Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-07-27
RIGHT LIVING.
Solitude ut Meals Promotes Dyspepsia
and Other Ills.

| Solitude ut Meals Promotes Dyspepsia
and Other Ills.
From the Galveston News.
| The demands Of fashionable society have
| long been known to be particularly hard
on the pocket, and, according to the Lon
don Lancet, they are equally hard on the
stomach.
1t is not good for man to live alone for
various reasons; one Is. as the Lancet
points out. that society is an invaluable
aid to digestion. Now the question OF dict
has an Importance which it would be diff
cult to overestimate. Man is what he eats
at least to a certain extent. This Is a
truth that ought not to be overlooked al
this time of year especially, when the in
tense heat demands the greatest care as
regards food. No doubt many of the i'll
effects of heat might have been avertcd by
proper choice of food. Meats, pastry,
everything containing a large proportion
of fat, should be avoided; nor should Il
very hearty meal be eaten at any time
The Lancet insists that solitary life
promotes the evil practice Of hurrying over
| meals, with premature dyspepsia as O con-
sequence. This is why society at the hour
of dining is of the utmost Importance.
Men place more stress, as a rule, upon the
pleasures Of the table than women do, but
even they allow themselves to be hurried.
The Lancet says:
There are some few happily disposed in
too fast nor too much nor too little. With
the majority it Is different. The average
man puts his novel or his newspaper be-
fore him. and thinks that he will lengthen
out the meal with due elaboration by read
ing little with and more between the
courses. He will just employ his mind
enough to help and too little to interfere
with digestion. In fact, he will provide
that gentle mental accompaniment which
with happier people conversation gives to
a meal. This is your solitarys excellent
idea. In reality he becomes engrossed in
what he Is reading, till suddenly, finding
his chop cold, he demolishes it in a few
mouthfuls; or else he finds that he Is hun
cry, and, paying no attention to the book,
which he filings aside, he PUSHES through
his food as fast as possible, to plunge into
his armchair and literature afterward In
either case the lonely man must digest at
a disadvantage.
Too many persons. Americans in particu-
lar, eat at an alarming rate, either alone
or in company. Contrast the American
business man at luncheon with the French
man at dejeuner. The one hurrieS away
from his place of business to bolt his food,
and often indigestfble food at that, while
the other makes the midday meal real
break In the toll and stress, and comes
back refreshed and rested.
Every one knows" says the Lancet,
"that violent bodily exercise Is bad lust
after meal, and mental exertion equally
so. Wise people do not even argue during
or just after dinner, and observation OF
one that most speakers neither endure
themselves nor excite in their hearers any
severe intellectual effort"
While one wants pleasant company at
meal time, as the Lancet explains this
does not mean formal or heavy dinners 1t
does not mean that the fashionable method
Of feeding is a safe method. The demands
OF fashionable society are said to be most
trying upon the stomach, and the Lancet
advises it's readers to live quietly on plain
diet. taken at regular intervals. with due
elaboration, In moderate quantities.