of the
vital organs. The child and the animal stretch and yawn to start the
circulation whenever they awaken from sleep. This is instinct—Nature’s
law. Man jumps out of bed and begins dressing with mind bent on the
business of the day.
The necessity of oxygen is evident. The body will subsist about
forty days on the food stored within it without resupply, but it can
endure only a few seconds without oxygen, because heat, occasioned by
the chemical action of oxygen, is necessary to keep up the physical
activity termed “life.” Carbon dioxid (carbonic acid gas) accumulates
and poisons the system.
_The necessity of habits of full, correct breathing cannot be too fully
emphasized._
The quantity of oxygen daily consumed should equal the sum of all other
food elements.[8]
Oxygen is necessary in the combustion of fats, starches, and sugars, as
it is necessary in the combustion of carbon in wood or coal, and, as
explained on pages 123 and 124, oxygen is necessary to keep the body
warm.
Deep breathing aids digestion and assimilation, not only because of the
regular exercise given to the pancreas, the spleen, the stomach, and
the liver by the correct movement of the diaphragm, but also because of
the latent heat which the oxygen liberates within the digestive organs
and out among the tissues.
While the chemical action of food creates activity within, this
activity is materially aided by exercise. Exercise and oxygen are also
necessary for chemical action in tearing down waste and in putting raw
material into condition to be appropriated to the body needs.
_Two glasses of water in the morning and fifteen minutes of brisk
exercise in well-selected movements, to start a forceful circulation
and to surge the water through the digestive organs, are a daily
necessity if one is to keep clean and strong within._
Exercises should be interspersed with deep breathing of _pure_ air.
In breathing guard against drawing up the chest; make the muscular
effort, while practicing full breathing, to expand the entire rib cage,
back, front, and side.
_It is as important to cleanse the body within as without. It is the
method employed by all men and women who would retain strong vital
forces to a ripe old age. They fully enjoy the mere_ LIVING.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Ventilation]
It is of the utmost importance that one not only forms the habit of
correct, full breathing, but also sees to it that the air in the home,
or in the place of business, is pure. A window opened at the top and
bottom is essential in any place of business—or at least a draft
through the room.
There should be plenty of _circulating_ air in the sleeping room. Many
restless nights are due to stagnant air.
Teachers find that when they keep their schoolrooms well ventilated
the children are less restless, their minds are more alert, they more
quickly comprehend what is said to them, and that both they and the
children are much less fatigued at the end of the day.
Proper ventilation, and proper exercise have so definite a bearing
on the condition of the body which we term “tired” that this subject
properly follows.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Fatigue, Disturbed Balance]
Since the condition of the body in fatigue so materially affects
the digestion, absorption, and assimilation of food, as well as the
elimination of waste, it is not amiss to discuss it here.
The habit of eating when overfatigued is almost sure to result in
indigestion. Muscular or mental activity has called the blood away from
the digestive organs and enough time has not elapsed to restore the
equilibrium. The digestive organs are not in condition to take care of
the food promptly and fermentation begins.
A few minutes of active exercise and deep breathing for the brain
worker, or a half-hour of rest after muscular activity, will equalize
the circulation and restore the blood to the stomach and intestines.
People fail to remember that the amount of blood in the body is a fixed
quantity, and if an excess of it is called to one portion, the supply
is lessened to other portions.
The regular work of the body in keeping up the heart action and the
circulation requires a certain amount of energy produced by a certain
amount of oxidized foodstuffs. The system in normal condition,
with normal breathing, readily furnishes this energy. If more than
the normal amount is used in increased work, greater combustion is
necessary. The extra amount of waste which has been liberated by this
extra work must also be carried away. If combustion does not take
place, the extra energy is not supplied, and that required for the
constant bodily needs is called on.
If the waste is not removed from the system and the energy not
resupplied to the parts doing the extra work, the muscles, nerves, and
tissues are then in the state termed “tired.” They remain so until the
circulation has carried the waste to the eliminating organs and has
brought more foodstuffs to the tissues, thus restoring more energy than
is needed for the work constantly going on in the body.
It must be remembered that for combustion oxygen is required and if
undue energy is necessary deep breathing is imperative.
_The relief, then, from the state of the body we call fatigue is
in equalizing the circulation through exercise or rest, according
to the occupation, and supplying oxygen through full breathing._
This more forceful circulation calls the blood from the unduly
distended capillaries, removes the waste, and brings a new supply of
energy-building foodstuffs.
In mental work, the nerves and the brain call for the surplus energy,
while in muscular work the tissues require it, hence undue work, either
mental or physical, expresses itself in bodily fatigue, until the
demand in all parts of the body is equalized.
When equilibrium is restored, the body is “rested.”
The relief from fatigue due to mental activity is in exercise and deep
breathing.
Carbon dioxid dulls the nerves of sensation and the brain action and
may produce more or less stupor. It may be because the circulation in
some part of the body is sluggish (most often the portal circulation
through the liver), so that sufficient oxygen is not carried to that
part.
Relief from this “inertness” is experienced most quickly by exercise to
quicken the circulation and supply the oxygen. Exercise in one’s room
by the open window, or at least with the air in the room pure, is often
preferable to outdoor exercise, because the body can be nude, or so
loosely clothed that the oxygen may not only enter the lungs but also
circulate about the skin.
Fifteen minutes of brisk exercise in one’s room is better than a
five-mile walk, because if the exercises are intelligently selected,
every organ and tissue is used, while walking exercises only about
one-fourth of the muscles.
After sleeping in a room in which the air is impure, one arises
fatigued, because the supply of oxygen is insufficient to liberate the
energy required for circulation and catabolism.
_Harmony_, either mental or physical, _is rest_.
With a little more intelligence in keeping up the supply of oxygen, in
establishing correct breathing habits, and in understanding the law of
distribution of circulation, which means the harmony of forces, this
tired world could not only draw a deep, restful breath, but would be
invigorated to enjoy life to the full.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Sleep]
During sleep all the processes of the body are retarded.
Blood flow and breathing become slower and the digestive processes
slacken. For this reason, if one goes to bed immediately after eating
a heavy meal, digestion is retarded. This may react on the nerves,
producing fitful or unrestful sleep. Fever or nightmare may result. The
annoying, sleepy feeling which often comes on after a meal indicates
a lack of balance in the system—usually that more food has been eaten
than the body requires. Lessening the amount of food and increasing
the exercise and the oxygen, and cleansing the intestinal tract will
prevent it.
On the other hand, if the alimentary tract is entirely empty, sleep
may not come because there is too much blood in the brain. A glass of
hot milk or cocoa, or a couple of crackers, will call the blood to the
stomach and will often aid sleep.
After eating a heavy meal, from three to three and a half hours should
elapse before retiring for sleep.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Influence of the Mind]
The state of mind has much to do with regulating the digestive system.
Cheerful thoughts keep the nerves of the entire organism in a normal
state, while disagreeable thoughts cause a tense, unnatural condition.
The nerves of the digestive organs are affected by the tenseness of
the mind, just as are the nerves to any other part of the body. As an
illustration, if one continuously thinks ugly, disagreeable thoughts,
these thoughts affect the chemical activities of digestion and
assimilation, resulting in an excess of acid in the blood, and actual
illness results. Digestion and assimilation being impaired, the tissues
become weakened, they lose their resistance, and, as a result, the
organs may prolapse. We then have what is called a “vicious circle”—the
mind affects the body unpleasantly and the body the mind.
We are learning to consider many factors in looking for the causes of
disease, particularly those due to general weakness, or a disturbed
mental state. Even the temper shown in a crying babe may affect its
digestion by disturbing the normal chemical activity.
Among the blood and digestive disturbances which may result from
anxiety, worry, fear, or disagreeable thoughts, are anemia,
neurasthenia, indigestion, constipation, prolapsed viscera, and, in
fact, all diseases which result from faulty nutrition and resultant
weakened tissues.
Disagreeable thoughts affect the appetite, in fact they sometimes cause
it to be entirely lost.
All so-called “new thought,” “ologies,” or “isms,” conducive to the
formation of the habit of looking on the bright side of life, or of
looking for good and joy in life, of kindness, love, and helpfulness,
favorably affect the digestion and consequently the health. The
practice is Christian _Sense_.
The nerves control the peristaltic movements of the stomach and the
action of the absorptive cells, as well as the cells which secrete the
digestive juices. Thus it is that a food which one likes is not only
more palatable, but it will also digest more readily, the digestive
juices flowing more freely because of the mental stimulus.
It is well, therefore, to begin the meal with something especially
appetizing, that the flow of the digestive juices may be incited. For
this reason, if one cares for fruit, it is an excellent custom to begin
the meal with fruit, or with a well-made soup, containing protein
extractives, which will stimulate the flow of digestive juices.
The habit of finishing a meal with some tasty dessert is based on the
scientific principle that its palatability will cause the gastric
juices to flow more freely after the meal, thus aiding in its digestion.
Dainty service in a sick-room, because of the psychic effect of a meal
daintily served, is of utmost importance. Because of the effect on the
mind, the sight of a meal served on soiled linen will almost stop the
flow of gastric juice and will destroy the desire for food, while a
meal well served on dainty linen, with garnishings and tasteful table
decorations, incites the flow of gastric juices.
The careful wife and mother, who notes any failure of appetite in
members of her family, should attend carefully to the garnishing of
her dishes and to serving them in a neat, attractive manner; also to
changing her table decorations, so far as may be consistent that the
eye as well as the sense of smell and taste may be pleased and the
effect of the mind on digestion be exerted.
It is strange, but it is true, that a fresh flower, or a new table
decoration, may so pleasantly affect one afflicted with nervous
indigestion that the meal more readily digests, while an untidy table,
or a lot of food served untidily will retard digestion.
The custom, among hearty eaters, of serving a plate too plentifully,
destroys the appetite of one whose digestion is not so active. Our
grandmother’s overloaded table, with sufficient food of various kinds
to serve many times the number of participants, might stimulate the
appetite of hearty, strong men, but the very sight of so much might
turn the appetite of one more delicate.
The mind must be relaxed and directed to pleasant themes during a meal
or the condition of the nerves of the digestive organs will not permit
a free secretion of digestive juices. Chronic indigestion is sure to
result from this practice. Dinner, or the hearty meal at night, rather
than at noon, is preferable for the business or professional man or
woman, because the cares of the day are over and the brain force
relaxes. The vital forces are not detracted from the work of digestion.
Foods which are forced down, with a mind arrayed against them, do not
digest so readily, because the dislike hinders the flow of the gastric
juices. Any food fails of prompt digestion when the nerves controlling
the stomach are acting feebly; however, while they digest more slowly
during mental protest, they _do_ nourish the system.
Likes and dislikes are largely mental. Certain foods continuously
disagree and they should be avoided; but many abstain from wholesome
food because it has disagreed a _few_ times. It may be that it was not
the particular food but the weakness of the stomach at the time.
Many foods disagree at certain times because of the particular
conditions regulating the secretion of digestive juices. When this
condition has continued for some time it becomes chronic and a special
diet is required, together with special exercises, to bring a better
blood supply to stomach and intestines and to regulate the nerves
controlling them, in order to correct the abnormality.
One may so form the habit of criticism or of being disgruntled or
thinking he cannot eat this food and that, that his entire system
suffers. Much indigestion is more mental than physical.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Effect of the Circulation]
It can be readily seen that any tissue, playing so important a part in
digestion as the blood, needs to be kept in as nearly perfect condition
as possible. A vigorous circulation stimulates digestion; a poor
circulation retards it.
If the blood is poor in quality the digestive organs are not nourished
and the digestive secretions are lessened in quantity and quality.
If the blood is imperfectly aërated it carries an insufficient supply
of oxygen, combustion is lessened, and the waste, not being in a
condition to be removed, remains in the tissues, stagnation results,
and a slow poisoning process goes on which gradually causes the system
to fail to meet the demands made on it.
The blood tissue can only be kept in condition by an adequate but not
excessive amount of good food taken at the proper time, and such active
exercise as will thoroughly aërate the blood by bringing the air to the
smallest air cells in the lungs.
If one would fight to prevent the money used in daily exchange from
being debased, he ought to be much more ready to use every means in
his power to prevent a deterioration of the blood, that medium of
exchange in his body on which such vital issues depend.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Tobacco and Alcohol]
Tobacco and alcohol are two substances which, in excess, materially
retard digestion.
The effect tobacco on the stomach is shown by its action on the small
boy with his first cigar. Habituated to its use, the nerves become
blunted and the nicotin narcotizes them. The use of tobacco renders
the sense of taste less delicate, due to the action of the nicotin on
the nerves of the taste buds. Men who use tobacco in excess miss the
pleasures of taste; all food tastes much alike to them.
Tobacco, due to its action on the vagus nerve, many times causes
disorders both of circulation and digestion. The starches are usually
not well digested by those who are habitual users of tobacco.
Smoking before meals or when the stomach is empty often occasions
nausea.
Because of its narcotic action it often exerts a soothing influence
particularly in men of highly nervous temperament who are unwilling to
take the necessary exercise to equalize nerve activity.
It was formerly held by physiologists that alcohol was a food, because
its oxidation liberates heat, and it was assumed that this liberation
of heat was the same as that freed by the combustion of fats, starches,
and sugars uniting with oxygen. More recent knowledge, however, has
unquestionably determined that the body decomposes alcohol into carbon
dioxid and water, thus liberating heat, yet the reaction produces cold
and the body requires more heat to warm it.
The blood-vessels of the skin dilate from overstimulation, and heat is
radiated faster than it is generated, so that the temperature of the
body is really lowered though alcohol gives a sensation of heat. The
body, therefore, loses the power to resist cold.
It was formerly used by physicians for its supposed stimulant action,
but it has been determined that the apparent stimulant effect is due to
irritation of the nerves, particularly of the nerves of the stomach;
the temporary spur to activity is followed, however, by depression of
the body forces.
The habitual use of alcohol, from overstimulation of the nervous
system, affects this system, deranging it permanently, gradually
lowering both mental and physical ability, and causing a catarrhal
condition of the stomach and intestines.
_Alcohol, therefore, even in small quantities, is a poison, and not a
food._
In certain conditions it may be used in emergency to spur a flagging or
failing organism to action, but owing to the facility with which the
alcohol habit is acquired its use should not be continued beyond the
period when its immediate action is deemed necessary.
Because tobacco and alcohol are both poisons, the healthy organism
has no need of them. The diseased or deranged organism can often find
greater benefit from natural remedies than from the artificial stimuli
of these substances.
It is a known fact that far more men than women suffer from dyspepsia.
One reason for this may be found in the prevalent habit of spitting.
Smokers, in whom the irritation of the nicotin causes an excess of
saliva, often suffer from gastric troubles, because they expectorate,
thus wasting this valuable digestive juice.
Aside from the filthiness of the habit, which has caused laws to be
enacted against it, one would think that a little reflection would
cause those addicted to it to consider what it means to their health.
Overstimulation means weakened salivary glands, impaired secretion,
and consequent lessened digestive power. For the sake of their own
health if not from motives of decency, men should abandon the habit of
expectorating.
FOOTNOTES:
[8] EDITOR’S NOTE:—Measurements of seventy thousand women show that
sixty-two per cent. of women use only about one-half of their lung
capacity and less than nine per cent. use their full capacity.