Good Health and Good Sense by F. R. Birdsall

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 10, 1911

Good Health and Good Sense

By F. R. Birdsall

Is it not strange how little attention people pay to the greatest of all blessings—health?

Tell a man his house has a defective flue and is likely to catch fire and burn down, and off he rushes to get a man to fix it. But tell him he is drinking too much coffee at his meals, swallowing his food without chewing it, or using too much tobacco, and he will laugh at you, and say it has never hurt him yet, and he reckons it won't. But it will hurt him, sooner or later. Nature is sometimes very lenient in enforcing her laws; but there will come a time when the penalty for their violation must be paid.

The boy who carelessly forms the cigarette habit may not feel the ill effects for a while; but the day will come when the shattered nerves, the lusterless eye, and the “tobacco heart” will convince him all too plainly of the awful mistake he has made.

The man who allows himself to become addicted to the use of spirituous liquors may think he is doing himself no harm, but the day finally dawns when he realizes what it means to have an inflamed stomach, a diseased liver, and a craving that can not be satisfied.

But liquor and tobacco are not the only evils one must shun in the preservation of health. Many ills are brought upon us by rapid eating; drinking tea, coffee, milk, iced tea, etc., with our meals; eating hurriedly; eating when excited, tired, or angry; loading our stomachs with useless and unnecessary pies, cakes, puddings, and other desserts; using milk and sugar at the same meal (causing fermentation), or milk upon acid fruits (producing hard curds); eating late at night or between meals. These and many other things are done; and when the pains come,—as come they must,—we wonder what causes us to suffer.

These things are not always the result of ignorance. People know better, but they don't like to deny themselves the things that tickle their palates. They go right ahead drinking two or three glasses of iced tea at a meal, when they know full well it means a visit of the family physician to their home.

Recently I heard two girls talking. One remarked: ‘I had seven ice-cream sodas this afternoon; how many have you had?’ Her companion replied: ‘O, I beat you; I had eight.’

Ice-cream soda is simply a palate-tickler; it contains nothing to replace worn-out tissue, supply nerve-force, or build up strength. If girls expect to build strong bodies on ice-cream soda, they will sooner or later realize their mistake. What girls and boys need is plenty of good, wholesome food, thoroughly masticated, plenty of pure water between meals, and lots of time outdoors, with head erect and shoulders thrown back.

Dr. Baker, of Baltimore, says physical weakness is a crime, either your own crime or that of your ancestors. The country to-day is in sore need of men and women of strength,—men and women with strong bodies, strong minds, well-developed muscles, and plenty of rich red blood,—individuals whose systems are so fortified with strength and energy that disease germs turn from them in disgust, finding no soil in which to breed, no place to start a colony.

Good health, clear eyes, a rosy complexion, steady nerves, and fine digestion are within your grasp—all you have to do is to observe a few of the laws of nature.—F. R. Birdsall, in Yazoo Sentinel.