Eating without appetite is actually the only cause for the depraved physical condition described above. There can be no other cause. Food cannot lie in the stomach undigested if the stomach is first prepared for it by appetite and the enjoyment that it gives to the process of eating.

Let me emphasize with all possible clearness that in eating for the acquirement of the highest degree of vigorous health, the necessity for obeying the dictates of the appetite must be recognized to the fullest extent.

The appetite is absolutely the only guide as to quantity and character of food needed to nourish the body at different times, and if the delicate sensibility of this guide has been dulled and deadened by failure to acknowledge and follow its dictates, by crowding the stomach with food against the natural inclination just because it is meal time, the only indication that sufficient food has been eaten will be that the stomach can hold no more, and there will be no natural craving to indicate the particular character of food especially required to nourish the body at that time.

The unperverted appetite always craves most keenly that particular food element that is most needed by the system to nourish the body. Therefore, if the appetite is in a normal condition, the food that tastes the best will be that which is richest in the nourishment mostly needed.

"Taste, in its normal condition, when allowed to direct or advise, craves the kind of nourishment the body needs, invites to eating, gives enjoyment during the whole time needed for the fluids of the mouth to do their part of the assimilating process, ceases when the food is ready for the stomach, and thereafter fails to recognize the indigestible sediment which remains in the mouth after nutriment has been extracted; and, in these services, if consulted and obeyed, prevents indigestible matter from entering the system to burden and clog the lower intestines.

"Appetite and taste are the sense functions that are most important to health, and hence, are the most important to study and understand. They are the guide in nutrition and the guard of the body.

"Taste is also dependent on supply of the mouth juices, usually called saliva, and these differ materially in individuals, necessitating self-study, self-understanding and self-care to insure prevention of disease. Whatever does not taste, such as glass or stone, is not nutritious. The juices of the mouth have the power to transform anything that excites taste into a substance suitable for the body. If we swallow only the food which excites the sense of taste, and swallow it only after the taste has been extracted from it, removing from the mouth the tasteless residue, complete and easy digestion will be assured and perfect health maintained." - Horace Fletcher.

Of course the needs of the body vary greatly at different periods. At one time one might especially crave an article of food that would not be at all appetizing on another occasion. This accounts, in a measure, for one becoming tired of any special article of food when eaten too frequently. The body is surfeited with the elements of nourishment which it contains, and hence all desire for it disappears. And, again, it will be noticed that those foods, like whole wheat bread, which contains all the elements needed to feed the body in almost perfect proportions, can be eaten with relish at nearly all times when an appetite for anything exists But the reader may ask, "How am I to know if my appetite is normal or abnormal?" About the only condition that can be depended on absolutely to indicate as to whether or not one is living according to the dictates of the normal appetite, is the enjoyment of that high degree of health which makes every moment in life seem full of joy from the very exuberance of one's own feelings.

This condition, one and all will easily admit, is rarely met with today, and it indicates quite clearly the usual abnormal state of civilized human beings.

The question will now naturally arise if the Begin this body-cleansing, appetite-creating process by missing one meal (breakfast) per day.

After having followed this for a while, miss two meals per day, breakfast and the noon meal, or, else, breakfast and the evening meal. This method will enable you to feel your way, step by step. After having gone without breakfast for several days, and the benefits of this have become plainly evident, you will be better prepared for the abstinence required in subsisting on only one meal per day.

The benefits that result from fasting are unquestionably greatly lessened if the confidence in its efficiency is not sufficiently strong, and this graduated process of teaching its advantages can be commended to those who are open to conviction, but who do not feel equal to a prolonged fast.