THE DIGESTION OF FOOD 12$ 



Severe exercise and hard study just after a full meal are 

 very apt to check digestion. The reason is plain : after a 

 full meal, extra blood is needed to help the stomach digest 

 its food. If, in addition to this, extra blood is needed to 

 help the muscles or brain, digestion will be hindered, and a 

 feeling of dullness and heaviness follows. This, in time, 

 often results in poor digestion, or, as it is often called, indi- 

 gestion or dyspepsia. 



177. Hints about Eating. Eat slowly, and thoroughly 

 chew the food. Do not take too much drink with the food. 

 Our teeth were made to chew our food, arid the saliva to 



FIG. 81. Superficial Lymphatics of the Finger. 



moisten it and help digestion. If the food is well chewed, 

 the saliva and the gastric juice act more readily. It is not 

 only bad manners to eat rapidly, but it is a violation of the 

 simplest law of digestion. 



If we take too much drink with our meals, the flow of the 

 saliva is checked, and digestion is thus hindered. Rapid 

 eating, with a great deal of drink to wash down the food, 

 is almost sure to result in dyspepsia. 



Do not take food and drink too hot or too cold. Hot 

 bread and hot tea and coffee often injure the enamel of the 

 teeth, and disturb the action of the stomach. If the food 

 and drink are taken too cold, undue heat is taken from the 

 stomach, and digestion is delayed. 



