The Four Rules of Eating
- Eating only when there is hunger: There are two kinds of hunger; we have the normal and abnormal hunger. The normal hunger was given to us by nature to make us active enough to get food. Normal hunger asks for food, but no special kind of food. It is satisfied with anything that is clean and nourishing. It is strong enough to make a decided demand for food, but if there is no food to be had it will be satisfied for the time being with a glass of water and will cause no great inconvenience. Abnormal hunger is different entirely. It is a very insistent craving for food and if it is not satisfied it produces bodily discomfort such as a headache. The erode remains and gives the sufferer no rest. Very often it must be pampered. It calls for some special kind of food, and if not satisfied the results may be nervousness, weakness or a headache etc.
When missing a meal brings discomfort, this is always a sign of a degenerating or degenerated body. A healthy person can go a day without food and without any inconvenience. He feels a great desire for food at meal times, but as soon as he is has made up his mind that he is unable to get it or that he is not going to take any, the hunger leaves. Normal hunger is a servant. Abnormal hunger is a hard master.
- To live on water during acute illness or to fast: This rule is contrary to the teachings of medical men. They teach that when people are ill there is much waste, which is true, and that for this reason, it is necessary to partake of a generous amount of nourishing food, so they give milk, broth, meat, etc., together with stimulants. Feeding during illness would be all right if the body could take care of the food, which it cannot. In all severe diseases, digestion is almost or quite at a standstill and the food given under the circumstances decomposes in the alimentary tract and furnishes additional poison for the system to excrete. And food under the circumstances is harm and a burden to the body.
In fevers, the temperature goes up after feeding. This shows that more poison has entered the blood. In fevers, little or none of the digestive fluids are secreted, but the alimentary tract is so warm that the food decomposes quickly. Feeding during acute attacks of disease is one of the most serious and fatal errors. There is an aversion to food, which is nature’s request that none should be taken.
Chronic disease is often due to neglected acute disease, at other times to the building of abnormality through errors of life which have not resulted in acute troubles. While acquiring the chronic disease, the individual may be fairly comfortable, but he is never up to equality. Most chronic diseases can be cured quickly by taking a fast, but usually, it is not necessary to take a complete fast. The desire for food is not generally absent and there is usually fair power to digest. One of the most satisfactory methods, if not the most satisfactory one, of treating chronic disease is to reduce the food intake, and instead of giving so much of the concentrated basic feed more of the succulent vegetables and the fresh fruits, cooked and raw using but small quantities of meat, bread, potatoes and sugar. This will give the body a chance to throw off impurities. There are always many impurities in a crazed (deranged) body.
- To moderate in eating: Simplicity is a great aid to moderation. It is necessary to exercise the conservative measure of self-control. By exercising self-control, sickness will be warded off. By using willpower daily it grows stronger and those who force themselves to be moderate at first, are in time rewarded by having moderation become their second nature. People should always stop eating before they are full. Those who eat until they are uncomfortable are gluttons. And they should be classed with drunkards and drug addicts. If discomfort follows after a meal, it is a sign of overeating.
- Masticating food thoroughly: Foods have to be finely divided and sub-divided or they cannot be thoroughly acted upon by the digestive juices. The stomach is well muscled and churns the food about, helping to grind it, but it cannot take the place of the teeth. All foods should be thoroughly masticated. While the mastication is going on the saliva becomes mixed with the food. In the saliva is the ptyalin, which begins to digest the starch. The starch that is well masticated is not so liable to ferment as that which gets hastily attention in the mouth. Starches and nuts need the most thorough mastication. If thorough mastication were the rule, meat gluttons would be fewer, for when the flesh is well chewed large quantities cause nausea.
- Milk digests best when it is rolled around in the mouth long enough to mix with saliva. To treat milk as a drink is a mistake, for it is a very nourishing food.
- All kinds of nuts must be well masticated. If they are not they cannot be well digested, for the digestive organs are unable to break down big pieces of the hard nut meals.
- The succulent vegetables contain considerable starch. If mastication is slighted they often ferment enough to produce considerable gas.
- Fruits are generally eaten too rapidly, and therefore often produce bad results. Even green fruits can be eaten with impunity if they are masticated thoroughly.
- Those who are fond of liquors taken in excess should sip their alcoholic beverage very slowly, tasting every drop before swallowing, and this will decrease their intake of liquor greatly.
- Water also should not be gulped down. Rather it should be taken slowly, especially on hot days. During hot weather, many people drink too much water. This tendency can usually be overcome by avoiding iced water and drinking the water slowly.
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