Bowel cleasing and nourishing

Bowel Cleansing and Nourishing

Over ninety percent of all diseases and malfunctions of children's bodies (as with adults) stem from the unclean intestinal tract, constipation (Latin constipatio meaning crowding together), with infrequent or difficult evacuation of the feces, retention of the feces, and lack of coordination in the nerve and muscle functions of the colon and bowel.

The mucusless diet will eventually clear the body of old fecal matter that has accumulated and become dehydrated and hard and cause so much trouble. Sometimes the body needs faster help than can be given with diet alone.

The body of man must be kept clean inside and out, to perform his daily tasks efficiently and smoothly. This body is the housing of the spirit and operating force of life. With the spirit commanding a good clean structure, a smother, happier life is evident. The scriptures tell us that God will not dwell in an unclean tabernacle. We have been told that the body is a temple, or tabernacle of God. This structure must be kept in good repair, and clean, to be a comfortable abode.

As we stand in small close areas with other people, their body odors can tell us a lot about their body structure. The strong odor of fumes from alcoholic beverages emanates from the body in a very repulsive form. The constipated person also has a hard time covering this offensive body odor and oft-times uses deodorants and perfumes to cover this unsavory condition.

Let's get to the cause of bad body odors. As an example--you come home from visiting elsewhere for the day and as you open the door you are staggered with the foul odor of a backed-up sewer. There are two ways this nauseating odor can be eliminated. One is to work on the effect and buy room fresheners and spray the area to neutralize the disagreeable scent. This is only temporary and nothing has been done about the cause. Reoccurrence is assured and the stench returns.

The wiser way is to work on the cause by unplugging and cleaning out the sewer line so there will be no more backing up of sewage. Within the human body, we find a sewage line that is backed up (constipation) and the horrible odor of halitosis comes out the front door (the mouth) as it is opened. If someone said, "Your breath is horrible," the average person works on the effect, and in order to cover up the bad breath, pops in a mint or runs for the mouth wash. If someone said--"Whew-you need a bath, the smell from your body is awful," you work on the effect again and use underarm deodorant, perfumes, colognes, etc., and never think of cleaning up the cause, and thus having a permanently sweet smelling body and breath.

This human mechanism is like a car that is loaded with carbon and sludge, the timing is out, the electrical system is shorting, and the car is badly in need of a tune-up and overhaul. By grinding the valves, cleaning out the sludge in the oil system, tuning up the poorly functioning parts of the car, it will again run as good as new.

Cleaning out the vehicle of man and getting a tune-up is the most important thing in life-to have a smoothly operating body that will use less fuel (food) and get better mileage and performance with a smooth operation.

The bowel is one of the most neglected and ignored parts of the body, and this is why we would like to take a few minutes of your time to explain how the elimination organ, the large intestines, can be kept clean and operate as was intended by the intent and desire of the original builder of the temple, or vehicle, of man.

Inherent weaknesses have been oft-times handed down from generation to generation and it is our job to rebuild, renew and improve the sins of the parents to the 3rd and 4th generation. Because of improper eating, and not taking care of the body as we should, these weaknesses are handed on down to the next generation. These could be sins of omission or sins of commission: whichever it is let's change the tide and build a better body so our offspring and the generations to come, of those we teach and help, will be a stronger, happier and more peaceful race of people that will be qualified and ready to go into our "millennial thousand years of peace and live the age of a tree."

Never will we have peace as long as we have constipated warriors sitting around the peace table glaring in hate at each other. Peace will come from a clean, sweet, happy body of one who teaches this to the family unit, and then the example and teachings can spread worldwide.

The first steps to have that smooth running happy efficient body is to give a primary three-day juice cleanse and then go into the mucusless diet as is explained in our booklet Dr. Christopher's Three Day Cleansing Program. This will start with the cause of the malfunctions in the body, start the renewing of the flesh, the rebuilding of the temple and, by continuing with this program, will guarantee you the choice of not having these problems of constipation and ill health any more during your life.

As we proceed along the new line of the mucusless diet, do not panic, with fear, that you will starve. You will eat less, have more vitality, less sickness and adjust your weight to your own specific normal.

A good meal of a baked potato (eat skin and all) or a steamed one with vegetable or olive oil, and coarse freshly ground black pepper and, if desired, chives and/or other condiment herbs for enhancing the flavor, a large vegetable salad, some steamed or low heated vegetables, fresh vegetable juice, a casserole of low heated presoaked grains as a base (described in the booklet just mentioned) and you will be satisfied, without that uncomfortable bloat, plus no hidden hunger. You will get to a point of satisfaction on less food without sluggishness. With this type of diet, you will use approximately 1/3 of what you now eat and have many times more pep and energy, and free easy bowel movements.

Of course this will not happen the first day, as you realize, but with the help of herbal aids to tone up the bowel area, plus the diet and additional items we will tell you about, you will find new life!

A must for good health is to slow down the eating procedure, relax and be happy. Discuss pleasant things during mealtime, laugh a little and remember the old adage of "the crust of bread with love is better than the roasted oxen in unharmonious conditions."

Chew each mouthful thoroughly, whether juice or solid food. The saliva is the key that opens the door to digestion. Without saliva mixed thoroughly with food, or juice, the material goes on to the stomach and does not aid the gastric juices as nature intended, and the foodstuffs are often eliminated without proper assimilation.
Use the Lower Bowel Tonic

The injection and enema are useful for healing conditions such as piles, hemorrhoids, colitis, etc., and for cleaning putrid congestions from the intestinal tract as in diarrhea and dysentery. Suppose you have a case of diarrhea--the majority of people want a remedy that will stop it right away. But diarrhea is simply a bad condition in the intestinal tract, where it is so badly clogged that the fecal solids are being held back and only the eliminative liquids are getting through. Would you believe it possible for people to have filth in them four, five, and ten or more years? It is a fact that we have seen with our own eyes.

The impurities accumulate with improper diet and living, and then when nature makes an increased effort to clear that wastage out, the dirty channel holds back the larger materials similar to the overgrowth and trash that can dam an irrigation ditch. So do NOT try to stop diarrhea (it is simply the elimination of waste material), but use the appropriate physiological means to remove the obstructing matter and clean the bowel out. The only exception is when a person is too weak and the running is too heavy, wherein the diarrhea is stopped with agents such as red raspberry leaves, fresh peaches, dried sunflower leaves, etc., then a mild laxative is given, followed by other agents that will gently remove the obstruction and build up the area again. We will be surprised how much filth that three quarts of a stimulating injection will expel.

But the injection or enema are really not the permanent solution for this problem, as they are only a crutch and temporarily relieving, and the peristaltic muscles will not work as long as such things are being used for eliminative purposes. What is needed here is the Lower Bowel Tonic, which is a CORRECTIVE FOOD for the intestinal tract. In bowel movements no two people are alike, and often a person will taper down on the lower bowel tonic over a period of time to one capsule three times daily, then to a single capsule a day--then all of a sudden, the herb is getting to the outside walls of the intestines and breaking loose some of this hard fecal matter, and it goes down the intestines and begins to clog you up.

So during your cleansing cycles--when the body is throwing off more of its accumulated wastage, or when the Lower Bowel Tonic is getting to the outside of the intestinal tract and breaking loose some of this hard fecal matter from the walls and with subsequent intestinal congestion--you should remember to accentuate or intensify your use of the Lower Bowel Tonic and take the necessary quantity (up to maybe 8, 10, 15 and even 20 capsules a day) to break it loose; and when that is accomplished, then taper back down again.

When a person discovers undigested food in the fecal matter, this generally means that the bowel is badly clogged and that the food is going on through without proper assimilation. And when bloating of the bowel occurs, this is a signal to get back onto another cleanse (as was presented in our Cleansing Program on page 155, of this book).

A condition of sciatic rheumatism will always develop where the sigmoid portion of the lower bowel becomes congested, and the toxic poisons from the bowel subsequently flow into the adjacent area, irritating the nerves controlling the sacroiliac and, in turn, throwing it out of place--and so goes the vicious cycle! Hence, a periodic purification and cleansing of the lower intestinal tract is very important. This is your sewage system--and when the eliminative function is efficient and clean, you do not have to worry about sluggishness or toxification in the system.
Cleansing the Bowel for Greater Vitality

What is the source of intestinal complaints? As we eat our normal intake of food (if we can call it such), a certain amount of its mucus forming substance stays in the intestine by adhering to the walls--glues itself on just like wallpaper paste, and forms layers around the walls. Then, as each additional layer forms through incorrect eating habits, the muscular and absorptive tissues become thickly-covered and proportionately less functional. Then, as these fecal layerings become hardened and continue to grow thicker during a process of time, finally only a hole remains in the center of the lower bowel.

So the matter of fecal elimination is entirely deceptive where there is not sufficient understanding of the correct and normal bowel function--as people oft-times say, "I have bowel movements every day." Sure, they have bowel movements every day, but what happens is that, with all that old fecal matter encrusted on the intestinal walls, the food goes into the oral cavity and on through the intestinal tract with little good being done--for, instead of assimilating all the good that is needed from the ingested food, the "average" person utilizes only about 10% of its real value, and the rest is wasted on down the eliminative drain. So, with the intestinal tract so badly layered and clogged, your food simply cannot get through to the absorptive villi and functional tissues on the walls and the usual result is that the bowel weakens, loses its elasticity and balloons out.

These hardened layerings in the bowels are just like rings in a tree, which are added to during each year and varied according to the habits and types of materials consumed. When a person suffers from halitosis or bad breath, this is simply nature's way of saying, "You have a toxic bowel condition."

One patient asked, "Why is it that I only eat one-fifth of what I used to eat, and when I was eating five times as much I had a bowel movement every day and I thought that was adequate; but now that I am eating only one-fifth of what I formerly ate, I am having from five to seven bowel movements each and EVERY day--and they are MASSIVE ones, and I am eating LESS! !-- you figure that one out, will you?" Well, when I was a boy and working in the cabinet shop, we had an old glue pot. That pot, as the years rolled on, got smaller and smaller, due to the glue adhering to the inside. And, because it was a very expensive glue pot, we could not use the hammer on it to break the hardened substance loose.

So we had to reverse the process--we had to soak it out! So it is with the human colon, and the abnormal intestinal condition that is found among most people today is from improper living habits that accumulate waste upon the intestinal walls, becoming dehydrated and compacted and like dried fruit, dried flax, etc., that starts to swell as soon as water gets to it. A mucus condition in the colon is generally food that gets caught and rots in the ballooned pockets, which enemas do not touch. Ridding the body of poison is most important, and the animal products are the most mucus-forming. We have 32 feet of intestinal tract, and when we plug it up with meat, cheese, etc., then the waste materials stay in too long and the uric acid goes through and toxifies the whole body system.

What happens when congestion occurs in the intestines while you are on the Cleansing Program? In one day, with the help of the Lower Bowel herbs, you may soak loose what has been accumulating there during at least a three-week layering period of some previous time. And, the closer that this cleansing process approaches the intestinal walls, the harder that the encrusted fecal matter is, until it is often broken off and comes out in pieces just like old plastic or rubber hose! The frequent swelling in the abdomen results during the cleanse as the Lower Bowel agents begin soaking through, and when this filth is cleaned out, you will feel "like a million dollars"--revitalized and young again.

For instance, in one case we had a boy who for eight months was having somewhat regular and normal bowel movements, then one evening he called his father in the night and was amazed that he had dropped a five pound load--he completely filled the toilet! What had happened is that accumulations from years back had finally broken loose. And when this cleansing process is completed, the food value FINALLY returns to the outside intestinal wall, the tissues are fed properly and the peristaltic muscles once again start working! Now this is where our Lower Bowel Tonic wins--because it is not a crutch. It cleans the liver, the gall bladder, starts the bile flowing, and stimulates the peristaltic muscles the peristaltic muscles to begin working and kneading out.

You can take colonics, irrigations, enemas, or herbal laxatives until "they are coming out your ears," and as long as those peristaltic muscles are not functioning, no permanent healing can really be accomplished.

So remember: While you are using a polluted and defiled bowel, you are getting only about 10% of your food value and the body degeneration will likely continue as long as this unfavorable condition persists. And what are the benefits of a cleansed and properly functioning bowel? This man who is eating only one-fifth of his former quantity of food now has MORE strength, MORE endurance, and MORE pep and energy than he ever had--and he is HAPPIER! But these are not the only advantages, especially for those planning to survive the troubled days ahead; for when you become more efficient with your food assimilation within the body, then you will be able to go three or four times as long on the same quantity of food as the "average" individual.

Thus you will not need as much food to survive during critical times, and your "normal" two-year food supply is going to last you eight to nine years! So as you clean out and tone up the bowel, you will be assured a greater nutritional efficiency for the entire body system, and all the other glands and organs will be properly fed--and REGENERATED! And when this body is cleansed, you will also be able to assimilate various types of foods and get the food value out of them that nobody else can.

For the first thirty-five years of my life, I had to have three IMMENSE meals a day and piece in between to get through an eight-hour work period. And now, it is many a day that I will be up at five o'clock in the morning, and not eat until two to three o'clock in the afternoon. My second meal will be between midnight and one o'clock in the morning--and these will both be small meals, as the first one will be a salad and the second one will be some Chinese food. And yet, I am doing eighteen to twenty hours on that much food, when I could not have done that before--not even in an eight-hour day! Can you see now why we have men and women repeatedly raising their hands in our herb classes and volunteering their testimonials, in substance: "Since we have been on this Cleansing Program, we have cut our food bill straight in half!"

Following are quotes from the book Colon Hygiene by John Harvey Kellogg, M.D.:
Exercise.

Bodily activity is another way of mechanically stimulating the intestine. Vigorous exercise sets the diaphragm and abdominal muscles at work in such a way that the intestines are, between the two, vigorously kneaded and squeezed and thus stimulated to action.

Every farmer knows the constipation effect of idleness upon his horses and cattle. Most observing persons have noted in their own experience the advantage of taking a brisk walk before or after breakfast.

The sedentary man or woman not only loses the immediate effect which results from the increased activity of the diaphragm and abdominal muscles, but his abdominal muscles become permanently weakened, relaxed, lacking in tone, and incapable of supporting the intestines in their proper place, thus adding a number of other factors which contribute very materially to the lessening of intestinal activity.
Posture.

A stooped or relaxed posture in sitting or standing tends strongly to induce constipation by weakening the abdominal muscles and causing congestion of the liver and all other abdominal organs. The viscera, over-filled with blood, and lacking the support of the abdominal muscles, become prolapsed. The colon falls with the rest; the intestinal contents stagnate; the bowel becomes distended; the ileocecal valve becomes incompetent, infection travels up the small intestine, and a long list of ills result.

An erect posture secures proper exercise of the muscles of the trunk, correct breathing, normal circulation of the blood in the viscera, and promotes in a high degree normal bowel movement.

A further cause of injury is the lowering of the diaphragm and diminished action of this important muscle, which when normally active applies to the colon and other viscera a sort of rhythmic massage which is a valuable aid to bowel action.
Influences which lessen intestinal movements.

There are certain foods and other agents and influences that exercise a decided slowing influence upon intestinal movements, either directly, or indirectly through the suppression of the normal stimuli.
Liquid foods.

Such foods as soups, gruels, porridges, and purees contain so little solid matter that the bulk, considerable though it may be when the food is eaten, is soon reduced to a very small volume. On this account liquid foods are almost always constipating. The only exceptions are those liquid foods which contain much sugar, acids, or fats.

Pasty cereals such as oatmeal mush, are decidedly constipating in their influence, because of their pasty consistency and the little mastication which they receive. New bread, hot biscuits, "noodles," and doughy foods of all sorts are likewise objectionable.

Fruit juices of all sorts are most suitable for almost all forms of sickness. They contain choice nutriment in form needing no digestion, ready for immediate absorption and assimilation.

Orange juice or freshly pressed juice of apples, grapes, or other sweet or sub-acid fruit, is ideal nourishment for the sick. In the absence of these fruits, dried fruit, soaked long in water may furnish a very fair substitute.
Colon disease.

It is probable that more diseases, premature old age and death, misery and even crime, originate from constipation that from any other bodily disorder. Constipation is not in itself a disease, but is a symptom, the cause of which may be disease or simply neglect.

There are several very prevalent errors respecting the colon and its functions which are probably responsible for most of the mischief which arises from disorders of this part of the body.

One of the most universal and mischievous of errors about the humble colon is that its function is one which modesty imperatively demands shall be concealed even at the expense of great suffering. It is indeed only in very recent times that public transportation companies, railroad and trolley lines, have begun to make anything like decent or adequate provision for the colon needs of their patrons. And even at the present time there are hundreds of small stations and waiting rooms wholly unsupplied with toilet conveniences.

Very few of our cities and towns offer any sort of public toilet provisions for either men or women.

Thousands of factories and other places where men or women are employed provide no adequate toilet arrangements.

It is a most dangerous error to suppose that the colon function can be neglected or postponed with impunity. Many people, perhaps the majority, regard the moving of the bowels as a disagreeable duty which may be postponed to suit the demands of business or convenience.

The results are most disastrous. The majority of chronic human ills are the result of this neglect.

Another common error which is held by most medical men as well as by the laity is that the stool should be "formed." This is a false notion which has grown out of the universal constipation habit which prevails among civilized folk.

The vegetarian Hindus, of Armistar, who live chiefly on ground wheat and vegetables, according to Dr. A. H. Browne, have "large, bulky, and not formed, but pultaceous" stools.

A well-formed stool always means constipation. The significance is that the colon is packed full like a sausage and that the fecal matters have been so long retained that they have been compacted by the absorption of water. The whole colon is filled, and the bowel movement is the result of the pressure of the incoming food residues at the other end. When the body wastes are promptly discharged as they should be, the colon never contains the residues of more than two meals and at the after-breakfast movement should be completely emptied so that the disinfecting and lubricating mucus which its walls secrete may have the opportunity to cleanse and disinfect the body's garbage receptacle and thus keep it in a sanitary condition.

The California doctor who advised his patient to restrain his desire for bowel movement at night and "save it till the next morning" so that "he might have a well-formed stool," had not the first conception of the normal function of the colon.

That one bowel movement a day is normal and efficient evacuation of the bowels is another error which is universally entertained. One bowel movement a day is a positive indication of constipation. X-ray examinations of the colon after a test meal shown that in persons whose bowels move once a day the body wastes are usually retained for fifty hours or more. Hurst, of London, and not a few other authorities finding this condition almost universal have been led to regard it as normal. But in this they are certainly in error.

X-ray examinations show that in eight hours from the beginning of a meal the process of digestion has been completed, the digested food has been absorbed, and the unusable residue has been pushed half way through the colon, in other words, is within two and a half feet of the lower opening of the colon. In eight hours the food has traveled more than twenty-five feet or ten times the distance which remains to be traveled.

The work of digestion is finished, the useful part of the food has been absorbed, there remains nothing to be done but to dispose of the indigestible and useless residue by pushing it along two or three feet further. Certainly no good reason can be assigned for the further retention of the waste matters. It is indeed highly absurd to suppose that forty hours are needed to transport the feces two and a half feet when they have already traveled twenty-five feet in eight hours.

The bowels should move at least three times a day or after each meal. Four movements daily is a still better rhythm and is easily established by a biologic regimen. This the writer has proven not in a few exceptional cases but in thousands of patients who have been willing to take the trouble to train their bowels by means of a proper diet and other simple and natural means.
Putrefaction.

The carmine capsule test shows that in most cases in which the bowels move once daily, the waste disposal function is always several days in arears.

The colon contains the waste and residues of several meals--anywhere from five to twenty or even more, so that there is ample opportunity for the putrefactive process to get well under way.

The putrefaction is the source of the foul odor and gases which originate in the colon, and which are not only most offensive to the sense of smell, but as is well known, are also highly poisonous, and may give rise to nausea, "biliousness," loss of appetite, foul tongue, bad breath, dingy skin, headache, Bright's disease, and a host of other grave disorders.
Hasty eating.

Insufficient mastication is a fault peculiar to civilized men. The savage, as well as the monkey and all lower animals that are provided with teeth for grinding food, masticates his food with the greatest thoroughness. A skull in the writer's possession shows the teeth of an ancient mound builder, a Malkelkos Indian. The well-worn appearance of the teeth affords sufficient evidence of the thoroughness with which they were used to grinding the nuts and cereal foods eaten by aborigines.
Meat eating.

Carnivorous animals have a short alimentary canal and a smooth colon. The movement of foodstuffs along this short, smooth passage is rapid. This is necessary for the preservation of the life of the animal, as undigested remnants of meat long retained in the body necessarily undergo putrefactive changes with the production of ptomaines and poisons of a dangerous character. The digestion of meat leaves little residue, hence a person who lives chiefly on meat suffers from constipation, a condition which evokes the putrefaction of undigested food remnants, and this, by creating an alkaline condition of the intestines, paralyzes the bowel and further increases the constipation.

Meat also causes constipation through the fact that it encourages putrefaction of the colon both by introducing putrefactive organisms in great numbers and also by providing material which is best calculated to encourage the growth of putrefactive organisms in the colon. Through the putrefaction of undigested remnants of the meat eaten, ammonia and other alkaline substances are formed which paralyze the bowel.

The infection of the bowel which results from meat-eating also gives rise to colitis and causes a spastic or contracted condition of the descending colon, a condition found in the most obstinate forms of constipation.
Insufficient fluid.

Most persons who suffer from constipation habitually drink too little water. Women drink less than men. It is difficult to account for this scanty use of a necessary of life, which costs little and is of such inestimable value to the body. Water is far more immediately necessary for the support of life than is food. A man may live six weeks or two months without tasting food in any form, but 10 days at the most is the limit of human life without water. The consequence of a scanty use of water is abnormal dryness of the feces, which delays their passage through the lower colon, and often causes an actual stoppage in the pelvic colon or the rectum.

Persons who sweat much, either as the result of hot weather, vigorous exercise, or hot baths, are likely to suffer from constipation, unless special care is taken to supply the body with water sufficient to make good the loss. The skin ordinarily throws off as perspiration an ounce and a half of water each hour, or more than a quart in twenty-four hours. By active exercise or sweating baths this amount may be increased to thirty or forty ounces in an hour. The kidneys excrete two to three pints daily. It is evident, then, that care must be exercised to replace the water that is lost through the skin and kidneys.

In diabetes there is a great loss of water through the kidneys. This, also, must be made up by drinking. If these losses are not made good, the thirsty tissues will absorb as much water as possible from the feces, thus causing hardening and retention in the lower bowels.

Scanty and highly colored urine is an evidence that the tissues are in need of water. Dryness of the skin often testifies to the same need.

Water should be taken in proper quantity irrespective of thirst. It may be made palatable by the addition of fresh fruit juices.

For the average person a good plan is to take a couple of glasses of water on rising, and the same amount before retiring at night. A glassful should be taken half an hour before dinner and supper, and an equal amount two hours after eating. The free use of oranges or orange juice, and of other juicy fruits, serves the same purpose as water drinking, to the extent of the liquid which they supply.

Persons suffering from obesity or diabetes are sometimes restricted in the drinking of water, with the result that constipation is produced, if this condition does not already exist. This should never be done.

In all cases in which there is a tendency to dryness of the stools, water should be taken in increased quantity. It is important is such cases, also, to diminish the amount of salt eaten. The addition of salt to the food creates thirst for water to dissolve it and to aid in its elimination through the skin and the kidneys.

Children, as well as adults, need much more water than they are usually given. Meat eaters and those who use salt freely require a much larger amount of water than do those who adhere to a low protein dietary and who use little salt.
Exercise.

The excellent effects that walking has upon bowel activity are well known. Riding is also of great advantage is the same way. These exercises, as well as many others, mechanically stimulate the colon as well as all parts of the intestinal tract, by communicating to it a continued series of slight shocks, by which reflex movements are excited. The active play of children is as necessary to maintain proper bowel action as for muscular development.

The movements of skipping, hopping, jumping are especially useful because they induce sudden vigorous contractions of the abdominal muscles and vigorous diaphragm movements by which the colon is compressed and stimulated. The folk dancing of the Middle Ages, which has been revived in recent years, is for the above reasons to be highly commended as a health measure. It is important, however, to make a clear distinction between the varied and vigorous movements of the folk dance, in simple dress and under wholesome conditions, and the monotonous and restrained movements of the social dance, in full dress and under conditions always physically, and not infrequently morally, unwholesome.

Those whose occupations are such as to give them plenty of exercise are fortunate is being able to lead lives which in large measure conform to natural requirements. Such persons never need suffer from constipation if they eat proper food, drink an abundance of water--at least three to five pints daily--and take care to give the bowels and opportunity for movement after each meal, and promptly whenever there is a "call" for evacuation.

Those who are compelled to lead sedentary lives, and especially women, whose lives are nearly always more or less sedentary in character, must take daily and regular exercise of a sort calculated to benefit the bowels if they would escape the evils of constipation and its secondary results.
Exercises which combat constipation:

The exercises that are of the greatest value in cases of constipation are those which bring into strong action the muscles of the abdomen. The abdominal muscles are generally weak and relaxed, and the intra-abdominal pressure is consequently low.

By appropriate exercises the weak muscles may be strengthened; the intra-abdominal pressure may be raised and the colon may be thus unable to contract with sufficient impetus to expel its contents.

Hill climbing. Hill climbing is a more valuable exercise than walking on the level, because the abdominal muscles are brought into more active play. When mountain climbing is not an available form of exercise, nearly the same results may be obtained by climbing a ladder or by walking up and down stairs. The writer has also made use of the treadmill as the means of securing muscular exercise similar to that required in hill climbing.

Horseback riding. Horseback exercise is especially indicated as an exercise for constipation. Riding a considerable distance, however, is necessary to produce any decided effect, as, on the whole, horseback riding to a person accustomed to it, is not very active exercise, except when riding a hard-trotting horse.

Rowing. Rowing is one of the very best exercises to combat constipation, provided the chest is held high during the exercise, and especially if care is taken to give the trunk as strong a backward movement as possible, but care must be taken to avoid holding the trunk forward with the shoulders rounded and the chest depressed.

Tennis. Tennis may be highly commended for young persons and those who are sufficiently strong to engage in this form of exercise without injury. This very popular game is, however, too vigorous for persons with weak hearts.

The medicine ball. This is a capital exercise for persons who are fairly strong. It brings the muscles of the trunk into vigorous action.

Work exercises. The movements of chopping and digging, swinging the hammer and mowing are highly valuable exercises if taken with due care to maintain the body in an erect position. Many household occupations, such as scrubbing, washing, and general housework, are excellent forms of exercise when correct posture is maintained.

Posture exercises. Of first importance to persons suffering from constipation is the maintenance of an erect position of the trunk. When the chest is lowered, as in sitting in a relaxed attitude, the distance between the breast bone and pelvis is diminished, so that the large muscles which form the front of the abdominal wall are shortened and relaxed. In this attitude the muscles cannot be contracted sufficiently to produce the proper degree of intra-abdominal pressure. When the chest is held high, the rectus muscles are stretched and are thus able by contraction to produce the maximum effect in compressing the colon. Flat-chested persons are predisposed to constipation because of inefficient action of the abdominal muscles.

The ordinary chair must be regarded to a very considerable degree as responsible for the prevalence of flat chest and round shoulders, and the evils which result from this deformity. It is possible to sit in an erect attitude in a chair of any shape; but with a chair with a straight back, constant effort is required by forcible contraction of the muscles, to maintain the body in an erect position. The moment the muscles are permitted to relax, the trunk falls into an abnormal and unhealthy attitude, the spinal column being curved backward instead of forward, as is natural and necessary for health.

As the result of an habitually wrong attitude in sitting, the same improper attitude is maintained when standing and walking, and the figure becomes deformed. A flat chest, round shoulders, and a forward carriage of the hips are characteristics to be found in the great majority of persons who lead sedentary lives, especially those who sit much at their work, such as accountants, writers, teachers, and professional people generally. One of the first things, then, for a constipated person to do is to correct his sitting and standing attitudes. This may be done by careful execution of the following exercises, which the writer has employed for more than 25 years with much satisfaction in the treatment of cases of this sort.

To correct the standing posture. Stand against a straight wall. Place heels, hips, shoulders, head and hands firmly against the wall. Now bend the head backward as far as possible, or until the eyes look straight up to the ceiling, at the same time permitting the chest and shoulders to move forward. While holding the head in this position, press the hands firmly against the wall; draw the chin down to position without allowing the shoulders to move backward, still holding the body rigid, allowing the arms to fall at the sides. In this position the chest will be held high and the abdominal muscles well drawn in. While holding this position execute movements with the arms; arm raising above the head, swimming movements, etc.

This is the correcting standing position and should, as far as possible, be constantly maintained in standing and walking. It is impossible, of course, to hold the muscles constantly rigid. In relaxing, however, care should be taken to keep the chest forward, so that the body does not fall back into the former incorrect attitude.

Exercises to correct the sitting posture. Sitting upon a chair or stool, preferably the latter, proceed as follows:

Place the hands on the hips, with the thumbs behind. Bend the head backward so as to look straight up to the ceiling; now bend forward as far as possible while still keeping the eyes on the ceiling; now make firm pressure with the thumbs, and while pressing hard bring the body up to the erect position. Still keeping the eyes upon the ceiling, holding the elbows as far back as possible, and without for an instant lessening the pressure on the thumbs, bring the chin down to position.

If this movement is executed according to directions, it will bring the body into perfect position, with the chest raised high the abdominal muscles well drawn in.
Resisting the "Call."

The practice of resisting the 'call' of Nature to discharge from the body accumulated wastes and rubbish is almost universal among civilized people, as the result of refinement of manners and modesty which lead to the concealment of certain animal functions as much as possible. That this is the result of what is commonly called false modesty cannot be denied, and yet there are few who would desire that this so-called false modesty should be altogether laid aside. It is important, however, that every person, children as well as adults, and at a very early age, should be fully instructed respecting the evil results of resisting and thus thwarting one of the most important of the bodily functions.
The use of tobacco.

Numerous laboratory experiments have shown that the use of tobacco in any form has a paralyzing effect upon the sympathetic nerves. Without the aid of these sympathetic nerves, normal, rhythmical bowel movements are impossible. The fact that some persons observe an apparently favorable influence from smoking, is accepted as evidence that the effects of the weed are favorable to the bowels. These cases are exceptional. In general, the use of tobacco is highly injurious to the intestine.
Alcohol and other narcotic drugs.

Alcoholic beverages of all sorts tend to produce constipation, by causing chronic intestinal catarrh, ulcer of the stomach, and paralysis of the sympathetic nerves.

We do not recommend laxatives such as purchased from the drug store or herbal laxatives in many cases from health stores that are just a laxative. These become habit forming and this is not the procedure we recommend. We use herbs to feed and rebuild the bowel, to activate the dormant peristaltic muscles and clean off the bowel walls for complete assimilation of foods going through the intestinal tract.
Water and Juice

An abundant supply of wholesome unsweetened fruit and vegetable juice (especially raw spinach juice) should be used daily and, in addition, drink plenty of distilled water to supply liquid to the body. The human body under normal circumstances is made up of approximately 80% fluid; this must be replenished daily in the form of liquid intake. Only the best of liquid should be used to replace the daily loss through elimination from urination, perspiring and from the bowel area, etc. The use of inorganic drinks (soft drinks) and beverages high in sugar, synthetic, sweetenings and artificial colorings, the use of alcoholic beverages and polluted stream or tap waters is as ridiculous as pouring salt, sugar or dirty water into the gas tank of your car.

N. W. Walker, D. Sc., has written an excellent book on Raw Vegetable Juices (and endorsed by R. D. Pope, M.D.), he says:

When the food is raw, whether whole or in the form of juice, every atom in such food is vital ORGANIC. Therefore, the oxalic acid in our raw vegetables and their juices is organic, and as such is not only beneficial, but essential for the physiological functions of the body.

The oxalic acid in cooked and processed foods, however, is definitely dead, or INORGANIC, and as such is positively both pernicious and destructive. Oxalic acid readily combines with calcium. If these are both organic, the result is a beneficial constructive combination, as the former helps the digestive assimilation of the latter, at the same time stimulating the peristaltic functions in the body.

When the oxalic acid has become INORGANIC by cooking or processing the foods that contain it, then this acid forms an interlocking compound with the calcium, even combining with the calcium in other foods eaten during the same meal, destroying the nourishing value of both. This results in such a serious deficiency of calcium that it has even been known to cause decomposition of the bones. This is the reason I never eat cooked or canned spinach.

As to the oxalic acid itself, when converted into an inorganic acid by cooking or processing the food, it often results in causing inorganic oxalic acid crystals to form in the kidneys.

It is worthy of notice that the minerals in our foods--iron, for example--frequently cannot be assimilated and used completely if they have become inorganic through cooking, and often prevent the utilizing of other elements through chemical and other action. Thus, the iron in fresh raw spinach juice may be utilized 100%, but only one-fifth of that, or less, would be available in cooked spinach.

It is well to bear in mind, therefore, that, as the organic oxalic acid is so vital to our well-being, the fresh raw juice of the vegetables containing it should be used daily to supplement the eating of these raw vegetables included in our daily salads.

The most abundant supply of organic oxalic acid is found in fresh raw spinach and rhubarb.
Aids in Elimination from Certain Foods

To assist in keeping the bowels clean, and feeding them at the same time, add 1/4 or more flaxseed and/or psyllium seed to the whole uncracked grains being prepared for breakfast or noonday meal as is explained in the low-heating procedure told about in Dr. Christopher's Cleansing and Mucusless Diet.
Laxative Gruel

If you desire, in addition, prepare flaxseed and/or psyllium seed, licorice root, marshmallow root, comfrey root each 3 parts and 1 part lobelia herb. Sweeten with honey if desired. Use as little or as much as you require for assisting in free easy bowel movements. The flaxseed and psyllium seed give bulk, the licorice root is a mild aperient (mildest of laxatives), the marshmallow root is to assist clearance where hard stools are prevalent, the comfrey root is the healer and rebuilder of weak areas and gives lubrication while the lobelia is the accentuating herb.
Confectionery Type Bowel Aid

Make small marble-like candies by using the following instructions as a basic guide and vary as you wish:

To each pint of chopped or ground up dried fruit (raisins, prunes, apricots, peaches, apples, dates, figs, etc.), mix in one ounce more or less of powdered flaxseed, one ounce more or less of powdered licorice root, one ounce more or less of slippery elm (powdered) bark and add enough sorghum or blackstrap molasses to mold it into small balls, roll these in powdered carob and slippery elm bark 1/2 and 1/2 so the confections will not be sticky. Use these as needed.
Fruits and Raw Vegetables

Use plenty of fresh, ripe fruit, or unsulphured dried fruit, lots of raw fibrous vegetables to chew on, or in salads, and small amounts, increased if desired, or whole bran, the type that comes from the millers or from a health store. Put on honey and water, or fresh fruit or vegetable juice to moisten it for easier eating. The person using plenty of whole uncracked low-heated grains, does not need additional bran as a rule.

Remember the test for good wholesome live whole uncracked grains is after presoaking and low heating (under 150 ° Fahrenheit); they are still alive and will grow. If you have some whole grain (wheat, buckwheat, rye, millet, barley, flaxseed) single or in your favorite combination left over after a meal and/or some whole grain as a base used for a casserole and take some of these grains out and plant them in a row or furrow you have made in the back yard and in the next row plant some wheaties, granola and a loaf of bread, cover them, water and care for this new little garden and see which row will sprout and grow. The one that does is the wholesome (Webster's unabridged dictionary, "wholesome--with the life therein as in its original state") food that is alive and will give life to your body, the one that will not grow is dead and is only a filler without true life in it.
Exercise

To assist in having natural bowel movements it is well to exercise. In all forms of exercising it is well to remember that the body areas firm up and strengthen themselves with exercise up to time of fatigue. With continuing on after fatigue we lose value rapidly. Just before the time of tiring, the body or parts being exercised, stop and rest before continuing on and gradually exercising can become easy, and for longer periods of time without fatigue or damage.

One of the best types of exercise is to walk with a long stride from the hips, increasing each day the length of time doing it and find how enjoyable this will be. Swimming, dancing and jogging are all beneficial if not overdone.
Herbal Aids

Over a period of time the mucusless diet, with plenty of whole grains, fibers from fruits and vegetables, will do the job of regulation of bowel excretion, but after building up layer upon layer of mucous linings as coatings on the bowel walls it is best to use foods that are more specific in toning, rebuilding and strengthening this area, and these special foods are herbs. For many years we have been recommending a lower bowel combination of herbs that have done remarkable good for many thousands of people. This combination and explanation from Chapter 15, Dr. Christopher's School of Natural Healing, Page 522, is as follows:

In all basic cleansing and rebuilding formulas provided herein (unless there is a particular disease condition and need for a specific herbal combination), the program and procedure outlines are for the AVERAGE individual and meet nearly all general problem requirements--that is, unless (as we say) there is a need to prescribe specific help in herbal formulas for a type of problem that is very uncommon.

Lower Bowel Tonic:

1 part Barberry bark (Berberis vulgaris)
2 parts Cascara sagrada bark (Rhamnus purshiana)
1 part Cayenne (Capsicum annum)
1 part Ginger (Zingiber officinale)
1 part Golden seal root (Hydrastis canadensis)
1 part Lobelia herb and/or seeds (Lobelia inflata)
1 part Red raspberry leaves (Rubus idaeus)
1 part Turkey rhubarb root (Rheum palmatum)
1 part Fennel (Foeniculum vulgari)

Mix the powdered herbs shown above; then place in #00 gelatin capsules (which can be purchased from almost any drug store) and take according to how many you need. As there are no two people alike in age, size, or physical constitution (and the bowel itself will differ in persons as much as the fingerprints), most cases will START with two #00 capsules three times a day, and then regulate the dosage from there. If the stool seems too loose, then cut down; but if it is difficult to get a bowel movement and the stool is hard and takes a long time, then increase the amount until the movements become soft and well-formed (and here, in very difficult cases, you could take even up to 40 of these capsules a day, for these herbs are only FOOD and can do no damage to you).

Then after the hard material has broken loose and is eliminating more freely, the copious amounts of eliminating matter will gradually decrease (these are hard incrustations of fecal matter that have been "stored" in the bowel for many years that are breaking loose and soaking up intestinal liquids) but do not taper off the lower bowel tonic dosage so much at this point that you lose this advantageous momentum and continuity of elimination. In most cases, the improper diet has caused the peristaltic muscles of most people to quit working, and it will take six to nine months with the aid of the lower bowel tonics from the average individual to clean out the old fecal matter and to rebuild the bowel structure sufficiently to have the peristaltic muscles work entirely on their own.

Most people have pounds of old dried fecal matter that is stored in the colon which is toxifying the system and keeping the food from being assimilated--and because of this putrefied condition, most people engorge themselves with many times more than the actual body requirements, in the process of wearing out their bodies in trying to get sufficient food value and are still always hungry and eating; whereas, after the bowel is cleaned, the food is readily assimilated and a person can sustain himself on about one-third the quantity of his current food consumption at some four or five times increase in more power, energy, vitality and life.

Herein the clean body is able to normally assimilate the simple food values through the cell structures in the colon, instead of it being trapped in a maze of wastage, and inhibited by the hard fecal casing on the intestinal walls, wherein the largest part of the nutritional substances becomes pushed on and eliminated before it can do any good. When the body is completely clean, these aids will no longer be necessary--then your food will be your medicine and your medicine will be your food. As long as you stay on the program properly, this should only be used when needed after the bowel is once cleaned.

To explain why each of these herbs is used and their purpose, here is the breakdown.

One Part Barberry (Berberis Vulgaris)

If this is not available you may substitute Oregon Grape Root--Berberis Aquifolium--which is the same family and will do the same type of job. This is also called Rocky Mountain Grape Root. This family acts as a specific for the liver and gall bladder area (hepatic) causing the bile to flow freely instead of being congealed and sluggish, and this bile acts as a built-in laxative, but is mild. It is also (the herb) alterative (blood purifying) antisyphilitic and tonic.

One Part Cayenne (Capsicum annum)

Cayenne is slightly laxative, stimulates the organs it passes through, aids in rebuilding varicose conditions and eliminating cholesterol from the area. It does a real cleaning and rebuilding job.

Two Parts Cascara Sagrada (Rhamnus Purshiana)

This herb is called sacred bark and in small amounts, as used here, is a mild laxative, but is also a tonic for the peristaltic muscles, increases the secretions of the stomach, liver and pancreas and is very remarkable in its action in torpor of the colon and constipation. It is, unquestionably, one of the very best and safest laxatives ever discovered.

One Part Ginger (Zingiber Officinale)

Common name Jamaica ginger. This herb is excellent for correcting flatulence (gas on the stomach). We need this herb to alleviate gas that is accumulated as the bile starts flowing into this area, mixing with old fecal matter and forming this condition. It is also an aid for relieving cramps and pains.

One Part Golden Seal (Hydrastis Canadensis)

This wonderful herb is a tonic, mild laxative, alterative (for mucous membranes), detergent, antiseptic and antiemetic. This is the healer and kills infection--a blood purifier and aperient (mild laxative). This shows why it is one of the fine ingredients included.

One Part Lobelia (Lobelia Inflata)

This is the accentuating herb that makes any formula work more smoothly and more efficiently. It is also an antispasmodic, a nervine, and will assist in cases of cramps and painful conditions.

One Part Red Raspberry Leaves (Rubus Idaeus)

Herein is an herb that assists in supplying iron to the system in the form of citrate of iron (Fe2 (C6H5O7)2 6 H20) Upon this depends the remarkable blood making and regulating properties as well as the astringing and contracting action on the internal tissues and membranes. This herb is also hemostatic, antiseptic and anti-diarrhea.

One Part Turkey Rhubarb Root (Rheum Palmatum)

Turkey (or China) rhubarb is such a mild aperient (laxative) that it can be used for tiny babies (because it gives smooth, easy, no cramping bowel movements.) This herb has such a complex makeup that only advanced analytical chemists can comprehend some of its constituents. According to Merck's Index, the latest findings are staggering as you research into them.

This herb is a laxative, astringent, tonic, stomachic, brisk purgative and valuable in effecting a quick, safe emptying of the bowels. Does not clog or produce an "after-constipation" as so many cathartics do. Is especially useful in diarrhea caused by irritating substances in the intestines. It not only removes the irritating substance, but its after astringent action checks the diarrhea.

One Part Fennel (Foeniculum Vulgari)

This herb is noted for its relief in flatulency (gas) indigestion, cramps and spasms, nausea, pinworms, and in hepatic conditions (liver, gall bladder malfunctions).

As you see, each of these nine herbs have a specific job to do and when they are combined they make an herbal food for the bowel (small and large) area. By using this over a period of time, (we have been accumulating old filth and fecal matter for years,) so nine months to a year or more in some cases is not severe at all. By using the mucusless diet during this time and the two programs, (herbal bowel food and proper diet), you can have permanent, easy bowel movements the rest of your life, if the proper diet is observed and then no more lower bowel tonic will be needed.

Remember--this herbal combination is not habit forming, and one that you have to increase as times go on, but one that works on the cause and not just a laxative or flush for temporary relief. You can watch the amount of this Lower Bowel Tonic and regulate it, as time goes on, and eventually taper it off until you now have easy and regular bowel movements without the use of this aid at all. The proper diet will keep you with the regulars!

The formulas we are using in our programs are those that have been tried and proven over the many years of our research and practice. There are compatible formulas which we use and those that are not, which we will not endorse. The reason we have put together out internationally-known bowel formula the way we have is that we didn't want a true laxative, but a food for the bowel, and an assistance to the organs, it is designed to clean and rebuild these organs. This is as any reconstruction program that is done with thought and care.

It is not done "overnight" and must be done over a period of months. During these years of its use, we found at first, during the 1940's, people would state that it was griping. For this reason we added the ginger. Some asked, why not add an aid in the combination, for the nausea that happened in a few cases; so we added red raspberry leaves to relieve this condition and to add lost iron and fruit acids that were causing the problem. This was an additional help to each user, as well as to the ones who were upset. In all our formulas as well as in these cases, each herb has its own specific job to do.