Library of Blogress: Healthy Living Information

The continued strain on the digestive apparatus caused by overeating not only weakens the general digestive powers, but the entire muscular and nervous system as well, as it suffers severely in consequence of this. That “tired feeling” is always present. You never have any energy–all your enthusiasm seems to have disappeared. The impure condition of the blood would naturally cause this, but the fact that all the energies are spent in the endeavor to right the digestive disorders, to rid the stomach of the loads that are continually being forced upon it, no doubt does much to influence this condition.

“Gluttony imposes upon the body a quantity of matter which is underdone; that is, under- prepared; so that only a small portion of it is suitable for nutrition, leaving the greater part to ferment within the channels and strain the intestines until they are contused and weakened. Read the rest of this entry »

The gastric and various other juices, so necessary in the stomach’s perfect work of digestion, are not supplied in sufficient quantities, nor of proper strength, when overeating is habitually indulged in. This naturally causes serious complications, for which every remedy known to medical science has been prescribed without avail, unless the causes of the condition were discovered, and removed.

Thus, you can readily perceive that these two results of overeating–the weakening of all the belt of muscles about the stomach and other vital organs that carry on involuntarily the very necessary work in connection with the digestive process, and the lessening in quantity and quality of the digestive juices–would seriously interfere with general nutrition. Not only is the quantity that could be secreted by the various glands of absorption lessened, but the quality of the secretion is poor. Every part of the nourishment absorbed under such circumstances is filled with impurities and foreign matter that the natural depurating organs have difficulty in eliminating, and the result is these impurities finally permeate every part of the entire body. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the greatest sins against the body is overeating. The intemperate indulgence in alcoholic liquors, is, unquestionably, a great evil. It fills thousands of graves, and ruins thousands of homes, annually. But the evil of alcoholic intemperance is at nothing when compared to the evil of overeating. The habit of overeating is almost universal. Hardly a home exists that is not made unhappy, to a greater or less extent, by this habit. Hardly a life has been wrecked in health that this evil has not played an important part in causing the wreckage? In fact the evil of alcoholic intemperance itself, is largely caused by overeating. The stomach becomes overloaded; the mass refuses to digest–it ferments, and there is a desire for something, the victim hardly knows what– anything to rid the stomach of its vile contents. Alcohol affords this temporary relief. It spurs up the organs to increased activity, as they endeavor to quickly eliminate the poison, and when alcoholic liquors are taken under these abnormal conditions, it may actually be a natural appetite and productive of benefit instead of evil, for the evil that will result from the undigested mass of fermenting food if it remains in the stomach for a great length of time might be as great or greater than that resulting from the use of liquor.

There has been so much preaching on alcoholic intemperance that whenever one speaks of intemperance he is supposed to refer only to this evil. But it is time these narrow-minded temperance advocates were awakened–it is time for them to realize that the real cause of alcoholic intemperance is intemperance in eating; and never until this is understood and made plain to the victims and the classes that are to furnish other victims, will anything of importance be accomplished towards stamping out the alcohol curse. Intemperance begins at the family table, and it is perfectly natural, perfectly logical, for it to drift to the corner saloon. Read the rest of this entry »

Filtering is of course of advantage, and whenever the water is inclined to be unsatisfactory a filter can be purchased, or a cheap one can easily be made for home use by merely arranging an apparatus so the water will pass through sand and charcoal. The necessity, however, for frequently cleaning the charcoal should not be forgotten.

The quantity of water needed to maintain the proper condition depends very greatly upon the individual and upon the temperature. In very warm weather considerable water is necessary, that the exterior part of the body may be cooled by evaporation, or perspiration, as it is usually termed. No matter how high the atmospheric temperature, the body retains in all cases when in a normal condition, a temperature of about 981/2 degrees Fahrenheit, and this is maintained simply by the cooling of the exterior surface from evaporation; thus you can readily see, if engaged in some vigorous exercise that heats the blood, or if the temperature is high, the necessity for water greatly increases.

Though pure water is unquestionably of great advantage, it would be well to call attention to the fact that if the body is in a normal condition of vigorous health there is little danger from water which gives no evidence of impurities to the taste. Under normal conditions of perfect health no disease germs of any kind can live in the human stomach. There are germs of health as well as germs of disease, and when the body is in a perfect condition, these germs of health are always stronger than any disease germs which may be introduced, and under these circumstances they are always the victors when compelled to come in contact with the baneful enemies to health.