LIFE EXTENSION 



3412 



LIFE EXTENSION 



heat nor extreme winter cold. Especially do they 

 note that "raw," or damp, cold days no longer 

 tax their strength. 



o. Seek out-of-door occupations and 

 recreations. 



Those who spend much of their lives in the 

 open enjoy the best health and greatest longevity. 

 Climate of itself is a secondary consideration. 

 Not every man can choose the best climate in the 

 world. The main advantages of fresh air can 

 be enjoyed in almost any climate. Even in a 

 city, outdoor air is, under ordinary circumstances, 

 wonderfully invigorating. The common prejudice 

 against damp air greatly exaggerates its evils. 

 While moderate dryness of air is advantageous, it 

 seems nevertheless true that to live in damp, even 

 foggy, air out-of-doors is, in general, more health- 

 ful than to live shut up indoors. 



Observations have shown that the pupils in 

 outdoor and open-window schools are not only 

 kept more healthy but learn more quickly than 

 those in the ordinary schools. Parents should 

 insist on fresh air for their children when at 

 school. For themselves, also, they should not 

 neglect fresh air ; they should attend outings and 

 picnics, and take visits to parks. Whenever there 

 is a choice in the matter, outdoor recreation 

 should be given preference to indoor. 



Outdoor occupations should also be chosen 

 when possible in preference to indoor ones such 

 as working on a farm rather than in a factory. 

 Leaving the country for the city is often disas- 

 trous, even for the purpose in view, namely, to 

 gain wealth ; for wealth gained at the expense of 

 health always proves in the end a bitter joke. 

 The victim proceeds, through the rest of his life, 

 to spend wealth in pursuit of health. This does 

 not mean, however, that it is not perfectly pos- 

 sible to keep well in the city, provided care is 

 taken to obviate the city's hygienic disadvan- 

 tages. 



4. Sleep ont, if you can. 



It is the universal testimony of those who 

 have slept out-of-doors that the best ventilated 

 sleeping room is far inferior in healthfulness to 

 an outdoor sleeping porch, or to an open tent, or 

 to a window tent (large enough to include the 

 whole bed). -For generations, outdoor sleeping 

 has occasionally been used as a health measure 

 in certain favorable climates and seasons. But 

 only in the last two decades has it been used in 

 ordinary climates and all the year round. To-day 

 many residences are built with outdoor sleeping 

 porches. 



Outdoor sleeping increases the power to resist 

 disease, especially the disease of tuberculosis, and 

 greatly promotes physical vigor, endurance and 

 working power. Many people are deterred from 

 sleeping out by a mistaken fear of night air and 

 the malaria which they imagine this dreaded 

 night air may bring. To-day we know that ma- 

 laria is communicated by the bite of the anopheles 

 mosquito and never by the air (see MOSQUITO). 

 The moral of this is not to shut out the night 

 air, but to shut out the mosquito by screens. 

 It is very important, in any sleeping balcony to 

 be protected from the wind in winter, and care 

 must be taken to dress warmly, to have plenty 

 of bed-clothes, a thick mattress, and to keep the 

 bed dry. 



"When a .sleeping porch is not available, an in- 

 ward window tent can always be had, which puts 

 the sleeper practically out-of-doors and at the 

 same time cuts off his tent from the rest of the 

 room. 



5. Breathe deeply. 



Breathing exercises should be deep, slow, 

 rhythmic and through the nose, not through the 

 mouth. There have been famous examples of 

 restoration to health simply by the use of this 

 measure. 



Muscular exercises stimulate deep breathing, 

 and in general the two should go together. But 

 deep breathing by itself is also beneficial, if 

 very slow. Forced rapid breathing is compara- 

 tively valueless, and indeed may be positively 

 harmful. Oxygen is absorbed only according to 

 the demand for it in the body, and not according 

 to the supply. 



Singing requires deep breathing, and is, for 

 that and other reasons, an excellent hygienic 

 practice. 



C. Avoid overeating and overweight. 



Everything we eat is not food. How much we 

 should eat depends upon what we eat. The amount 

 of food in different eatables varies widely. A 

 third of an ounce of olive oil is as much food as 

 a whole pound of tomatoes, or of celery, lettuce, 

 cucumbers, string beans, asparagus or water- 

 melon. 



What to eat depends somewhat upon one's 

 weight. Many people are too fat because they 

 eat too much food. Sometimes they think they 

 are "small eaters," for most people measure food 

 by its bulk. The fact may be that while one 

 taking a moderate amount of bulk, one may be 

 selecting, to make up that bulk, things very high 

 in food value, so that in reality one is eating 

 much more food than is needed, and the body is 

 storing it up in fat. Fatness is not a desirable 

 condition for the health. Even a slight degree of 

 overweight is a disadvantage. After the age of 

 thirty-five those slightly under the average weigh 

 show the lowest death rate. 



Anyone who is overweight should shun the 

 things of high food value, and should fill the 

 stomach only with things of low food value, such 

 as green salads (leaving out the oil in the dress- 

 ing), and such vegetables as cabbage, turnips, 

 parsnips, spinach, asparagus, etc. An over- 

 weight should not eat a lot of bread and butter, 

 cereals, oil, cream or sweet things. Raw fruits 

 (except bananas) should be used freely. Such a 

 person should be particular to avoid munching 

 candy, nuts, peanuts, popcorn and such things, 

 between meals, and he should not drink with 

 meals, although of course everyone, fat or thin, 

 should remember to take some water between 

 meals. Underweights can indulge more freely in 

 the things tabooed for overweights. It is never 

 wise, however, to eat more than one can digest, 

 even for the purpose of gaining weight. "A lean 

 horse for a long race" is a good motto, if the 

 leanness is not due to anemia or other disease 

 and is accompanied by a sense of well-being. 



7. Eat sparingly of meat and eggs. 



Meat and eggs are particularly high in food 

 value, in relation to their bulk. It is wise, there- 



jj 



'. 



le 



)f 



-\ 



