Healthpharmablog. About Health & Medicine

Try this way of life as an experiment either during your holidays or when you are convalescing from an illness. Instead of going out in the evenings on some social occasion that may last far into the night, take the opportunity to enjoy some natural sleep several hours before midnight. If, during our holidays, we accustom ourselves to this way of life, perhaps when we return home we may succeed in cancelling our social obligations on two or three weekday nights in order to enjoy the regenerative power of natural sleep. Our business and social life will actually benefit, for our energies and strength will be renewed. If, on the other hand, we behave like most people on holiday and stay up all hours of the night indulging in social life to the full, then we should not be surprised if our body and mind are still tired once it is over.

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I am always reminded of visiting a hospitable desert Bedouin in his tent whenever someone complains about a hot summer’s day in my native Switzerland, where cold and rainfall are well known but not real drought. In the shade of his black goat’s-hair tent the temperature must have been around 40 °C (104 °F) and the air outside was shimmering in the heat. In spite of this the bearded man, whose deeply lined face betrayed his advanced age, served me hot tea. I was astonished and wanted to know the reason. His answer was quick. It was completely wrong, he said, to drink cold water in the intense heat; it would only increase the thirst instead of quenching it. And so would sweet drinks, he added. It would be asking for trouble and not healthy either. At the time of our conversation I was still doubtful about his conclusion, but eventually it was confirmed by my own personal experience. It is really true that a hot drink or juicy fruit are better than anything else to quench one’s thirst in the heat. What is more, they may prevent you from catching a cold, but there is no guarantee for that if you gulp down ice-cold beverages.

It is also important to breathe through the nose when it is very hot, not only when you are in the cold. The nose is equipped with a built-in air-conditioning system, or temperature control, which warms up the incoming air in the winter and cools it down in the summer.

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The subject of dairy farming leads me to comment on a strange policy among some dairy farmers. There are some farmers who muzzle calves to prevent them from eating hay or aftermath. By feeding them only on milk their flesh will remain white, the idea being, of course, that white meat fetches a better price. This view of things, aided and abetted by the consumer, is extremely shortsighted, because red meat is of better nutritional value. However since the white meat is more tender, it is also more expensive.

The same principle applies to white bread, white rolls and other white flour products, showing once more the power of advertising and how demands are created to spoil the palate so that artificially prepared foods with all their additives seem to taste better. The knowledge that they are greatly inferior to products made from whole cereals is simply ignored. If one continues to eat white bread, lack of fibre will soon weaken the peristalsis of the intestines and lead to constipation, which, in turn, encourages a host of other troubles that will ultimately be dealt with by injections and all sorts of harmful drugs and medicines. One mistake after another is made and, sooner or later, the price for choosing one’s food according to the dictates of the palate will have to be paid for by chronic ill health and physical suffering.

How much wiser it would be to adapt oneself to the more healthy foods, which give a true sensation of taste, instead of the cultivated taste for the artificial. It is not only the individual who would be the ultimate beneficiary from eating natural health foods, but the economy of the land would be boosted as well.

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As more instances of poisoning from eating fruit sprayed with pesticides come to our attention, we would do well to consider the different aspects of this dangerous practice.

Some people do not react immediately to poisons such as lead, arsenic and copper sulphate used in sprays, being less sensitive. Others are more sensitive and immediately show signs of poisoning upon eating sprayed fruit. Be it as it may, when buying fruit one should make sure it has not been sprayed. It is common to find blemishes or an occasional brown spot on fruit that has not been treated with insecticides, but the fruit is still edible and its goodness is not impaired, since these blemishes are harmless plant fungi.

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In planning a healthy diet, the following suggestions should provide some useful guidance.

For breakfast to be nourishing and wholesome, the ideal foundation is muesli with apples or other seasonal fruit. Add nuts and wholegrain flakes to enrich it further. A highly nutritive addition is whole wheat, first soaked and then put through the mincer. Raisins or sultanas can be mixed with the wheat before it is minced; these are excellent for the blood. A level tablespoon of ground linseed may also be added if constipation is a problem. Use honey or grape sugar to sweeten.

Crispbread, wholewheat or whole grain bread (for example Vogel’s Whole Grain Flake Bread) with a little butter, honey or rose hip conserve can follow the muesli. If you like, sprinkle some wheat germ on the bread or over the muesli.

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