WHEN NOT TO SMOKE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 273, 8 April 1911, Page 10

WHEN NOT TO SMOKE.

"Smoking immediately after a meal which is usually condemned and consisttently practised, is not necessarily injurious. Indeed, in some cases it may prove beneficial. The desire for tobacco feit by many after a hearty meal is no doubt due to its stimulating influence on gastric secretion, and the comfort that follows indulgence is, in part at all events, attributable to the extra fillip given to the digestion." Such, at any rate, is the view of a medical correspondent who writes to the 'Lancet' on the subject. And because in many cases tobacco gives this extra fillip to digestion, smoking after meals is preferable to taking a liqueur, the latter being a direct irritant. There are many cases, however, in Which smoking should be avoided immediately after meals, and in some cases discontinued altogether. People who after a hearty meal, suffer from that distressing feeling known as distension should postpone indulgence in tobacco until some time after the meal, when the digestion is well advanced, and if they suffer from excessive acidity of the stomach should discontinue smoking altogether. Smoking just before meals is to be deprecated, while smoking just before going to bed is often followed by insomnia, because the stomach gives rise to a sensation of hunger. This distressing consequence may be averted by taking either some light food or a little bicarbonate of soda before retiring to rest.