The Washington herald., 1915-05-28
Influence of Thought on Digestion.

II your food did not digest we'll this
morning. why?
Some foods are more difficult of d.
gestion than others. but the chances
are that it is the condition of the in
dividual. not the food, that is re-
sponsibIe for the trouble. The foods
you call indigestible may be readily
| digested by another, or by you at
another time. The chances are that
with you Then search for your
trouble, Have you been worried. anx-
ious, angry or jealous?
Much of what we commonly call
nervous indigestion is not due to
weak nerves. but to weak force di-
rectinE the nerves: to bad habits of
thinking, such as worry, anxiety, fear.
mental depression. nerve tension, etc.
If you believe n food is difficult of
digestion, the chances are that you've
put the cart before the horse. The
food is all right. but in your belief
that you are going to be harmed your
mental attitude is tense and this ten
sion restricts the flow of digestive
juices and of saliva into the stomach
and mouth and thus digestion is re-
tarded If you think the food is going
to help you, your mind is stimulated.
the digestive juices flow more freely
anu OlScSllOn is more HOrlIldi
What are "indigestible foods?" In
many cases those you believe are going
to harm you.
1t is now generally admitted that in
digestion. or dyspepsia. is moro de-
pendent upon the mind than is any
other physical function Almost all
of US can call to mind cases in which
a day of worry or fear has resulted
in indigestion the next day. This
trouble often arises from over con-
centration in business. or from SOM.
worrying financial or family condi-
| tions before or during tho processes
of digestion.
At the first symptoms Of trouble,
people begin to study what they are
eating. They associate an attack Of
pain with eating a certain food: that
especial thing being now associated
in the mind with pain. is consequently
tabooed. Little by little. in this way.
number of perfectly nutritious items
are eliminated from the diet and the
general health may suffer from this
restriction.
Laboratory experiments prove that
the first process of stomach diGes-
ton is much Influenced by appetite
and taste Food eaten with relish
calls for a free flow of gastric juice.
If the food is less to the individual
llklES. tne gastric juice is less aCtlVe,
if il does not satisfy the taste at
all. but is eaten under protest, the
process of digestion Is quite weak and
slow.
The human stomach is a laboratory.
yet it is more-it is goyerned by
many laws which we cannot define
under chemical formula.
Belief that food Is improperly pre-
pared, or that the cook is not clean
will often bring about a case of nau-
sea or turning against food. although
that belief may be found later to
have been based upon a mistake
There are curious. natural pre-
judices for and against certain articles
of diet almost impossible to over
come. In many European countries
horsefiesh is regarded as both nutri-
tious and edible, but the average An
Glo-SaXon's stomach cannot tolerate 1t.
The thrifty Normandy peasants will
not eat the luscious blackberries that
grow In the country because they be-
lieve them to have some connection
with the Scriptural crown of thorns.
Very old people with failing appe-
tites often demand some strong. hearty
food of their youth and profit on it.
DR.. J. J. Walsh tells of several cases