The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-02-23
DO WE EAT roo MUCH,


 Reasans Adymmeed for Remarkable De-
 teraeratiOn of the Human Heart. Boston Herald.
 The increase in the number of fatal cases of heart disease in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx for the first eleven months of 1907 over the correspona.ng months of 1908 was L. 246, or as[ut 27 per cont The total number of deaths in the city of Chica- so for the same period was 2.4S7, an in- crease of 10.6 per cent. Health author ities in each city find in the figures cause for special comment and for warning to the people. Grip. develop ing Into pneumonia and attacking the heart, Is . common cause of fatal heart disease, but the health experts in each city are of the opinion that the pres ent mode of living, and especially over eating, is chiefly responsible for the deterioration of the human heart.
 pr. Darlington. President Of the New York Board of Health. says that over eating is a principal cause, and that it is time for the Americans to adopt the simple life and slow down. Dr. Guil- foy. of New York, says that overeating and too little exercise are prominent causes. pr. St. Clair Drake of the Chi- cago Bureau of Municipal Statistics, does not hesitate to say that overeat- ing and too much drinking are weaken
 
 avoidance Of late suppere. a reduction in the amount of food and drink con- sumed and an increase in the amount of exercise taken.
 Many experts claim that men cut their lives in two by neglect of hygienlo principles in the regulation of their living. Rational and proper diet is not the only thing, of course, but, in con- neetion with pure air. sufficient sleep. exercise and proper conduct, it occupies a place of sufficient prominence to re. ceive consideration.
 The Yale experiments, in which nine students followed for five months the Horace Fletcher rules of complete mas- tication and Iessened meat diet, are fa- miliar. Close attention to these rules led the students to adopt similar diet which had quite as much to do with re- suits as the observance of the rules in regard to mastication. Tests showed that the men practically doubled their powers of endurance during the period of the experiment.
 Prof Chittenden of Yale also conduc- ted an experiment with a group of men. composed in part of Yale students and in part of representatives from va rious sections of the country. Gym. nastic endurance tests were made and It was found that those who were ac- customed to an ordinary diet of meat anu N6AS were 8n LnOS0 powers of endurance which were shown by the men who ate sparingly of meat and eggs. or those who did not use these classes of food at all. Endurance was found to increase in high ratio with the decrease in the use of these foods. Prof. Chittenden does not argue in fa- vor of an absolute vegetarian diet, but the results If the experiments indicate that. in endurance and the power to withstand strain, the man whose diet has been well regulated and of a sim pie order has an immense advantage over his less abstemtous fellow.
 The fatality of grip Is largely in- creased by the weakness of the system which antedates the arrival of the grip microbe. Abuses and indulgencies have already made their inroads upon the system and sapped it of the strength which might otherwise withstand the attack of the grip.
 The warning of the New York and Chicago doctors is a rational one. It Is not always within a mans bower to personally apply the brakes to business and society and their demands upon him. The qualification of his appetite Is. however, a matter for regulation by his own power. and the lengthening of his days is to that extent within his own control.