ii2 HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY CHAP. 



three good meals a day and resting a few minutes 

 before and after each if we wish to be well and strong. 



Another important caution is to eat slowly and 

 masticate thoroughly. It is essential to chew the foods 

 thoroughly, so that the digestive fluids can act on each 

 particle. Eating slowly gives the saliva time to mix 

 thoroughly with the foods in the mouth and to change 

 some of the starches into sugars. 



Drinking water at meals does little harm unless the 

 foods are washed or " rafted " down into the stomach. 

 That, of course, is the danger to be avoided, for eating 

 rapidly and washing down the food is certain to cause 

 indigestion. Ice-cold and very hot foods and drinks 

 should be avoided. They may injure the teeth by 

 cracking the enamel, and the stomach by delaying 

 digestion until the normal temperature can be restored. 



When and how we eat and drink are almost entirely 

 matters of personal habit which, when once formed, are 

 difficult to change. Happy is the youth who forms 

 habits that shall be his friends all through life. He 

 should take daily a sufficient quantity of pure, whole- 

 some, plain foods selected from vegetables, meats, and 

 fruits, and eat at the same hour each day under as pleas- 

 ant surroundings as possible. It is not necessary to have 

 a great variety at any meal, but it is important to have the 

 right proportion of each food stuff. Let us eat to live 

 and not live to eat. 



89. Dress and Digestion. We have learned in the 

 chapter on Respiration that the postures of the body 

 and the mode of dressing the chest are of great 



