Greetings!
Today, we shall start a new series entitled, Causes and Conquest of Constipation! He who secures a good ration, enjoys good digestion, and has good daily elimination is usually blessed with good health. The most of our ill health comes from failures in these three realms. Primitive people do not suffer from constipation, but among so called “civilized” people it is the most common malady, and is the forerunner of a host of acute and chronic diseases.
Constipation cannot exist without a cause; it is not natural there are inherent forces within the body which carry the food along the digestive tract and eliminate the residue so long as provide the blood with the substances from which the glands elaborate their juices, with which to give tone to the muscles, and to provide stimuli to the nerves. A normal person living in a normal way will have normal elimination. He who has constipation usually is daily and deliberately producing it.
Natural Foods Cause Natural Elimination
In other words, in natural foods and drinks there are elements which cause elimination. On the other hand there are unnatural foods and drinks, and habits, which are constipating. Herein lies our trouble. There are two ways of living-right and wrong-and we get the results of the one we follow. “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” The two ways of living will be made very plain in this section.
The Mouth
The Creator has given us a keen sense of taste for a double purpose; first that we might derive very great pleasure from the experience of 
eating, which is an act necessary to existence. The only time food gives us any special pleasure is white it is in the mouth; when it is swallowed our joy is over. It would seem natural that we would desire to prolong this joy to the utmost, which would automatically fulfill the second purpose of the sense of taste by keeping the food in the mouth long enough so that it will be thoroughly masticated and salivated. This is necessary to normal digestion and elimination and is a part of the Creator’s perfect plan for our existence.
“Masticate slowly, and allow the saliva to mingle with the food.”
-Counsels on Diet & Foods, 106
Science has revealed that while we are chewing and tasting our food the peristaltic activity of the colon is four times as vigorous as at other times, and consequently if one chews and tastes his breakfast for ten minutes he gets but little of this extra help toward elimination, while if he chews and tastes the meal for forty minutes he receives four times as much help.
“When food is taken into the stomach, the movements of the tube become vigorous. Indeed, while the food is still in the mouth and being chewed, and before a morsel has been swallowed, the movements begin, and are four times as vigorous during the taking of a meal as at other times. This is a very excellent reason why constipated persons should eat deliberately, taking ample time at meals and chewing long and well. Food is the natural laxative. The act of eating starts the action of the muscular machinery by means of which first the food and later the food residues are transported along the alimentary canal, and so long as chewing continues new impulses are continually transmitted to the stomach and intestines which quicken the peristaltic movements and acting of the whole digestive machine. The observations of Hirsch, Case, and others have shown that the colon continues advance as far during the hour of eating as during four hours just before the meal.”
Grab a friend and share the wealth, from what you’ve learned in the School of Health! In next weeks study, we shall discuss the relationship between the stomach and the intestine as it relates to constipation. If you or someone you know is suffering from constipation, you won’t want to miss this series! God bless!