QUANTITY OF FOOD REQUIRED 133 



furnish him a better diet, and at less cost. It is as bad 

 economy for a poor man to buy the best of food as it is for 

 him to buy silk and broadcloth clothing. Scraps and food 

 left over from the table are as good quality as ever, and 

 should be saved for the next meal. 



212. Amount at a meal. Rules prescribing the amount 

 of food to be eaten at once cannot be given, any more' 

 than fixed rules regulating the amount of wood to be 

 added to the fire in a cooking stove. Hunger and taste 

 are reliable guides when plain food is eaten slowly. 



213. Too much food. In some persons the stomach cannot 

 digest and absorb food so fast as the lungs can furnish oxygen for its 

 oxidation. While these persons eat -heartily they generally remain 

 thin, for, instead of accumulating food, they use it up in developing 

 energy for active work. They are apt to overwork their stomachs and to 

 suffer from indigestion. They need nutritious and easily digested food. 

 Other persons can digest food faster than the lungs can supply oxygen 

 for its oxidation. These persons eat little, but, since the slow oxidation 

 allows food to accumulate, they are apt to be fat and lazy and to suffer 

 from lung troubles. By allowing their strong stomachs to act upon the 

 less easily digested foods their appetites will probably be satisfied, and 

 still not enough food will be digested and absorbed to overtax their lungs. 



214. Starvation. When man is deprived of all food, life 

 is supported by the oxidation of his own flesh as long as it 

 lasts. In from six to ten days a man will lose two fifths 

 of his original weight, and then death occurs. When water ' 

 is given, life will last for a much longer time. 



215. Brain food. Brain workers require the same kind of food 

 as the laborer. In its action the brain uses heat and energy, the same 

 as any other part of the body. Fish is no more a brain food than beef- 

 steak. Phosphates, which are popularly supposed to nourish the brain, 

 are arrested at the liver ; but they stimulate the liver to greater activity^ 

 so that food is more perfectly assimilated, and thus greater strength is 

 given to the brain cells, as well as to the rest of the body. Phosphorus 

 is found in most foods in greater quantities than the body needs. 



