PART 10
Helping
your Heart
The
heart is a most important organ of the body. We should take good care
of it.
Did
you ever run so hard that you were out of breath and had to breathe
fast? It was because the hard work of the muscles increased the amount
of waste products that the blood carried to the lungs to exchange them
for oxygen, needed by the muscles to continue their work. When the
exchange of gases in the lungs cannot keep up with the production of
wastes in the muscles, you get out of breath and tired.
Bad
air is very harmful to the heart and blood. Remember that the blood of
the body, while passing through the lungs, is exposed to the air we
breathe. If the air is impure, the blood will be poisoned. In
churches, classrooms, and in other places where many people are
gathered, the air can become stale from a lack of oxygen. Then the
people suffer from the need for God's fresh air and they become tired
and sleepy. It is important that the air of rooms where we live and
sleep should have good ventilation. Pure, fresh air causes the blood
to circulate healthfully through the body. "For the life of the
flesh is in the blood." Leviticus 17:11. Never stay where people
are smoking!
Whatever
pollutes the blood affects our physical and spiritual life. The blood
is made from what we eat, and if we eat impure food, the blood becomes
impure. Rich or highly seasoned foods, sugary things, animal
products and junk foods are not nutritious. They harm the blood by
making it impure and they cause poor digestion.
Our
body needs a proper amount of sleep. Only during this time can the
body thoroughly cleanse itself of the wastes that have built up during
the day.
We
should dress according to the weather. In cold weather we need very
warm clothing. In warm weather we should wear lighter clothing. But
our clothing should keep all parts of the body equally warm, to allow
the blood to circulate properly. Bare arms and legs push the blood
back into the center of the body and the heart has extra hard work.
People have been cured of heart trouble and many aches and pains, just
by learning to keep their arms and legs covered. Our feet are far away
from the heart, and we should keep them warm and dry.
When
a person gets very angry, the heart beats very fast and causes a
strain on it. People have even had heart attacks because of a fit of
rage. It is not healthy to become very angry. Remember, Jesus will
give us the strength to overcome anger.
If
you put a drop of blood under the microscope, and add a little alcohol
to it, you would see the corpuscles quickly destroyed. In a few
seconds they would be so shriveled up that no one could tell that they
had ever been beautiful little corpuscles so necessary to life and
health. Alcohol in a drink, does not destroy the corpuscles so
quickly, but it injures them so they are not able to do their work of
absorbing and carrying oxygen well. A lack of oxygen destroys the
cells in our brains! To have a clear mind and a healthy body, we
should never drink any alcohol.
Dr.
Parkes, an English doctor, observed carefully the effects of alcohol
upon the heart of a soldier who was addicted to liquor. He counted the
soldier's pulse when he was sober, and then counted it again then he
was using alcohol, and found that alcohol made his heart have to do
one fourth more work than it ought to do.
Alcohol
causes the red blood cells to stick together. The small vessels, which
carry the blood from the arteries to the veins, are only big enough
for one red blood cell to pass at a time. When clumps of red blood
cells start trying to go through these small vessels, called
capillaries, they have to stretch to let the clumps through. It is
this that causes the red face and red eyes of the drunkard. Sometimes,
after a man has been using alcohol a long time, the blood vessels of
his face remain large and cause the alcoholic's nose to be swollen and
red. Even if a person drinks one glass of beer, the next day if you
look at the little capillaries in their eyes, you will find them
swollen!
Tobacco
injures the blood corpuscles. When a person first uses tobacco, it
makes them feel very sick. If you should feel the pulse just then, you
would find it very weak because the powerful poison of the tobacco is
affecting the heart.
Colas,
Tea and coffee are bad for the heart. Those who use them very strong
often complain of palpitation, or heavy and irregular beating of the
heart.
People
often "catch a cold" when their circulation has become
disturbed in some way, as by getting the feet wet, being chilled from
not dressing sensibly, sitting in a cold draft, and in other similar
ways. Keeping the body sensibly warm all over so the blood can
circulate freely helps your heart and your immune system. =^..^=
Your
Kidneys
The
kidneys are among the most important organs of the body. They are in
the cavity of the abdomen, near the backbone, up under the lower
border of the ribs. They are shaped like two chubby beans with tubes
attached.
The
work of the kidneys is to separate from the blood, poisonous
substances, which would soon cause our death if they were not removed.
It is very important to keep these useful organs in good health,
because a person is certain to die very soon when the kidneys are
seriously injured.
The
work of the kidneys is very similar to that of the skin; and when the
skin can not do its full duty, the kidneys have to do more than they
should, and are more likely to become diseased. For this reason,
persons who fail to bathe and keep their skin healthy, so it can do
its work, are apt to later have disease of the kidneys.
A
piece of beef placed in alcohol soon becomes dry and hard, and
shrivels up as though it has been burned. The effect of strong
liquor on the kidneys is almost the same. Beer and wine also do the
kidneys harm, leading to disease of these important organs. Tobacco
use does damage to the kidneys as the body flushes out the harmful
nicotine and other poisons through the kidneys.
One
way of keeping the kidneys in good health is to drink plenty of pure
water, and to avoid eating meat and rich or spicy food. Pepper,
mustard, vinegar, and other hot sauces are very harmful to kidneys.
=^..^=
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