The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-03-25

A man sat alone at. dinner in a large
New York restaurant, eating deliber-
ateiy and chewing his food thoroughly.
The food before him was simple but
abundant. AS soon as he finished, a
man who had sat at table nearby
came w and said:
II see you have been Fletcherizing."
Yes said his friend.
How do you like it?" asked the
man.
"Fine" was the reply. 81 was never
healthier or happier
Two years ago The Worlds Work
published an account of the personal
experience of Mr.. Horace Fletcher, the
first practical demonstrators of the SCI
ence of simple living and perfect feed
ing of the human body, which now
bears his name. He was retired bust
ness man of independent means, who
had been refused life insurance on ac-
count of stomach trouble. He began
te experiment to cure himself by eat
ing simple food and chewing it more
than usual. His experiments proved
for him that he had been eating too
much, that the appetite is the true
Indicator of the body's needs if the
food be chewed sufficiently, that he
could live on one-third the quantity of
food usually eaten and be healthy, that
the most important part of digestion
is done in the mouth, and that there
fore thorough chewing is necessary. He
was then fifty-four years of age, and
7 III 4
EXPERIMENTS IN FLETCHERIZ-
ING
He had written books about economic
nutrition and was spreading by word
and pen the doctrine of right living.
In many quarters he was called a food
crank the chew-chew man. He was
even regarded as the apostle Of polite
But in the two years that
have passed, there has been a wide
adoption of his plan with large and
impressive results. "Fletcherizing"
and "Fletcherism' have become parts
Of our speech and commonly accepted
essentials of a well-ordered life Doc
tors, here and abroad, are prescribing
1t, colleges and schools are recommend
ing it: everywhere people are practic-
ing it as a means to healthful living
and a serene old age. Let us see what
mas been done.
The first experiment in a large way
IF Mr.. F1etcher's plan of living was at
Yale University under the direction OF
Professor Russell H. Chittenden. Three
groups of men-a company of regular
United States soldiers, a coterie of
professors, and some athletes in train
ng lived on a simple restricted diet
md ate only. what their stomachs
for six months. During that
ime their working efficiency was in :,
.reased from so to 200 per cent
md at the end of the experiment
hey were healthier and stronger than
when they began.
Professor Otto Folin of the Massa-
husetts General Hospital, working in
he laboratory of the Mclean Asylum
or the Insane at Waverley, then ex- /
on thirty-five subjects. In
ach case there was increased eff
iency on a small amount Of food
properly eaten, and therefore properly
ligested.
economy IN THE VITAL FUEL.
What Mr.. Fletcher preached in books
nd talks was a very simple thing
meant eating only what the appetite
and chewing it thoroughly.
Hence many people began to chew
heir food. In England they called it
The smart set took it
- and had '.munching parties" Out {
f this wave of eating reform started s
" one man there resulted a perma- {
ent campaign for proper eating which
as enlisted the aid of distinguished
eople in both England and the Unit s
d States and has recently spread to
europe. AS people began to learn s
ow to eat properly, they discov-
red that their physical well being con-
family improved. Their capacity for
ork increased and they required less
eep I know of the case of a young I
ian who is able to do two mems
ork easily as the result of Fletcher |