The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-01-14
London Physician Urges
Less Stuffing and More
Day

Day
factor of heath--indiyidual national
or of even wider extent-which hitherto
has escaped general attention arises from
the well-nigh universal habit of eating
heavy meals ON Sunday, says the New
! York Times II continues: This habit
upsets the physical system. an English
reduction in the amount of exercise
taken. forms a combination which not
only detracts from the joy of living, but
actually is the background for a gloomy
outlook
The physician is the medical correspond
pnt of the London Times and. of course.
his statements are directed to the Brit
ish public: nevertheless they seem to
have a worldwide application. He says
that instead of surfeiting ourselves on
Sunday we might better give cur diges-
tive systems u rest This is particularly
true of those of middle age and beyond
The man who does not Oyertax the diges-
tive organs lives long and keeps well, he
remarks.
Business Men Are Offenders.
Business men, as a class. are regular
i'm their habits the physician says. They
are SfPGIafEN ftgultT fftl ire fsFfDfI u
J. ing. But there is one great exception.
On Sunday the ma iority of them radically
alter their dietetic habits. The alteration
extends throughout the day. breakfast
is later. heavier. This is a small matter,
because the additional hour Of sleep is
advantageous lunch becomes heavy
dinner. Tea is INDUCED in rather more
freely than usual, and finally. supper. a
meal which often includes more tea, re-
places dinner.
We are all SO accustomed to this ar
rangement that few of us take the trouble
to relate il &to the sense of gastronomic
ill-being which very often characterizes
Sunday evening or is carried into Mon
day. Various domestic exigencieS rem
der the change convenient. 1t Is assumed
that. at the worst, no great harm is likely
to result. observes the physician. Nor
would any great harm result. he says.
were it not that the change Is almost in
yariably characterized by excess. We
eat more on Sunday, much more as a
rule. than we eat on any other day in the
week
! This is the main point Sn the indict-
meut. The other points are that, on that
day on which we eat more. we also eat
at unaccustomed times Very often, too.
especially in winter We have no exercise.
Weekend Initiation.
Now every doctor knows, says the ply
! eat too much rather than too little. There
is. therefore, a good case for a weekly
"starve" there is no case whatever for Il
weekly surfeit. On the contrary. ii t; keS
many men the whole of Monday and
sometimes Tuesday also to get free of the
i consequences of their Sunday eating.
: We have only to consider for a moment
the physiological aspect of the case to
see that such a consequence is inevitable,
he says. There is no better timekeCper
in the body than the stomach There is
no organ which performs its work with n
greater economy of effort. Regularly. at
certain times each day, our systems Eek
pect" meals The sense of hunger. which
we now know originates in movements of
the muscular coat of the stomach, is ex-
perienced. Gastric juice is prepared.
Limitation on Amount.
| Not only is there an expectation in
time; there is also an expectation in
amount We expect certain kinds of
meals, light or heavy. These habits
once formed. endure, the physician as
sertS; so much so. indeed. that appetite
will not. as a rule. serve as well if we
attempt to break them. Englishmen, for
example, never get used to continental
methods of meal arrangement and few
Frenchmen take kindly to the English
/ breakfast.
| Speaking generally, then, a change of
/ meal hours SnOulu IL 1T Ue necessary. De
always accompanied by great moderation
| in eating. We are setting our digestive
/ organs to d fresh task fer which they are
not prepared We ought to give them a
chance" On Sunday, however. we seem
to pursue an exaCaly opposite policy. We
eat largely, at unaccustomed hours. of
food not easy to digest.
Naturally enough the physician says,
this food in a great many instances, is
i not digested. Instead. indigestion and
dyspepsia occur withsresulting depression
and iIl-nature Sunday. he declares. is too
frequently the gloomiest day of the week
Black Monday.
| Nor is this ALL For the upset" does
not end with its cause. Badly digested
food DISCREPANCIES every system in the
body The fermentationA products to
which it gives rise are absorbed into the
blood and carried TO the nervous system.
Brain-poisoning is frequently set up. In
middle age. according to the writer. BRAIN
poisoning is a constant danger. 1t is that
which renders meIf in responsible positions
anxious and irritable. SO that their judg
ments are clouded and their decisions un-
reliable. There are enough unavoidable
poisons threatening every brain worker
to make the tolerance of avoidable p0isons
almost a crime. in the physicians opinion.
Sunday, in fact as youth recedess be-
comes an ordeal, he says Any enjoy
ment which its bounty may afford has to-