HYGIENE OF DIGESTION 239 



h.ot water removes the mucus from a stomach suffering 

 from catarrh (or congestion) and diminishes the activity of 

 the gastric glands if too much acid is being secreted. 



427. Raw Food Fad. Some persons have a fad called 

 the raw food doctrine, and eat no cooked food. They 

 should consider that man's digestive organs are not as 

 vigorous now as they were ages ago, before he learned the 

 use of fire. This fad is a reaction from bad cooking. 

 Cooked vegetables are more likely to ferment in a weak 

 stomach than raw vegetables. The thorough chewing 

 required by raw food is an advantage to digestion. 



428. No Condiment Fad. Some persons will not have 

 condiments or any kind of seasoning, not even salt, in their 

 food. This is because many cooks destroy the natural 

 flavors of the food by bad cookery and hide the result by 

 high seasoning. There are many delicate and delicious 

 flavors of grains, fruits, and fresh vegetables that a natural 

 appetite takes pleasure in ; but because of long use of badly 

 cooked and highly seasoned foods the sense of taste in 

 many persons has become so depraved and dull that they 

 have only five kinds of taste left : the taste for grease, salt, 

 pepper, vinegar, and sugar. Their dull nerves require 

 everything to be very salty or peppery or sweet or greasy 

 or sour. 



429. Other Fads which may be mentioned are the vege- 

 tarian fad, distilled water fad, fasting fad, no breakfast 

 fad. 



430. THOUGHT LESSON. Cooking. Meat. i. In mak- 

 ing soup, why should the meat be put in while the water 

 is cold ? 



2. In roasting meat, why should the oven be hot at 

 first, and more moderate afterward ? How should you 

 regulate the temperature in boiling or stewing meat ? 



3. What happens to salt or anything salty on a cloudy, 

 damp day ? This is because the salt attracts . This 



