The Cause

This disorder might be called "civili-zatis," so universal has it become among civilized people.

Several conditions may conspire to cause constipation -

1 Premature stomach digestion.

2 Neutralization of the bile by excessive acid.

3 Eating too much starchy food.

4 Flesh-eating.

5 Sedentary habits or lack of proper exercise.

6 A diet too refined - lacking in roughness, cellulose or "fodder".

7 The use of sedatives, stimulants, and narcotics, such as tea, coffee, liquor, tobacco, and drugs, especially of the alkaloid group.

While most of these are direct causes, the primary cause, however, goes back to superacidity - premature stomach-digestion.

In cases of superacidity the liver is nearly always more or less inactive. Just why this is so is not definitely known, but in the opinion of the writer it is caused by the neutralization of bile by the excess of acid. Be this as it may, nearly all cases of superacidity are accompanied by intestinal congestion, commonly called constipation, or by intermittent diarrhea and constipation.

Laxative drugs an offense to the body

Constipation - The Remedy

It is believed by the medical profession, and generally accepted by the public, that certain drugs act upon the alimentary tract with beneficial effect in cases of intestinal congestion. This is untrue. The facts are the intestines act upon the drug. The drug is an offense to Nature, and when it is taken into the stomach and passed on to the intestines, the body-fluids are severely drawn upon to neutralize the poison, and to cast it out. The result, therefore, of taking poisons, miscalled "laxatives," is that each time the act is repeated, the liver and the peristaltic muscles are weakened, and rendered more and more abnormal, and less and less able to perform their natural functions.

Suggestions for the relief of constipation.

That system of treatment which has been prescribed for fermentation will, in most cases, relieve constipation. The treatment should be varied, however, according to the age and the occupation of the patient, governed by the season of the year, or the foods available at the time of treatment. If diagnosis of the patient reveals the fact that constipation has been caused primarily by overeating, the quantity of food should be reduced, and the articles changed so as to include a generous quantity of cellulose (coarse foods).

The following bill of fare may be given under ordinary conditions:

Immediately on rising, take two or three cups of water, the juice of one or two oranges, or half a pound of grapes, swallowing the seeds and pulp whole, masticating only the skins. Devote from eight to ten minutes to vigorous exercise, especially movements Nos. 3 and 5, as shown in "Exercise and Recreation," Vol. V, pp. 1344 and 1345.

Breakfast

Half a cup of coarse wheat bran, cooked ten minutes; serve with thin cream

Whole wheat, boiled five or six hours

One or two very ripe bananas, with either nuts or thin cream

Luncheon

One or two fresh vegetables A "two-minute" egg or a very small portion of fish

A heaping tablespoonful of bran

Dinner

Two of the following vegetables: Corn, carrots, peas, beans, parsnips, turnips, onions A baked potato

Celery, lettuce, or anything green, with nuts One egg A tablespoonful of wheat bran

From one to two glasses of water should be drunk at each of these meals.

These menus are merely suggestive. They may be varied according to judgment, depending upon the habits and the environments of the patient. Curative feeding for constipation is one of the most important departments of this work, and will receive special consideration in the volume of Menus.

Foods That May Be Substituted For One Another

The menus may also be varied by substituting the articles herein given, for other things of the same general class.

Examples:

The above are all in the same general class, and may be substituted for one another.

These compose the nitrogenous group, and may be substituted for one another.

Barley, corn, oats, rice, rye and wheat are the six great staples, which grouped are called cereals. They form the carbohydrate class of grains, and may be substituted for one another. In cases of constipation, however, whole wheat and rye are preferable, owing to the large amount of bran they contain.

All citrus-fruits (fruits containing citric acid), so far as their action upon the liver is concerned, have practically the same effects, and substantially the same nutritive value.

Milk may be laxative or constipating.

Whether or not milk is constipating depends entirely upon how it is taken, and the articles with which it is combined. In small quantities, from one to two glasses at a time, milk is constipating. However, if taken at intervals of fifteen or twenty minutes, a quantity is very soon taken, greater than the hydrochloric acid of the stomach can convert into curd, therefore the surplus quantity becomes rather laxative. In many years' experience I have rarely treated a case of constipation that would not readily yield to milk and to coarse vegetables, or bran, if taken in this way; however, the milk diet should not be given longer than two or three days at one time. After this period adopt the menus herein given, varying them by selecting different articles from the several groups named. When the bowel action has become regular, the milk period should be reduced, and the breadless diet extended until the milk is entirely withdrawn. (See "Emaciation - The Remedy,"p. 482). Man undoubtedly sprang from anthropoid stock. His original position of locomotion was upon his four feet. The intestines, therefore, rested upon a flexible belly surface, but since he has risen and changed his two front paws into hands, the intestines are inclined, with every step, to sag to the bottom of the abdominal cavity, and are prevented from so doing only by small ligaments attached to the abdominal walls. Hernia or rupture is exceedingly common owing to this downward pressure in the lower part of the abdominal cavity. The position maintained while walking, therefore, is not conducive to the relief of that pressure in the abdomen, which is the direct cause of hernia, and often the cause of very stubborn intestinal congestion.

Hernia due to abdominal pressure.

It is obvious, therefore, that this condition needs remedial exercise. It will be observed that all the movements given in the lesson on "Exercise and recreation" bring the trunk to a horizontal position with the body leaning forward. All of these movements are designed to counteract this abdominal pressure.

Remedial and counteractive exercises.

Exercise a necessity in counteracting constipation.

I go thus into detail for the purpose of showing the great necessity of these exercises, especially in cases of constipation, and of insisting that they be executed vigorously and regularly. The most beneficial diet that could be prescribed will not relieve and cure constipation unless it is supplemented by certain remedial exercises or movements. This is true because Nature contemplates a certain amount of motion exactly as she contemplates a certain amount of nutrition, and her laws governing motion are just as mandatory and her penalties just as certain.

Nutrition is of more importance because it is more fundamental, and it is more fundamental because when the body is naturally nourished, there is created a surplus amount of energy which will compel a certain amount of motion, and this in turn will cause deep or full breathing. Therefore the well-fed person will take his exercise because he has an appetite for it, or because the superabundance of energy forces him to do it in obedience to the same law that produces hunger. Hence the perfectly nourished body will conform automatically to the other two great physical laws of motion and of oxidation.

Proper nourishment promotes natural desire for exercise.

Constipating Foods

All white flour products

Blackberries

Cheese

Chestnuts

Corn-starch

Fine corn-meal

Macaroni

Oatmeal

Red meat

Rice

Spaghetti

Sweet potatoes

White bread

Laxative Foods

All green salads

Apples

Apricots

Beet-tops

Celery

Figs

Peaches

Persimmons

Plums

Prunes

Spinach

Turnips-tops

Wheat bran

Whole wheat

Constipating Beverages

All alcoholic stimulants

Chocolate

Cocoa

Coffee

Cream

Lime-water

Milk (In small quantities)

Tea

Laxative Beverages

Mineral water containing magnesia Unsweetened fruit-juice Water - lime-free

In Cases Of Constipation, Omit

Baked beans

Chestnuts

Cheese

Coffee, tea, chocolate

Corn products

Cream

Flesh food of all kinds

Intoxicants

Milk

Oatmeal

Rice

Sweet potato

Tobacco

White flour products

Eat

All fresh vegetables

Apricots

Bananas

Grapes - seeds, skins and all Nuts Peaches Plums Prunes

Succulent plants Tomatoes Wheat bran Whole wheat Rye

Drink plain water with meals.