A MAN with a disabled stomach, who attempts to live upon improperly cooked food, goes through life half anesthetized, on account of the poisons produced by undigested food.
One of the quickest ways of getting disease is to get impure blood, for the actual condition of nearly any part of the body depends almost entirely upon the character of the blood; hence any food substance that produces pure blood is to that extent healing to the man.
It is an error to crowd food into the stomach while some of the previous meal is still there. When the digestive glands are compelled to continue to pour out the digestive juices to act upon food substances at short intervals, and at irregular times, they soon become worn out and deteriorated.
When the stomach and its contents are chilled by eating frozen foods and drinking iced drinks, such as ice-cold lemonade, ice-cream, fruit ices, etc., there is a complete cessation of all digestive activity until the stomach contents have been again warmed to very nearly the normal standard. Meanwhile, the germs that are present have had abundant opportunity to flourish and to begin their destructive work.
Condiments that can blister and irritate the outside of the body will the more readily blister and irritate the inside when applied to the delicate mucous membrane of the stomach, and will cause it to pour out in self-defense a large quantity of mucus.
The toasting, or browning, in the oven, of the various grains before they are cooked is an excellent thing, as it tends to partly convert them into dextrine, or a form of sugar which is very essential, especially to those with weak stomach power.
It seems strange that rational beings will suppose that they can steadily violate nature's laws, and then in some way atone for their violation by swallowing a few teaspoonfuls of some highly colored fluid.
It is a deep-seated error, which is very prevalent in the human mind, that somehow or other the elixir of life can be concentrated and stored up in a bottle, if only it is compounded with some vile and noxious substance, and the whole thing sold under some striking name.
Boiling is one of the best and most practical ways of purifying water. It is not necessary to boil it a great length of time, as the most dangerous germs are either paralyzed or killed when it is merely brought to the boiling point.
Morphine paralyzes the nerves, and in this way allays pain; but it likewise paralyzes the nerves of elimination, so that the poisons largely remain in the body, and continue to cause damage.
The common use of flesh-foods is perhaps doing more than any other single dietetic error to weaken the human system and make it a suitable lodging-place for disease germs.
