The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-04-02
CHEWING OFF FLESH.
How 10 Cure Obesity without n
Chance of Diet.

Change of Diet.
New York March Sl.-Not long ago a
New York man Of wealth and leisure who
had tried various obesity cures without
benefit. hunted out six fat and lazy tramps
and used them as subjects for his expert
ments ia curing obesity by thorough mas
ticatiou of the food. The results We're so
satisfactory that after a few weeks he dis
charged the tramrs. and began taking the
treatment himself.
His usual diet was not modified in any
way While treating himself for excessive
flesh. he continued TO eat CornCskes and
cream for breakfast. plenty Of potatoes and
other starcny foods at lunch and dinner
and 10 drink all the beer ne wanted. Al the
end of twelve weeks he had reduced his
weight fifty pounds.
The treatment is simple in the extreme
Everything taken into the mouth is mas
ticated till il slides down the throat with
out the voluntary action of the person
eating. Nothing is forcbiy swallowed. This
may seem impossible at the first thought
bat a single trial will convince ANYONE Of
iis pracdcability.
Not only solid food Is chewed in this
way. but liquids of all kinds. tea. coffee,
milk. beer etc. When suffering from eX-
CessiVe thirst one might naturally object
20 chewing beer, but the pleasure OF drink
ing tea, coffee, milk, etc. is not at all les
sened in that way.
From the standpoint of economy this
new method of eating is very satisfactory.
because in following il one cannot take
more than half the amount of food con-
sumed in the ordinary way. When the
food Is thoroughly masticated, hunger is
soon satisfied; and physicians have said for
a long time that people eat very much
more food than is necessary to keep them
in health and strength.
The most remarkable thing about this
obesity treatment Is that It has exactly
the opposite effect on very slender people,
A friend of the original nves tigator who
was so thin that she was unable to wear
low necked gown, adopted the method
as last resort in her effort to acquire
flesh. The result was that she gained ten
pounds in a few weeks, aud she is Sun
continuing the treatment.
The Effect on Disease.
The man who discovered this simple and
interesting remedy says that it will cure
dyspepsia and rheumatism, and that il has
very marked effect on diabetes and kid
ney trouble. As he seemed to be a per-
lecty disnterested investigator with no
ak to grind in exploiting his discovery
! went TO a well known medical scientist
and submitted the facts to him, at the
same tliile ASKING Ills OpHlOu III regard 10
their value.
There is no doubt" he said, that the
prolonged masticaton Of the food Will
greatly relieve dyspepsia and the expert
n1ent in the reduction of flesh by that
method are interesting in the extreme.
ut is a well known fact among physb-
ologists that food is not only separated
in the mouth, but that by proper mastica-
ton certain of its component parts may be
partially digested or transformed through
the action of the saliva. which Is a strong
alkaline fluid.
"Of course the continued motion of the
Jaws in masticaton greatly stimulates the
secretion of saliva The more abundant
the secretion the more alkaline II is, and
therefor the more pronounced is its action
on food. In dyspeptics, for instance. the
flow of saliva is generally scanty and often
acid, but by keeping the food in the mouth
for a long time and constantly in motion
the glands are stimulated, and the secre7
tons become more plentiful and therefore
more alkaline This is one of the physiol-
ogical reasons why prolonged masticaton
relieves the victim of dyspepsia, for the
stomach and intestines are thereby given
less work to do. When, on the other hand,
the food is hastily swallowed without be
ing properly masucated, 1t has to be final
~ separated after it Is received in the
stomach Wnlcn is not an organ lhNShucu
for that kind of work.
1.-The rmalleI quantity Of food taken by
the eAperimenter i'm prolonged mastication
may have had something TO do with his
reduction IN weight, though the action OF
saliva on all sugars and starches is such
as to convert them into deXtrin, dextroSe,
maltese, etc. all forms of sugar, each OF
these Carbohydrates being acted upon diff
ferently b. the digestive juices some OF
them undergoing fermentation. For that
reason I would hesitate TO dispute the
statement that prolonged mastication may
be beneficial IN cases of diabetes which
Is a disease characterized by an excess
OF deStrose in the various fluids and It's
sues OF the body. The claim is certainly
worthy OF further investigation.
Cannot Change Fats.
THE 81 bject Of diet while taking the
raYtichtiou treatment raises several in
teresting quest tons. While the gentleman
who tried the experiments claims that he
made no change In his diet, there are, new
ertheless certain kinds OF food which are
affected but little by the action of the
saliva Fats, for instance, are not af-
fected by the saliva but after being emul-
si1ed Ia the intestines, pass with COM
paratlvely little change from the alimen-
tary canal into the blood current There
fore 1t would seem well when trying to
reduce the flesh by this method to avoid
fatty substances, which are not changed
by mastication.
Saliva has also no action on albumens,
which are dissolved by the acids of the
stomach. AS albumens are one of the two
sources of manufactured fat, and as they
are not acted upon by saliva. the person
wishing to get rid of surplus flesh by pro-
longed mastication would do well to avoid
them.
Starch, the other source of manufacture
ed fat, which is generally banished from
the diet of heshy people, may probably be
safely eaten by the person practicing pro-
longed masticatlon, on account of the ac.
ton which the saliva has on all forms OF
starch. This statement of course, only
holds good in those cases where the food
is masticated for a long time, till invoIun-
tary swallowing takes place.
This discussion of the value of proper
mastication reminds me of what the ia
NOUS DR.. Pepper, provost of the Univer-
slty Of PENNSYLVANIA and professor of the