Rural Hygiene Part 17

Providence intended the different digestive organs of the human body to work, and there is no possibility of condensed or concentrated foods taking the place of ordinary victuals, as has been suggested. The stomach must have some bulky material on which to work, and similarly the intestine must be comfortably filled in order to exert its forward movements. It is in the same way intended that each organ shall supply the necessary digestive juices to take care of the different kinds of foods taken into the system. It is just as important that the liver should be called upon to act on a certain amount of fat as that the gastric juice should break up the molecules of the proteid, and just as important as both of these is the fact that the saliva should flow freely to decompose the starch before it enters the stomach. It is not intended, however, that the healthy individual should deliberately overload any part of the digestive system.

If a child, in a hurry to get to school, swallows bread and milk without chewing and without allowing the starch to be acted upon in the mouth, then an overburden is placed on the pancreatic gland, making that organ less capable of its regular work. And if, again, the food is drenched in fat, if everything is fried, or if b.u.t.ter is used in large quant.i.ties, the liver becomes overworked and cannot keep up with the demands, and digestive troubles follow.

_Effect of individual habits._

a.s.suming that the amount and quality of food have been properly adjusted, that each of the several const.i.tuents is in proper proportion, and that a suitable variety is maintained, there are still other phases to be considered before the nourishment of the individual may be considered satisfactory. Nature has furnished man with a guide both to the quant.i.ty and quality of food that should be taken into the system,--that is, his desire for food, or his appet.i.te,--and, in general, this guide may be safely trusted both as to the quant.i.ty and quality, although, in the latter, the appet.i.te is not so trustworthy as that of the lower animals.

Unfortunately, the appet.i.te is easily distracted by the general conditions of health, and when once the healthy tone of the system has been relaxed, the appet.i.te becomes misleading. For instance, a person not indulging in muscular exercise, but sitting still all day and eating candy or other sweets, has no desire for food, and the lack of appet.i.te in this case indicates, not a failure of the need of food, but abnormal conditions of the system. Also the conditions of housing, lack of ventilation, excessive heat, excess in the use of stimulants or of food, all affect and interfere with the guidance of a normal appet.i.te. Some persons go to the other extreme, and, having been in their earlier years accustomed to heavy exercise and generous feeding, forget that in a more quiet life, less breaking down of the tissue occurs and therefore less food is required. Their appet.i.te is a poor guide since it leads them to immoderate eating, resulting in time in an overloading of the organs and the probable poisoning of the system.

_Cooking._

Good cooking is as important as any other part of the process of digestion, and, in fact, cooking may be said to be the first step, since there the breaking down of the food tissue occurs, whereby subsequent action by the juices of the body is made easier. For instance, beef may be cooked so long and in such a way as to dry and harden the fibers, making it almost impossible for subsequent digestion; and on the other hand, it is possible to so stew or boil or steam tough meat as to make it quite easily absorbed by the stomach. Cereals, if properly boiled at the right temperature, and for the right length of time, will have the starch granules so broken up that the saliva will act easily on the broken granules. Raw vegetables containing starch are not acted upon in the mouth and are digested afterwards only with great difficulty, while cooked vegetables are a most desirable article of diet.

A great deal is said nowadays about overeating, and Horace Fletcher affirms that the average man would be much healthier and much stronger if he ate not more than two meals and generally only one meal a day. The relation between the amount of food eaten or the amount of food absorbed or utilized and the need for food cannot be determined for the average but only for the individual. There is no doubt but that men or women doing muscular work require greater amounts of food than those not so engaged. It is a common practice to increase the amount of oats which a horse consumes when the horse has hard work to do and to cut down the amount of grain when the horse stands in the stable. It is curious that this practice, so well known to give good results, is not applied to the human animal as well. But very few men will be found voluntarily to diminish the amount of their breakfast or dinner because on that day or on the following day they are going to stay in the house instead of engaging in vigorous outdoor labor.

No discussion on foods would be complete without a repet.i.tion of the frequently given warning, against fried meats and vegetables. Frying coats the outside of the food with a layer of fat not easily penetrated by the digestive juice and not acted on in the stomach. Therefore, all fried food, unless thoroughly chewed and then only when the frying is done in very hot fat so that it remains on the outside of the whole piece, will pa.s.s through the stomach without being acted upon. Frying is a quicker process than roasting, an advantage which appeals to the American notion of haste, but it is better to begin the preparation of the meal earlier and cook the meat by roasting or stewing and the vegetables by boiling or baking rather than to postpone the preparation of the meal until ten minutes before the hour and then fry everything.

_Muscular and psychic reactions._

Another factor in the power of the body to utilize the food values is the condition of the body at the time of the meal. If the individual is exhausted or even tired, no complete digestion is possible, and particularly is this true if the exercise has involved excessive perspiration. So in hot weather, a heavy meal should not be eaten until after a half hour's rest and after copious water drinking to compensate for that loss of perspiration.

Studies on the digestion of foods and on other matters pertaining thereto have shown that the smell of food, or the mere suggestion of food, stimulates the organs for the production of the digestive juices.

It is directly and literally correct, therefore, to say that one's mouth waters for this or that food because the thought or antic.i.p.ation of the food, if pleasant, will actually cause the saliva to form and flow in the mouth. This is true of the other digestive juices as well, so that an appetizing fritter, for instance, showing the rich, brown crust will stir up the bile, and when the fried cake reaches the opening into the intestine, the bile will be there ready to act. This has been demonstrated by putting into the stomach of sleeping dogs various kinds of foods and finding that no digestive juices whatever were produced, although with the dog awake and seeing the food before eating, the juices began to flow in the usual fashion.

It follows, then, that the enjoyment of food is quite as important as any other digestive function, and on the contrary, the eating of all sorts of foods with no interest or attention is the best way to induce subsequent indigestion. The fact, then, that a business man eating at a quick-lunch counter does not get the full enjoyment and benefit from his meal as compared with those who sit leisurely over a well-appointed table does not result altogether from the difference in the viands, but rather in the different att.i.tude toward the meal. It would undoubtedly be a great gain in every household if more attention could be given to a cheerful intercourse at meal times--not for the better relationship which would follow, but merely for the effect on the digestion.

After meals, violent exercise is not desirable because thereby vitality is taken away from the muscles of the stomach and intestines and is used up in the other muscles; but it is vigorous exercise after heavy meals only that is condemned, since moderate exercise after ordinary meals is not objectionable. Nor is there any evidence, unless the meal has been excessive, that mental exercise after a meal does any harm. The amount of mental tissue used up in the ordinary processes of mental work is not great enough to call for any large diminution of the supply of blood to other parts of the body.

_Consumption of water._

A move in the right direction to-day undoubtedly is the tendency to increase the quant.i.ty of water to drink. The body is nine-tenths per cent water, and while a large part of the water in the tissues is made chemically by combinations of hydrogen and oxygen, there must be a constant replenishing of the liquids of the body.

The ordinary person ought to drink, or consume with his food in some way, at least two quarts of water a day, and many difficulties with the liver, kidneys, and other organs would be avoided if this amount of water daily were imbibed. Probably the contention that water should not be taken at meals is not particularly tenable except as the continual swallowing of water increases the tendency to swallow food without chewing, a childish habit sure to lead to distress later. But, to eat one's dinner or part of one's dinner and then drink a gla.s.s of water cannot reasonably be a.s.sumed to interfere with any digestive process. It is quite likely, in fact, that the greater dilution of the ma.s.s in the stomach will tend to easier absorption later on.

_Condiments and drinks._

There are certain kinds of foods which, though not strictly included in the four elements of food already named, yet are so common as to deserve special mention. Chief among these are the condiments and drinks, particularly coffee and tea. So far as the nutritive value of such materials as salt and pepper, vinegar or spices, goes, they are practically negligible, and yet, undoubtedly, these flavors play an important part in the suggestion of pleasure and therefore in the excitement leading to the excretion of the digestive juices. If one ate salt pork and boiled potatoes always, eating would be a tiresome affair, and it is quite likely that such a sameness of food would fail to excite subsequent digestion, merely from the monotony of the affair.

Salt, however, has a particular role in that the human body craves this mineral, and, while its exact value in the body is not clearly known, a certain amount of it must always be provided. The wild tribes of Africa, for instance, away from deposits of salt consider it their most valuable possession and will go to great lengths to procure it. Animals, in the same way, go great distances for a supply of salt.

Coffee and tea are generally consumed merely for the pleasure which the warm drink gives. Both, however, have a certain stimulating effect on the nervous system, and when a tired woman refuses food but drinks cup after cup of strong tea, the exhilarating effect can be produced only at the expense of nerves and muscular tissue which must be later atoned for. Similarly, when a man under stress drinks strong black coffee to keep up, he must pay the penalty for the stimulant. The natural forces of the human body are able to do normally a certain amount of work, their ability to perform this work being directly proportioned to the energy derived from the food-supply taken into the body.

No amount of tea, coffee, or alcohol will add to the living tissue of the system; it merely goads the nerves and muscles to further action, however tired and unwilling they may be. When the stimulant is stopped, or after a time in spite of the stimulant, the exhausted nerves and muscles refuse to continue, and the depleted body stops work and may even die. A certain amount of stimulants at infrequent intervals for particular occasions may do no harm, but the pity of it is that the habit once started, the ultimate effects are forgotten in the apparent relief of the moment. In the case of tea, besides the stimulating effect, a certain substance known as tannin is developed, particularly when the tea is boiled, and this substance is really harmful on account of its strong astringent property, which acts injuriously on the membrane of the stomach. The bitter taste of the tannin is disguised when milk is used with the tea, and it has been pointed out that tea used without milk or cream is safer than tea with milk, because without the milk the bitter taste would prevent the tea being boiled so long.

Alcohol is stimulating in its nature, because of its setting free from their usual control by the will the unconscious elements of the brain; while the effect of alcohol on the system as a whole is, as has been carefully proved by scientific investigation, unfortunate in every respect. Whether the alcohol be in the form of whisky or brandy or gin or in such milder forms as wines, beers, and hard cider, the continued use of even a small quant.i.ty acts adversely on the memory, on the will, on the intellect, on the inventive power, and on all the mental processes. It has a deteriorating effect on all the muscular tissue throughout the body, and while this is sufficiently deplorable, its effect on the mind is by far the more serious. No idea is more false than that a small amount of alcohol aids in the performance of work of any sort, and experience in the army, navy, and in exploring expeditions all go to show that the use of alcohol in any form reduces the capacity, both for activity and endurance. As a protection against cold, it is worse than useless, and the feeling of warmth which drinking alcohol in any form produces, does not manufacture heat in the body, but is rather a source of danger on account of the reaction of the whole system.

_Tobacco._

The use of tobacco may or may not be injurious to the human system, and it is said by those accustomed to its use that it is for them a source of great enjoyment and comfort. The essential poison of tobacco is known as nicotine, and experiments are very readily made with this substance, extracted from the plant, to show its deadly character on the heart and nerve cells of animals. It is easy to demonstrate that the use of tobacco affects the heart, since the common "out-of-breath feeling"

which comes to users of tobacco when climbing hills or running is well known. No young man training for an athletic event would think of smoking, on account of the danger to his wind.

No boy should smoke, because nothing should be allowed to interfere with the fullest development of the heart and nervous system, and without question tobacco is a potent factor in influencing both. In many individual cases it has been shown that the use of tobacco in excess has a bad effect on digestion, while in other cases the trembling hand and inattentive mind indicate the result on the nervous system. No general law or rule can be laid down, and each man must act as his own individual const.i.tution seems to require.

_The drug habit._

The use of drugs is, in some cases, so persistent and leads to such dire results that it is well worth while to enter a protest against such practices. The poor creatures who have become fast victims of the morphine habit or the opium habit or the cocaine habit, or of any one of a dozen which might be named, will not be affected by anything that may be said here. But a word of warning may serve to restrain those who are only at the beginning of this downward path of which the end is positive and certain. The use of drugs once begun is sure to increase until, stupefied by their action, the victim becomes a sot, unfitted for work and a burden to himself, his relatives, and his friends.

Not less dangerous is the use of so-called patent medicines. In most cases, patent medicines are swindles, pure and simple, containing no remedial ingredients and acting only as stimulants. An advertis.e.m.e.nt some time since, which claimed to cure not only tuberculosis but also cancer, falling of the womb, hair, or eyelids, insanity, epilepsy, drunkenness, disorderly conduct, and pimples was printed in many newspapers. This remarkable remedy was found by a.n.a.lysis to contain ninety-nine parts of water to one part of harmless salts. Many of the vaunted remedies contain morphine or alcohol in such large quant.i.ties as to be dangerous, the more so because their presence is not suspected.

Such remedies as Dr. Bull's Cough Syrup, Boschees German Sirup, Dr.

King's New Discovery for Consumption, Shiloh's Consumptive Cure, Piso's Consumptive Cure, Peruna, Duffy's Malt Whisky, Warner's Safe Cure, and Paine's Celery Compound are all by a.n.a.lysis said to contain large amounts of morphine, chloroform, or alcohol.

Consumptives cannot be cured by any drug now known, and any person who believes it is mistaken. Cancer still baffles the skill of the most clever and the best-trained scientists. It is perfect folly to believe that any drug or man can cure either disease by a few pills or by a few bottles of medicine. The wise man or woman will avoid patent medicines unless they carry their formula on their label _and unless they are prescribed by some reputable physician_.

CHAPTER XIII

_PERSONAL HYGIENE_

Whatever the conditions under which one lives, or whatever his abstract knowledge of foods and sanitation, the health of the individual resolves itself at last into a question of his personal habits; and some of these personal questions must be considered in a book of this character.

_Exercise._

One of the commonly accepted facts of hygiene is that, for the best development and for the perfect health of the human body, a certain amount of exercise should be taken by each part of the body. This is true not only for the larger muscles, such as those of the arms and legs, but also for the muscles of those internal organs less frequently considered. Experiments have been made by tying up some part of the body, such as the forearm, with the result that, in the course of a few weeks, its functions have been so lessened that its usefulness is temporarily at an end. But the general effect of exercise on the body, aside from the beneficial results on the particular muscles engaged, is to promote the building up of new lung tissue. Oxygen is received from the lungs through the blood and is carried to the different parts of the body, where it serves the useful purpose of carrying off the waste products of the different organs. If the lung action is inadequate, if deep breathing in fresh air is not practiced, or if, through laziness, no exercise is taken, then the amount of oxygen supplied will be deficient and the body will be loaded up with the toxic products resulting from decomposition. The exact effect of exercise upon the lung action may be seen from the fact that under ordinary circ.u.mstances a man breathes about 480 cubic inches of air per minute. If he is walking at the rate of 4 miles an hour, he inhales air at 5 times this rate, and if he is walking at the rate of 6 miles an hour, inspiration increases to seven times this rate, or 3360 cubic inches of air pa.s.ses through his lungs per minute instead of 480, as when at rest.

Of course, it is a.s.sumed that in the country a person has no lack of exercise, and that of all men the farmer is in least need of exercise.

But, as a matter of fact, the exercise which he gets is irregular and confined to certain sets of muscles, rather than to the development of the whole body. Agility, for instance, quickness of action and immediate control of the muscles, is far less common in the country than is supposed, although there is probably no lack in the actual power of the muscles. It is common observation that among farmers an erect carriage is less frequently seen than an awkward, shuffling gait. The fact is, that exercise, to be beneficial, should affect not one set of muscles, but all the muscles of the body, because the continuous exercise of one set, while leading first to growth, results later in demolition and waste. When, however all the muscles of the body are exercised, there is no demolition or waste, but a healthy growth throughout. Regular exercise is beneficial, not merely to the muscles involved, but also to the other organs of the body. Exercise sharpens the appet.i.te, makes digestion more perfect, and increases the absorptive power of the intestinal membranes; conversely, lack of exercise, which is found in the country in the winter, lessens both the digestive power and the appet.i.te.

_Clothing._

Little need be said on this subject, since the amount of clothing needed varies so greatly with the vitality of the individual. It has already been pointed out that in rural communities the death-rate from pneumonia, bronchitis, and similar respiratory troubles is much higher than in urban communities, and it is quite possible that deficient or unsuitable clothing is practically responsible for this.

The object of clothing is twofold: to protect the body against the weather, particularly against changes in the weather, and secondly, to protect the body against injury. Included in the former are the defenses against the elements of cold, wet, and heat; while the protection against injury is chiefly a matter of shoes. As has been pointed out, a large part of the food consumed by the body is utilized in the production of heat, whereby the body temperature is maintained at about 98 degrees Fahrenheit. A large part of this heat is continually being lost from and through the skin by radiation and evaporation, and evidently some regulating influence must be provided so that the amount of heat given off may be adjusted to variations of the external temperature. To be sure, the skin itself acts as a regulator, since a rise in temperature causes the blood vessels on the surface to distend so that a larger quant.i.ty of blood is distributed over the surface and thereby more freely evaporated. Fall of temperature, on the contrary, causes a contraction of the blood vessels and therefore a reduction in the evaporation. But this is not sufficient where external temperature undergoes wide variations, as in the northern and central parts of the United States, and a modification of the clothing is a necessary supplement. The main object of clothing, then, is not to keep out cold or heat, but to preserve and make uniform the evaporation from the body.

It is an agent of the same sort as food in so far as the body temperature is concerned, and without doubt light clothing requires a greater amount of food; while, on the other hand, warm clothing will make possible a lighter diet.

The best non-conductor of heat is still air, and if one could always remain in quiet air, no clothing of any sort would be necessary, even in the most severe weather, because the air itself would serve as a garment and would prevent radiation from the body. Therefore, loose, porous garments containing air in their folds and pores are much warmer than a single, tightly woven garment, and the same material made up in three or four thicknesses will give the body far more warmth than an equal weight of texture made up in a single thickness. Similarly, a tight garment is much less warm than a loose one. A practical demonstration of this fact is found in the comparative lack of warmth in an old, much-washed, quilted, bed blanket which is very heavy but quite lacking in warmth compared with a light fluffy woolen blanket, newly purchased.

Much has been written on the advantages of woolen underwear, on the ground that since clothing is intended to retain the body heat and since wool acts as a more effective non-conductor of heat than either cotton or linen, therefore the woolen undergarment is of the greatest value. Another argument urged in favor of woolen undergarments is that they check the chill resulting from excessive perspiration, since the non-conducting power of wool prevents any rapid evaporation of perspiration responsible for the lower temperatures. For this reason, woolen undergarments are always recommended for those climbing mountains or in occupations where violent exercise is likely to be followed by rest or quiet in cold air. The objection to woolen undergarments at all times is that with sensitive skins irritation may take place, and the odd saying of Josh Billings becomes pertinent, namely, that "the only thing that a wool shirt is good for is to make a man scratch and forget his other troubles." Underwear woolen only in part may take the place of all-wool garments and have the further advantage of being less expensive. The amount of clothing worn in winter depends, or should depend, on the character of the occupation of the wearer.

Formerly, heavy woolen underclothes were almost universally worn throughout the winter without regard to the employment of the individual. When an out-of-door occupation was pursued a large part of the time or when the temperature indoors was hardly above freezing, then heavy clothing was essential; but now that much time is spent in a well-heated house or office, heavy clothing is as objectionable as overheated rooms, and the comfort and health of the body will be much better preserved by not increasing the weight of clothing except when exposed to the outer air. It must be remembered, however, that old persons, whose circulation is impaired and who are forced to lead sedentary lives, will always have difficulty in maintaining the body heat unless the outer temperature is high, and for such, woolen undergarments are very useful. The outer garments in winter, to be efficient, must have two qualities, namely, an impervious surface so that winds may not penetrate and a loose open weave in which air may be held so that warmth may be secured.

Rubber boots, although very common in the country, are not desirable as a foot covering, because they do not allow the perspiration to evaporate, but rather hold the foot in a moist condition very detrimental to it. Rubber-cloth overshoes or arctics are much better than rubber boots, and felt overshoes are equally satisfactory.

Chilblains are fostered by the use of rubber boots, and cloth shoes are a great relief when the feet are thus affected.

_Ventilation of bedroom._

Since the agitation for fresh air has become so extensive and the knowledge of the dangers of tuberculosis so widespread, much more attention has been given to the ventilation of bedrooms, and whereas formerly the night air was religiously excluded from a sleeping room, it is not at all uncommon now for a window to be kept wide open, even through the coldest nights of winter. From what has already been said on the subject of ventilation, it is plain that to breathe over and over one's expired air is not healthy, and while it is possible that a bedroom may be so large that the concentration of the organic matter in the air may not affect an individual sleeping in the room, yet in most cases it must be admitted that the bedroom is so small or the number of people in the bedroom so large that this possibility does not exist. It is, again, possible that the structure of the house may be so poor that it is not necessary to open a window to get plenty of fresh air; the writer remembers sleeping in rooms where, with the windows shut, paths of snow across the floor in the morning showed the intimate connection between the inside and the outside of the room.