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The Ministry of Health and Healing
the system requires and then take nothing more until the next meal.
There are many who eat when the system needs no food, at irreg-
ular intervals, and between meals, because they have not sufficient
strength of will to resist inclination. When traveling, some are con-
stantly nibbling if anything suitable to eat is within their reach. This
is very injurious. If travelers would eat regularly of food that is sim-
ple and nutritious, they would not feel so tired nor suffer so much
from sickness.
Another pernicious habit is that of eating just before bedtime.
People may have eaten their regular meals, but because they feel
faint, they eat more. By indulgence this wrong practice becomes a
habit and often so firmly fixed that they think it is impossible to sleep
without food. As a result of eating late suppers, the digestive process
is continued through the sleeping hours. But though the stomach
works constantly, its work is not properly accomplished. The sleep
is often disturbed with unpleasant dreams, and in the morning the
person awakes unrefreshed and with little relish for breakfast. When
we lie down to rest, the stomach should be through with its work,
so that it, as well as the other organs of the body, may enjoy rest.
Late suppers are particularly harmful for persons of sedentary habits.
With them the disturbance created is often the beginning of disease
that ends in death.
In many cases the faintness that leads to a desire for food is felt
because the digestive organs have been too severely taxed during
the day. After disposing of one meal, the digestive organs need rest.
At least five or six hours should elapse between meals, and most
persons who give the plan a trial will find that two meals a day are
better than three.
Wrong Conditions of Eating
When eaten, food should not be very hot or very cold. If food is
cold, one’s vitality is drawn upon in order to warm it before digestion
can take place. Cold drinks are injurious for the same reason, while
the free use of hot drinks is debilitating. In fact, the more liquid that
is taken with meals, the more difficult it is for food to digest, for the
liquid must be absorbed before digestion can begin. The irritation
that calls for so much drink at mealtime will largely disappear if one
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