Masters of old age : the value of longevity illustrated by practical examples / by Nicholas Smith.

  • Smith, Nicholas, 1836-1911.
Date:
1905
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Masters of old age : the value of longevity illustrated by practical examples / by Nicholas Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    I began by drinking two glasses of water, of moderate temperature, balf an hour before breakfast, two in the middle of the forenoon, and two in the afternoon. For breakfast, I ate plenty of stewed fruit—usually prunes—^with whole wheat or Boston brown bread, followed by one of the easily digested and nourishing cereals. Supper was much the same except that occasionally I added a soft boiled or scrambled egg. For dinner, I used vegetable soup, a few nuts, but chiefly nut compounds—of which there are several valuable ones—and these took the jDlace of meat. I ate very few potatoes for the reason that they contain much starch. I made a pretty free use of succulent vegetables, but taking only one kind at a meal. Whole wheat or coarse brown bread was used, and pastry discarded. The food was masticated to a liquid. In the meantime I gradually reduced the quantity of laxatives, and in eight weeks was able to discontinue their use altogether. I still continue the simple, but nourishing diet, and, in yielding real enjoyment, every meal is as good as a feast. Eminent physiologists agree that the follow- ing foods should be used for the relief of con- stipation, especially when the trouble is asso- ciated with advancing years: Coarse brown or