HOW TO BE WELL by M. E. Olsen

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 24, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 47.

HOW TO BE WELL.

By M. E. Olsen

Abundant nourishment, exercise, the avoidance of drugs, and dress which permits of perfect freedom of movement, were among the essentials of health mentioned in our last article. Under the head of nourishment we included pure air and pure water. These laws occupy a prominent place in the health-reform movement.

CALIFORNIA SCENERY, No. 30.—The famous mountain pictured above, stands in the midst of a family of giant peaks, ranging from 6,000 to 9,000 feet above the level of the sea. Its nearer neighbors, coming within a radius of 20 miles, are the Castle Crags, Muir’s Peak, Tamarac Peak, Mount Eleanor, Mount Eddy, Lassen Peak, Bournery Peak, and Bully Chup, all of which are over 6,000 feet in height; but far above them towers the lofty, lonely sentinel of Shasta, with head muffled in perpetual hood of glistening snow. Its peak extends above the snow line about 5,000 feet; its proportions are majestic; its profile, long and sweeping. Mount Shasta stands 14,442 feet above the sea, the highest peak in the Sierra range, and one of the grandest mountains in the world.

Still, there are some other things to be considered. Bodily cleanliness is a very important law. The skin is an excretory organ. It is constantly throwing off poisonous matter, which must be promptly removed, if the body is to be kept in a healthy condition. This necessitates frequent bathing.

Healthful dress involves not only clothing the body so as to admit of perfect freedom of movement, but also includes such a distribution of the clothing as will properly protect all parts of the body from cold.

A mind at peace with God is essential to perfect health. It was sin that first brought disease and death into the world. Sin has always the same blighting effect, and a large proportion of the diseases that are afflicting people to-day have their origin in a disordered state of the mind.

Food in Air.

Let us consider a little more fully the subject of food. The most important of all foods taken up by the body is oxygen, and we obtain this through the air we breathe. A person may live for forty days without food, as has been amply demonstrated by Dr. Tanner and others; he may live upwards of twelve days without water; but he can not live more than a very few minutes without air.

Breathing, therefore, occupies an exceedingly important place among the vital processes. One reason for this is that the lungs are both nutritive and eliminative organs. The blood, in its passage through the body, continually gives off its oxygen, and takes up waste tissue in its stead. Coming back to the lungs charged with these impurities, it throws them off and receives the oxygen furnished by the inspired air.

Breathing is more rapid and also deeper during exercise than when the body is in repose. We see from this the advantage of taking regular exercise in the open air. More oxygen is taken into the system, the blood flows faster, the impurities are thrown off rapidly, and the whole body electrified and invigorated by the life-giving oxygen.

We can not always be out-of-doors in the fresh, pure air of heaven. Civilized man spends a considerable part of his time indoors. This suggests the necessity of ventilating our houses so as to make the air inside as nearly as possible like that without. In the summer weather it is usually sufficient to keep the window wide open. In winter this would cause dangerous drafts, and would make our rooms too cold. Hence some regular system of ventilation must be devised. This is a subject which will be more timely when cold weather sets in.

Some people have a great fear of breathing night air. In their short-sightedness they close the windows of their rooms, thinking in that way to keep out this dreadful foe to health. But how about the air in the room; that is night air too. The only air to be found anywhere after sunset is night air. So let us open the windows wide and breathe pure air at night, as well as in the day.

Air starvation has killed thousands of people. During an East Indian war, 143 English soldiers were confined in a room in Calcutta with only a small opening for air. In the morning all but 23 were found dead, and the survivors looked more like corpses than anything else. The woman who puts on a corset is starving herself of needed air, for the corset restricts the action of the chest muscles, and reduces the working capacity of the lungs.

Outdoor life is the ideal life. During these pleasant autumn months, we should be out under the open heavens as much as possible. Let the children follow their natural instincts. Dress them simply, in strong, durable clothes, and let them play in the grass and under the trees. Let them eat their meals out-of-doors as often as possible. Fill a basket with fresh fruit, some good cream rolls, and other simple things, and let them eat down in the orchard, or some other pretty spot of their own choosing.

That is all very well in the country, some one will say, but how about the people in the city? They are at a great disadvantage, it is true. The crowded, dusty, noisy city is no place for children, but if you are so unfortunate as to be in such a place, don’t keep the children cooped up in the house, anyway. Even if you have but a very little yard, let the children play there. The air out there is better than in the house, and the sun will do them good. Then, as often as possible, take them to one of the beautiful parks, and carry the lunch-basket along.

There is real health in a draught of air. So let us breathe deeply, and supply ourselves with an abundance of what God has so freely provided. That dread disease, consumption, which is increasing at an alarming rate, is largely induced by improper breathing, and by living in close, poorly-ventilated rooms.

Most people give their stomachs plenty of food; some eat too much, especially in warm weather, when the system really needs much less food than in winter; but very few people give their lungs a sufficient supply of air. It is an excellent plan, followed by some, to take one hundred or more deep breaths daily. Proper breathing will improve the digestion, invigorate the mind, and stimulate to healthful activity all the organs of the body.

M. E. OLSEN.