KEEPING FIT IN MIDDLE AGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20851, 18 April 1931, Page 7 (Supplement)

KEEPING FIT IN MIDDLE AGE.

BY Sin W. ARBUTHNOT LANE (BART.). Middle agd iI a time in the life cycle of man and woman which demands certain restrictions in the mental and physical routine and strict adherence to the laws of health if its dangers are to be negotiated and o|d age to be made far distant. I In our younger days we may offend every, canon of the health code with apparent impunity, but—let it be noted well—we cannot cheat our bodies, and the reckoning i«jl merely delayed. Most often it is exacted in middle age. ilow many are the breakdowns of this period, so tragic in their consequences, so seemingly puzzling in their origin, so regrettable hj that they are definitely preventable ! Chief among the trials of middle age is constipation with its attendant evil, self poisoning. When nearing the fifties most people tand to become sedentary. If sport and exercise are not entirely forsaken they are generally carried out in perfunctory manner. Consequently the abdominal muscles become lax and sluggish and the intestines uro not stimulated to propel their contents along. Coupled with this is the (tendency to indulge rather freely in the /pleasures of the table. fSelf-poisoning leads to a deterioration in all the body cells, making them prone to . infection with perms. In particular, it stealthily ages the arteries, causing them to harden and raising the blood pressure to a dangerous level. Headaches, sleeplessness, breathlessness, heart pain and dypepsia arise in consequence. ' , Chronic rheumatism, another bane of /middle age. is also associated with absorption of poisons either from the bowel or from some focus in the teeth, tonsils, or sinuses connected with the nose. A tendency to overweight is yet another failing of Ibis age, and is a handicap to good health. Simple exercises for ten to fifteen minutes should be established as a morning habit. I The diet should consist largely of fruit, /■vegetables, dairy products and wholemeal foods. Meat is never to lie taken more than once a day. An occasional'' fast for a day will be beneficial, especially in cases of overWeight. Bo moderate with tobacco and alcohol. Visit your doctor for periodic examinat'on in the same way as you visit your dentist. The itiiddlo-aged must learn to live for longevity.