Part 16 (1/2)

How much must you eat?--”Enough, but not too much.”

How must you eat?--”Slowly.”

How should your food be masticated?--”Thoroughly.”

When must you eat?--”Regularly, but not too often.”

When should you avoid eating?--”Just before bedtime.”

What kind of air should you breathe?--”Pure air.”

How should you sit, stand, and walk?--”Erect.”

Why should you not eat too much food?--”Because, if I eat too much food, my stomach will have too much work to do in changing it into chyme.”

Why should you eat slowly?--”That I may have time to masticate the food thoroughly.”

Why should you masticate your food thoroughly?--”That it may be well prepared to enter the stomach.”

Why should the food be well prepared to enter the stomach?--”Because, if it is not well prepared in the mouth, the stomach will have too much work to change it into chyme.”

Why should you eat regularly, but not too often?--”Because the stomach needs rest, which it cannot have, if I eat too often.”

Why should you avoid eating just before bedtime?--”Because, while I am asleep, the stomach cannot do the work of changing the food as it ought to be changed; because the stomach should rest with the other parts of the body.”

Why should you breathe pure air?--”Because pure air helps to make pure blood, which the stomach needs to make it strong and healthy.”

Why should you sit, stand, and walk erect?--”That the stomach may not be crowded out of its place, or pressed upon by other parts of the body.”

In what way does tobacco hurt the stomach?--”It poisons the saliva and prevents it from preparing the food to enter the stomach.”

What harm does tobacco do inside the stomach?--”It weakens the stomach and makes it unfit to change the food into chyme.”

How will wise children treat tobacco?--”Let it alone. They will not chew, snuff, or smoke the vile weed.”

Is alcohol food or poison?--”It is poison.”

How do we know it is not food?--”Because it cannot be changed into blood.”

How has this been proved?--”Alcohol has been found in the brain, and other parts of drunkards, with the same smell and the same power to burn easily which it had when it was taken into the mouth.”

How do you know it is a poison?--”Because it does harm to every part of the body, beginning in the stomach.”

What harm does alcohol do in the stomach?--”It hinders the stomach from doing its work; it burns the coats of the stomach; it destroys the gastric juice; it hardens the food, so that it cannot be dissolved by the gastric juice.”

What does the stomach do with alcohol?--”Drives it out as soon as possible.”

Where does the stomach send it?--”Into the liver.”