A completely nourished nervous system is the basis of health, strength, poise, confidence, contentment, and the incentive to dare, to create, and to become. It is likewise the foundation of normal action, therefore of what is generally termed morality.
When the nervous-mental system is poorly nourished or starved for want of such foods as will supply nerves and brain with the elements constantly required, life appears undesirable, the mind is incapable of functioning properly and of choosing between right and wrong; it is impossible under these conditions for a person to see the bright side of life and, to such suffers, clouds do not appear as having silver linings.
The truth of the preceding statements is readily demonstrated
when we give a careful analysis to that frequently met ailment
generally termed Neurasthenia.(1) A thorough examination of a
person thus suffering frequently fails to show any organic disease
or lesion, the organs appear to be healthy and functioning normally,
yet the victim suffers the tortures of the damned every hour of
the day and most of the hours of the night.
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(1) This term is little used today. Although it is still descriptive
of the condition. The more recent term is Adrenal Syndrome. For
a detailed report on this condition. see The Adrenal Syndrome.
published by the Humanitarian Publishing Company. Quakertown.
PA
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The mental suffering alone may become so unbearable as to
cause the victim to think constantly of suicide as the easiest
way out, or to be afraid to be with children for he may do them
bodily harm even though he knows that he would not willingly harm
any living creature. There may be an incapacity for sleep for
nights at a time, because no sooner are the eyes closed than the
mind conjures up frightful pictures of every description. If the
sufferer begins to plan, he finds that in spite of all he can
do, his thoughts constantly run contrary to what he desires to
think. The future appears as a dreary blank. The mind can picture
only the immediate work ahead and beyond that life seems worthless
and of little import. He looks into the beyond, it is hopeless.
What is there in all the years to come but dreary idleness? He
walks the byways of the country or the streets of the city and
passing men and women hold the same indifferent attraction - his
desire for the
companionship of women is nil; the woman who draws the attention
of all men as she passes them, has no more attraction for him
than a man; there seems to be no such emotion as love; it is as
a thing of the past and he remembers it only as the dream of a
restless sleep He attempts to review the past with its love for
friends, sweetheart, wife, children, parents, or brethren, but
all these appear as in a mist and try as he will, only indifference
remains. As night and darkness approach his fears multiply and
he delays retiring as long as possible. At the slightest noise
he feels impelled to scream and bites his lips until the blood
comes, knowing that his fears are groundless and that to give
way is to be ridiculed. As it draws toward dawn, he is no longer
able to remain in bed because of the horrid pictures that hunt
his disordered and starved mind. He arises, walks miles until
physical being is exhausted, returns, seats himself at the breakfast
table, but with one glance at the food his stomach becomes nauseated
and he feels like fleeing the table and screaming. He seeks out
his friends so that he may pour out to them his tale of woe though
they already know the sorry story by heart. He is in constant
dread of becoming insane even though he is fully aware that people
so affected are unconscious of their condition. He is fearful
of undertaking any work or of making any effort because he believes
it will aggravate his condition. Life has become a veritable Dante's
Inferno and one wonders whether that immortal writer was not himself
at some time or other a sufferer from this frightful affliction.
For want of a better descriptive term we call this condition Neurasthenia. It is not a disease, per se; but is a more or less constant nerve agony calling for the proper food - a condition caused by starved nerves and an equally starved brain, and in some cases, a depleted sexual system as well this latter condition being known as Sexual Neurasthenia.
Only those who have suffered from this ailment in one of its many phases, or one who has had extensive dealings with such victims, can even begin to imagine or comprehend the fearfulness of the suffering it can cause or of the variations of this suffering, and only such can fully understand how destructive a denatured, devitalized, and devitaminized diet can become to both mind and body, and how extremely difficult it is again to normalize a system that has thus been starved and tortured. This difficulty is mainly due to the reason that the digestive and assimilative functions have become almost wholly morbid and non-functioning during the development of the condition until by the time the symptoms are fully developed the stomach may refuse to accept almost all foods, even water producing emesis, while the assimilative process is dormant to all intent and purpose.
We have given our first consideration to this ailment because it is so general and the symptoms are so pronounced and may be described in detail and at length. The development of the condition is nearly always gradual. At first there may be and usually is, a disordered stomach or morbid liver with irregular action of the bowels - sometimes profound constipation, then again looseness. Or these symptoms may precede the digestive disorders. Then there follows listlessness and desire to rest, followed by troubled sleep and torturing dreams, a veritable nightly nightmare, which in turn brings about a physical weakness, possibly a lifeless, pale skin and almost white inner eyelids. The climax is usually reached when sleep is either sporadic or impossible, accompanied by a violent aversion to food and, in some cases, and equal antipathy toward the opposite sex.
We have known sufferers in whom the first symptoms manifested themselves in the digestive system; they were able to ingest but little food and felt disinclined to pursue their usual work or activities, or these became abhorrent to them. The irritability of the stomach increased until all food seemed turned to gas. Finally the climax, followed by months when it was practically impossible for the patient to take any solid food, or at best only one or two varieties were acceptable to the stomach, the lungs appearing to perform their function only through conscious effort and death seemed to be very near.
There are other cases in which there apparently was no trouble with the digestive organism; instead, potential manhood gradually lessened and an unaccountable dislike for the opposite sex developed. The climax came when upon retiring the lights were extinguished and to their horror dreadful forms appeared before their mental vision, and partial relief was only by fleeing the bed and walking in the open air until exhausted physically.
How is it possible for such conditions to exist or be brought about? Those who have given this subject and the needs of the body careful study and have made a sufficient number of experiments, have found the cause and the remedy in most instances in the quality and variety of the food ingested. The food we supply the body must furnish all the substances necessary both to nourish and repair the body. Just as the engine requires oil, gasoline, and air to keep it running, so must our bodies have proper fuel in the form of food and drink to be kept normally active. There must be nourishment for the body, bones, muscles, nerves, brain, and sexual system. Such nourishment, which we call the nerve foods, must be rich in all the vital principles, the cell salts, nuclein and vitamins, and also rich in phosphorus. If the food consumed is lacking in these elements, the nerves begin to suffer, and as the nervous system is depleted, it will draw either upon the sexual or mental systems until these are depleted, after which will follow hallucinations or irrational thinking. Finally, even the muscular system may suffer and, if relief is then unobtainable, the human structure topples over and another wreck lies strewn by the wayside as the result of ignorance, penury, or perhaps the rapacity of men.
The Natura School of Health has always endeavored to teach all who came in contact with it that when there is depletion of nerve energy, there can be neither complete digestion of food nor perfect assimilation of the food actually digested, and that as a result there will be indigestion, malassimilation and the absorption of the toxins into the blood stream, this last being termed by us, for brevity's sake, toxin-absorption, or toxo-absorption.
As this process of nerve starvation continues, there will naturally result a deficiency of creative energy, a lack of what is commonly termed vim or the desire to accomplish, and, in men, an aversion to womankind, specifically and generally, and probably due to an inferiority complex which set in as a result of the gradual development of physical-sexual incompetence, something which all men greatly fear. This condition in turn is followed by a weakening of the mental faculties, the brain becoming sluggish, a non-desire for activity in any direction, disorganized thought-action, the mind gradually becoming morbid, with the instillation of fear instead of confidence in one's capability, worry instead of peace and assurance, distress instead of peace and assurance, distress instead of happiness, and, not infrequently, hatred and mistrust in place of love and confidence. The emotional nature is now more or less completely disorganized and the sufferer is the victim of fears, most of them groundless, in their worst forms.
When the nervous, mental and generative systems have been thus starved and disorganized, the next department to suffer the drain is the muscular system, on which the nervous system now begins to draw, and ultimately, the resultant physical break is complete.
In most instances all this suffering is due to an irrational diet and, as already stated, the result of ignorance, perverted taste, the desire for appearance in food rather than intrinsic value, or of accepting the misleading statements of food denaturers as truth. The farmer and stock raiser are not so easily misled. These by the so-called by-products of the denatured food sold for human consumption for their stock, being well aware that animal health and strength can be maintained only by food rich in the elements contained in these by-products. The people have left the ways of their forefathers and have become accustomed to such foods as "taste well" - to vitiated and blunted tastes only - but which unfortunately contain very little actual nourishment for the body.
We have given this lengthy consideration to Neurasthenia because the symptoms are so much more pronounced than those of most other ailments. As already stated, it cannot be considered a disease proper because in most instances a physical examination does not reveal the cause of the suffering. It is preeminently a condition due to cellular starvation, where localization of morbidity is mostly lacking, a condition which draws on every organ of the body, causes weakness and suffering, and which, if permitted to develop fully, may bring about death or madness.
It would be extreme to claim that all nervous diseases are caused by a diet deficient in the several vital elements, but it may be said within the bounds of truth, that probably a majority of all nervous disorders are at least in part caused by either a poorly balanced or a deficient diet.
The disease known as Neuritis is second only to Neurasthenia in the suffering it may cause, although it is entirely different in that there is here actual physical suffering without the associated mental agony and the over-balancing fear. There is, as a rule, no deterioration of the mental faculties and generative power. Neuritis, generally known as "nerves on edge" or "nerves in agony," is caused by a poorly balanced diet in which the organic mineral elements are almost wholly lacking. Almost every case can be relieved if careful consideration be given to the selection, combination, and preparation of the food.
The nerves when poorly nourished, act identically as do the telephone or telephone wires when the carrying current is too low or the connection poor. The message may reach the receiving or directing center but, in many cases, is so weak that it cannot be understood and the result is confusion, misconception, misconstruction, contra-mental pictures, as in Neurasthenia, or the agonizing pain as in a well-developed case of Neuritis.
Tuberculosis, which has been the cause of much suffering, many deaths, and widespread alarm, is actually the result in the vast majority of cases, of improper combinations of good foods or the consumption of foods denatured of their organic mineral elements, vitamins, and nuclein, or of foods which have been grown in soil deficient in these elements and therefore are themselves lacking in them. Even the most orthodox of medical men admit this when they base their treatment of the tubercular-infected on foods rich in these elements, such as milk, dairy products, eggs, fresh meats, vegetables, and cereals, all of which are heavily laden with vital, that is, life-giving and vitality-sustaining principles so easily absorbed by the starving cells.
Although we teach that tuberculosis is due mainly to dietetic
causes, we do not wish to be understood as saying that a dietary
regimen alone is sufficient to cure every case. We know and admit,
that the average victim is negative, inert, breaths artificially(1)
and is generally averse to exercise. In the correction of the
daily regimen of the sufferer, the diet is of first importance,
but closely associated with the diet is exercise, abundance of
fresh air, sunshine directly on the skin, bathing, recreation,
an incentive to live, as well as a correction of the private habits.
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(1) When the breathing is habitually shallow or artificial, then
the food cells passing through the lings as part of the blood,
will be insufficiently oxidized, and though the food consumed
may be correct in every respect, it will fail to nourish the system.
This is a low that all who seek health should remember. As the
blood passes through the lungs it receives, or absorbs, a certain
amount of oxygen. It carries this oxygen through the system, supplies
the various tissues with it, at the same time receiving in exchange
the poisonous carbon dioxide which is expelled when the lungs
exhale. Poor lung development or improper breathing, robs the
entire system of the essential oxygen and at the same time causes
failure to carry away the poisons, and this condition creates
or sets up a defective metabolism which is the cause of so many
ailments.
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Influenza, the fearful scourge which ravished the country and killed more people than World War I, is almost entirely a dietetic disease, caused, first by a diet deficient in all the important constituents, such as organic mineral elements, vitamins, amino acids, and nuclein; second, by the congestions usually associated with an ingestion of food thus lacking,
Almost in exact ratio as the food of the people has become denatured in various ways and by different methods, so had the craving for food become abnormal. Why? Because the foods of today satisfy the appetite or desire for food for the moment but do not supply the needs of the cells that compose the various parts of the body. Consequently, there is a constant call for nourishment from one or another of the interior departments, and this craving is not satisfied until the actual need is supplied. As a natural result, the entire system becomes congested, yet, at the same time, there is cellular starvation.
Despite all that has been said to hide the actual facts, we maintain that the epidemic of Influenza, which covered the United states as with a mantle during 1918-19, was the direct result of the use of denatured cornmeal and other wheat-flour substitutes used so extensively in America, and, in other countries, the Substitution of various denatured meals in place of wheat flour. Not alone were the corn and other substitute meals denatured but the people were not taught that is absolutely essential to combine plenty of milk and vegetables with these cereal products in order to supply the deficiency in the organic mineral elements so as to prevent congestions and the resultant self-poisoning.
Though the use of white flour in itself is destructive enough to health and vitality, it is not so deadly as denatured rice and other flours, not because these flours may not be as readily and as easily digested but because the human system has become accustomed to them through long use and complete tolerance has been established.
When the diet is rich in the necessary organic mineral elements, vitamins, and nuclein, and the system is kept free from congestions, then toxin-absorption is to a great extent prevented and Influenza rendered impossible. For this reason the first effort should be in the direction of cleansing the system of congestions and neutralizing the toxins or poisonous matter. This is accomplished by withholding all solid food for a time and then beginning to supply the patient with those foods only which are rich in the life-giving elements but easily digested.
We have thus far given consideration to but few of what are now recognized as the diseases due to diets deficient in the more important elements and which cause the greater amount of suffering and the majority of deaths. We shall now enlarge on the foods consumed by our forefathers as compared with those served as daily rations to their weakling descendants.
Potatoes, of both white and sweet variety, were commonly boiled in their "jackets" or baked, and served with plenty of genuine homemade butter, thus furnishing to the body a double portion both of organic mineral elements and vitamins, as both butter and potato skins are rich in these.
At the present day, in order to comply with a superficial culture, practically all potatoes are carefully peeled, thus eliminating from them the organic mineral elements and vitamins; the seed-eyes, the carriers of nuclein, a natural antiseptic, are always cut out - not a speck permitted to remain to "spoil the looks." The sweet potato is usually peeled and baked with denatured sugar or syrups, and this combination robs the system of its already depleted lime content.
Rice, once the staple food of millions, is now so carefully milled in order to make it smooth and white, that only the starchy portion remains. This means that practically all of the real food elements are eliminated and discarded. In fact, so thorough is this modern milling process, that people fed on white or polished rice quickly starve. This diet is frequently the direct cause of many cases of scurvy, beriberi, anemia, tuberculosis, and other wasting diseases. So delicately does Nature build and proportion the natural rice grain that even washing removes much of the mineral element - consider then what milling and polishing it with talcum will do to it!
Wheat and other cereals used for bread and the multitude
of cereal "foods," are milled until practically all
of the organic mineral elements are removed as well as the nuclein.
This is done, because aside from the demand of the public for
"white" flour, those flours which contain this spirit
or life principle become strong and wormy when stored for any
length of time, especially during the warmer months; yet without
this same nuclein, the protective white army(2) in our blood becomes
weakened and is helpless to prevent the invasion of disease. As
with milled and polished rice and pearled barley, the result of
attempting to maintain the system on denatured flours, is to invite
the invasion of the system by such diseases as scurvy, rickets,
weaknesses of bone and teeth in pregnant women and in children,
mental deficiency, physical degeneracy, and, in men, impotence
and early decay.
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(2) The red corpuscles in our blood are so small that probably
five million of them may be in a pint of blood. Under normal conditions
the life of these cells is supposed to be between four and six
weeks. As between 5,000,000 and 7,000,000 depending on the work
we are engaged on, die every second, these must be constantly
replaced by new ones, and what is equally important, these dead
cells, or the toxins arising from their disintegration, must be
thrown out of the body and this is accomplished by the oxygen
which we inbreathe. If the breathing is artificial or shallow,
an insufficient amount of oxygen is indrawn and it is impossible
for the circulation to carry all this dead material to the lings
so they may expel it in the form of carbon dioxide and other gases.
The result is, acidosis blood, contamination, internal infections
which manifest as cancer, bright's disease, dropsy, tuberculosis,
and other destructive diseases, the manifestation depending largely
on the temperament, employment, and diet of the one so afflicted.
Besides the vast number of red corpuscles in our blood stream,
there is also an army of white corpuscles. These white cells are
considerably larger than the red cells but their duty is very
different. As above stated, the red corpuscles carry oxygen to
the tissues and eliminate the residue of dead cells and carbon
dioxide from the system. The white corpuscles form the army against
the invasion of disease from the outside. Whenever there is an
attempted invasion, the white corpuscles immediately congregate
to resist the attempted invasion, the bodies and these white soldiers
not only destroy the virulent cells but are actually capable of
digesting them, gaining life for themselves from them and neutralizing
the poisons resulting from this assimilation. If these white corpuscles
are in "fighting condition, they automatically increase as
greater resistance is required, until this increase may become
dangerous to itself. If these white corpuscles are themselves
more or less starved they can offer little or no resistance, with
the result that the victim has but slight chance of recovery.
Food alone can supply the material to give them birth and to keep
them fit for all emergencies.
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Vegetables are almost universally boiled in "plenty of water," which is carelessly poured away without a thought of its great value in helping to maintain health, the cellulose alone remaining, so most of the actual food value is lost to the body. The farmer and his wife are a bit wiser in so far as the purse is concerned: they carefully save every drop of house hold "swill" and feed it, mixed with bran, shorts or grains, to the pigs, in order to keep them growing and in a healthy condition.
What then has the modern family left with which to sustain health, strength, and a normal life? Is it any wonder that we are in danger of becoming a nation of people accursed with physical and mental degeneracy? Who among us remains well: Who is able to point out one or two perfectly healthy friends? Yet we have not advanced far enough in actual enlightenment to recognize that this is a cause for real shame and that the establishment of all our wonderful institutions of learning cannot repay us for this failing. We are afflicted with tuberculosis, cancer, influenza, neurasthenia, neuritis, and a host of other destructive diseases, and all to few know what to do about it, how to avoid the further spread of these afflictions, or how to overcome those which now are destroying the millions.
Practically no foods but fruits are consumed in their natural state and as Nature intended, and a large portion even of these are no longer what they should be. Wrong methods of cultivation are employed; they are grown on soils deficient in the various mineral elements they must have for perfect development; they are gathered while yet unripe - for long distance shipping and storage - and before the active, life-giving elements are fully developed in them; and they are otherwise spoiled for food by methods of handling, curing, and transportation.
Unless the people en masse face this question fairly and
squarely, master the dietetic laws of nature, come to understand
the simple combination of foods, and abolish the destructive milling
processes, before very long our physical and mental degeneracy
will become so general as to warrant the claim that modern humanity
is going the way of the Roman Empire, the Greeks, Gaels, Britons
and other wonderful peoples of the past! All these had reached
a high state of physical development, but falling victim to their
own appetites they developed weakness which helped to hasten their
vanquishment by people who lived more naturally and ate more primitive
foods.
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