GAINING TOO MUCH

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California, U. S. A. · Sep 9, 1930

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 57, No. 35.

Readers of the “Signs of the Times” who send questions regarding health, with two cents return postage, to Dr. Heald will receive prompt reply by mail. But, remember, he can not diagnose or treat disease by mail. Persons who are sick need an examination and the personal attention of a physician.

No questions will be answered direct through this column. The answers which appear here are selected from the doctor's correspondence.

Send questions, with a two-cent stamp, to Dr. G. H. Heald, 140 Eastern Avenue, Takoma Park, D. C.

GAINING TOO MUCH

“I am a girl 16, 5 feet 1 inch tall, and weigh 154 pounds. I am gaining weight. I think the trouble is that I get too much sleep. Please send a reducing slip.”

The average weight for your age and height is 111 pounds. For a young person it is well to weigh a little more than the average, say 120 to 125, but surely for you 154 pounds is too much.

I am not at all sure about your getting too much sleep, but it is quite possible that you get too much to eat. One cannot weigh too much unless he eats too much. You probably have a splendid appetite and do not realize you do eat more than you should. Perhaps that point will be the sorest trial for you, and that is perhaps the reason why you want to cut down on the sleep. I think, though, you will have to learn to curb your eating also.

You should eat less of the breads and butter and cereal foods of all kinds, taking perhaps not over a slice of bread at a meal and using little if any desserts of any kind. You should avoid all candies and sweets and never eat a bite between meals, and learn always to leave the table with a good appetite. Now this to you will seem very drastic; but if you will follow it, you will lose weight. I am inclosing some directions for you, also a list prepared by a sanitarium. Your diet should be quite largely fruits and vegetables; that is, the foods that do not have very much body-building material.

TOBACCO HABIT

“Please send treatment for tobacco habit for my husband.”

I am inclosing directions for treatment as requested. But remember that there is no self-acting cure for the tobacco habit or any other habit.

The victim of a habit must first have an honest purpose and determination to give up the habit and must expect that seasons of craving will come when he will be strongly tempted to go back to his old habit. There is not only the body craving, but the old craving to smoke in fellowship with other smokers.

For this reason it is important that one who desires to overcome the habit should avoid as much as possible his old tobacco-using associates, and especially avoid gatherings where nearly all are smoking. The loneliness of being “different” will have an almost compelling force on one who has once been under the tobacco habit.

ENEMAS

“I use an enema daily, but the water will hardly return. Please tell how to use an enema so as to be least injurious to the bowel.”

Avoid the enema habit if possible. If necessary, use some combination of mineral oil and agar to soften the stools and make them more bulky. Use enough of this to get results, and gradually reduce the dose until you have it about right. It may be that after a while you will be able to get along without any of this preparation.

Try drinking more water, and drink at least two glasses before breakfast, and follow this by body-bending movements. If the plain water does not give you a movement, add one-half teaspoonful of salt to each glass of water. I would also take two glasses of water before each other meal.

MORE MILK; MORE SLEEP

“I want to continue nursing baby. What can I take to increase my milk? What can I do to get more sleep?”

Drink more milk yourself. Milk is one of the best foods for the mother in order to make more milk for the baby.

Perhaps you can get into a neutral bath just before retiring, and then dry gently so as not to stir up a skin reaction. It will help you about sleeping.

If you wake up in the night after going to sleep, a glass of hot milk or a cracker or a piece of bread may give you more sleep, for it is possible that you have too much blood in your head, and drawing some of the blood away to your stomach may enable you to sleep.

HEART TROUBLE?

“I have constant pain over left chest, like a tight hand holding me. It is hard to take a deep breath. When lying on left side, there is a feeling as if the heart were dropping.”

You seem to have heart trouble, and certainly ought to be under good medical care. The first thing should be an examination to determine how badly your heart is damaged and how much physical work you can do. Possibly you should be on a complete rest in bed, and stay there for a certain length of time. The doctor who examines you should be able to tell you just how much rest you should take.

IRON WATER

“The doctor says I am anemic. My neighbor has iron water. Will that help me?”

What you need is not mineral iron but foods that contain iron; such foods as spinach, lettuce, and other green vegetables, and eggs, of course. It is doubtful whether there is much iron taken up by the body in mineral form.