FOOD HABITS 119 



people of their trouble. They generally depress the action of 

 the heart so that the circulation is lowered, and you do not 

 feel the pain caused by the disturbance of these bowel poisons. 

 But the poisons are still there, and if the bowels are not 

 emptied, more are being manufactured, whether you have 

 a headache or not. The thing to do is to remove the cause 

 of the trouble, not merely hide the damage from yourself. 



In the same way you- might be cheered up by a stimulant 

 or by an entertainment ; but these do not remove the cause 

 of the trouble. In the case of acute constipation one may 

 obtain temporary relief by the use of a physic or an enema. 

 But these should never be used as regular things. Since the 

 chief cause of constipation is neglect of the bowels, the only 

 real cure is the establishing of regular habits of evacuation. 

 Mothers realize how important it is to get infants into regular 

 habits of emptying the bowels, but many of them neglect the 

 children when they are a little older. If regular habits are 

 not established in youth, they are likely never to be fixed 

 at all. It is certain that hundreds of thousands of people 

 in this country suffer from constipation, and that there is 

 no drug or medicine that will cure the disorder. 



152. The teeth and their care. One of the commonest 

 causes of indigestion is found in decayed teeth. A number 

 of years ago an examination of thousands of school children 

 showed that in nearly every case of backwardness there was 

 also some physical defect, as of the eyes, ears, or teeth. The 

 surprising thing was that bad condition of the teeth was found 

 in children who were behind in their school work more often 

 than poor eyesight or poor hearing. When we consider the 

 relation of the teeth to digestion, and of digestion to health 

 and vigor, we can well understand why this should be so. 

 People with poor teeth simply get into the habit of swal- 

 lowing the food without chewing it, and then blame their 

 stomachs or the cook for their miserable feeling or for the 

 poor work they do. 



