The Human Comedy
Categories: Diet and NutritionSources: How And When To Be Your Own Doctor
I know most of my readers have been heavily indoctrinated about food
and think they already know the truth about dietetics. I also know
that so much information (and misinformation) is coming out about
diet that most of my readers are massively confused about the
subject. These are two powerful reasons many readers will look with
disbelief at what this chapter has to say and take no action on my
data, even to prove me wrong.
Let me warn you. There is a deep-seated human tendency to put off
taking responsibilities, beautifully demonstrated by this old joke.
A 14 year old boy was discovered masturbating by his father, who
said, "son, you shouldn't do that! If you keep it up you'll
eventually go blind!"
"But father," came the boy's quick reply. "It feels good. How about
if I don't quit until I need to wear glasses?"
More
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The Esophagus
A few of the anatomical details must be kept especially in mind when it is desired to introduce straight and rigid instruments down the lumen of the gullet. First and most important is the fact that the esophageal walls are exceedingly thin and deli... The Expletive Method Blood-letting
has been advocated by some of the best authorities, and there cannot be a doubt but that it must have rendered good service in cases of violent reaction, or else men like de Haen, Wendt, Willan, Morton, Alcock, Dewees, Dawson, Dewar, Hammond, &c., w... The Extraction Of Tightly Fitting Foreign Bodies From The Bronchi
Annular Edema Such objects as marbles, pebbles, corks, etc., are drawn deeply and with force by the inspiratory blast into the smallest bronchus they can enter. The air distal to the impacted foreign body is soon absorbed, and the negative pressure... The Eye
How the Eye is Made. Next in importance after the smell and the taste of our food comes the appearance of it; hence, our need of eyes to help us in choosing what to eat, as well as how to avoid the dangers about us. The eyes began as little sensi... The Form Of The Thoracic Cavity And The Position Of The Lungs Heart And Larger Bloodvessels
In the human body there does not exist any such space as cavity, properly so called. Every space is occupied by its contents. The thoracic space is completely filled by its viscera, which, in mass, take a perfect cast or model of its interior. The t... The Freedom Of Life
I AM so tired I must give up work," said a young woman with a very strained and tearful face; and it seemed to her a desperate state, for she was dependent upon work for her bread and butter. If she gave up work she gave up bread and butter,... The Frightening Heart
Heart disease is one of the major causes of death among North Americans. It evokes images of resuscitation, of desperate races against time, trying to restart an arrested heart before the brain dies. It makes people think of horribly expensive surge... The Fulcrum Of The Bronchoscopic Lever Is At The Upper Thoracic Aperture
Disregard of this rule will cause subglottic edema and will limit the lateral motion of the tip of the bronchoscope. It is the function of the assistant to make the head and neck follow the direction of the proximal end of the bronchoscope and thus... The Fundamental Principle
If you are a true believer in any of the above food religions, I expect that you will find my views unsettling. But what I consider "good diet" results from my clinical work with thousands of cases. It is what has worked with those cases. My eclecti... The Future Of Life Extension
I beg the readers indulgence for a bit of futurology about what things may look like if the life extension movement continues to develop. Right now, a full vitamin and vitamin-like substance life extension program costs between $50 and $100 dolla... The Glands In The Skin
Sweat Glands. Like all the pavement (epithelial) surfaces of the body, inside and out, the skin has the power of making glands by dipping down little pouches or pockets into the layers below. In the skin, these little gland-pockets are of two kinds,... The Guidance Of The Body
THE literature relating to the care of the human body is already very extensive. Much has been written about the body's proper food, the air it should breathe, the clothing by which it should be protected, the best methods of its development... The Habit Of Illness
IT is surprising how many invalids there are who have got well and do not know it! When you feel ill and days drag on with one ill feeling following another, it is not a pleasant thing to be told that you are quite well. Who could be expecte... The Half-bath The Sitz- Or Hip-bath
Should the half-bath or shallow-bath (which are technical terms for the bath described above), not be sufficient to relieve the head, the patient must be placed in a _sitz-_ or _hip-bath_ of 65 deg. to 70 deg. and stay there, with his body covered b... The Healing Crisis And Retracing
Certain unpleasant somatics that occur while fasting (or while on a healing diet) may not be dangerous or "bad." Two types, the healing crisis, and retracing, are almost inevitable. A well-educated faster should welcome these discomforts when they h... The Healing Influence Of Music
Dubito, an omnia, quae de incantamentis dicuntur carminibusque, non sint adscribenda effectibus musicis, quia excellebant eadem veteres medici. HERMANN BOERHAAVE. (1668-1738.) Preposterous a... The Healing Influence Of Music Continued
Dr. Herbert Lilly, in a monograph on musical therapeutics, expresses the opinion that musical sounds received by the auditory nerve, produce reflex action upon the sympathetic system, stimulating or depressing the vaso-motor nerves, and thus influ... The Heart
Structure and Action of the Heart. Now what is it that keeps the blood whirling round and round the body in this wonderful way? It is done by a central pump (or more correctly, a little explosive engine), with thick muscular walls, called the heart,... The Heart In Pneumonia
As pneumonia heads the list of the causes of death in this country, and as the heart fails so quickly, sometimes almost in the beginning in pneumonia, a special discussion of the management of the heart in this disease is justifiable. Acute lobar... The Human Comedy
I know most of my readers have been heavily indoctrinated about food and think they already know the truth about dietetics. I also know that so much information (and misinformation) is coming out about diet that most of my readers are massively conf... The Inward And The Outward Current
I have already said that when the conducting-cords are of equal length, as for the most part they should be, the central point of the circuit will be in the person of the patient, about midway between the two electrodes. Now, since the current alway... The Journey Down The Food Tube
The Flow of Saliva and Appetite Juice. We are now ready to start some food-fuel, say a piece of bread, on its journey down our food tube, or alimentary canal. One would naturally suppose that the process of digestion would not begin until the food g... The Light Reflex On The Forceps
It is often difficult for the beginner to judge to what depth an instrument has been inserted through the tube. On slowly inserting a forceps through the tube, as the blades come opposite the distal light they will appear brightly illuminated; or s... The Lookout Department
Why the Eyes, Ears, and Nose are Near the Mouth. If you had no eyes, ears, or nose, you might just as well be dead; and you soon would be, if you had no one to feed you and guide you about and take care of you. Naturally, all three of these scouts a... The Lower Animals
It may, by some, be objected that, if we regard sensation as existing only in the mind, as affirmed above, then we must concede mind to the lower animal tribes, since they are subjects of consciousness, sensation and will, as truly as ourselves. I a... The Malignant Forms Of Scarlet-fever
are caused by the character of the epidemy, but, perhaps, more frequently by the weak and sickly constitution of the patient and the external circumstances affecting it. Thus, persons of scrofulous habit, being naturally of a low organization, witho... The Muscles
Importance of the Muscles. It wouldn't be of much use to smell food, if we couldn't pick it up and bite it after we had reached it; or to see danger, if we were not able to move away from it. Every animal that lives, moves; and every movement, whe... The Nails
How the Nails are Made. Another trade, which our wonderful skin has literally at its fingers' ends, is that of making nails. Indeed, every kind of scale, armor, fur, feather, and leather coating possessed by bird, beast, or fish was made by, and out... The Need Of Pure Air
Free Air is Pure. As air, in the form of wind, actually sweeps all outdoors, day and night, it clearly is likely to pick up a good many different kinds of dust and dirt, which may not be wholesome when breathed into our lungs. Fortunately, nature's ... The Nerves In The Skin
How We Tell Things from Touch, and Feel Heat and Cold and Pain. Last of all, the skin is the principal organ of the sense of touch, and also of the temperature sense--the sense of heat and cold--and of the sense that feels pain. All these feelings a... The Nose
How the Nose is Made. The nose began as a pair of little puckers, or dimples, just above the mouth, containing cells that were particularly good smellers, in order to test the food before it was eaten. All smells rise, so these cells were right on t... The Organic Versus Chemical Feud
Now, regrettably, and at great personal risk to my reputation, I must try to puncture the very favorite belief of food religionists, the doctrine that organically grown food is as nutritious as food can possibly be, Like Woody Allen's brown-rice-eat... The Period Of Convalescence
under the usual drug-treatment, is, however, usually protracted to twice or thrice the duration of the disease, the patient being compelled to keep the house for five or six weeks, especially from fear of _anasarca_, or dropsy of the skin, frequentl... The Plumbing And Sewering Of The Body
The Wastes of the Body. Almost everything that the body does in the process of living means the breaking down, or burning, of food; and produces, like every other kind of burning, two kinds of waste--smoke and ashes. The carbon dioxid smoke, as w... The Poor Start
For this reason it makes sense to take vitamins and food supplements, to be discussed in the next chapter. And because our food supply, Organic or "conventional," is far from optimum, if a person wants to be and remain healthy and have a life span t... The Power Of Words
In every word there is a magic influence, and each word is in itself the breath of the internal and moving spirit. JOSEPH ENNEMOSER: The History of Magic. There is magic in words, surely, and many a treasur... The Prime Rules Of Fasting
Another truism of natural hygiene is that we dig our own graves with our teeth. It is sad but true that almost all eat too much quantity of too little quality. Dietary excesses are the main cause of death in North America. Fasting balances these exc... The Prognosis
under a well conducted course of hydriatic treatment is, in general, favorable. Much depends, however, on the season of the year (in damp and cold weather--partly owing to a lack of pure air in the sick-room--the disease is more dangerous than in su...