The Digestion of Food 



127 



Age, occupation, place of residence, climate, and season, 

 as well as individual conditions of health and disease, are 

 always important factors in the problem. 



192. The Quantity of Food as affected by Occupation, 

 Occupation has an important influence upon the quantity 

 of food demanded for the bodily support. Those who work 

 long and hard at physical labor need a generous amount 

 of nutritious food. A liberal diet of the cereals and' lean 

 meat, especially beef, gives that vigor to the muscles which 

 enables one to undergo labo- 

 rious and prolonged physical 



exertion. On the other hand, 

 those who follow a seden- 

 tary occupation do not need 

 so large a quantity of food. 

 Brainworkers who would work 

 well and live long should not 

 indulge in too generous a diet. 



193. Some of the 111 Effects 

 of a too Generous Diet. A gen- 

 erous diet, even of those who 

 take active muscular exercise, 

 should be indulged in only 



with discretion. Frequent sick or nervous headaches, a 

 sense of fullness, bilious attacks, and dyspepsia are some of 

 the after-effects of eating more food than the body actually 

 requires. 



If too much and too rich food be persistently indulged 

 in, the complexion is apt to become muddy, the skin, 

 especially of the face, pale and sallow and more or less 

 covered with blotches and pimples ; the breath may have 

 an unpleasant odor, and the general appearance of the 

 body may be unhealthy. 



FIG. 63. Lymphatics and Lym- 

 phatic Glands of the Axilla. 



