Unquestionably, the habit of drinking at meals should be most severely condemned. If the food is being properly masticated there is never desire for liquid of any kind. It is only when food is hurriedly bolted that such a desire is manifested. A most pernicious and quite frequently practised habit, is that of taking a morsel of food, chewing it two or three times, then taking a swallow of coffee or tea to "wash it down." No human being can remain healthy any length of time if such a habit is regularly indulged. The food is not only improperly masticated, but it enters the stomach accompanied and diluted by this pernicious liquid, and digestion under these conditions is naturally carried on in a very unsatisfactory manner. How such persons are able to maintain even an occasional semblance of health is beyond the comprehension of the writer.

It is all right to drink to satisfy an actual craving - to quench thirst - but never under any circumstances can the habit of drinking to "Wash down" improperly masticated food be excused. It outrages every natural instinct, every function of the alimentary canal. If you are abusing your stomach in this manner it should be the first evil to eradicate in your efforts towards eating for strength.

One may drink during a meal if an actual thirst exists, though many hygienic authorities even condemn this, as the liquid naturally dilutes the gastric juice and may lessen its digestive power. This is more especially true if the drink is cold. Under these circumstances the temperature of the contents of the stomach is greatly lowered, and the process of digestion and absorption ceases absolutely until the temperature again becomes normal. Extremely hot drinks are also baneful in their effects. They relax and weaken muscular walls of the stomach and also influence adpersely the flow of the gastric juice. Not only this important digestive fluid lessened in strength, but the saliva does not flow so freely, even during the short period that the food is being masticated, when hot drinks are used frequently.

If your appetite is in a condition to thoroughly enjoy a meal, if taste has prepared you for the pleasures connected with satisfying a strong normal desire for food, there will be no necessity for liquids during this meal if you masticate every morsel until it has actually become a liquid. Under these conditions it is usually some time after a meal before any desire for liquid becomes evident, and if not engaged in some occupation requiring considerable muscular activity, and if the temperature is not so high as to require considerable evaporation to maintain the body at a proper degree of coolness, there may be no desire for water even then.