WHEN TO EAT

The question of when to eat is of some importance. The Orientals eat fewer meals than we do, and in their abstemiousness they set us an example we should do well to follow. Sufficient has already been said to show that it is a mistake to imagine a great deal of food gives great strength. When we eat frequently, and especially when we ‘live well,’ that is, are accustomed to a large variety of food, we are tempted to eat far more than is good for us. Little and often may work satisfactorily so long as it does not develop into much and often, which, needless to say, it is very likely to do. Most people on this account would probably be much better in their health if they ate but twice daily, at noon, and five or six hours before going to bed. Then there is less chance of over-feeding. If, however, we experimentally determine the quantity of food that our particular system requires in order to be maintained in good health, and can trust our self-command in controlling the indulgence of sense, probably the best method is to eat anyway three times daily, and four, five, or even six times, or doing away with set meals altogether, would be a procedure which, judging from analogy of the anthropoids, ought to be a better method than eating a whole day’s supply at once, or at two or three meals.

It is not wise to sit down to a meal when the body is thoroughly fatigued. A glass of hot or cold water will be found reviving, and then, after a short rest, the system will be far better able to assimilate food. When the body is ‘tired out,’ it stands to reason it cannot perform digestion as easily and as well as when in fit condition.

Also it is unwise to eat immediately before undertaking vigorous muscular work. Strenuous exercise after meals is often the cause of digestive disorders. Starting on exercise after a hearty meal may suspend the gastric digestion, and so prevent the assimilation of protein as to produce a sensation of exhaustion. If, however, rest is taken, the digestive organs proceed with their work, and after a short time recuperation follows, and the exercise can be continued. It is unwise to allow such a suspension of digestion because of the danger of setting up fermentation, or putrefaction, in the food mass awaiting digestion, for this may result in various disorders.

For the same reason it is a bad plan to eat late at night. It is unwise to take a meal just before going to bed, for the digestive organs cannot do their work properly, if at all, while the body is asleep, and the food not being digested is liable to ferment and result in dyspepsia. The ‘sinking feeling’ sometimes complained of if a meal is not eaten late at night and described as a kind of hunger is probably due to an abnormal secretion of acid in the stomach. A glass of hot water will often relieve this discomfort. This feeling is seldom experienced by vegetarians of long standing. The natives of India, it is said, do not experience it at all, which fact leads us to surmise the cause to be in some way connected with flesh-eating. Farinaceous foods, however, prepared as soup, porridge, gruel, pultaceous puddings, etc., when eaten, as is customary, without proper insalivation, are liable to be improperly digested and to ferment, giving rise to the sensation described as a ‘sinking feeling’ and erroneously thought to be hunger.

It is an excellent rule that prescribes fasting when without hunger. When there is no appetite do not eat. It is an example of conventional stupidity that we eat because it is ‘meal time,’ even though there be not the slightest feeling of genuine hunger. Leaving out of consideration the necessitous poor and those who for their living engage themselves in hard physical toil, it is safe to say that hardly one person in a thousand has ever felt real hunger. Yet no one was ever the worse for waiting upon appetite. No one was ever starved by not eating because of having no appetite. Loss of appetite is a sign that the digestive organs require a rest. It is better to go without food for a time than to force oneself to eat against inclination. The forcing of oneself to eat to ‘keep up one’s strength,’ is perhaps the quickest way to bring down one’s strength by overworking the system and burdening it with material it does not need. Eat by appetite, not by time. Eat frequently when the appetite demands frequent satisfaction, and seldom when seldom hungry. These rules hold good at all times and for everyone. Loss of appetite during sickness should not be looked upon as anything serious in itself, but as a sign that the system does not require food. A sick man like a well man will feel hunger as soon as food is needed, and the practice of tempting the appetite with rich and costly foods is not only a waste of money but is injurious physiologically. Possibly there may be pathological conditions under which hunger cannot make itself felt, but it would seem contrary to Nature as far as the writer, a layman, understands the matter. At least, leaving abnormal conditions of health out of consideration, we can say this much affirmatively: if a man is hungry enough to relish dry bread, then, and then only, does he really require nourishment.

Hunger is always experienced when nutriment is needed, and will be felt a dozen times a day if the food eaten at each of a dozen meals has supplied only sufficient nutriment to produce the force expended between each meal. If the meal is large and supplies sufficient nutriment to produce the force expended in a whole day, then the one meal is all that is required. Never eat to be sociable, or conventional, or sensual; eat when hungry.

Professor Pavlov says: ‘Appetite is juice’; that is to say, the physiological condition existing when the body has run short of food-fuel, produces a psychological effect, the mind thinking of food, thereby causing through reaction a profuse secretion of saliva, and we say ‘the mouth waters.’ It is true the appetite is amenable to suggestion. Thus, though feeling hunger, the smell of, or even thought of, decayed food may completely take away appetite and all inclination to eat. This phenomenon is a provision of Nature to protect us from eating impure food. The appetite having thus been taken away will soon return again when the cause of its loss has been removed. Therefore the appetite should be an infallible guide when to eat.

There is one further point to be noted. Food should not be eaten when under the influence of strong emotion. It is true that under such conditions there probably would be no appetite, but when we are so accustomed to consulting the clock that there is danger of cozening ourselves into the belief that we have an appetite when we have not, and so force ourselves to eat when it may be unwise to do so. Strong emotions, as anger, fear, worry, grief, judging by analogy, doubtless inhibit digestive activity. W. B. Cannon, M.D., speaking of experiments on cats, says: ’The stomach movements are inhibited whenever the cat shows signs of anxiety, rage, or distress.’ To thoroughly enjoy one’s food, it is necessary to have hunger for it, and if we only eat when we feel hungry, there is little likelihood of ever suffering from dyspepsia.

In passing, it is appropriate to point out that as when food is better enjoyed it is better digested, therefore art, environment, mental disposition, indirectly affect the digestive processes. We should, therefore, remembering that simplicity, not complexity, is the essence of beauty, ornament our food and table, and be as cheerful, sociable, and even as merry as possible.