The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-11-11
How to PrOlOng Life.

AS tic question OF food enters so
largely into the subject of long and
healthy life, some suggestions seem
called for in regard to what may be
considered most suitable for persons
of sixty and upward. 1t has been
urged that return to nature, or to
the food which primitive man nourish-
ed his body upon, would be the right
thing tc do. Fruits and nuts appear
to have been his dietary, and not flesh
and vegetables. Oranges, apples,
grapes, figs, bananas, dates, prunes,
peaches, and. in fact, all kinds of
sweet fruits and tomatoes are good,
because they are deficient in nitrogen
and free from the earth salts of other
kinds of food. Starchy foods are
more difficult to digest than fruits and
meats. Nuts, such as almonds, Brazil
nuts, flberts, walnuts, hickory nuts,
and similar products abound in
nourishment and furnish the necessary
heat for the body. Eggs, fish, cheese,
milk, especially buttermilk, and poul-
try Of ali kinds supply variety. Starch
foods are clogging to the system, pro-
ducing constipation. Invalids are al
ways put upon toasted bread, because
the heat acting upon the starchy por-
tions turns it into dextrine; this,
being changed to glucose by the action
of the stomach, is easily disposed of:
Glucose is the sugar of nature as found
in ripe sweet apples and in honey. .
Tea, coffee, wine, and beer, as we'll
as all alcoholic drinks, are to be taken
in extreme moderation, as they are
mere stinlulants and have no nutriment,
or at least very little. Milk is "a better
drink. AS every one knows, if you
eat slowly, you do not need to drink
at all. And that is one of the great
advantages of a fruit diet. You get
enough Of the best quality of water
distilled By nature in the fruit, which
is also aperient and cooling to the
blood, already too much heated by
starchy foods. Exclusive vegetarian
ism seems to be injurious to the human
system. But people who advocate a
diet Of fruits and nuts, omitting starch
foods and too much bread, are not
vegetarians; for they get the heat and
strength necessary for health from
nuts, lean meats, lamb, veal, and
young animals whose systems have
not had time to get clogged with the
Objectionable earth salts. If fresh
fruit cannot be obtained at all times,
dried figs, raisins, and dates can be
stepped in hot water and thus brought
to an almost fresh condition. AS for
whole meal or graham bread, the merit
that it may have il Offset by its irrita.
ting effects upon the stomach and
intestines, produced by the indigestible
brar PARTICLES. Sugar furnished by
nature in the form Of glucose is ready
for assimilation on the contrary,
sugar from cane, beets, maple, and
sorghum is insoluble by the system
until it has undergone the process of
digestion, both in the stomach and the
intestines. Now, as salt, pepper, and
all irritants, as we'll as stimulants, are
goads to the nervous system, the
human body, if treated naturally, does
not require them. Animal instinct
indicates the law of nature. Since
Cuvier's time biologists have been
telling US that man belongs to the
manlike apes, which live entirely on
nuts and fruits: never eating other
animals or cereals.
DR.. DeLacy Evans in his book "How
to Prolong Life" gives over twenty
pages to tables Of analyses of foods.
AS compared with the nourishment
they give, fruits and nuts have the
least proportion of earthly salts. An
imal flesh comes next, then vegetables,
and fourth in rank we have cereals
and pulses, which are shown to have
the largest amount Of the earthly mat
ters. From the analysis we see that
fruits as distinct from vegetables have
the least amount of earth salts. We
also notice that they are to a great
extentfree from the oxidized albumens
-glutinous and fbrinous substances
and many Of them contain acids
citric, tartaric, malic, etc.-which
when taken into the system act directly
upon the blood by increasing it's
solubility, by thinning it; the process
of circulation is more easily carried
on and the blood flows more easily in
the capillaries-which become less
ened in caliber as age advances
than it would if Of a thicker nature.
These acids lower the temperature Of
the body and thus prevent the wasting
process OF oxidation or combustion in
the system. Rice is easily digested
and an excellent food, except that it
abounds in earth salts. Fruits are
not only iigested in the first stomach,
but they have large part Of their
nourishment already in condition to
be absorbed and assimilated as soon
as eaten. The food elements in bread
and cereals have to undergo process
of digestion in the stomach, and then
be passed on to the intestines for a
still farther chemical change before
they are Of use to the human system.
This is the great advantage of diet
of lean meats and fruits.
Overwork is not expected from a
stomach already jaded, and the nervous
wear and tear of the organs of life are
avoided. Distilled water should al
ways be used both for drinking and
cooking, if it can be obtained. Rain
water, if filtered, is perhaps the next
best, though not free from objections.
Grapes, say numerous authorities, act
very much like mineral waters on the
human system. But they are better,
because at the same time they nourish
the body. Nutrition is increased,
secretion promoted, action Of the
liver, kidneys, and other excretory
organs improved, and the phosphoric
acid, of which they cantain a consid-
cradle amount acts favorably on all
the bodily functions, especially on
the brain. AS is we'll known, the
sugar of the aperequires no digestion,
but is taken almost at once into the
blood. I'extrine from the grape pro-
notes the secretion of pepsin and thus
! favors digestion. Most Of the vege-
| tarians eat grapes, though they may
prefer pea.se. Stimulants often assist
digestion, but that digestion is best