Colds - The Cause

That condition commonly known as a cold is merely a congestion of effete matter and toxic substances in the body-cells, coming from two causes, and, so far as my experience has been able to guide me, from two causes only, namely:

1 Overeating.

2 Exposure to violent atmospheric changes.

Colds caused by overeating.

Colds - The Symptoms

The symptoms from both causes manifest themselves in exactly the same way, therefore it becomes very necessary to ascertain what the sufferer has been eating, both as to quantity and as to kind of foods during the previous forty-eight hours.

It often occurs that colds from overeating are cumulative, that is, the patient habitually takes too much fat, sweets, or meat, especially the two latter articles, and these may have been digested, and their nutritive elements may have passed into the circulation, but the body being unable to use them, they finally begin to decompose and are converted into alcohol and other decomposition products. An excess of this effete matter brought to the lungs is called a "cold."

Colds caused by exposure.

If one who is blessed with good digestion and assimilation should habitually take an amount of nutrition in excess of his needs, it will manifest itself first, perhaps, in the growth of adipose tissue, and later in the various disorders called autointoxication, among which are colds, catarrh, etc.

If the body be exposed to a violent draft of cold air, and sufficient motion is not exerted to keep the circulation active, or if the feet be exposed to cold and wet, Nature, in obedience to the law of self-defense, closes the pores of the skin against the intrusion, hence the poisonous and effete matter that is constantly passing off through these openings cannot escape, but it is picked up by the blood and carried to the lungs to be oxidized or burned in the process of breathing.

Colds from overeating and exposure, identical.

If the amount of poisons thus brought to the lungs be in excess of the amount that can be consumed or burned, a form of congestion will take place (in the lungs) causing first irritation, then suppuration, which must be thrown off in the form of mucus. It matters not whether the congestion is caused by exposure or overeating, the effects are identically the same, and Nature's method of ridding the body of these poisons is the same in either case. The only difference between an ordinary cold and pneumonia is one of degree.

Colds - The Remedy

Since colds are merely a form of congestion, first in the capillary vessels and next in the lungs, the first thing to be done is to cease eating. The misunderstanding of the old adage "stuff a cold and starve a fever" has killed thousands of ignorant but innocent people. Its real meaning is, if you stuff a cold, you will have to starve an internal fever.

In the treatment of colds, I would suggest the following method of procedure:

1 (a) Omit all food except -

This should be continued until the congestion is relieved, whether it be one day or a week. (For list of subacid fruits, see Lesson VIII (Foods Of Vegetable Origin), p. 313.)

(b) Drink copiously of pure, cool water

2 Select a light diet of -

Nuts

Salads

White of eggs

Fresh watery vegetables

Limited quantity of carbohydrates

Remedial value of fresh air and exercise.

If the cold is severe, a Turkish bath or any treatment that will produce liberal perspiration, will aid in the elimination of body-poisons and the relief of congestion. Inasmuch as the blood is conveying an excessive amount of poisons to the lungs for oxidation, much depends upon the amount of pure air that is breathed and the cell capacity of the lungs for oxidation; therefore the sufferer, if unable to be out of doors, should be warmly clad and placed before an open window, or on a veranda in the sunshine, if possible, where every breath will be of fresh air. If, however, the patient is able to go out, every moment possible should be spent walking briskly in the open air. Every morning the patient should be given a vigorous "sponge" with a towel dipped in cold water, and rubbed down with a dry one. This should be done in a warm room, with the body well protected from undue exposure. The room should be thoroughly ventilated at night, and in severe cases all garments and sheets used during the day should be thoroughly aired or changed at night.

The old methods of drugging and of excluding the air and sunshine, which is in reality poisoning the patient both within and without, is little less than criminal.

A cool shower, or a sponge bath, together with a vigorous rub every morning immediately on rising, and a normal quantity of natural food, render the body almost entirely immune from colds, la grippe, and all forms of capillary congestion and effete and toxic (poisonous) substances.

(For diet, see volume of Menus, p. 917.)

In Cases Of Colds, Omit

Confections

Desserts

Fatty foods

Flesh foods

Heavy starchy foods

Intoxicants

Eat

Coarse cereals (very little)

Fresh vegetables

Fruit (See p. 524)

Light vegetable soups

Nuts

Wheat bran

Whites of eggs

Decomposition of unused food the primary cause of catarrh.