It acts therefore as a mere mechanical lubricant. The one thing to remember is that its use should be combined with a curative diet, so that it need not be taken indefinitely.

(1) DRY THROAT; (2) SACCHARINE; (3) DILATED HEART.

Mr L.S. writes:--I have read _The Healthy Life_ from the appearance of the first number, and I have studied the Answers to Correspondents, but have not observed a case identical with my own, hence my reason for troubling you.

(1) The back part of mouth next throat has a curious glazed appearance--no cough or expectoration. I am inclined to think it extends to and includes the stomach. I have always a good appet.i.te, but am not well nourished; much under weight. Age 44 years; school officer; cycle 25 miles a week.

Eat meat sparingly, not a pound a week. Live princ.i.p.ally upon eggs and bread and b.u.t.ter--(three eggs a day): "Digestive Tea"

two and three times a day.

2. Is saccharine less harmful than sugar for sweetening?

3. As the result of a nervous breakdown I had five years ago I suffer from a dilated heart, consequently--I suppose--I have palpitation occasionally, oftener when in bed. I don't think my heart is really normal since my breakdown five years ago.

4. Would bathing myself with cold water over the region of the heart strengthen the muscles? Would you please suggest anything for strengthening heart. Are lemons or eggs injurious to the heart?

1. The throat symptoms indicate a dry, irritable, heated condition of the mouth and throat which, as the correspondent surmises, equally affects the stomach and the rest of the digestive organs. He should have a breakfast of fresh fruit only, take salads and grated raw roots with his meals and stop tea altogether. He can drink distilled water and vegetable or lemon drinks (unsweetened) instead.

2. Saccharine is a mineral substance, a fossilised product of putrefactive action in the coal age. It is closely a.n.a.logous to carbolic acid, which equally originates from microbic action. By leaving off sugar and replacing it by saccharine our correspondent gains nothing. He is simply leaping from the frying pan into the fire.

It is best for him to cultivate a taste for unsweetened or even acid drinks.

3. A dilated heart is usually an after effect of a dilated stomach, which strains it, just as it does every other organ, whether in the chest or the abdomen.

4. Bathing the chest with cold water is not desirable. What is needed is that the correspondent should drink as little fluid as possible and pay close attention to the condition of his digestive mechanism. If the organs are dilated or misplaced he should wear a belt and take suitable gentle Osteopathic exercises.

TREATMENT FOR STAMMERING.

A.M.D. writes:--Could you kindly give in _The Healthy Life_ magazine some suggestions as to the best method to follow in a case of stammering (slight) in a boy of ten or eleven years who has been rather left to himself, the hesitancy in speech being regarded as incurable?

This boy should be trained by someone who understands how to cure stammering. The correspondent would do well to consult Miss Behncke of 18 Earl's Court Square, S.W., who makes a speciality of treating such cases.

WHY THE RED CORPUSCLES ARE DEFICIENT IN ANAEMIA.

A.M.D. writes:--Is there any way, independent of diet, of increasing the red corpuscles in the blood? I have tried walking nine miles a day, thus getting up free perspirations. What of this method? I did imagine that this resulted in a better condition of the skin, the latter losing in a measure the white and parched appearance.

A deficiency of red corpuscles in the blood, which shows in anaemia, is usually caused by self-poisoning. When food ferments or putrifies in the colon, owing to faulty diet and other causes, certain toxins are created. These become absorbed into the blood and there destroy the red corpuscles. Walking is a good form of exercise, but it will not suffice alone to remedy this type of anaemia unless the diet and general habits of the patient are so arranged that the unsanitary condition of the colon is also remedied. The correspondent will find, if she studies the replies to others in this magazine, many details as to diet, etc., for rectifying bad conditions in the bowels.

THE CORRECT BLENDING OF FOODS.

T.B.W. writes:--Is it inadvisable for a dyspeptic (and sufferer from constipation) to eat salad, or cooked vegetables, and stewed fruit at the same meal; also, do I do right in eating bread and b.u.t.ter (preferably crust) or hard biscuits with stewed fruit or soft vegetables, etc.? Would you please inform me the best Still that I can obtain--preferably one that does not require much attention, and is fairly portable, and that does not cost much to work?

I do not believe that it is right to mix salads or cooked vegetables with stewed fruits. It is better to take them at separate meals.

It is, in my view, equally bad to take cereals (_i.e._ bread, biscuits, etc.) with stewed fruits. The reason is that cereals call for an alkaline form of digestion in the mouth which the acid fruits or the added sugar greatly r.e.t.a.r.d.

I believe strongly in the all-fruit breakfast or all-fruit supper, when fresh, dried, or even stewed dried fruits (possibly with some fresh cream) can be taken alone, without either cereals or vegetables.

Cereals go best with salads and cooked vegetables, because of the alkalinity of the latter which harmonises with the salivary secretion intended for the digestion of grains.

The Gem Still is the best to buy. It is well made and does not need much attention. The large automatic commercial size is, however, the best if any quant.i.ty is needed, as it works throughout the day with practically no attention when properly adjusted.

DIFFICULTIES IN CHANGING TO NON-FLESH DIET.

F.C.W. writes:--I shall be glad if you will inform me from your experience whether, after one has broken from the customary meat diet and adopted a "reform" diet, there is any real difficulty in reverting to the former state. I have seen it stated that vegetarian diet did not call into action all the natural powers of the digestive organs, and, this being so, the tendency was for them to become weakened so that the food reformer eventually found himself unable to digest meat. I believe some health culturists make practice of taking meat twice a week. I have been about seven or eight weeks on reform diet, and though better in some ways have to confess to a feeling of deficient energy and nerve power. I was once told by a doctor that I could not afford to do without the stimulating effect derived from meat. I propose making a test of the two methods, but should like to hear from you in reply to the above query. Another new feature I have noticed on the new diet is a thinness of the teeth and a feeling of weakness in them generally.

This correspondent omitted to supply his amended diet, so this was asked for and is as follows:--

_On rising_ (6.40).--Cup of cold water.

_Breakfast_ (8 A.M.).--Porridge, boiled egg or white fish done in oven. Turog brown bread and b.u.t.ter; a banana; cup of coffee.

_Lunch_ (12.45, _at The Home Restaurant_)--Nut or cheese savoury and one vegetable, a sweet dish, a few dates or a nut and fruit cake.

_Tea meal (in office at 5)._--Bread and b.u.t.ter, piece of cake, large cup of cocoa.

_Supper._--One of following:--

(a) "Force" with stewed prunes and junket; small piece of cheese with wholemeal biscuit.

(b) Milk pudding and stewed fruit; small piece of cheese and biscuit.

(c) Vegetable soup with toast.

(d) Bread and milk and fruit cake.

_On retiring_ (10 P.M.).--Cup of hot milk.

The correspondent adds further:--

I have only been about eight weeks on food reform and the general result, so far, is less susceptibility to draughts and ability to sleep with windows open top and bottom, which I could not do before, and a feeling of lightness and freshness. On the other hand, I have not the same nerve force or power. I am of a highly sensitive nervous disposition, and the latest trouble is with my teeth. I was told yesterday by a dentist that a non-flesh diet is harmful to them and that were one to eat meat only, there would be no trouble! Perhaps it is owing to the dates and nut-and-fruit cakes which I have been eating, or to a general weakened condition due to want of finding my natural diet. I have a friend who is a fine specimen of physical development, and on his going on to food reform he had to have his teeth seen to. I suppose it would not be the softer diet giving his teeth less to do. I am at a disadvantage as I can get nothing specially prepared at home and can only add to my diet articles which I can prepare myself.

I like my liquids fairly sweet and I like liquid foods. I am a catarrhal subject and when this starts at the back of the nose the hearing is affected.

Whenever a person changes from a meat diet to one that is of the non-flesh order the digestive organs have to learn how to adjust their secretions to the altered diet. This applies just as forcibly when a food reformer wishes to return to the "flesh-pots." After a long course of abstinence from meat the food reformer does find it difficult to return to it. This is due not so much to the difficulty in digesting it as to the violent stimulation and grossening of the body which it induces.

I have never heard of any food reformer who discarded meat for ethical or humane reasons who willingly returned to meat so that he could if necessary be in a position to digest it.

With regard to the loss of energy and nerve power the correspondent must distinguish between real weakness and absence of stimulation. The first effects of discarding meat show a deficient energy due to the absence of stimulation. When this has pa.s.sed it gives place to a feeling of buoyancy and energy which is permanent.

The dental weakness is aggravated, if indeed it is not actually _caused_, by the milk puddings, porridge, cake and sugared beverages which are a feature of this correspondent's diet, and to the absence of salad vegetables. If he amended his diet somewhat as follows he should make steady progress in energy and general fitness:--

_On rising._--Tumblerful of cold water.

_Breakfast_ (7.15).--One lightly boiled, baked or poached egg; Veda bread and b.u.t.ter, a little watercress or other salad. A small cup of Hygiama in place of the sugared cocoa.