It is quite difficult, when talking to a large audience, and trying to crowd a good deal of matter into half an hour, to lay down principles that are applicable to all. In fact, to deal with the cause and treatment of stomach diseases, one ought to have about five hours.GCB May 28, 1909, page 199.14

I am sure that I will not have to speak about the frequency of stomach disorders. You know that people generally accuse Adventists of being a poor, thin, dyspeptic lot of people; and I think there are sufficient reasons for that. In the first place, people are attracted to the message by its health principles. They recognize their need of something in the line of health, and accept these principles together with the others which we hold. As many of these are dyspeptics before the truth comes to them, they accept the reform almost as a necessity.GCB May 28, 1909, page 199.15

That is one reason so many Adventists have stomach disorders.GCB May 28, 1909, page 200.1

Another reason is that many of us think because we have left off the more injurious foods, such as tea, coffee, pork, pastries, etc., we can eat any quantity of good food without danger. I have been surprised here to see the way some people pile foods upon their trays, and I do not wonder at all that you sometimes find them suffering from various disorders of the stomach.GCB May 28, 1909, page 200.2

Then there is another reason, and that is that some do not live up to the health-reform principles. They live rather what is called “health deform,” and consequently they can not hope to reap the benefits coming from a reformed dietary.GCB May 28, 1909, page 200.3

Another cause of stomach disorders is poor teeth. In my work, when people come to me and want advice and prescriptions in regard to stomach trouble, I at once ascertain whether or not they have good teeth; and if their teeth are poor, I say to them, “Go and get your teeth fixed, and then I will treat you; but it would be a waste of time and money to treat you before.”GCB May 28, 1909, page 200.4

When I was in Germany some years ago, I learned that the people there say that the cause of so much dyspepsia in this country is the consumption of so much ice-cream, soda-water, and sweets. Americans also accuse the Germans of being a race of dyspeptics, saying that beer is the cause. But of the two I really do not know which is the worse. I do know that when I was in Berlin, a city of several million inhabitants, I heard of only one place where a person could get ice-cream soda. It would be a very small town in this country where one could not find ice-cream parlors and soda fountains. And they are well patronized, too. Iced drinks and iced foods are another cause of indigestion.GCB May 28, 1909, page 200.5

Still another cause of stomach trouble in this country is our strenuous way of living. We try to crowd into a few years what our forefathers occupied a score or more of years in accomplishing. You will find men to-day who are young in years but very old in experience. These men seldom take more than five minutes for lunch. I have gone to lunch-counters and timed them with my own watch. They will rush in, get a cup of coffee, doughnuts, or ham sandwiches, and a piece of pie or cake, gulp them down, and be off in five minutes.GCB May 28, 1909, page 200.6

Now, what are the causes and symptoms of gastric catarrh? Many people who have chronic gastric catarrh will tell you that they have frequent bilious spells. A bilious spell is what we call “acute gastritis;” and while it lasts, the person is unable to keep anything on his stomach, so he is compelled to fast for a few days. Then, as soon as he is better, he goes at it to make up for lost time, and soon brings on another of these spells. Generally such a course, if followed very long, will bring on a case of chronic gastric catarrh, or catarrh of the stomach. One of the symptoms of this disease is a sense of weight over the stomach. When a person complains of such a feeling, you may be almost certain he has chronic gastric catarrh. Many people think, because they have a great deal of gas, that they have this disease; but gas is not a sure symptom of this disease. There is naturally more or less air or gas in the stomach, and many people think because they can gulp out some air quite frequently, they have catarrh of the stomach. We call this cribbing. When such people come to you for examination, they take delight in belching out before you to show you that they can always expel some of this gas. But they first have to swallow some air before they can belch; and if they continue, it becomes a habit with them.GCB May 28, 1909, page 200.7

If there is no food in the stomach, it naturally fills with gas, which passes through the membranes of the tissues. In an empty stomach, even though a person may have been fasting for several days, there will still be some gas. This gas simply fills what would otherwise be a vacuum. This should not cause the worry and anxiety that it does with many.GCB May 28, 1909, page 200.8

Another symptom of gastric catarrh is a ravenous appetite. A person with this disease can eat anything and at any time. I remember finding a patient who was visiting her sister in the West. This sister, knowing that her visitor had quite serious stomach trouble, used to remove from the table, early in the meal, those things that she thought she should not eat. But the dyspeptic would watch where these were placed, and in the night would get up and eat of them. She had such a craving for things that appealed to her eye, that she could not resist it.GCB May 28, 1909, page 200.9

Another common symptom of gastric catarrh is sleeplessness. A sufferer from this complaint usually wakes up at from two to four o’clock in the morning. The mind becomes very active, and he is unable to sleep again. This annoying symptom may later result in neurasthenia.GCB May 28, 1909, page 200.10

My time is so brief that I can give you only a few points on treatment. The first thing is to have the teeth in good order. Get a good set of grinders, and use them in thorough mastication of the food. Another thing we ought to practice more than we do is simplicity of living.GCB May 28, 1909, page 200.11

In the book “Ministry of Healing” we are told we should eat only two or three things at a meal. We have come to the conclusion that the providing of food need not be so great a burden as it is in many homes. For instance, we ought to use more unleavened bread.GCB May 28, 1909, page 200.12

There is no other organ in the body that recuperates so quickly and readily as does the stomach. In a large percentage of post-mortem examinations, it is found that at some time the subjects have had ulceration of the stomach, though they have known nothing about it. They are readily cured. It is necessary simply to regulate the diet. They should eat only a few things, masticate them thoroughly, and they will find that any ordinary stomach disorder can be overcome. There are some extraordinary disorders; but we shall not have time to speak of them at this time.GCB May 28, 1909, page 200.13

TWENTY-FIFTH MEETING

UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES OF OUR ORGANIZATION