Preparing for the Journey
hile the right kinds of food, in balanced amounts, are necessary to sound health, they alone cannot produce it. The body must be in such condition to receive these foods that it can make use of them properly.Right eating is, perhaps, the most important health consideration, but there are a few simple laws of hygiene which cannot be ignored by those who would journey on to Wellville.
Correcting
Physical DefectsPhysical defects that can be corrected are unnecessary handicaps on the Road to Wellville. Eyes that need glasses cause headaches and nervous strain. Bad tonsils and infected teeth cause disorders which may poison the blood stream. Adenoids prevent purifying air from reaching the lungs. All these handicaps may be discovered and corrected. And they should be corrected before the individual falls too far behind in life’s race.
It is a good plan to consult a physician at least once a year for a physical examination. Why not determine to do this each birthday? The physician can give us an inventory of health that will enable us to care for our bodies intelligently.
If we are to be radiantly healthy, our outlook on life should also be healthy. Mental AttitudeFor the health of the body and the health of the mind act one upon the other.
Discontent frequently comes from a wrong physical condition. It may be caused by constipation, eyestrain, lack of exercise, or bad posture. Even after the cause has been removed, the discontent may continue because the habit has been acquired.
Let us try not to worry. Worry drains energy. Let us cultivate optimism. Happiness lies at the end of the Road to Wellville. Its attainment is largely up to us.
Sleep and RestThe human body is a delicate machine. It must have rest, or it will wear out. To deprive ourselves of proper sleep and rest is to make serious inroads on our reserve strength. It may be years before our account is overdrawn, but sooner or later we must pay the overdraft.
For the infant and child, through the period of adolescence, rest is even more important than for the adult. The baby, with its rapid body-building program, needs twenty hours of sleep out of every twenty-four, the “run-about” child twelve to fourteen hours, and the older school child at least ten hours.
Enough hours of restful sleep in a well-aired room will go far toward insuring the new beginning which each day should bring.
Food HabitsIf we want to be well we should learn how to select our food and how to eat it. Our rations should be balanced. The meal should contain the right proportions of the various foods the body requires to keep it healthy. Then the right choices should be made from the table’s offerings. If father devotes himself to meat and potatoes and neglects salads and desserts, if mother indulges in coffee and eats no cereals for breakfast, it need not cause surprise if children fail to understand why milk and vegetables should be their portion.
If we drink too much water at mealtime so that the food is washed down without thorough chewing, the body will be deprived of much good the food contains.
We should not eat too much. It is better to leave the table hungry than to feel gorged. Our mealtimes should be as regular as possible. Regular eating is as important to health as regular sleeping.
These are the good food habits. They should be cultivated for health’s sake. It is well to form them early.
MasticationIn order to get full value from food we must masticate it thoroughly. Digestion begins in the mouth with the action of the saliva, hence the necessity of thorough chewing. If the saliva is thoroughly mixed with the food, salivary digestion continues for some time in the stomach. Also, food thoroughly mixed with saliva digests faster in the stomach than food not so mixed. In chewing fibrous and hard foods, pressure is exerted on the teeth, which stimulates circulation and is an important factor in maintaining the health of teeth and gums.
Exercise and PostureIf we would travel on to Wellville, we should not neglect our exercise. Muscles that are not used grow flabby. Muscles that are used become strong and supple. We are old at any age if lack of exercise keeps our muscles puny and unable to bear us buoyantly along the broad highway of Health. Exercise causes a swifter flowing of blood to the lungs to be purified and to the tissues to renew them and bear away the wastes. Exercise stimulates the large intestine and keeps it from becoming lazy—helps to prevent constipation, which is such a menace to the health of sedentary folk. Children get exercise naturally in their play. But the average adult must plan for his exercise in his daily routine. The kind of exercise to take depends upon age, habits, and individual peculiarities. There are plenty of good books on this subject. See Appendix.
Posture, how we carry ourselves, is also important. It affects digestion, circulation, and health every minute of the day. If we hold our heads high, our backs straight, our chests up, and our abdomens flat, our bodies and their organs are in position to perform their work normally.
Fresh Air and SunlightWe breathe air to live. We can live for days without food or water, but for only a few minutes without air. Clean, fresh air is essential to health.
Deep breathing in the fresh air, whenever opportunity affords, helps to keep the lungs clean and healthy. In normal breathing only about one-tenth of the air contained in the lungs is changed with each breath. It is a good plan at least once a day to go forth into the fresh air and take a dozen deep breaths. We will feel much better for it.
The air in our living quarters should never be allowed to become stagnant. When there is no natural motion in the air, it should be stirred to action by a fan. It is bad to sleep in a stuffy bedroom. The windows should be kept up at the bottom and down at the top. Fresh air helps to prevent colds and infections.
Sunlight also is a germ-killer. It is good to spend as many hours as possible out-of-doors where we can get its benefits.
Rigid observance of the laws of cleanliness is necessary if we would travel with Wellville’s happy throng.
CleanlinessOne of the first essentials to health is a clean dwelling place. Disease germs lurk in damp and darkness and dirt. Fresh air and sunshine drive these foes of health from their dwelling places. The vacuum sweeper swallows dirt instead of tossing it into the air like the old-fashioned broom. Sterilization with disinfectants, cleansers, and scalding water kills germs and makes the house a safe place for the human body.
The body itself should be kept clean. Frequent bathing rids the body’s pores of clogging dirt and lets them do their important work of eliminating the body’s waste. A warm bath two or three times each week may serve, but a tepid bath each day followed by a cold sponge or shower is better.
Today modern science is placing much stress upon the cleanliness of the mouth. It is through the mouth that the body gets its food and nourishment. The teeth and gums should be brushed regularly at least twice a day with a cleansing, purifying dentifrice. It is well to use a good antiseptic mouth wash and throat gargle regularly and to see a dentist at least twice a year, so that he can detect the first signs of tooth decay or gum infection and prevent serious trouble which often has its beginnings in the mouth.
Inner CleanlinessOf great importance to health is the regular and prompt elimination of body wastes. This elimination covers not only the indigestible portions of food, but the waste products of digestion as well. Constipation is one of the crimes of civilization.
We over-refine and over-cook our foods, mince them, and soften them. This lessens their bulk and causes them to lose roughage and mineral salts, which are necessary to regular evacuation. Add to these too much sitting at home, in office, motor car, and train. Even the telephone and radio tend to bring everything to us where we are, and the difference between the exercise we need and the exercise we get becomes greater and greater.
We work our brains and nerves and let our bodies loaf. That is why constipation with its long train of ills (headache, fatigue, tense nerves, indigestion, bad complexion) is chargeable with a large percentage of modern ill health. No one thing is more essential to health than regular elimination, and no one thing is more neglected.
Exercise, regular habits, drinking enough water (four to eight glasses every day), and food that carries roughage are essential to proper eliminative habits.
The indiscriminate taking of harsh drugs and laxatives is dangerous. These should seldom be used except at physicians’ orders. They create bad habits and bring only temporary relief. Elimination, inner cleanliness, is important if we wish to take the Road to Wellville. To ignore it is to wander off the highway into the dangerous morass of ill health.