By indigestion is meant a more or less acute irritation of the digestive tract. It may be caused by fatigue, worry, rapid eating, wrong foods, too much food, badly prepared foods, too little exercise, overwork, eating when weary, or a run-down condition. Its treatment consists in eliminating the cause and relieving the difficulty.

Rest of body, mind, and digestive tract are often necessary. A moderate amount of outdoor exercise, combined with changes in diet, improvement in sleeping hours, and proper regulation of all habits is important in helping to overcome indigestion.

If indigestion is chronic, the meals should be limited to three simple, easily digested meals daily (see light diet, page 458), and nothing eaten between meals. Any habit of constipation must be corrected by right regulation of diet. Fatty and over-sweet foods must be avoided and one should determine whether any special foods are causes of the difficulty, and avoid them. If indigestion is acute, to fast with complete rest for a day or two is the best procedure. If this seems a severe program, small amounts of fruit juice or clear meat broth may be used several times a day during this time. When food is resumed, a limited fluid diet should be followed for two or three days (see fluid diet, page 455) and gradually changed into a light diet. Underfeeding should be the rule until the digestive organs have resumed their balance.