Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1908-12-31

pend upon our inclinations to tell us
what to eat? Nearly everybody now
admits that intoxicants are neces-
sarily injurious. yet many have q de-
sire for them. Shall they follow the
inclination to drink what they like,
merely because they like II. or. shall
they not rather govern the appetite
by reason? And does not the same
argument apply, In some degree at
least, to eating?
This line of inquiry leads to the
question, what shall We eat to Sc
cure the greatest enjoyment Of life?
What shall we eat to enjoy the great
est degree OF health, the most vigor.
GUS, happy and useful life?
These questions cannot be answered
finally by laboratory investigation
alone. Only actual test OF the effects
of foods with careful allowance for
personal factors and varying abnor-
NAL conditions, can lead to wise con-
illusions. And in my next article ]
shall give the result Of my own ex-
periments.
Why do you eat? Because !
like to eat. II is one Of the pleasures
OF life." This will be your answer,
II you are an average reader. II not
you are abnormal. To be a good man,
one must first be good animal, and
the first requirement in a good animal
Is to be q good feeder
It Is a well-established principle in
psychology that we do best what we
do unconsciously. What must become
OF a man who is so conscious of his
digestion that he must take so many
chews for each mouthful and eat GER
tain prescribed foods? Is 1t not pos
slble that he may find It necessary to
lie awake at night to see that his
heart beats the right number to the
minute?
It Is commonly said that II man
has q good stomach he doesn't know
that he has a stomach, that so soon
as he finds out that his food digests,
there is indigestion. How often we
hear a man say, Il wish l could eat
anything, just as l used to eat, with
out giving It a thought" The physi.
clan is often called upon to deal with
cases in which people have destroyed
their digestion by thinking about 1t;
as the story goes
The centipede was happy quite,
Till the frog for mischief asked him,
Pray which foot comes after which?
And ever after he rolled helpless in
the ditch.
The man who eats because he likes
to eat has much in his favor. If there
Is only one reason for eating he Is
fortunate in having chosen 1t, despite
the adage, formulated in some hermit
tage or monastry, centuries ago.
Live not to eat, but eat to live"
The latest word from the physiolog-
ical chemist Is that appetite juice"
Is one of the chief requirements Of
good digestion.
But there Is another side to the
question, Why do we eat? The ath-
lete who eats what he likes, as he
likes and when he likes, cannot win
the race. Paul advised taking a lit
tie wine for the stomach's sake. even.
presumably, though 1t might be dis
tasteful, and the highest medical au.
thorities are unanimous in prescribing
certain diet to be eaten under certain
circumstances. Evidently 1t is not
always best to eat as one feels dis
posed.
The lower animals are able to Sc
lect their food by instinct, but man
has lost this power to large extent,
and it must be supplemented by rea'
son, by science. BY living in unnat,
ural conditions imposed by civiliza-
ton, we have acquired unnatural APP
petites that are destructive Of health,
physical and moral. A man may
drink a pint Of brandy because he
wants it, but who will say that that
Is reason sufficient? We have an ap-
petite for flesh, but are. we sure tina;
such appetite is normal, that we arc
the better for eating meat because
we feel disposed to eat It? Is 1t, as
vegetarians claim, an acquired appe
tite. like that for tea and coffee.
which are said, by most authorities.
to be injurious?