The business man, whether young or middle-aged, must let all habit-forming drugs alone. As for tobacco, tea and coffee, every man must be his own judge, for with respect to the effects of these drugs the doctors disagree. If a man does not use them the presumption is certainly in his favor.
11. Food.—A prominent business man once re marked to a friend : "If I ever build another house I am not going to have any dining room in it—just stalls into which a fellow can go and get something whenever he is hungry." He had been a victim of overeating and had an idea that he ate too much three times a because his appetite was artificially stimulated by the sight of others overfeeding.
The subject of foods has long been a popular one in our weekly and monthly periodicals, and most people ought to know all that is worth knowing about calor ies, proteids and carbohydrates. The layman, if he lives right, need know nothing about such things. In fact it is ivell for him not to think- at all about the chemical constituency of the food he puts into his mouth.
A wise physician once said to a dyspeptic patient: "I do not care what you eat, eat whatever you like; but I do care how you eat it. No medicine will cure
you. You can get well and strong only by eating slowly and chewing your food. Take no ready reme dies." On the subject of eating there are three things which are worth bearing in mind and about which physicians are agreed: First, you must eat slowly and chew your food thoroly. Second, you must be in the best possible humor when eating. There must be only cheerful conversation. You should, therefore, not eat when overtired or under a nervous strain. Third, you should not worry at all about whether this or that article of food is going to digest or lie heavy on your stomach. Joseph Choate once said: "The less we think about our insides, the better." Consider the words of the Prophet, "That which I feared bath come upon me." You cannot possibly drink too much pure water. Most people drink too little. It may be said on good authority that the average man needs about two quarts a day. Water drunk at meals iS harmful only when it is used to wash down the food and save the jaws the trouble of chewing.
This chapter, by the way, has not been written for invalids, but for well men wbo want to keep well.