134
Counsels on Health
A second meal should never be eaten until the stomach has had time
[119]
to recover from the labor of digesting the preceding meal. When we
lie down at night, the stomach should have its work all done, that it,
as well as other portions of the body, may enjoy rest. But if more
food is forced upon it, the digestive organs are put in motion again,
to perform the same round of labor through the sleeping hours. The
sleep of such is often disturbed with unpleasant dreams, and in the
morning they awake unrefreshed. When this practice is followed, the
digestive organs lose their natural vigor, and the person finds himself
a miserable dyspeptic. And not only does the transgression of nature’s
laws affect the individual unfavorably, but others suffer more or less
with him. Let anyone take a course that irritates him in any way, and
see how quickly he manifests impatience. He cannot, without special
grace, speak or act calmly. He casts a shadow wherever he goes. How
can anyone say, then, “It is nobody’s business what I eat or drink”?
Evils to be Avoided
It is possible to eat immoderately, even of wholesome food. It does
not follow that because one has discarded the use of hurtful articles of
diet he can eat just as much as he pleases. Overeating, no matter what
the quality of the food, clogs the living machine and thus hinders it in
its work.
Many make a mistake in drinking cold water with their meals.
Food should not be washed down. Taken with meals, water diminishes
the flow of the saliva; and the colder the water, the greater the injury
to the stomach. Ice water or ice lemonade, taken with meals, will
arrest digestion until the system has imparted sufficient warmth to the
[120]
stomach to enable it to take up its work again. Masticate slowly, and
allow the saliva to mingle with the food.
The more liquid there is taken into the stomach with the meals, the
more difficult it is for the food to digest, for the liquid must first be
absorbed. Do not eat largely of salt; give up spiced pickles; keep fiery
food out of the stomach; eat fruit with the meals, and the irritation that
calls for so much drink will cease to exist. But if anything is needed
to quench the thirst, pure water is all that nature requires. Never take
tea, coffee, beer, wine, or any spirituous liquor.