LESSON XVII

Nervousness Its Cause and Cure

The nerves of the human body are the most important, the most complex, and probably the least understood of any part of the human anatomy. In conditions of health they are never heard from, therefore every expression of the nervous system is a symptom of some abnormal physical condition.

True meaning of nervousness

The usual term "nervousness" conveys to the mind of the average person such conditions as sleeplessness, restlessness, lack of mental and physical tranquillity, but to the trained mind of the food scientist or physician, it means mental aberration, hallucinations, morbidity, mental depression, lack of self-confidence, uncertainty, loss of memory, fear of poverty, anticipation of accident, tragedy, death, insanity, and a multitude of things that never happen. Language cannot adequately describe or convey to the mind of another person the strange impressions that sweep o'er the mind—the mental anguish caused by an ordinary case of nervous indigestion. Those only who can understand why many good men and women sometimes take their own lives, or commit some great crime, are those who have experienced the same affliction.

If we could correctly interpret the various symptoms given to the brain from the nervous system, and would heed these symptoms, the body might be kept in almost perfect health under all conditions of civilized life.

Relation of nutrition to nervousness

The lack of fresh air and exercise is always told by nervous expression, but the most important and significant message conveyed by the nerves at the brain is that concerning food and general nutrition. Instinct often leads us to fresh air and exercise, but with our food it is vastly different. We acquire a taste for certain things; the habit grows upon us, and though the nerves tell the story to our senses over and over, we heed it not because we are held behind the bars of habit by the tyranny of appetite. In this respect the tobacco fiend, the drug fiend, and the food fiend are all in the same class.

CAUSES

Nervousness usually has its origin in disorders of the functions of metabolism, assimilation and elimination. In other words, somewhere between the time the food is first taken into the system, and the time the poisonous débris of the food and the body waste is finally eliminated, there are some grievous faults of function.

Some deficiency in the activity and in the secreting power of any of the digestive organs; some defect in the assimilation of the finished pabulum; some short-coming in the process by which oxygen is carried through the system to convert the "end-products" into less toxic substances for final excretion—any or all of these causes may conspire to produce nervousness. These may again, in their turn, be due to causes that arise within the mind, inhibiting the proper functional activity of the body.

But overfeeding, or eating the wrong combinations of food, and lack of proper elimination, are probably the most frequent causes of nervousness. When we take into the system more food than the body requires, there is bound to be a certain amount of it which cannot be utilized to build tissue, or furnish heat, or supply mineral salts.

This excess food, under the influence of fermentative processes, breaks down into various poisonous products. This is especially true of the albuminous elements of the food. For these, in the heat and moisture of the small intestine, rapidly undergo a process of rotting—this is exactly what it is—and develop some of the most virulent organic poisons known to man.

They exercise a profound depression upon all the physiological functions, and cause an actual toxic degeneration of the nervous protoplasm. This, in turn, causes nerve irritability, insomnia, and many of those protean symptoms roughly grouped under the head of neurasthenia.

To completely relieve the condition means that a thorough reform in habits,—and particularly in dietetic habits—must be undertaken.

Excesses of every kind—even of play or work—must be stopped. All possible sources of worry must be removed. Rest and recreation should be made quite as important—in fact more so, than house-work or business.

Sleep, and plenty of it, should be secured at all costs. Eight hours are none too many—although ten would be better.

Needless to say, the question of diet is of prime importance. The use of tea, coffee, tobacco, alcohol, and all stimulant beverages, as well as condiments, should be discontinued.

Plain, wholesome food—with an ample supply of lecithin (or nerve fat) such as eggs, milk, olive oil, etc., should be taken liberally.

All sources of fermentation—especially those forms due to an excess of starch, sugars, and acids, should be avoided. Careful attention should be given to securing free bowel movement.

And, above all, an equable frame of mind should be cultivated; the way to defeat this purpose is to overwork and worry in order to accumulate the thing called property.

Working for wealth alone defeats its purpose

The desire to accumulate property has for its excuse immunity from work at some future time so that we can enjoy life, but experience teaches us that the physical cost of this effort defeats the very purpose for which we are striving.

THE REMEDY

The victim of nervousness should first seek a complete change of environment, and engage in pleasant, and, if possible, profitable occupation.

Therapeutic value of working for the public good

Thousands of people become nervous wrecks by pursuing work for which they have no natural taste or ability, and many become nervous from the monotony of environment. This is especially true with women, and while it is exceedingly difficult for countless housewives and mothers to escape from this monotony, yet they can secure relief by becoming interested in some work of a public or quasi-public nature, or by taking up a "hobby" that has for its purpose some form of public good.

All people love the plaudits and esteem of their fellow-creatures, and there is nothing that will relieve the monotony and bring that satisfaction which all of us desire more quickly than earnest labor in a worthy cause. Therefore, this is one of the first and the best remedies for that character of nervousness caused by the monotony and narrowed life of the average woman.

The effects of wrong eating and drinking

The most prolific cause of nervousness, however, is incorrect, unnatural habits of eating and drinking, therefore, the logical remedy must be found in simplifying, leveling, and making the diet conform to the requirements of the body governed, of course, by age, occupation, etc.

The nervous person should eliminate from the diet acids, sweets (see Lesson VIII, Vol. II, pp. 313 and 332>), flesh foods, and all stimulating beverages.

The following menus, with variations according to the available supply of fruits and vegetables in season, should be adopted:

SUGGESTIONS FOR SPRING

Choice of the following menus:

MENU I MENU II

BREAKFAST

A cup of hot water Very little farina or oatmeal,

Two baked bananas with cream

Steamed wheat—cream A glass of buttermilk

LUNCHEON

Corn hominy, with butter A white potato, baked

or cream A large, boiled onion

Raisins, nuts, cream cheese Corn bread

One or two glasses of water A glass of milk

DINNER

A pint of junket One egg or a morsel of fish

Bran gems A baked potato

A coddled egg (For bran Choice of carrots, parsnips,

meal and coddled eggs, or onions

see Vol. III, pp. 677 and (A green salad or spinach

683) may be eaten at this

Hot water meal, if desired)

One or two glasses of water should be drunk at each of these meals.

If there is a tendency toward constipation, a liberal portion of wheat bran, thoroughly cooked, should be taken at both the morning and the evening meal.

Bran possesses valuable nutritive properties, such as mineral salts, iron, protein and phosphates, and it harmonizes chemically with all other foods.

SUGGESTIONS FOR SUMMER

BREAKFAST

Melon, or any mild subacid or non-acid fruit, such as pears, baked apples, sweet grapes, very ripe peaches, Japanese plums, or persimmons

Choice of whipped egg or junket

A banana—natural, or baked, if the digestion is slightly impaired

LUNCHEON

A fresh green salad, such as celery or lettuce, with oil or nuts

Onions, uncooked

A whipped egg

Carrots, peas, or beans

DINNER

Corn, carrots, peas, beans, or squash

Half a cup of plain wheat bran, cooked

A baked potato

A glass of water

SUGGESTIONS FOR FALL

In adopting the two-meals-a-day system, the noon meal should be omitted. This gives the stomach and the irritated nerves a rest, and creates natural hunger which augments both digestion and assimilation. (See Lesson XIII, p. 630).

BREAKFAST

Melon or peaches

A very ripe banana, with soaked prunes and cream

A spoonful of nuts

One or two spoonfuls of whole wheat, cooked very thoroughly

One egg, prepared choice—preferably whipped

One glass of water

A green salad or some sweet fruit may be eaten at noon if very hungry.

DINNER

Squash or pumpkin, cooked en casserole

Fresh string beans

A baked sweet potato

One or two tablespoonfuls of nuts—choice

Junket or gelatin

A glass of water

SUGGESTIONS FOR WINTER

First Day: On rising, drink two cups of cool water, and devote from five to ten minutes to vigorous exercises and deep breathing.

BREAKFAST

A cup of hot water or thin chocolate

A small portion of boiled wheat

One exceedingly ripe banana, eaten with cream

One or two eggs, whipped—cream and sugar added

One or two figs, with cream and either nuts or nut butter

LUNCHEON

Two eggs, whipped; add a flavor of sugar, orange juice, and a glass of milk

A cup of hot water

DINNER

Turnips, carrots, parsnips, onions—any two of these

A baked potato or baked beans

A small portion of fish, white meat of chicken, or an egg

Just before retiring, take exercises as prescribed for the morning, and, if constipated, two or three tablespoonfuls of wheat bran.

Second Day: The same as the first, slightly increasing the quantity of food if hungry.

Third Day: The same as the second, adding one or two baked bananas to the morning meal, and varying the vegetables according to the appetite for the noon and the evening meal. Nearly all vegetables such as turnips, beets, carrots and parsnips may be substituted for one another.

Fourth Day:

BREAKFAST

Tokay or Malaga grapes

A cup of hot water

Two eggs, lightly poached, or a very rare omelet

A whole wheat muffin or a bran gem

A cup of chocolate

A liberal portion of wheat bran (one-fourth oatmeal), cooked and

served as an ordinary cereal, eaten with butter

LUNCHEON

Choice of either a or b:

a Two eggs, prepared as follows: Break into a bowl. Add a teaspoonful of sugar to each egg. Whip five minutes very rapidly

with a rotary egg beater. Add a glass of milk and a teaspoonful of orange juice to each egg

A quart of milk and half a cup of bran One baked banana

DINNER

Any green salad—celery or shredded cabbage (very little), with salt and nuts

Choice of any two fresh vegetables

Choice of:

a One or two exceedingly ripe bananas, baked, eaten with butter or cream

b Figs or raisins, with cream A glass of water

Exercise the same as prescribed for the first day.

Fifth Day: The same as the fourth day.

Sixth Day: The same as the first, repeating these menus for a period of three or four weeks.

The nervous person should eat very sparingly of bread and cereal products, with the exception of bran and a few coarse articles, such as flaked or whole wheat or rye, and these should be taken sparingly while under treatment.

A generous quantity of water should be drunk at meals, and mastication should be very thorough.

If the body is overweight or inclined toward obesity, the diet should consist of fewer fat-producing foods, such as grains, potatoes, milk, eggs, and an excess of vegetable proteids. If underweight or inclined toward emaciation, the fat-producing foods should predominate.

Under all conditions of nervousness the patient should take an abundance of exercise and deep breathing in the open air, and sleep out of doors, if possible. An abundance of fresh air breathed into the lungs is the best blood purifier known, and if the blood is kept pure, and forced into every cell and capillary vessel of the body by exercise, the irritated nerves will share in the general improvement.

The cool shower or sponge bath in the morning, preceded and followed by a few minutes' vigorous exercise, is a splendid sedative for irritated nerves.

RECREATION

The nervous person should divide the day as nearly as possible into three equal parts—eight hours' pleasant but useful work; eight hours' recreation, and eight hours' sleep.

Necessity for true recreation

Under modern civilized conditions the majority of people do not seem to understand recreation. The summer seashore resorts, with their expensive attractions and whirling life, the great hostelries in the hills and mountains, and the lakes where thousands of people congregate, entail upon them certain duties, anxieties, expectations, disappointments, and often financial strain that deprive these places of all features of recreation, and make the sojourn there one of labor and strife. The real purpose that takes most people to these resorts is to be seen; to "star" themselves before the multitude, which in its last analysis is a kind of vanity, and it is obvious that from any effort in this direction no recreation can be obtained.

The nervous person should seek a few congenial and thoughtful companions, and get back into the great heart of nature where everything moves in obedience to supreme law. Associate intimately with animals; study their habits, and notice how they respond to kindness; admire their honesty; analyze the love and fidelity of a dog. This is true diversion and recreation. This defines the purpose of life, if there be purpose behind it. This draws a sharp distinction between the condition that makes nervousness and the condition that makes honest, thoughtful, useful human beings.