onsider the very important subject of the quantity and
character of foods which should be taken in health, with suggestions as
to those most suitable for dyspeptics.

_Over-eating too Prevalent._--The majority of us take much more food than
is necessary, with the result that we suffer from indigestion.

When we consume more than a reasonable amount of food habitually serious
digestive disturbances are sure to result,--to be often followed at a
later time by tuberculosis, morbid alterations in the blood-vessels,
Bright's disease, and other serious maladies of a chronic nature.
Professor Chittenden, who is America's greatest physiological chemist,
has demonstrated that in all probability previous workers along these
lines have been excessive in their estimates as to the amount of food
required. He showed that a man could live for a period of nine months on
a daily ration which contained about one-third of the usual amount of
proteids generally thought to be necessary, and at the same time the fats
and carbohydrates were reduced to such a degree that the total number of
heat units, or calories, liberated from the food scarcely exceeded in
number one-half of the standard requirements. He also experimented on
thirteen volunteers from the hospital corps of the United States Army, to
whom he daily fed rations of only 2,000 calories, and, notwithstanding
that they engaged in physical work, all were found to be in better
condition at the end of six months than they were at the beginning.

These results strongly point to the conclusion that previous estimates as
to the quantity of food required are erroneous, and that man can not only
live, but may continue in strength and health on much smaller amounts. It
is highly probable that this discrepancy may be accounted for, at least
to a considerable extent, by the assumption that much of the food
ordinarily taken is rejected by the system, and passes out as waste,
while, when small quantities are eaten, it is for the most part absorbed.

_Mastication._--Thorough chewing of the food is absolutely essential for
proper digestion. While it is true that this, like all other good things
in life, may be, and often is, carried to an unnecessary extreme, it is
certainly true that we would be infinitely better off if we were to go
to the extent in this direction of so called "Fletcherism" rather than
perform this most important function in an indifferent manner.

This rule applies with espe