You remember, the stomach had a great deal of work to do in digesting the food or preparing it so it could be taken up by the blood and carried to the womb and all parts of the body.  But the stomach does not have to do this all alone.  It has several helpers.  One set of helpers is the teeth, which cut and grind the food into small particles.  In order to do this, they must be kept in very good condition; otherwise, they could not do their work.  You know if your mother would let the kitchen knives get dull or rusty, she would be unable to cut the bread, meat and other food materials with them.  The same is true of the teeth.  We can keep them in good condition by brushing them.  It is as important to do this as to wash the dishes.  Then, too, we must be careful not to break the teeth by biting nuts and other hard things.  Nothing so detracts from a girl’s appearance and nothing is more conducive to indigestion than poorly cared for teeth.  They should be brushed at least twice daily and the mouth afterwards rinsed with a mild antiseptic solution.  The teeth should be thoroughly examined by a good dentist at least every six months.

Another assistant that the stomach has is the intestines or bowels, which not only help to digest the food but also carry off the waste material.  The bowels are very good, and will tell us when they have waste material to be disposed of, but sometimes people are too busy and do not pay attention.  If we neglect them many times the bowels get tired of telling us, and then their work is not done.  We think they are lazy and so we try to whip them up by taking a laxative.  This seems to help at first, but we soon find we have to do the same thing every day.  All this time the fault was our own, for we did not understand.  The best way is to have a regular time of going to the toilet, say, right after breakfast.  If we always go at the same time the bowels will remember it.  Then we need have no trouble with constipation nor take any horrid medicine to whip the bowels.  A regular daily action of the bowels is necessary to health.  Constipation often may be relieved by drinking a glass of cold water upon rising, at intervals during the day, and upon retiring.  Fruit at breakfast or figs taken after meals often will relieve a tendency to constipation.  Regularity in going to the toilet is one of the most important measures in treating constipation.  Laxatives or cathartics should not be taken except for an occasional dose or during illness, upon the advice of a physician.  So common is the practice of taking daily laxatives that it has become a “national curse.”  People do not realize that they are slaves to this habit.  So cleverly worded are the advertisements of many of the laxatives that people are led to believe that if they drink certain “waters” or “teas” they are avoiding medicine, while often these same teas and waters contain drugs more powerful and harmful than any pill.