_Diet: I. For the Anaemic._
All that grows in the sunshine makes blood. Therefore, the food of an
anaemic person should consist mainly of articles of diet which grow
above the surface, such as green vegetables, fresh greens, fruit,
berries. Since the blood has already grown very thin, as little fluid as
possible should be taken, and for this reason the boasted milk cures are
far from advisable. If all hot reasoning is avoided and little salt and
sugar are used, no thirst will be felt. Coffee, tea, beer, wine and
other alcoholic drinks are to be avoided because they consume oxygen,
such as also do thin soups, lemonade, malt coffee, and other beverages
of slight food value.
_Breakfast_: In summer, a glass of cold milk, sweet or sour, and with
it strawberries, huckleberries, cherries, or other fruit in season; in
winter milk or cocoa, oatmeal porridge with bread (whole wheat, whole
rye), or something similar. When the bowels are sluggish, take a little
fruit on rising in the morning and at bedtime.
_Dinner_: Cereals, rice, macaroni, dumplings and eggs, with fresh
greens, spinach, fresh peas, fresh beans, cauliflower, all varieties of
cabbage, cucumbers, pumpkins and squashes. Root vegetables are not
excluded. Celery and parsnips alone interfere with the renewal of blood.
They ought not to be eaten frequently.
_Afternoon Lunch_: Fruit, milk or one cup only of weak cocoa. If the
appetite is good, omit this meal.
_Supper_: Every day, if possible, some fresh greens seasoned with lemon
juice, particularly cresses, lettuce, endive, spinach and red cabbage,
with puddings of meal or eggs. Sour milk with fruit and mild cheese, may
be taken for a change. In winter, thick soup or porridge with fruit,
preferably apples and huckleberries. Also an apple at bedtime.
Anaemic people commonly have no wish for meat. They force themselves to
eat it in the belief that only on a meat diet is it possible for them to
become strong. They would do better to follow their inclination and
refrain from it altogether. They regain health faster on a purely
vegetable diet, one special reason being that the digestion is less
burdened.
Fattening, combined with rest and rational remedies, like
Dech-Manna-Diet, are the best means of curing anaemia.
The deficient appetite must be stimulated through tastefully prepared
dishes and much variety. The patient will thus unconsciously be induced
to take more food. Delicacies and dainty dishes foster pleasure in
eating, and a little food between the principal meals will help to make
up the necessary amount. Spinach, also egg omelettes filled with
spinach, puddings, groat, oatmeal, light dishes prepared with plenty of
eggs, sugar, butter and milk, also roasted meat if desired are the best
articles of food for anaemic patients. Drinks that are recommended are:
strong malt extracts, buttermilk, sour milk, Dech-Manna chocolate, fruit
coffees, fruits, berries, honey and Dech-Manna-Diet.
_I. and II. A. For Scrofulous Patients._
Two affections, rachitis and scrofula, frequently co-exist, and the same
dietary is appropriate for both. Scrofulous patients often have a great
longing for sulphur and for irritating compounds. Frequently they
consume salt greedily, eat charcoal, onions, and other piquant
substances. This indicates their need of vegetables and fresh greens
full of nutritious salts and of pungent taste and smell because of the
amount of sulphur they contain.
Various kinds of cabbage are appropriate for the principal dinner dish,
cooked or raw in the form of a salad, with horseradish to give them
relish. For seasoning of vegetables and salads, onions and leeks may be
used unsparingly; onion soups will be found palatable and will improve
the lymph.
At supper water-cress, lettuce, radishes, and sandwiches made of chives
are preferable to sausage and rich cheese. Fresh, mild cheese makes a
good side-dish.
Meat should be eaten sparingly, because it rapidly changes into products
of decomposition in the lymph, and so the harmful rather than the useful
fluids of the body are increased.
In connection with rachitis and scrofula a ravenous appetite is often
manifested. This is a morbid symptom. It arises from exhaustion of the
stomach and intestines, for no increase of bodily weight accompanies it.
The greater part of the nourishment taken passes out of the system
without being digested. Such persons, whether adults or children, should
have their meals at regular, short intervals, for they are unable to
restrain their morbid eagerness for food. After a few days of strict
diet they lose their appetite, a condition that must be accepted until a
natural hunger takes its place and results in a normal increase in
bodily weight.
It is well known that many people suffer from hives and eczema after
having eaten certain dishes, such as crawfish, strawberries, oysters,
honey, tomatoes or cheese. For such people to refrain from partaking of
this kind of food is no protection against eczema. Only regeneration of
the blood will lead to a cure.
As a rule such patients should avoid sharp and spicy dishes; especially
desirable is a diet of fresh, good meat, not in very large quantity,
alternating with days on which no meat at all is taken. It is imperative
to avoid sharp cheese, such as Roquefort, mustard, sardelles, mixed
pickles and similar spicy dishes. Form VI is best for patients suffering
from scrofulosis.
_I. and II. B. For Tuberculosis Patients._
Patients who suffer from diseases of the lungs or other tubercular
tissues do not require food of different composition than is generally
recommended, provided their digestive organs are healthy. They must have
albumen (medium fat beef, veal lean pork, haddie, pickled herring, eggs,
brick cheese, peas) and fat in sufficient, even abundant quantity.
Warmed milk is recommended especially. Variety in food should prevail.
This will be the best means of overcoming the dangerous lack of
appetite, which must be stimulated by delicacies and cleverly prepared
dishes given between meals, sandwiches, cold fowl, jellies, piquant cold
meats. The single portions should be small but frequent. Good beer rich
in malt, sherry, malaga and other sweet wines, are all able to promote
the appetite, unless the physician orders strict abstinence from
alcohol.
In case of haemorrhage of the lungs, the physician will generally
prescribe liquid food exclusively, and his orders must be observed
strictly. In such cases it is very advisable to take gelatine, which can
be prepared in a variety of ways, or meat jellies.
Care should be taken in all forms of tubercular patients, that the
special tissue gets its special composition.
_I. and II. C. For Syphilitic Patients._
The diet for people affected with syphilis does not vary from the one
given under I and II. A. for scrofulous patients. Just as in the case of
scrofulosis, a rich diet is recommended for syphilis. (Form VI).
In former times starvation-cures were applied in case of syphilis, based
on the hypothesis that diseased humours in the body should be reduced.
In view of the noxious effect which the disease exercises on the entire
body, this method has been given up. In case of the hereditary syphilis
of infants, the best possible diet for the mother must always be
insisted upon. (Never less than Form VI and Dech-Manna Eubiogen, with
each meal). If nursing by the mother is impossible, and since a
wet-nurse cannot be subjected to the danger of contamination through the
child, easily digestible substitutes for mother's milk should be
selected; that is, not cow's milk, but other approved nutritive foods
for infants. It will be most beneficial to add Dech-Manna Eubiogen
Liquid to the child's food.
_I. and II. D. For Cancer Patients._
Cachectic patients should not, as some authorities recommended in former
times, be starved by poor diet in addition to the losses which they
already suffer when afflicted with diseases, such as cancer. Except in
case of cancer of the stomach and bowels, when I would recommend Form
III and, with gradual improvement, an increase up to Form VI, the latter
form of diet should always be prescribed in case of cancer. Special
instructions, as given under the heading, I. and II. C. For Syphilitic
Patients, should also be followed in these cases.
_Dech-Manna-Compositions_: (Only main compositions, specialities to
Doctor's order).
I. Anaemia: Plasmogen, Eubiogen.
I. and II. A. Scrofulosis: Plasmogen, Lymphogen, Dermogen, Eubiogen.
I. and II. B. Tuberculosis: =Plasmogen=, =Lymphogen=, Mucogen,
Gelatinogen, =Eubiogen=
I. and II. C. Syphilis: =Plasmogen=, =Lymphogen=, Dermogen,
=Eubiogen=
I. and II. D. Cancer: =Plasmogen=, =Lymphogen=, =Eubiogen.=
_Physical_:
I. Anaemia. Breathing Exercises.
I. and II. A. Scrofulosis: Partial Packs, Oxygenator baths, Radium and
Salt whole baths.
I. and II. B. Tuberculosis: Ablutions, Breathing Exercises.
I. and II. C. Syphilis Abdominal packs, Partial packs, Oxygenator, Radium
and Salt half baths.
I. and II. D. Cancer: Oxygenator, Radium and Salt whole baths.