430 
DIGESTIVE ORGANS AND FOOD 
their muscles, they do not feel vigorous and eager for their 
work. On the other hand, unless the laboring men exercise 
their brains, they do not do their work as well as they might . 
The proper amount of exercise varies with the individual. 
The best way to prevent indigestion is to have regular habits 
of eating and exercising. 
There are in the market many tablets and remedies for 
indigestion, which may, for example, contain pepsin and 
pancreatin. Now we know that these substances when 
found in the pancreatic fluid act in an alkaline medium. 
As these tablets must first pass into the stomach, which is 
an acid medium, the action of the pancreatin is probably 
destroyed long before the remedy reaches the intestine 
where it would naturally act. This means that such tablets 
are largely useless and it is one of the reasons why many 
doctors believe that digestive tablets are doing more to cause 
indigestion than they do to help it. There are only a few 
commercial tablets made which act on the undigested foods 
of the intestine. No medicine, in fact, can give permanent 
relief to indigestion. Predigested foods, an attempt to 
relieve indigestion, serve a useful purpose in cases of sickness, 
but in our regular life, should be used sparingly because they 
do not give the digestive organs the proper amount of work 
to do. 
339. Effect of Alcohol on Digestion. — Alcohol taken into 
the digestive tube is closely related to the question of in¬ 
digestion. The lining (mucous membrane) of the stomach 
and intestine is delicate and tender, and it contains thou¬ 
sands of cells which secrete the gastric juice, and many more 
thousands that help to digest the food. When alcohol comes 
in contact with these delicate cells, it prevents them from 
doing their normal work. The result is that food is not 
properly digested. 
Indigestion Disguised by Alcohol but Not Cured. — It is a 
serious error to regard alcohol as a genuine remedy for 
