THE POTATO 15 



thus not only a good food but an aid to the di- 

 gestion of other foods. In persons whose stom- 

 achs have a tendency to produce excessive acid 

 the stimulating effect of the potato may be so 

 great as to produce the symptoms characteristic 

 of hyperacidity, heartburn, tenderness of the 

 stomach, regurgitation of gas with acid liquid, 

 and other well-known symptoms. This difficulty 

 is not at all due to fermentation but to an exces- 

 sive amount of acid and the resulting spasmodic 

 contraction of the pylorus, so the stomach is 

 stimulated to violent contraction, The gas con- 

 tained in the stomach cannot be forced downward 

 in the proper direction, and so escapes upward. 

 This difficulty is not likely to occur, however, 

 except when chewing is neglected. The gastric 

 juice has little action upon the potato. Coarse 

 particles of potato may remain in the stomach 

 many hours, causing excessive acid fermentation, 

 irritation and eructations. In eating potato every 

 morsel must be chewed until reduced to a smooth 

 paste in which no coarse particles can be detected 

 by the tongue. 



"The remedy is simple. Pawlow has shown 

 that fats lessen the activity of the stomach in the 

 secretion of gastric juice. Hence, it is only nec- 

 essary to increase the amount of fat eaten with 

 the potato. In extreme cases the potato should 

 be eaten in the form of a puree with the addition 

 of butter or rich cream. This difficulty is es- 

 pecially noticeable in persons who have habitually 

 eaten large quantities of meat when they under- 

 take to change their eating habits, taking less 

 meat and more cereals and potatoes. With a 

 change in eating habits, the unpleasant symptoms 

 usually disappear in a short time. 



