Maintaining Health (Formerly Health and Efficiency) Part 37

It is necessary to give the skin some care if continued good health is desired during the latter part of life. The skin has a tendency to grow hard, which should not be allowed. It will always remain soft if it is properly cared for. When our ancestors roved forests and plains with scarcely any attire, the skin exposed to the rain and the sunshine, there was no need to give it special care. It served its purpose of protecting their bodies and was exercised through its immediate contact with the elements in all kinds of weather. Now the skin has little opportunity to exercise its protective function and the result is that it is not as active as it should be. The skin must be active to rid itself of the waste that the blood-vessels leave with it. The best exercise for this important organ is rubbing. The whole body should be rubbed every day and it would be well to do this twice a day. An occasional olive oil rub is also good. The rubbings make the body hardier. They also help to keep the circulation active and the skin smooth and soft. The blood is brought near the surface. The tendency as we grow older is for the circulation to grow less and less near the surface and in the extremities. This is slow death.

The daily rub is more important than the daily bath. If we have enough rubbing very little bathing is necessary, for an active skin cleans itself.

There are many men who have lived in the conventional way until the age of forty, fifty or sixty. They have been healthy, which means that they have been able to work most of the time, but have had their share of ills, which have incapacitated them for work or business at various times. They find after reaching a certain age that they are surely going down hill physically and that they are not as active mentally as previously. The question is, can anything be done under the circ.u.mstances? Very few of these people are in such a bad physical state that death is inevitable within the next few years. If they seek the right advice and follow it, they can generally continue to live in improved health for thirty to sixty years more.

A celebrated case in point is that of Louis Cornaro, an Italian, who died in the year 1566 at the age of one hundred and two years. In his youth he was very indiscreet and dissipated. He lived riotously until he was forty years old, and then he found himself in such poor physical condition that it was only a question of a few months until the end would come. He had everything to make life worth living, except health, so he decided to attempt to regain health and prolong his life. He quit his old life, began to live simply and instead of being a waster he became a useful citizen. We are unable to get much definite information about his habits from what he wrote but we learn that he reduced the quant.i.ty of food taken and used fewer varieties. Also, he drank sparingly of wine. He did not have any definite ideas regarding diet except that it is best to eat moderately and avoid the foods that disagree with one. In his own words: "Little by little I began to draw myself away from my disorderly life, and, little by little, to embrace the orderly one. In this manner I gave myself up to the temperate life, which has not since been wearisome to me; although, on account of the weakness of my const.i.tution, I was compelled to be extremely careful with regard to the quality and quant.i.ty of my food and drink. However, those persons who are blessed with strong const.i.tutions may make use of many other kinds and qualities of food and drink, and partake of them, in greater quant.i.ties, than I do; so that, even though the life they follow be the temperate one, it need not be as strict as mine, but much freer."

These sentences were written fifty or sixty years after he changed his mode of life, and show how well Mr. Cornaro realized the important fact that all people need not be treated alike. They also show that after making the change, Mr. Cornaro did not find it difficult to live simply enough to enjoy health. In nearly every instance it is temporarily disagreeable to forsake the path that is leading to death and take the one that leads to life, but after one gets used to the new way, it appears more beautiful and is more pleasant than the old.

If Cornaro had died at forty, as nearly every person situated as he was would have done, his life would have been a total loss. A few of those who were his boon companions and dissipated with him would have thought of him for a few years and regretted his early pa.s.sing, for "he was a jolly good fellow." He lived a useful life, for over sixty years thereafter, and has left us in his debt for his beautiful exhortations to be temperate.

Many of the physical wrecks we meet, who will probably live from a few months to a few years more, if they continue in the old way, are in the same boat as Mr. Cornaro was at forty. They have had enough experience to begin to do good work, to be of some benefit to humanity. Instead of living and giving the world their best, they die. The world has had to educate these people, and it is expensive. Instead of living on and doing their work, they leave us when they ought to begin to repay us for what we have done for them. They are quitters.

Suppose Andrew Carnegie had died at the time he sold out his steel business. To most people he would have left an unsavory memory, for though we should have considered him successful from the business standpoint, many of us would say that the means were not justified by the end. However, Mr. Carnegie has spent many years since in furthering the cause of the spread of knowledge and in working for universal peace.

Perhaps when Carnegie, the man of business, is well nigh forgotten, Carnegie, the educator, will be held in tender and thankful memory. He is now influencing the times for good and this influence will go down the ages.

A man has no right to say that he is weary of life and that he wants to die. The race has a claim on him. We learn through our mistakes. The race in general has to pay and suffer for every individual's education.

When a man has acquired a measure of wisdom through experience, we have a right to claim it as our own.

Many men are wise in their own lines, but they have been so busy attending to the affairs that brought them success that they have omitted to learn how to have health. These people owe it to themselves and to humanity to take enough time to learn how to live so that they can work in health. The better the health the finer their product.

Health and efficiency go hand in hand.

What is a man to do when he has reached middle age and finds himself degenerating? A man ought to know how to live at forty, but if he does not he should immediately learn. It may be true that "a man is a fool or a physician at forty," yet there is time and if a man lacks wisdom at forty he should immediately acquire some. Such an individual should get the best health adviser possible, avoiding any man who would have him take drugs. What he needs is not medicine, but to learn how to live. I am confident that the careful reader will find enough knowledge in this book to give him the key to the situation.

If the sufferer uses narcotics and stimulants, they must be stopped immediately. Even the least harmful of these, such as beer and light wine, should be avoided until good health has been won. These beverages need never be used. If they are taken rarely and in moderation they do no harm.

In every case that has come under my observation it has been necessary to simplify the food intake, that is, to reduce the quant.i.ty and the number of articles of food taken at each meal, also to simplify the cooking. The result is that the individual gets less food, but it is of better quality, for the conventional cooking spoils much of the food.

Most of these men neglect to exercise. It is necessary to be active and in the open, also to take good care of that important organ, the skin.

Constipation is common, and it is a very annoying symptom, which disappears in time under proper living. The absorption of poisons from a constipated lower bowel is one of the factors that causes premature aging. When the constipation is overcome there are a feeling of physical well-being and a mental clearness which are impossible in the presence of constipation.

The treatment of such a condition is very much the same as the treatment of catarrh or any other curable disease, that is, find the errors of living and correct them.

It is really surprising how little food people need after they are fifty or sixty years old. If such people eat enough to be well nourished, but not enough to produce any bad feelings there will be no disease. People who die from disease are physical failures, for the natural end does not come in a physical upheaval. Those who live as they should will pa.s.s away without any pain. The organism simply grows weary and goes into the last sleep.

There are people who say that there needs be no physical death. Harry Gaze wrote an entertaining book on the subject some years ago and gave lectures in this country. It will not convince the average student of nature that people can live forever, for in nature there is constant change. The order of life is birth, development, reproduction, decline and death. It is not likely that man is an exception.

It is believed that in olden times men were larger and lived longer than they do today. There is not much foundation for such a belief to rest upon, except in a few cases. The last census shows that there are several thousand centennarians in the United States. In the Technical World for March, 1914, appeared an article by Byron C. Utecht, ent.i.tled, "When is Man Old?" This magazine is careful in gathering its facts. I shall quote a few paragraphs:

"Abraham Wilc.o.x, of Fort Worth, Texas, is one hundred and twelve years old, but he takes keen enjoyment in life. He walks two miles or more every day as a const.i.tutional and, occasionally, he even takes a small gla.s.s of beer. He looks forward with all the enthusiasm of a boy to a visit to the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915. Mr. Wilc.o.x reads the newspapers every day and is interested in everything about him, from the food being prepared for his dinner to the latest feats by aeroplanes.

This aged man looks forty or fifty years younger than he really is. His skin is white but not deeply lined. His vision is excellent and he walks nearly erect. Thirty years ago he gave up smoking, as his doctors warned him he was near death from old age and that the use of tobacco would only hasten the end."

"In the Ozark Mountains of Marion County, Arkansas, just across the Missouri line, lives Mrs. Elmyra Wagoner. She, too, is one hundred and twelve years old. There are a thousand wrinkles in her face and she looks her age, but in her actions she is sixty. Up until a very few years ago, when still past the hundred-year mark, Mrs. Wagoner kept a large garden and was able to work in the fields. While she has given up outdoor work, she is still active. On inclement days she sits by the fireplace in her mountain home and spins. On pleasant days she may be found walking about the yard. Recently her great-great-granddaughter was married at Protein, Missouri, six miles from the Wagoner home. This woman of one hundred and twelve years walked to the wedding, enjoyed it, and then walked back home, a distance that would tire many persons half that age. There are scores of persons at Protein who vouch for this and they tell of similar feats by Mrs. Wagoner showing remarkable physical power.

"Asked to give the causes of her longevity, the aged woman smiled and said that she hated to admit she was getting old. 'Clean, honest living, plenty of work, plenty of good food, and a desire to help others when sick or in trouble, I think gave me my long lease of life. I was always so busy caring for others and thinking of them that I never had time to worry whether I was getting old or not.'"

"Asa Goodwin, of Serrett, Alabama, is one hundred and six years old. His endurance powers are even more remarkable than those of Mrs. Wagoner or Abraham Wilc.o.x. He walks five miles every day. He works several hours daily in his garden, eats anything he likes, and reads without gla.s.ses.

His family is probably the largest in the United States. A reunion recently held in his honor was attended by eight hundred and fifty persons, three hundred and fifty being blood relatives. Goodwin has been a hunter all his life and he frequently takes down his rifle and proves that his aim is still good. He ascribes his length of life and vitality to his great interest in outdoor sport and hunting, when a young man, developing a rugged const.i.tution that lasted him many years after he was forced to quit strenuous work because of 'old age.' He a.s.serts that he was so busy living that he reached one hundred and six years before he realized it and wants to live fifty years more if possible. 'I feel as if I could do it, too,' he declares. 'I now can take my ease and comfort and the world looks good to me. I have always lived a temperate life, never drank, never kept late hours, and still have had as much or more fun than the average man, I think. It is only now when I have nothing to do that I get to worrying and when I find myself in that condition I take a walk or weed the garden and then feel better.'"

These people are not in what some call the higher walks of life, but they have succeeded in living, where almost all fail. They have been useful members of society, satisfied to take life as it comes, and thus they have gathered much of the sweet. They have enjoyed life, and those who enjoy give enjoyment to others. It takes an audience to make even the best of plays.

Mrs. Wagoner is not rich, but she has a philosophy that is riches enough. She knows that she receives through giving. She has lived this knowledge, which has brought blessings upon her.

These people have all led simple lives and they have worked. There is no secret about growing old gracefully. It means self-control, simple living, work for body and mind, cleanliness of body and mind, and the most important part of physical cleanliness is a clean colon. It is necessary to have a tranquil mind most of the time, for anger and worry are injurious to health.

The average span of life is lengthening. In the sixteenth century the average European did not live to be twenty years old. Now he lives to be about forty. The same increase has taken place in America. In India and China the average of life is still below twenty-four years. As civilization advances the tendency is for the average of life to lengthen, provided life does not grow so complex that knowledge is antidoted by too great artificiality.

However, it is well to note that it is not the last part of life that is being lengthened. We are allowing less and less infants to die as the years roll on. The proportion of the adult population that reaches advanced age is no greater than in the past. Our mode of life is so wrong that tuberculosis, typhoid fever, cancer, kidney diseases, pneumonia and circulatory degeneration carry off immense numbers of those whom we call middle aged, but who are really young people. These are diseases of degeneration. It is to our interest to reduce these diseases. Proper living will do it.

The life expectancy of people over fifty is even less than it was thirty years ago. Middle aged people die from diseases caused by bad habits, extended over a period of years. Therefore, these people should learn to live well if they would live longer.

The diet of the old can be about the same as that of an adult in the prime of life, except that less should be eaten. Those who live correctly have no digestive disturbances. It will be noted by those who are normal that there is not a desire for as much food as earlier in life, and this should be a guide. Old people get all the nourishment they need in two moderate meals a day. If the three-meal-a-day plan is preferred, it is all right, but then less should be taken at each meal.

White flour products are easier to digest than the whole wheat products, but normal people can digest the latter very well and it is a better food than white flour. I know one gentleman in his eighth decade of life who has grown stronger and younger by abandoning the conventional eating habits and living mostly on moderate meals of milk and whole wheat biscuits. As Cornaro said, some need more than others, but all should be moderate.

One meal a day of milk and biscuits is all right. These biscuits should be well baked and well masticated. The milk should be taken slowly.

Another meal can be meat or eggs or fish with some of the cooked and raw succulent vegetables.

If a third meal is taken, it may consist of clabbered milk or b.u.t.termilk; or of one of the sweet fruits, and the sweet fruits may be used any time in place of bread or biscuits. Cottage cheese is a good food at any time, and may be taken with fruits, either acid or sweet.

As often as desired, in summer, take fruit. Because the very acid, juicy fruits have a tendency to cause chilliness and to thin the blood, it is well to take them in moderation during advanced years, but that does not mean that those who like them should avoid them. In winter time the sweet fruit is best. Mild apples and bananas may be used as often as there is a desire for them. Oranges should be taken more rarely, as well as grapefruit, pineapples and other fruits that are heavily charged with acid.

As a general rule, the starchy foods should be eaten but once a day, but those who are very moderate may take them twice a day without bad results. Vegetarians have eggs and milk to take the place of flesh foods. They also have lentils, peas, beans and the protein in the whole wheat and other cereals. Lentils, peas and beans must be taken in moderation, for they are rich in nutriment and if too much is eaten they soon cause disease. Nuts, if well masticated, are also all right.

The general basis of feeding should be starch once a day and protein once a day in moderation. All kinds of starch and all kinds of protein may be used. Fruits more moderately than during the earlier years of life is best. All the succulent vegetables that are desired may be partaken of. By cooking the foods simply, as recommended in this book, they are rendered easier to digest than under the conventional manner of cooking. Simple cooking will help to preserve health and prolong life.

Work is one of the greatest blessings of life. Those who would live long and be useful must exercise both body and mind. Like all other blessings, if it is carried to excess it is injurious. It is unfortunate that some people must work too hard because there is a cla.s.s of people who do nothing useful, being content to be wasters.

Work has been looked upon as a curse. This is a mistake. Those who live in the hope and expectation that they may some day cease working in order to enjoy life, will find when they reach the goal that life without work is not worth while. Those who can afford it can with benefit lessen the amount of productive work they do and evolve more into cultural lines, but it is dangerous to cease working. The human being is so const.i.tuted that without activity of body and mind there is degeneration. What is sadder than to see a capable individual who has won a competence and then has retired to enjoy it! He does not enjoy it.

Either he has to get into some line of work, physical or mental, or he soon dies. We must have a lively interest in something or there is stagnation.

There are many beautiful things in life, and we should cultivate them while we are young enough to be able to learn to enjoy them. The loftiest spirits of the ages have left their inspirations and their aspirations with us in poetry, prose, music, painting, statuary and in other forms. We should try to cultivate understanding of these subjects, not necessarily all of them, but of one or more, for with understanding come the elevation and broadening of mind that are always present when there is sympathy, and sympathy is closely related to understanding.

Culture along one or more lines broadens the mind and makes a person more worth while not only to himself, but to others. We can not estimate the value of the beauty in life in dollars and cents, but he is poor indeed who is rich in worldly goods alone.

It is necessary to be interested in the activities about us. Those who think of nothing or no one except themselves are almost dead to the world, even though they go through the same physical activities as other people. The tendency is to get into a rut with advancing years and remain there. It is easy to keep both a pliable mind and a pliable body in spite of age, and this can be done by intelligent use. A short time daily should be spent in becoming informed of what is happening throughout the world and thinking it over. A mental hobby is most excellent. A garden or a few birds can furnish an almost inexhaustible source of interest. Those who doubt this should read of the comedy and tragedy among such humble beings as the spider, the fly and the beetle.

J. H. Fabre has written charmingly about these, investing them with an interest rarely to be found in good fiction. This naturalist is a good example of what can be accomplished when one has years to do it in and is content to labor along from day to day without giving too much thought for the morrow. At fifty Mr. Fabre was practically unknown. Now, at about ninety, he is one of the most admired and best loved of men.

His recognition came late and he has done much of his best work during his later years. If Mr. Fabre had died at the average age of forty, the world would have been deprived of his beautiful insight.

Another cause of old age is getting mentally old. An individual begins to grow old by dwelling on the subject. The girl of thirteen must cease romping and racing about because it is not lady-like. At twenty-five it is very, very undignified to run a little. At forty a woman must be rather sedate, for being natural would mean frivolity. People are continually growing too old to do this and that, not because they have lost the desire and the ability, but because it is unbecoming at their age. This is folly. Keep a young heart all through life. A heartfelt laugh is one of nature's best tonics. There is no more harm in dancing at fifty than at fifteen and not so much danger.

The relaxation of muscles and sagging of the face are as much the result of mental att.i.tude as of loss of tonicity. Thinking young and a.s.sociating with children are helpful and healthful. People who are very stiff and dignified are mentally sterile. The charming people are the ones who are willing and able to understand and sympathize with the aims and aspirations of others, and in order to do so it is necessary to thaw out.

The art of life is delightful if properly developed.

Worry is such a detriment that its victims can neither live nor work as they should. It is necessary to overcome this bad habit. Most of the worry is due to narrow selfishness. Much of it is caused by the fact that others will not do as we do. To try to make others accept our standards and then worry and fret because they will not is folly. When force is employed to convert anyone the conversion is but superficial and lasts only so long as the converted individual's hypocrisy holds out. To get the best out of life we have to be broad, forbearing, patient and forgiving.

A normal old age is beautiful. It is the privilege, nay more, the duty of every intelligent being to attain it. When we adjust ourselves we shall live longer.