Topics

The principles of Mr. Fletcher's theories.

Appetite, true and false.

Taste, the guardian of the digestive tract.

Nature's Food Filter.

The Art of Mastication.

Inutility of Gladstone's rule.

In-hibitive effect of excess of attention.

Influence of the mental and emotional state.

Objections to the system considered.

Results.

Testimony of the rejuvenated.

ALTHOUGH Professor Chittenden has shown that restriction of diet through the use of the reason alone is productive of great good to the human organism, the author's belief is that the easiest, surest, and simplest method of reaping all the benefits of the new discoveries in dietetics is through the practice of Fletcherism. The average man cannot work out a physiologic ration for himself, nor is it wholly desirable that he should attempt to do so. Although there is not as yet sufficient proof to satisfy physiologists, from a strictly scientific point of view, it does seem that a healthy, normal appetite is practically the surest guide to a properly balanced diet. Perhaps the most valuable feature of Mr. Fletcher's theories is the fact that it restores even diseased appetites to a healthy and normal state. The experiments upon Mr. Fletcher and Dr. Van Someren, and the testimony of many persons who have adopted the new plan of diet, indicate that the practice of prolonged mastication automatically reduces the food demanded by the appetite to the quantities and proportions which Professor Chittenden has shown to be in harmony with the real needs of the body.

The first rule for the practice of Mr. Fletcher's theories is, therefore, to wait for an appetite before eating, and to make sure that it is a real and not a false one.

There is a vast difference between these two things. Normal appetite is manifested in a specific physical sensation, described literally by the old-fashioned phrase "a watering of the mouth." It asserts itself only when the body is in actual need of fuel, or material for growth or repairs. False appetite, on the other hand, is expressed in a general feeling of restlessness - often quite as much of the mind as of the body; or in a sense of actual discomfort, described variously as emptiness, faintness, dizziness, all-goneness, etc,1

None of these sensations is an indication of a real need of the body for food. The restless craving is due merely to habit - the fact that the body has been accustomed to receiving certain quantities of food at certain hours - and if food is not available, it soon passes away and does not reappear again until the next meal-time; while all pos1"Study Normal Appetite and heed its invitation. It prescribes wisely. Its mark of distinction, to differentiate it from False Appetite, is 'watering of the mouth' for some particular thing," - Fletcher: "The New Glutton or Epicure," p. 107.

False Appetite is a general discontent of the body, indefinite of description. It is often expressed by "allgone-ness," or stomach craving, and calls for something, anything! to smother the discomfort of present or recent indigestion. It is like the thirst which follows a debauch.

"Ignore false appetite, and wait for a return of normal appetite. It will come as soon as body repairs have been effected by natural agencies and more material is required. No one was ever injured by intelligently and calmly waiting for an appetite. No one ever starved to death for lack of itively disagreeable sensations arise from unhealthy conditions somewhere in the digestive tract. Persons who complain of a sense of emptiness in the stomach are suffering, not from lack of food, but from habitual overeating. Their stomachs have become distended to accommodate abnormal quantities; and, therefore, as soon as the food passes out into the intestines, the walls of the stomach collapse and give rise to the unpleasant sensations that are usually interpreted as a need for another meal appetite. Most human ills come from forcing appetite, anticipating appetite, abuse of appetite in some form.

"In its normal state, appetite is a perfect indicator of the bodily need of nutriment and moisture. Both as to quality and as to the chemical elements required at the moment" - Fletcher: "The A. B. - Z. of Our Own Nutrition" p. 6.

"Appetite craves the kind of nourishment the body needs, invites to eating, gives enjoyment during the whole time needed for the fluids of the mouth and the stomach to do their part of the digestive process ... If consulted and obeyed, Taste and Appetite prevent indigestible matter from entering the system to burden and clog the lower intestines, form deposits in bone, cartilage, and kidneys, inflame the tissues, and otherwise create conditions favorable to the propagation of the microbes of disease." - Fletcher: "New Glutton or Epicure," pp. 153-153.

The perfectly healthy person is indifferent to the thought of food except at such times as the organism sends in a sharp and unmistakable demand for fuel, for material for growth or repairs. As has been said, this demand should be expressed, not by the stomach, but by the mouth, and should take the form of a keen desire for some particular article of food.

As far as possible a call of this kind should always be heeded, because it means, according to Mr. Fletcher, that the organism is in actual need of some element contained in the food desired. When the appetite is not absolutely diseased, the wisest as well as the pleasantest course is to eat what one likes and as much as one likes.

Here someone is sure to protest that whenever instinct alone is followed in the matter of food, it always has led and always will lead to gluttony. In support of their argument, they instance the case of the horse when he gets into the oat-bin or the cow when she gets into the meal-barrel; or, turning to history, they point out that the dietary habits of man himself, in all ages and among all races, have been far from temperate.