HOW TO KEEP FIT

Otaki Mail, 26 July 1922, Page 3

HOW TO KEEP FIT

! TOO MUCH EATHTG. i 1 MEDICAL MAN’S VIEWS. i I Dr. Cecil of Harley I Street, maintains that it is as impossible to lay down, any fixed rules to regulate’ diet as it is to pretohd to prodic--1 tale the exact quantum of sleep of the : proper weights of individuals at various I stages of their existence. As iu the | case of a motor cur, the lower Ue con- | sumption of fuel per mile —other things ) being equal—the more perfect the enj giiio; so is the rule true, speaking I generally, of the human body’s needs j for food and sleep, j Writing from experience culled as : well from his own personal habits as from those of his patients, ho suggests 1 obedience to the following general rules: —(1) Kiss from a meal feeling that you could eat a little more; (2) never oat merely front a sense of duty, I or to please someone else; (3) never j eat unless you have a good appetite; ! I (-1) do not eat if feelkig ill; wait furl I the return of a healthy appetite. Na-' i turc will remind you when you require I | more food; (3) vary the amount of ! | food you eat each day according to j wliat you have earned.” A hard day’s,

work will entitle you to more food than a day of comparative idleness; (ti) If you feel or know that you have over eaten at any one meal, either miss the next altogether or lessen the amount of food you take at subsequent meals; (7) never let a day pass without eating some natural food in the form of fresh fruit, green vegetables, nuts, or eggs: (8) never drink milk, it is an unnatural food save for the young; (9) never eat be I ween meals; (Hi) do not “bolt” your food. Eat slowly and masticate thoroughly all you eat. RULES FOR HEALTH. The main considerations which should determine and regulate the amount of food needed to keep a persi n iu health include, iu Dr. Johnson’s opinion, the following:—The amount of physical and mental energy that a person expends; the climate in which lie lives; the quality and kind of food he affect*; his moral fibre—(he greedy eat for the sake of eating as others, and unfortunately many, drink for the sake ol drinking; his mental attitude to life — the person who is worried or unhappy needs less food, for his distress dimin-

ishes his capacity for digestion and assimilation; his age —tho growing boy of 1-1 needs more than tin* man of 3it, for in addition to renewing waste tissues, he has to build up new bone and muscle; his surroundings—ordinarily one eats, digests, and assimilates more food, and more easily, amid pleasant company and appealing environments than iu solitude or amid sordid surroundings; cooking—tlic more perfect the cooking, provided it is plain, thu more food one can exit with impunity; his idiosyncrasy—one man’s meat is another man's poison. “ Never eat breakfast,” lie says. ‘‘There is absolutely no necessity for it. We are taking that meal only as a habit. The ‘hearty English breakfast ’ is an abomination. French people substitute lev it coffee and a roll, or dispense with the meal altogether, and they certainly do not suffer from the abstention. The great trouble is that we eat far tuo much a.nd too often. Nothing but harm results from our immoderations. Ordinarily, in cold weather two meals a day arc sufficient for anybody. but in hot weather one meal alone is enough. Don’t cat between meals. Snacks tire injurious, and chocolate eaters have no justification foi their habit. The less you eat (up tc a certain minimum) the healthier yoi are; the more active is your brain. DEMPSEY’S CHOICE. •‘Did you not find any moral in ai incident that occurred in London a few

Ha vs ago: Dempsey, the boxer, who, I suppose, is one of the fittest men in the j world, gave a luncheon. There was an , abundance of rich food and of wine. I But what did he do? Ho ate an apple t and drank a glass of water. He did that because be realises how- detrimental are the effects of over-eating. Had he eaten a great meal he would have been , in the position of people, w'ho after a heavy Christmas dinner, have a feeling of lethargy. It is the commonest ex- | j perience in the world to find people iu- | toxica ted by food. Very many more people are killed every year through over-eating than through over-drinking. ' and it would be beneficial if opponents of alcoholic excess were to remember j this. Fasting is not a fad, but an o.x- ' tremely useful practice. I have fasted for eight or nine years, drinking only i water, and carried! on daily work without any difficulty. “It is a mistake to suppose that a ; fast over a period that is not too long- j thy is responsible for physical weak-1 ness. A man who is fasting need not be weak if he takes exercise. He becomes stronger and less liable to conI tract disease.” 1 “We are slaves to the exploded doctrine of regular meals. I do not believe that nature ever intended us to have fixed hours for food and drink. You should not oat by the clock at all. bat us nature dictates —there is no good in eating if you are not hungry. We should be more thoughtful in the • choice of food that we eat.’’