Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1908-12-17


has a good stomach he doesn't know
that he has a stomach. that so soon
as he finds out that his food dlgests
there is Indigestion. How often we
! hear a man say, Il wish / could eat
anything, just as | used to eat, with
out giving 1t thought" The physl-
clan is often called upon to deal with
cases in which people have destroyed
their digestion by thinking about it;
as the story goes
The centil EIDE 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
10 eat has much in his favor If there
Is only one reason for eating he Is
fortunate in having chosen It. despite
the adage formulated In some hermit
tage or monastry, centuries ago.
Live not to eat. but eat 10 live"
The latest word from the physiolog.
lea! 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 It might be dis
tasteful, and the highest medical au.
thorities are unanimous in prescribing
certain diet 10 be eaten under certain
circumstances. Evidently II 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 a large extent,
and 1t must be supplemented by rea.
son, by science BY living In unnat-
ural conditions imposed by ciyiliza.
ton, we have acquired unnatural APP
petites that are destructive OF health,
physical and moral. A man may
drink pint of brandy because he
Is reason sufficient? We have an APP
petite for flesh, but are we sure that
such appetite is normal, that we are
the better for eating meat because
we feel disposed to eat it2 Is 1t, as
vegetarians claim, an acquired appe-
tite, like that for tea and coffee,
which are said, by most authorities,
to be injurious?
II would seem that the obvious an
swer 20 the question, Why do you
eat? is, Because ! am hungry" Yet
one who habitually eats too much can
not be hungry The desire for food
arises frequently from that gnawing
sensation resulting from the fer.
mentation OF superfluous food, pro-
ducing a condition Of autointoxica-
ton In fasting there is an almost
Irresistible desire for food the first
two or three days; then the appetite
leaves one for several days; there Is a
gain in strength with loss in weight
and when distinct desire for food
returns it Is natural hunger, easily
satisfied; but this natural appetite in
many cases does not come for 80 days
or more showing that the former APP
petite was unnatural.
We do not feed a horse on the the
DRY that he should be guided solely
by his inclinations In eating and drink
Ing, but largely by our knowledge OF
what is best for him under the arti'
fetal conditions under which he lives
and that he may be able TO do his
best work And why should not
human being have the benefit of such
knowledge? Should not the child, es-
uecially, have the benefit OF right feed
ing?
with all due allowance for the fact
that one mans meat may be another
mans poison, that authorities are not
unanimous on foods and feeding, yet,
Il Is true that there is a science Of
human feeding that We have lost our
instinct for determining what the sys-
tenn needs for nutrition and therefore
aupetite should be 20 some extent
guided by reason. Certainly one
should eat because he enjoys Il, but
also, whether he be an athlete, a In.
borer or a professional man, because
eating largely determines efficiency
and because health depends upon food
more than upon anything else except
pure air, pure water and right think
| ing which is fundamental