370 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



Quantity of Food. With regard to the 

 quantity of food to be taken, this also depends 

 upon individual conditions and cannot be 

 formed into a general rule. Where hunger is 

 felt it may safely be assumed that when the 

 hunger has been fully appeased sufficient food 

 has entered the stomach. Such are the cir- 

 cumstances of civilized life, however, that in 

 most cases hunger is a very rare sensation ; 

 and food is prepared and eaten more to gratify 

 the palate than because nature demands it. 

 On this point each individual is and must be 

 a law unto himself, and we can only point out 

 the consequences of eating a larger -quantity 

 than is needed. When too great a supply of 

 food is put into the stomach, the gastric juice 

 only dissolves that portion of it which the 

 wants of the system demand ; most of the re- 

 mainder is ejected in an unprepared state, 



the absorbents take portions of it into the cir- 

 culatory system, and all the various bodily 

 functions dependent on the blood are thus 

 gradually and imperceptibly injured. Very 

 often, indeed, intemperance in eating pro- 

 duces immediate results, such as colic, head- 

 ache, indigestion, and vertigo ; but the more 

 common result is the gradual undermining of 

 all parts of the human frame, shortening life 

 by thus weakening the constitution. 



As to the hours of meals these are of no im- 

 portance provided they are regular and come 

 at regular intervals. This interval should 

 never be less than five hours, as the stomach 

 requires at least three hours to digest its sup- 

 ply of food, and not less than two hours should 

 be allowed it for rest and recuperation. 



Eating between meals is a most injurious 

 practice, the source in children, especially, of 

 endless stomachic disorders. It may be well 

 to give children under ten years of age one 

 more meal during the day than the three which 

 adults in this country usually allow themselves ; 

 but these, as we have said above, should be at 

 regular times and with stated intervals between 

 them. 



After taking a full rneal, it is very impor- 

 tant to health that no great bodily or mental 

 exertion be .made till the labor of digestion is 

 over. Muscular exertion draws the blood to 

 the muscles, and brain work draws it to the 

 head ; and in consequence of this the stomach 

 loses the supply which is necessary to it when 

 performing its office, the adequate supply of 

 gastric juice is not afforded, and indigestion is 

 the result. The heaviness which is felt after 

 a full meal is a sure indication of the need 

 of quiet ; when the meal is moderate, the 

 process of digestion will be sufficiently ad- 

 vanced in an hour, or an hour and a half, to 

 justify the resumption of bodily or mental 

 labor. 



The Diet of Brain Workers It has 

 long been one of the pet theories of popular 

 physiology, that fish and other substances com- 

 posed largely of phosphorus, are the most ap- 

 propriate diet for brain workers ; but it is now 

 conceded that the best food for the brain is 

 that which best nourishes the whole body with 

 special reference to the nervous system, viz. : 

 fat and lean meat, eggs, milk, and the cereals. 

 Discussing this point in a recent treatise, Dr. 

 George M. Beard says : "The diet of brain 

 workers should be of a large variety, delicately 

 served, abundantly nutritious, of which fresh 

 meat, lean and fat, should be a prominent 

 constituent. In vacations, or whenever it is 

 desired to rest the brain, fish may, to a certain 

 extent, take the place of meat. We should 

 select those articles that are most agreeable to 



