General Conference Bulletin, vol. 6
Health Topics - SIMPLE LIFE
H. F. RAND
May 30, 5:15 P. M.
The subject of health is one in which every one is interested, or at least ought to be. Paul said; “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” So you see eating and drinking played quite an important part in Paul’s day. GCB June 1, 1909, page 251.4
When we think of what the Spirit of God has brought down to our time, it means everything to us. You have heard some very interesting statements here on the grounds, and one of them was that if we were going to have good, clear brains, we must have good food and plenty of exercise. Exercise plays an important part in the service of God. GCB June 1, 1909, page 251.5
Three things are important in right living, air, water, and food; and exercise is just as important as these. GCB June 1, 1909, page 251.6
AIR
But we will take up air first. Almost every one is afraid of air, though it is the best friend we have. Without air we could live only a very few minutes. I have many times been in homes where a member of the family was sick, and every window and door would be closed, while the sick person would be burning up with fever; and perhaps there would be a stove in the room, and if it was night, I would find a lamp or two, which use up as much oxygen as a person. Now, what would have been the greatest blessing in that room?—Fresh air! But people are afraid of air, and especially of night air. God made the night air as sort of a sedative to help us sleep. If any of you are bothered about sleeping, you ought to get out into the air at night; for it is pure, and that is more than you can say about the air in your bedroom. Some say they have slept too hard. There is no such thing as sleeping too hard. The best kind of sleep is to be absolutely unconscious; then you get perfect rest. The result of “sleeping too hard,” as some call it, is a dull, heavy feeling in the head. After exercising in the open air about half an hour, this feeling passes away. The trouble is that the body has been poisoned by the foul air. GCB June 1, 1909, page 251.7
If you have any troubles of a catarrhal nature, which almost every one has, the thing for you to do is to sleep outside. This condition may be brought about by sleeping with the mouth open, which is a very bad habit, and may be cured by simply placing a piece of celluloid tissue measured the size of the mouth, just outside the teeth. GCB June 1, 1909, page 251.8
The skin should be well cared for by frequent baths, for it has a work that no other organ can do. If one can react well after taking a cold bath, then it is a good thing, but care must be exercised. GCB June 1, 1909, page 251.9
WATER
Now a few words about the value of water. People will tell you you should feel thirsty before drinking. But this is not an infallible rule. The daily normal use of water is two quarts for the kidneys, almost the same for the skin, the lungs have to throw off about the same amount of moisture, the liver has to use that much in manufacturing bile, and the alimentary tract uses still more. Even granting that the lungs take much moisture from the air, it still leaves a large quantity that should be taken in by drinking. But the body can only use that which it has, and often there is not enough water taken into the body to supply more than a fourth of its needs. GCB June 1, 1909, page 251.10
We can live a great deal longer without food than without water. No one can live over ten days without water, and people have been known to live sixty days without food. GCB June 1, 1909, page 251.11
I have seen many patients who took a large amount of food, and yet lost in weight every day. They disliked water, and would not touch it. I remember one case in particular. We promised this person that, if he would abstain from food altogether, we would guarantee that he would not lose in weight as when taking food. He was losing a pound a day, and eating enough for three persons. He abstained from food for twenty-four hours, taking two glasses of water, and he lost only half a pound. I finally persuaded him to abstain from food for three days, and to increase the water to six or eight glasses. Then we began to give food. The first day we gave him three granose biscuits. With five glasses of water, he did not lose a particle in weight. With four ounces of granose and five glasses of water, he gained half a pound in one day. The water was the valuable thing with him. GCB June 1, 1909, page 251.12
If a person has too much fat, drinking water will bring him to his normal weight; for it increases alimentation and helps oxidation. On the other hand, if a person is too thin, he is lacking in assimilative power. Water helps to carry out the waste matter and improves the assimilation, thus tending to bring the weight up to normal. GCB June 1, 1909, page 251.13
Distilled water is the only absolutely pure water. When we think of the waste matter that must be washed out of the body, it will be seen that the purer the water, the better it will do its work. The best time of day to drink water is early in the morning, and preceding the noon hour. Water increases the blood pressure, and that stimulates every secretion of the body, and we need that in the morning to stir us up. GCB June 1, 1909, page 251.14
Question: Which is the better, cold water or hot? GCB June 1, 1909, page 251.15
We consider cool water better if the digestive organs are in proper shape. But I do not mean ice-water. The nearer it is to the temperature of the body, the better. GCB June 1, 1909, page 251.16
How much should we drink?
About seven or eight ordinary glasses of water. If you can take more than that, so much the better. But the average person requires about that much. GCB June 1, 1909, page 251.17
FOOD
We now notice the matter of our food, and we shall have time only to touch a few principles. Simplify, simplify, simplify, is the word that we have given to us in reference to our food. There is no question about it. If we only had for each meal one article of diet, we would feel better; but when we have a number, then the danger is that we take too much. How many times people will tell you, “O, if I could only eat less!” If you wish to eat less, take one thing. GCB June 1, 1909, page 251.18
Another very important thing is what used to be called chewing, but nowadays is called Fletcherizing. Mr. Fletcher called attention anew to what this would do for the system. And it has been discovered that people could get along with one third of the amount of food as before, and have better health in every way, and gain in weight, by properly masticating. If any are troubled by their food distressing them, I would say, thoroughly masticate it, and then see the difference it makes. Food that is not thoroughly masticated forms gases in the digestive tract, and it has been found that there are sixteen forms of gases formed there. Many people will tell you what peculiar odors come from their breath. One of the most common is sewer-gas. We are much frightened to inhale this in our houses; but when we manufacture it in our digestive tract, we get accustomed to it. Now the thorough mastication of your food will help you to overcome this. Nine tenths of all our trouble in this line is overcome by thorough mastication. The starch digestion starts with saliva; and if the food is thoroughly mixed up in this, when it reaches the stomach, the normal stomach has about three fourths of an hour in which the starch digestion can be carried on before the acid of the stomach reaches the point that it stops starch digestion. Therefore if we thoroughly masticate our food, digestion is well under way before that point in reached. GCB June 1, 1909, page 251.19
You can have every symptom that you can imagine, of every disease produced, from disorders of the stomach. Here are a few of the striking ones: Nine tenths of the diseases of the heart, as acknowledged by our best authors on therapeutics, come from the stomach; nine tenths of all forms of asthma are from the stomach; and you can have all kinds of pains in the head, pains in the eyes, and pains in the ears, and other parts of the body, as the result of interference with the circulation of that part of your body. It means much to us to keep the digestive tract in a normal state. GCB June 1, 1909, page 251.20
Another very important thing is not to take acid fruits and grains at the same time in the mouth together. They are the worst things to produce trouble that we have. I have had a great struggle along this line in fruit toasts,—strawberry toasts, or cherry toasts, or any of these acid-fruit toasts. You can test them yourself. They will produce lots of trouble. You can take the subacid fruits, and they are all right. Subacid fruits are prunes, bananas, figs, dates, pears, sweet apples, blueberries, etc. You can use these with your grains; but look out for the others. The Concord grape is an acid fruit. Blackberries have quite a little acid. Raspberries have acid. GCB June 1, 1909, page 252.1
Milk and vegetables should not be combined. People who have fair digestion may get along with this combination all right; but it is not a good combination. Keep milk and vegetables separate. GCB June 1, 1909, page 252.2
The question is asked in reference to taking acid fruit and grains into the stomach, provided you do not have them together in the mouth. It is all right when they reach the stomach, because the saliva, which acts on the starch, will soon digest it. If your digestion is very poor, however, it will be better not to put them together. But with most people they may be eaten at the same meal, but not put in the mouth together. GCB June 1, 1909, page 252.3
Another thing that we have to contend with is that people who use grains will insist upon putting sugar on them, and then pouring milk on, and then they will tell you how bad they feel. If you leave the sugar out, you would not have so much trouble. A great many people can not use milk. Every person who has low acid and a stomach that is slow in emptying will have trouble with milk. GCB June 1, 1909, page 252.4
The question is asked if one can use fruit following milk and zwiebach. It is not a real good combination. If a person has a strong stomach, it will be all right. If there was no sugar in the fruit, it is possible you would get along all right; but sugar and milk are the worst combination that can be put into the stomach. One of the things we have to demonstrate constantly is along the line of desserts. The best thing we have is just the fruit itself, in its natural state. I find that people get along a great deal better without pastries. GCB June 1, 1909, page 252.5
The question is asked if milk is good for a person who has catarrhal trouble. It depends upon the condition of the irritation of the stomach. A great many people think they have catarrhal troubles when really they have not. GCB June 1, 1909, page 252.6