The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1874-03-07
Our 0lio.
What a Doctor Says.

1t is certain that oyer-feeding as well
as over-drinking is great evil, and pro-
duces its yearly hecatombs of victims, who
are looked upon as innocent sufferers,
while their colleagues, the oyer-drinkers,
are severely dealt with in respectable
society" Thus writes a recent medical
authority. He goes on to say that the
tendency to fatty degeneration Of museu-
lar and other tissue Is much on the
increase, The disease. quietly gains
ground, though the victim seems the
picture Of health to the uninitiated. It is
one of the causes of the increase Of sudden
deaths. Rich living and fatty meats, with
little exercise, do their work uususpected,
and produce as much disease as any of the
recognized causes Of typhoid and other
maladies
These considerations are certainly worth
needing, when one sits down TO dinner
But our stern medical monitor attends US
to market also. All men should learn that
a good eater should also be good worker
if he intends to remain healthy, and that
the rule applies to oxen as well as to men,
1t may be seriously asked whether the
consumption Of the meat of overfed animals
is not alst an evil The answer must be
yes. Such food must tell upon the
constitution of those living upon it. 1t
lays the foundation of many evils in mans
frame, probably producing many of those
gastric disturbances which affect many
abstemious and regular liyers, who "wonder
why such mutton and such beef could
have disagreed with them"
Who shall decide when doctors disagree?
Sound practitioners tell us that fat and
tender meats are most nutritious, as they
are most palateable. OF course, if one
"over-feeds," he suffers, in consequence,
though his packing of the stomach be
done with potatoes and salt. Moderation
is the safe guide--not, however, to the
ascetic regulation of rising from the table
hungry. Whoever does that without
necessity, thinks more OF his meat than
even the over-feeder The man may be
presumed to be in best condition, who goes
to dinner when the hour comes, without
having longed impatiently for the dinner
bell and who goes from dinner without
any special recollection, half an hour after
wards, what he has eaten, or whether he
has eaten at all, or not. Whenever the
matter of food becomes one of thought and
concern, whether that thought be the
longing of the epicure, or the fussiness Of
the dietarian, eating and drinking have
assumed an undue importance. Whether
men gormandize, looking chiefly for quan.
tity, or pick here little and there little,
piling up an oyer-suficiency Of delicate
mouthfulls, or eat by ounce measure and
under protest, in either case the mere act
of feeding takes too much thought. Com.
mon sense is the best guide, and common
caution should prescribe what one should
eat, and how much, and that, too, without
making every meal the subject of a by.
gienic thesis. The great degree to which
eating and drinking form the subject Of
conversation, and of the exchanges Of
opinions in civilized circles, is both amazing
and ridiculous.
Two things may be taken for granted
that most people who can command the
things they like are over-fed, and few
people, male or female, of their own free
will take exercise sufficient for their com
fort. Excess in eating prompts or demands
excess in drinking. Even water may BE-
over-indulged in, and, as to tea and coffee
they are with very many people too freely
poured down, to the detrimcnt Of diges
tion. The main thing to be remembered
is, that disease originates as much from
over-feeding as over-drinking, and that the
close atmosphere ofa house is not the place
to recuperate the oyer-fed.