Maintaining Health (Formerly Health and Efficiency)Alsaker, Rasmus Larssen
Science
Maintaining Health (Formerly Health and Efficiency)
Alsaker, Rasmus Larssen
Diet; Hygiene
The brain gets a copious blood supply, yet the hardening of the arteries
often deprives this organ of its necessary nourishment. Then the higher
faculties begin to abdicate. If the hardening is extensive senile
softening of the brain may take place. This is always due to a lack of
pure blood. Sometimes the arteries are brittle enough to break. Baldness
is another symptom of physical decay. The hair follicles are not
properly nourished, for the arteries have become so contracted and the
tissues of the scalp so hardened that there is not enough blood to feed
the hair roots. Baldness begins on top of the head, generally the only
part affected, because it is farthest away from the blood supply.
Baldness is also partly due to man's headwear. Women are rarely bald.
There is a saying that there are no bald men in the poorhouse. Even if
this were true, it would not be very consoling, for the bald heads on
the street cleaning forces are numerous.
Overeating also causes premature aging because if results in
fermentation in the alimentary tract. The acids produced cause
degeneration of various tissues, having an especially bad effect on the
nervous system, which reflects the evil to other parts of the body.
It is well to bear in mind how this comes about: First there is
overeating; too much food improperly prepared is taken into the blood
stream; this makes the blood impure; deposits, causing hardening of the
tissues and reduction of the lumen of the vessels, are formed; the blood
grows more impure and the circulation sluggish; the tissues are
constantly bathed in impure blood, causing further degeneration. When a
certain point is reached nature can tolerate no more and life flits
away.
Those who wish to remain young must give some thought to the selection
of their food, especially if they are hearty eaters. If only sufficient
food is taken to keep the body well nourished it does not make much
difference what is eaten, provided it contains sufficient of fresh
foods, for when only enough food is taken to supply fuel and repairing
material, the food will all be used and none is left to ferment in the
digestive tract and form deposits in the body. The body will then keep
itself clean, or at least the formation of deposits takes place so
slowly that it is hardly perceptible. This can be compared with the
process taking place in the flues of a boiler. Stoke properly and they
remain clean. Choke the firebox with an excess of coal and the
combustion is so incomplete that the flues are soon filled up and the
grates are often burned out. Just so with the body: Feed too heavily and
the digestive organs are burned by the abnormal amount of acid produced
and the blood-vessels are filled with debris.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account