Fermentation is the effort of Nature to dispose of or to dissolve things it cannot use; it is the first step in the process of decay.

Fermentation - The Cause

The common causes of fermentation are the same as those of superacidity (see p. 420), the difference being that super-acidity originates in the stomach, and is confined chiefly to it, while fermentation may take place throughout the entire intestinal tract. The causes are -

1 Overeating

2 Too much acid fruit

3 An excess of sweets

4 Stimulants of the alkaloid group

5 Overeating of cereal products

Difference between super-acidity and fermentation.

Fermentation - The Symptoms

The first evidence of fermentation is a burning sensation in the stomach, almost exactly as in superacidity, the difference being that in cases of fermentation the symptoms appear later after eating. Superacidity may appear immediately after eating, and the symptoms such as a lump in the stomach, or a sour fluid rising in the throat may also appear within an hour after meals, but fermentation, which produces the same symptoms, does not manifest itself until the acid has acted upon the food, which requires from two to four hours, governed by the time required to digest the different articles of which the meal is composed.

The patient may also experience a fullness; an unpleasant and sometimes painful distention of the bowels.

The gas generated by fermentation sometimes passes along down the intestinal tract into the ascending colon, accumulating at the highest point, which is in the transverse colon. This causes the transverse colon to become very much distended and seriously interferes with the blood flow, both into and out of the heart and the lungs.

Results of fermentation.

(See "Gastritis," p. 447; also "Heart Trouble," p. 569).

In considering the symptoms of fermentation, it might be well to return to the question of causes. The primary cause of nearly all conditions of fermentation, either in the stomach or in the intestinal tract, is overeating, or an unbalanced dietary.

This practise indulged in from day to day causes two specific conditions:

1 Fermentation followed by various disorders, usually toxic substances, and catarrh, and ulceration of the stomach

2 Intestinal congestion and physical emaciation.

If the stomach and other digestive organs are capable of assimilating this superabundance of food, they force into the tissues an excess which Nature stores up in the form of fat, and if work or activity is not increased, or the food diminished, excessive fat or chronic obesity is the result.

If the first warnings are not observed, and the remedy applied, Nature gives to the disobedient one more impressive signals in the form of nervousness, irritability, abnormal appetite, and sometimes mental depression, which indicates one of the most advanced stages of super-acidity.

Fermentation - The Remedy

The remedy for fermentation is first to eat only such foods as are in chemical harmony, and second to limit the quantity to the actual needs of the body. If the patient is under normal weight, all acid fruits should be eliminated, and the diet should be about as follows:

Breakfast

Three or four egg whites and one yolk, whipped five or six minutes; add a large spoonful of sugar and one of cream while whipping

A baked white potato or boiled wheat

A tablespoonful of wheat bran

Luncheon

One whole egg whipped five minutes; add sugar and cream to taste while whipping, mix with a glass of milk

A large boiled onion

A baked potato, with butter

Two tablespoonfuls of bran

Dinner

Two fresh vegetables - choice of carrots, corn, turnips, peas, beans, or squash

Spinach, or a salad of lettuce and celery

The whites of two or three eggs, whipped; add sugar and cream while whipping

A baked potato

Wheat bran, cooked as a cereal

Despondency, the result of superacidity.

From two to three glasses of cool water should be drunk at each meal.

It will be noticed that this bill of fare is composed largely of proteids, which should predominate in cases of fermentation.

The foods named in the above menus will remove the primary causes of fermentation, which in turn is the most prolific cause of that abnormal mental condition called despondency. Under the most favorable social and financial conditions, when every environment is pleasant and seemingly conducive to the highest degree of pleasure and interest in life, the one afflicted with superacidity and fermentation has been known to destroy himself; all life seems gloomy, all effort useless, and the thought "Why should I desire to live?" enters the mind unbidden, until it often takes tangible shape in some rash act. Possibly within the memory of every individual one of these rash acts can be recalled.

The practitioner should make it a special point to ascertain any adverse or depressed mental conditions of his patient and remove them, if possible, by encouragement, sympathetic counsel and optimistic views, all of which have a splendid psychological effect, and which, in nearly all cases of mental depression, are very important.

As the supersecretion of hydrochloric acid becomes less and less, fermentation will gradually disappear; the patient will at once begin to gain weight; the mental conditions will show an immediate improvement, and every part of the anatomy will share in the general upbuilding.