HEALTH HINTS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 31, 5 February 1910, Page 13

HEALTH HINTS.

OLIVE OIL AND WINE. The ancient Romans had a saying to the effect that a long life and a pleasant one depended on the free use of two fluids—olive oil ■without and ■wine within. A daily all-over massage with olive oil, and swallowing a teaspoonful of the pure oil three times » day, work wonders, says a physician who ie an authority on the subject, and who has just been experimenting with the treatment. The Italian women, saya "Scientee Siftings," owe their good complexions to the fact that olive oil is so much a part of their menus. Too much oil must not be put on the face, though. It plumps out the flesh, but unless used in the greatest moderation, it will make the skin of the face look, in time, dark and greasy. Even on the body, the skin of which is not so sensitive, it is well to remember that olive oil is a thing of which a little goes a great way. It is said that rheumatism can find no foothold in a system fortified by olive oil. It will sometimes cure nervousness, and has a very quieting effect in cases of neuralgia and other nervous disorders. BILIOUS HEADACHE. Perhaps there are more sufferers from this ailment than from any other, especially among persons of sedentary occupations. It may arise from two causes:—(l) From an excess of bile in the blood; (2), from an immoderate secretion of bile. The symptoms are almost too well known to need enumeration; the pain in the forehead and over the eyes; the yellow tint of the skin; the coated tongue; the feeling of dizziness; and in many cases actual sickness which partially relieves the patient on account of a portion of the bile teing ejected from the stomach. Now for the causes. Immoderate indulgence in spirits, indigestible foods, want of exercise and sleep, constipation, or mental anxiety. Persons whose work entails long confinement in close offices snd workshops must take exercise somehow in order to counteract it. A walk every day must be the rule. Never mind the weather; ram ■will not do anyone harm; in fact, the air is purer and more refreshing in wet weather. A daily bath and a good rub down with a rough towel will do wonders for the liver, because of its stimulating action on the skin. Plenty of fresh, pure water should be drunk between meals, a quart a day at least, beginning with a glassful on getting up; the effect of this will be to promote activity of the kidneys and to keep the bowels open. Clothing must not be heavy; otherwise it impedes movement and interferes with the circulation. At the same time, it must be sufficiently warm, and persons who suffer with a sluggish liver will do well to wear woollen underclothing, in order to minimise the risk of sudden chill. The diet must always be moderate and easy of digestion. There must be no indulging in rich gravies, highly-flavoured dishes, rich pastry and cakes; homely fare of nourishing quality is to be taken, and the patient need only refrain from anything he finds by experience to be indigestible in his particular case. Many people, for example, cannot eat cheese; others find it wise to abstain froiu. eggs or carrots. . .