This is a subject of vast and vital importance. It comprises the science of alimentation, which forms one of the indispensable functions of life; it is thus, of necessity, a serious preoccupation under all conditions.
I have treated this important subject in my greater work with the minute detail, which it deserves; thus, in following the advice given, therein, in chapter XVIII, the reader will be able to ascertain the foods that are best suited to various conditions, and how to prepare them in the most sensible way.
At present, I can treat it only in a short and general way, giving the principal groups of diet prescribed, with more or less variation, in each case of disease as a part of the general treatment.
A few words may show why diet plays so important a part in this system of healing.
In the body there is a laboratory which produces spontaneously everything necessary to maintain life.
This laboratory has various branches which are busy day and night without interruption.
Here the life blood is created.
Prominent amongst these branches are:
The stomach with its prolonged intestines;
The lungs, and
Each one of these branches has a distinct part, or function to perform.
The stomach serves as the sorting house. Here the food is mixed with the gastric juice which aids digestion and dissolves those ingredients necessary to produce blood, flesh, fat, bones, etc.
Each of the other branches receives that portion of the ingredients needed to perform its share of the work.
A structure cannot be constructed without a frame upon which every part depends. In order to stand erect, the body must possess such a framework. The skeleton is the same to the body as the frame is to the building. This frame, then, or skeleton, together with the flesh, blood, etc. are all formed from the material furnished by the food.
A residue of the digested food is removed from the body as useless; everything else is utilized.
The portion of the food used, therefore, must contain all those ingredients which go to make up and maintain the body in perfect working order.
Experience has suggested certain groups of suitable diet which for the sake of convenience I shall enumerate under the title of Forms No. I to No. VI.
These food forms contain everything of which patients may safely partake, and from these selection, in each case, must be made.
They are as follows:
Form I. Complete elimination of the stomach in the nourishing process.
To allay thirst, moisten the mouth with pure or carbonized water, melting small pieces of ice on the tongue. Small sips of water either lukewarm or cold, according to the condition of the stomach. Otherwise, only introduce water by clyster—i.e.—injection, and if the stomach cannot be disturbed for more than one or two days, introduce nourishing substances by way of the rectum.