Are You Suited For Health

Article #2: Are You Suited For Health by Mike Benton

Do you dress for success? Are you a fashion follower or a “clothes horse?” Is your clothing bought for style and status or comfort and durability?

Like food, shelter and the other necessities of life, clothing can be as natural or unnatural as we choose. Just as the businessman who orders steak at a luncheon to impress others with his financial success, there are people who wear the latest styles in clothing and name brands to make impressions.

However, from the body’s standpoint, clothing serves two functions only: 1) To protect us from climatic variations, and 2) To protect the skin from injuries. Clothing is not a necessity if we live in an agreeable climate and a non-threatening environment. If we need to cover the body, clothing should be chosen for only these reasons:

1. Comfort;
2. Environmental harmony;
3. Aesthetic pleasure.

Clothing is comfortable if it allows unrestricted natural movement. High-heel shoes are not comfortable. They throw the body out of alignment and place undue strain on the feet and calves. They make a woman’s natural gait into a wiggling, mincing movement which prevents full strides. Neckties are not comfortable. They serve no protective function. Instead, they may restrict circulation about the neck and create tension and headaches.

All tight clothing, be it jeans or pantyhose, prevent natural air circulation over the body. Vaginitis and yeast infections have increased as rapidly as the popularity of the smothering pantyhose. All underwear, especially, should be of light natural fibers that allow the skin to breathe.

Most shoes are made from leather and are tightly-laced or high-topped. Again fresh air is shut off from the skin and fungus and odors result. Belts bind the waist. Brasieres constrict the chest. In fact, fainting was very widespread in the nineteenth century not because of the gentility of the women, but because the corsets they wore were so tight they could not take a deep breath.

The human metabolism depends upon the free flow of air over the exposed skin. Tight, constrictive clothing blocks air and sunshine. We become trapped in an envelope of toxic gases emitted from the skin during its process of elimination.

If we desire harmony with our environment, we must wear clothes made from natural fibers. Synthetic materials do not allow the skin to “breathe” and are responsible for many of the heat rashes experienced in the summer. The plastic diapers used on babies are the culprits behind diaper rash. Our skin is repelled by the synthetic clothes that prevent natural body moisture from evaporating.

Synthetic fibers are also made from non-renewable resources and harm the environment. Such “natural” materials as leather and furs require the slaughter of animals, either directly or indirectly. Wearing leather and furs while espousing a meatless diet makes the ethical vegetarian an unconscious hypocrite.

This leaves us with cotton, linen, straw, and wool as optimum materials for clothing. These are from renewable resources (wool does not involve the killing of the sheep), and they allow the skin to breathe. They require no undue exploitation of the environment or animals.

Aesthetic pleasure is also a valid reason for choosing our clothes. We humans have a deep love of beauty and this love should be expressed in our living surroundings and personal effects. Clothing should be pleasant to the eye, colorful, and pretty without being merely ornamental. Beautiful clothes, of course, cannot hide the ugliness of a diseased body or unhappy mind, nor should beauty be confused with fickle style.

The most aesthetically pleasing clothes are those that are simple and have stood the test of time. Sexual attributes should not be emphasized by clothing, nor should they be hidden, unduly. No piece of clothing in the world is as beautiful as the healthy body. Neither artifice nor deception can improve upon nature’s work.

So, are you suited for health?

You are if you wear clothing made from natural fibers which are comfortable, pleasing to the eye, and simple. Give your body as much freedom from clothes as possible. Nudity, when weather and personal feelings permit, can be an important factor in regaining health. Overdressing is much like overeating—it weakens the body’s natural vitality.

A warm smile, sparkling eyes, healthy hair and a radiant complexion are the best attributes in your wardrobe. The rest is only window dressing.

• 1. A Survey Of The Lesson
• 2. Cleanliness Is An Essential Of Life
• 3. Temperature Maintenance
• 4. Sleep Is An Essential Of Life-The Role Of Sleep In Life
• 5. Food Is An Essential Of Life-The Role Of Food In Health
• 6. Exercise And Activity Are Essential To Well-Being
• 7. Rest And Relaxation Are Essential To Health
• 8. Sunshine Is An Essential To Health
• 9. Recreation And Play Are Health Essentials
• 10. Emotional And Mental Well-Being Are Necessary To Health
• 11. Assurance Of Life And Its Means Is Necessary To Health
• 12. Pleasant Environment Is Necessary To Well-Being
• 13. Creative Useful Work And Its Role In Life
• 14. Self-Mastery Is Necessary To Best Well-Being
• 15. Gregariousness Is An Element Of Health
• 16. Motivation: Having Purposes Or Causes To Serve
• 17. Expression Of Natural Instincts Relative To Health
• 18. Aesthetic Well-Being
• 19. About This Survey Of Life’s Essentials
• 20. Questions & Answers
• Article #1: The Importance Of Body Temperature by Dr. Herbert M. Shelton
• Article #2: Are You Suited For Health? by Mike Benton
• Article #3: Mental And Emotional Poise by Lee Bauer