328 DIET FOB DYSPEPSIA. 



was encouraged to hunt a hare, when it was found at the end of two 

 hours that the first had fully digested its food, while in the other 

 digestion had scarcely begun, is an illustration of the harm of too 

 active exercise immediately after a meal. Even healthy people are 

 apt to disturb their digestion by returning to business or taking 

 exercise shortly after eating; and dyspeptics should rest at least two 

 hours after dinner. Nor is it prudent to exert the brain in any way 

 after eating; for the diversion of nervous energy from the stomach 

 to the brain deprives the former of what it needs at that time, and if 

 the habit be persisted in, is sure to be followed by discomfort and 

 indigestion. Indeed, so important is it that nervous energy should 

 be concentrated on the process of digestion, that it is unwise by 

 reading newspapers and magazines during meals to divert attention 

 from the food and prevent its being thoroughly masticated and 

 insalivated. 



6. .Eating Late Suppers Meals should not be taken 

 shortly before retiring to rest. The gastric digestion is almost com- 

 pletely suspended during sleep, and even the intestinal digestion is 

 but imperfectly performed. Hence the food remains in the 

 duodenum and by pressing on the great ascending vein (vena cava) 

 is apt to produce nightmare or irregular action of the heart and to 

 disturb the secretion of bile, pancreatic juice, etc. For late diners 

 supper is entirely superfluous; for early diners no substantial meal 

 should be taken within three hours of bedtime. 



Dietetic errors such as these evidently demand something 

 besides the administration of medicines ; they require reformation 

 of habits. Obviously, the evils attending overloading the stomach 

 are to be corrected by some measure of abstinence from food or 

 from that form of food which more particularly distresses the 

 digestive organs. 



The quantity eaten should be always rather under than over 

 what the appetite seems to require, for the appetite is apt to become 

 morbid. Franklin's rule to leave off with an appetite is a good 

 one. By so doing, in ten minutes the appetite will be gone, because 

 the food taken has already begun to be appropriated by the body. 

 The best rule is to carefully observe the sensations after eating a 

 hearty meal ; if, within three or four hours there is a feeling of 

 fullness and distention, accompanied with feverishness or irritation, 

 it is clear that too much has been eaten and the quantity should be 

 diminished till it can be comfortably digested. Dyspeptics should 

 also not mix various articles of food at the same meal, but rather 

 vary the diet from day to day. Many substances will be tolerated 

 by the stomach, if eaten alone or with bread only, which would 

 occasion distress and disturbance if mixed with other articles more 

 or less digestible in themselves. Persons with weak digestive 

 powers should be careful not to overload the stomach when traveling 

 or otherwise exerting themselves more than usual. Many railway 

 travelers, stimulated by the attendant nervoup excitement, or for 



