Submitted by:
Kay Cunningham
"Your Body, the Temple of Your Mind
and Soul"
(A Lecture)
Chapter 12
Man in his anatomical and mental make-up is indeed a wonderful and marvelous
creature, fashioned by the All-Wise Creator. (Read Hebrews, 2nd chapter, 6th and
7th verses.)
There are
five basic things that form the foundation of man's and woman's health and
happiness: 1, Heredity; 2, Food and Drink; 3, Assimilation and Elimination; 4,
Bacteria; 5, Philosophy of Life.
Heredity is what we get from our
parents. Everyone knows that each one of us inherits some trait from one or the
other parent, and there are other traits - not so easily detected - that may
have skipped a generation or two, coming from our grandparents, or even farther
back.
Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk, showed in 1865, by carefully
conducted experiments on dwarf and plant peas, that the Mendel Law of Heredity
is true.
All human
beings have 48 chromosomes, or twenty-four from each parent, which carry the
germ cells of heredity. We do not actually inherit the disease itself, but we
inherit the weak germ cells that have lower resistance against certain
infections and certain diseases.. These are very well known, and should be taken
into consideration always in matrimonial alliances.
The various
diseases that are supposed to be transmitted from parents to children are:
Migraine (sick headache), asthma, hay fever, chronic arthritis, diabetes, high
blood pressure, cancer, and some skin diseases. If there should be high blood
pressure on both sides of the family, it is said that probably eighty to ninety
per cent of the children will have it.
If we used half as much sense in making our selections of
matrimonial partners, there would not be so many divorces as there are in the
courts today.
Late
authorities say that thirty-three per cent of all qis- eases we treat are due to
emotional factors more numerous at the present time, owing to the strain of war
and its after- math. They are functional in origin and are not organic troubles,
the patients having inherited an unstable and nervous temperament.
FOOD AND DRINK
The
protein foods are the muscle builders. They are found in meat, eggs, nuts,
beans, cheese, and soy beans. The fats give a larger quantity of energy and heat
to the body for work and for exercise; also for resisting colds. Fats are found,
of course, in cream, butter, nuts - and especially in pecans and walnuts - but
should not be eaten in excessive amounts. The proteins should be about
one-seventh, and the fats about two-sevenths or three-sevenths of the total food
calories eaten, depending on the kind of weather and the climate where one
lives.
The
carbohydrates are the starches and sugars. More molasses and honey should be
used, and less sugar, to give energy for work and exercise, and for thought.
Molasses contains much iron and Vitamin B.
The mineral
salts and the vitamins are very necessary to health, but there is too great an
emphasis put on vitamins in times like this. There are not so many deficiencies
if the person is careful in selecting food and knows what vitamins are to be
found in each. (See Supplement.)
YOUR BODY, ASSIMILATION AND ELIMINATION
Our
assimilation is appropriating the elements of diet and food to the tissues of
the body giving strength and energy and power to think and do.
Some people
can do a great deal more on less food than others because they assimilate every
particle of the energy the foods contain in an available form. However, we know
now from atomic bombs that atomic energy is a very latent force which is in many
kinds of substances, and can be liberated in a very much larger quantity than
heretofore thought possible.
A bird can
eat a few grains of wheat and fly many miles apparently assimilating and
utilizing all the energy.
Food well
prepared and invitingly served, of course, leads to better digestion and
assimilation. A lively, active interest in the conversation and enjoyment at the
table also are beneficial.
Foods that
have grown on soils that are not exhausted and leached out of all the mineral
elements, of course, we know, are much more valuable in giving energy.
Elimination
means the throwing off of poison from the body in the form of air from the
lungs, sweat from the skin, feces from the bowels, and urine from the kidneys,
the four emunctories.
If you
will cut off the breathing for ten minutes entirely, the person will usually
died. Thousands of people are half starved apparently from want of air because
of shallow breathing: Sit up erect.
The skin is
an organ of elimination that regulates temperature and if you cut off the action
of the skin entirely, for a few hours, one will die.
An old man
told me, years ago, after hearing one of my lectures, that a very sad thing in
his life was painting a negro and he died before he could get the paint off.
The bowels
may go days without elimination and not kill one. I saw the movie of a chicken
heart in 1926 at Cleveland at the American College of Physicians meeting; I saw
the tissues die and writhe in the agony of death and there was no infection
whatever in the fluid, but the fluid was allowed to remain too long without
being changed. It has to be changed every few days and a little bit of serum
from a young rooster had to be added so it would live, or otherwise it would not
live. It died from its own poison from defective elimination.
There are many poisons in the body that should be eliminated through the
emunctories - the skin, bowels, liver, lungs and kidneys - for good health.
The fourth
point is bacteria. They are little animal or vegetable growth that get into the
system as enemies and destroy the cells when taken in. They may go through the
skin, but mostly through the nose and lungs with the air containing all sorts of
germs, dust and dirt. That is why it is so important for the nose to be washed
out every night before retiring and every morning, so that this dust, dirt and
germs may be removed.
Many
bacteria are helpful, but there are others that are very destructive to life and
comfort. We have many medicines that are used for destroying germs in the body,
but they usually will do harm, if the patient uses them too long and too strong.
The blood should be tested frequently to see if there is any damage.
Strong drugs
should always be given under the supervision of a doctor.
The fifth
point is religion, philosophy of life, or what men live by. An old Persian
proverb is, "If you have two loaves of bread and have no flowers, sell one loaf
and buy some flowers to feed your soul."
It is a well
known fact that hatred, anger, envy, jealousy, and all of these things that make
life miserable are very destructive to one's health.
Hope,
optimism, and joy are beneficial and helpful and produce better health if not
too exciting. Too much excitement and joy and emotional upset exhaust the nerve
cells and make one very depressed and weak. An even-tempered life is best, with
regular habits.
Many
phychosomatic, or nervous, cases that have no infection or physical basis, have
been caused by some shock in the patient's early life, which can be analyzed and
brought to the surface by the doctor with the patient's co-operation. A patient
should seek back in his memory for some profound shock that produced a lot of
worry - a very profound act in depressing the patient and maybe a spell of
sickness. All of these things must be analyzed and looked into and may account
for the patient's illness. A bad scare in children may be the basis of many
phobias.
I had a
patient once who came to me with nervousness and insomnia. He said that he
awakened at three o'clock in the morning suddenly and his heart was running
away. He knew that he didn't imagine it - it was an actual fact that he was not
even awake to worry about it. I said, "Well, If you will help me, we will find
out the cause. You must have had, at some time in your life, a very profound,
exciting event take place - a house burn down, a dear friend die in your arms,
or something like that." He thought a little bit and then said, "No, the only
profound thing that I ever had in my life was when a man came in the window and
took all the money I had - $500.00 in amount - and I am just about in the same
shape now as I was then. I'm just about broke." I said, "Young man, that was the
cause of your trouble, awaking at three o'clock in the morning. In the morning
at three o'clock when you wake up suddenly that way, just say, 'Come in, old
boy, you won't get but a nickel this time, and I'm going to sleep and not bother
about you.' " And so he did and did not have any further trouble sleeping.
These cases
frequently can be analyzed because of the profound shock in the subconscious
mind, and if not successful then, of course, the expert advice of a psychiatrist
must be enlisted. But many of these cases can be analyzed by the physician
himself without hunting for the words that block the memory. There are other
modern methods that the psychiatrists use now that are of greater help, but the
emotions in the subconscious mind that are lingering and slumbering, like hate
and jealousy, are very important factors in robbing one of joy, happiness and
good health.
POSTURE
The
importance of good posture in the healthy functioning of our internal organs, as
well as its effect upon our appearance, cannot be over estimated.
A recent
issue of Hygeia says: "One should stand as tall as possible without rising on
his toes. The head should be up, the chin in, the chest up, and the feet a few
inches apart and pointed forward. The abdomen should be in and flat, but not
strained, and the hands should hang loosely at the sides. The individual should
become conscious of his posture, but at the same time should try to be as
relaxed as possible."
A normal
body and evenly developed muscles capable of holding the body's positions are
essential to good posture. Most people are born with these essentials, but
incorrect habits of standing, walking, sitting, working and sleeping often
result in postural defects. Poor vision or defective hearing, badly fitted
shoes, or tight garments, may result in poor posture. Since balance is the
keynote of good posture, those things that make for imbalance should be
eliminated. A thorough examination by a competent physician will reveal the
cause, and his suggestions will outline what is needed for correction.