222.WHY DOES EVERYONE GROW OLD?
Do you know that in ancient Rome the average person could expect to live only 23 years? About a hundred years ago in the United States, one’s life expectancy was 40 years.
Most people would like to live a long time; nobody wants to grow old. But growing old is a process that begins with birth itself and continues throughout life.
221.WHY DOES ALCOHOL CAUSE DRUNKENNESS?
Alcohol is present in our body at all times. After every meal we eat, the carbohydrates, starch and sugar, form alcohol and enter the bloodstream. So there is always about a gram of alcohol circulating in our body.
But what happens if we take in additional alcohol? Alcohol is a narcotic, which is how we describe a substance which enters the nerve cells quickly and tends to paralyze them. But before any narcotic paralyzes, it stimulates nerve cells, putting them in a state of excitement. So alcohol first acts as a stimulant. And in order for alcohol to continue to act as a stimulant rather than as a narcotic, it must be taken into the body in weak solutions.
220.WHY DO WE NEED VITAMIN C?
The food we take into our bodies supplies us with many important substances such as proteins, fats, carbohydrates, water, and mineral substances. But these alone are not enough. In order to maintain life we need still other substances known as vitamins.
Vitamins are substances formed by plants or animals. They must be supplied to the body in minute quantities so that vital processes can continue undisturbed. When there is a lack of vitamins in our body, diseases will occur. For instance, lack of vitamin A affects our vision; lack of vitamin B produces a disease called beriberi, and so on.
