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Education
objectionable. It tends to irritate the nerves and to excite the passions,
thus giving the balance of power to the lower propensities.
Those who accustom themselves to a rich, stimulating diet, find
after a time that the stomach is not satisfied with simple food. It de-
mands that which is more and more highly seasoned, pungent, and
stimulating. As the nerves become disordered and the system weak-
ened, the will seems powerless to resist the unnatural craving. The
delicate coating of the stomach becomes irritated and inflamed until
the most stimulating food fails of giving relief. A thirst is created that
nothing but strong drink will quench.
It is the beginnings of evil that should be guarded against. In the
instruction of the youth the effect of apparently small deviations from
the right should be made very plain. Let the student be taught the
value of a simple, healthful diet in preventing the desire for unnatural
stimulants. Let the habit of self-control be early established. Let the
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youth be impressed with the thought that they are to be masters, and
not slaves. Of the kingdom within them God has made them rulers,
and they are to exercise their Heaven-appointed kingship. When such
instruction is faithfully given, the results will extend far beyond the
youth themselves. Influences will reach out that will save thousands
of men and women who are on the very brink of ruin.
Diet and Mental Development
The relation of diet to intellectual development should be given far
more attention than it has received. Mental confusion and dullness are
often the result of errors in diet.
It is frequently urged that, in the selection of food, appetite is a safe
guide. If the laws of health had always been obeyed, this would be true.
But through wrong habits, continued from generation to generation,
appetite has become so perverted that it is constantly craving some
hurtful gratification. As a guide it cannot now be trusted.
In the study of hygiene, students should be taught the nutrient value
of different foods. The effect of a concentrated and stimulating diet,
also of foods deficient in the elements of nutrition, should be made
plain. Tea and coffee, fine-flour bread, pickles, coarse vegetables,
candies, condiments, and pastries fail of supplying proper nutriment.
Many a student has broken down as the result of using such foods.