Now, speaking about diet in health, is it good for healthy persons to abstain from food substances that are not easily digestible? There are a great many persons who think that if they avoid all kinds of hard foods, and live on the finest articles, milk, eggs, soups, etc., they are better off and do not get sick, but in my opinion that is not the right way to live. It is rather advisable to harden the system. If you live on only light diet for some time, and then on some occasion have to take something else, you are liable to get sick; the digestive tract is not accustomed to it. In normal conditions, it is best to have a liberal diet and not to select foods that are easily digestible. You should rather mix your diet; take some substances that are more difficult to digest, and accustom yourself to a variety of food. If a man has accustomed himself never to take salads and once in a while has to take some raw foods, he is likely to get sick and need some medicine. People in health should have a liberal diet, and should include some substances that are not so easily digested. Should people eat fast or slowly? Here again the golden rule is in the middle. The food should not be eaten too fast, nor yet too slowly. One reason for that is that if you eat too slowly and are used to it, and then some day have to hurry and take a meal a little more quickly, you will get sick. Again, if your appetite is not so good, and you are used to eating slowly, you will get tired of your food and stop in the middle of a meal. I have found that severe conditions develop sometimes from eating too slowly, especially in persons who are not so well. They are imbued with the notion of eating slowly, and counting so many times before swallowing; they grow tired of eating, and their appetites are not good, and instead of eating a good dishful they eat only a few mouthfuls; so they are not well nourished, and become nervous, etc. - all due to that habit of slow eating.

Fast eating, also, is not good. Some very disagreeable conditions develop from swallowing the food too quickly, not chewing it up and masticating it properly. It may go on for a while without apparent harm, but after a while some obnoxious conditions develop, perhaps some catarrhal condition or a functional disturbance of the digestive apparatus. So take time for your meals, but do not overdo it. Live sensibly and have a good meal, and have a little conversation with your meals, and have to wait for one dish and then another. Once in the country I asked a lady to go out for a ride with me. She said: "Before I go, I would like to have a glassful of milk." I said: "Certainly." But instead of taking a glassful of milk and drinking it, she sipped and sipped, and took a half hour to drink the milk. She suffered from headaches, and then she became my patient. She consulted me, and I knew right away what was wrong. I tried to convert her to another way of living, and succeeded, and she is much better off now. That was an instance of the evil of slow eating, and how I discovered the cause.

How many meals should a normal person have? Should we eat twice a day, three times a day, or five times a day? There are people who do all of these ways and enjoy perfect health. This question cannot be answered off-hand. I think the customs of the country in which one lives are the best guides to follow. Here in America, people eat three times a day, as a general rule - a good breakfast, a good supper - morning and night. At noon time, they are away from home, and have only a light luncheon. Two good sized meals and one small one between. The reason for that is that they are not at their homes, are far away, and have to be satisfied with a little something at the business hour - so that is the best for them. They have their heavy meals at home, prepared to suit them, and in the middle of the day they take something to meet the requirements. People in the country, or who are at home and do not have to leave the house for their meals, usually have a smaller meal in the morning, take a good luncheon or dinner in the middle of the day, and have another small meal in the evening. Usually the morning meal is the smallest, the one in the middle of the day is the largest, and the second in size is the supper - so for them, that is all right. In Germany, they are used to taking a very small breakfast - only coffee and a roll. They eat no eggs then, but they have another breakfast at ten o'clock or half-past ten. Prof. Virchow used to lecture at 11 o'clock, and he came into his lecture room about half after ten and had a sandwich and a glass of beer. That was his regular custom. That is their way. They take something in the morning, and then something additional a little later; then have luncheon, and again something in the afternoon at half-past three - coffee, with a little bread. They have more time there and are more sociable. They go to the cafes and restaurants, and spend some time there, and have a little chat, and then go on their way. Whether you like it or not, that is an easy way. Then they take their supper, and go out again, and later in the evening they go to a beer garden, and take a bite again. So they eat perhaps six times a day.

That is not obligatory, but it is customary, and it is all right. It has a tendency to fatten them up. On this account you perhaps find more fat people in Bavaria, and Germany, than here. That used to be the way when I lived there, and it is an easy way of living. Frequent eating and doing less work tends to corpulency, and that is what we find. In this country corpulence is not a frequent disease. Not one of you here has that characteristic. The different mode of living and eating is the reason for it. In Europe, you might find half a dozen or more fat persons among such a number.

The best way is not to change the custom of the country, but to do what others do. The majority rules. Don't try to do better than the others. Go along with them and you will be all right. That is the best rule.