The Irish standard., 1886-07-31
EXCESS IN EATING.
Abuse of tho Digestive Powers Equivalent
to Diminishing their Vitality.

Abuse of tho Digestive Powers Equivalent
to Diminishing their Vitality.
Many, in their anxiety to gain health,
strength or flesh, suppose that to do this
1t will be necessary to take an unusual
amount of food, with the fallacious idea
that the more food is taken the greater
will be the success. On the supposition
that exercise of the body if favorable to
health, developing the muscles, increas-
ing the strength, it would be equally
reasonable to infer that immoderate ex-
ercise, continuous tolls, exerting ones
self to the utmost of his ability. labor
ing almost constantly, would be favor
able to health, vigor and longevity. In
both cases the powers would be abused,
diminishing their vitality, while proper
exercise is favorable to normal develop
ment. Like overtaxed muscles. with re-
duced effectiveness and power, the diges-
tive, organs abused, lose their
power of appropriation, really afford
ing the system less actual nutrition,
when too large a quantity is taken, than
might have been secured from reason-
able amount. It is probable that there
are more persons in this country, in this
land OF plenty, where food is so easily
produced, and where labor is better
paid than in the East, in q practical
starving condition, from excess of eat
ing, than deficiency. Eight ounces of
food, well digested, all appropriated,
will afford more nourishment, more real
health and strength, than pound but
half digested. This results from the
fact that digestive labors, tolls like,mus-
cnlar effort. exhaust vital force, some of
fatigue resulting from digestive efforts,
az certainly as from exercise of the
muscles, or of the brain. Indeed,
it is possible, in the effort to
dispose of mass Of food very difficult
of digestion, to exhaust more vital
force. more strength. than can be Sc
cured from the nourishment contained,
since only small part Of it can be OBJ
taiped, under the circumstances. We
as nation, are eating much more food
than we need, wasting, within and with
out the body, food enough to support
about the same population if we COM
pare ourselves with the French, q very
absteminous nation living on far less than
we consume.
In accordance with my views is the
following extract from good authority,
the senior Prof. Hitchcock: ssWhen
food is taken into the stomach it is con-
verted into apulpy mass, called chyme.
If the quantity be too great, of course
this sprocess is butimperfectly performed;
as the gastric Juice is not sufficient for
the whole work. The consequence is
that imperfect chyme will make imper-
feet chyle, the second state into which
the food passes; and imperfect chyle will
produce imperfect blood; and imperfect
blood will produce morbid secretions-
the blood will be too much in quantity,
and poor in quality: and hence the sys-
tenn will be but imperfectly nourished.
Hence, too, we see why small quantity
of food affords more nourishment than
a quantity too large, viz, because the
former is perfectly, and the latter imper.
fectly converted into flesh and blood.
Nature must make great effort to get
rid of the superabundance with which
she is deluged. Hence she will force
through the pores of the skin, fetid
sweats, aud load the alinoentary canal
and every part of the system, with
every kind of morbid secretions. We
see, hence, why the men who gorman'
die most, are generally pale and ema.
ciated: though sometimes the excess OF
nourishment is converted into fat, which
seems generally to be g morbid secre.
tion ''-Dy. y. FL. Haneeafo'd, Tn Colder