The Glenwood post., 1923-06-14
SAYS We EAT AND
SLEEP TOO MUCH
CONTINUED from page ~


with decaying, surplus food. My ar
teries are as soft as child IS. When I
lie down, I 60 to sleep almost instantly
within a minute. 1t seems as if
when I lie down my brain is automat-
ically turned off. 1 have tried, some
times to think in bed, only to discover
that I could not do so. fall asleep.
And, when sleep, do not toss and
dream as do those persons who eat too
much-I am dead to the world until it
is time to get up. And, when wake
washed my face with cold water to feel
that I am awake-I am wide awake
and ready for business as soon as l
open my eyes. People who eat too
much have heavy eyes when they
awaken. Their eyes seem to be swollen
little and they don't really come
/ Ny eyes are as light as feathers the
moment that 1 open them.
But the real reason why I can do
| with go little sleep is that healthy
man requires little sleep. There is no
sound physiological basis for the com
mon belief that every man needs eight
hours sleep. We have been led into
this error by the fact that sleep is one
of our pleasures. The human tendency
is always to everyday a pleasure about
fifty rer cent.
I have no doubt whatever that eight
hours of sleep is harmful.
An invalid, OF semi-invalid, may
require eight hours. but no well man
does. People sleep eight hours merely
because they have formed the habit of
doing SO. The body can quickly be-
come accustomed to almost any habit.
The body can ADJUST itself even to
habits that hurt, like the whisky habit.
But it can as easily adjust itself to
habits that heip.
These are not mere theories of mine
Il have proved them out in my own
life. I have donc more. / have
proved them ont in the life of my
wife. When VIC were married. she was
in the habit of sleeping eight hours
every night. Sh, was also in the hab-
it of eating as much as women usually
eat. I told her she was eating too
much and sleeping too much. For fif-
I oh hall
It was very difficilt to make women
believe anything that is so. Women
as class are inclined to be obstinate
They do not ceem to want to get out
of beate paths. They want to be
beautiful and 10 retain their beauty,
but they are reluctant to do the things
that make beauty last.
After talking fifteen years to my
wife, she became willing to live my
way. I put a pair of scales in her bed
room and told her to reduce her food
until her weight reached certain
point and never to let her weight get
above that point. I told her to weigh
herself every morning and at .the
slightest sign of increased weight to
cut down her supply of food.
1t is now seven years since Mrs. Edi-
son began to live as I live. When she
and her daughter are out together,
those who do not know them often
mistake them for sisters. Can any
thing be more conclusive than that ?
Are women interested in avoiding dou-
BILE chins and purple faces? If they
are, can tell them how to keep young.
To eat little is not in itself enough.
One must also sleep little. Sleep that
is intense and dreamless does the body
much more good than the troubled
sleep that is prolonged over twice too
many hours. Mrs. Edison can now get
along with as little sleep as I can. She
never sleeps more than four or five
hours night. She often comes over
here to the laboratory with me and
sits up all night. She never goes to
bed before l or 2 o'clock in the morn
ing. She is always up and about by
6. And, the splendid part of it is that
she is thriving under it. This plan Of
living, now that she has tried it, suits
her.