Diet Reform Herbert M. Shelton

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DR. SHELTON S HYGIENIC REVIEW

EATING REFORM

 

The man who has been accustomed to eating stimulating foods and whose nervous

system has become accustomed to this form of stimulation until there is a

marked longing for stimulation, and who, then undertakes to reform his mode

of eating and live upon a natural, un-stimulating diet, will find this most

difficult at first. His craving and longing for the customary stimulation

will be very strong and hard to resist. Herein lies the danger.

Unless he exercises great caution and the most rigid self-control and

self-denial, he will establish a habit of eating enormous quantities of his

new foods, in his effort to meet the " demand " of his enervated nervous system

for stimulation. Overeating on the new diet will he as difficult to overcome,

once the habit has become established as was the prior habit of overeating on

the' stimulating foods.

We tell these people, when they attempt to reform their eating habits, to eat

only what food their bodies require. But we might only well tell them not to

get wet while they are standing in the rain. We never supply them with a

knowledge of how much food their bodies require.

Set a man down to a table loaded with good things to eat and let him have an

appetite trained by years of overeating to be satisfied only after large

quantities of food have been consumed, give him no valid guide to the amount

of food he should eat, and, where will he stop? Certainly not 'until he has

eaten two or three times as much food as he needs. Every mouthful of food he

eats convinces him that his body requires a " little more. " Or, he may think

that, this time, at least, he may indulge in a full allowance.

His tendency is always to try this " experiment " in the wrong direction. He is

more likely to attempt 'to see how much he can eat without killing himself

immediately than he is to try to see if he can he well nourished and

satisfied on less food.

He certainly cannot depend upon his appetite, neither in the selection of his

food nor in determining the amount of food to eat. For this voracious

creature of habit and miseducation is both a blind and a false guide. It will

lead him back to the abandoned flesh-pots and urge him, always, to eat more

and more. His appetite must be redirected and reeducated and this will call

for knowledge, determination, will power and persistence.

If he depends upon his feelings and cravings he will find, like the man who

attempts to abandon a long-established tobacco habit and depends upon his

feelings to guide him, that his system demands large quantities of food, even

the unwholesome foods he is trying to abandon.

The Feelings of the tobacco addict easily convince him that his system

demands tobacco. He finds that he cannot do without this poison.

The immediate feelings following a change of diet determine nothing. They do

reveal whether the former diet was healthful or unhealthful. No disagreeable

" reactions " follow a change from one healthful diet to another.

The true method of determining whether or not the body needs tobacco is to

abstain from its rise until the body has become accustomed to do without it,

until it has had ample time to recover its normal tone and repair the injury

done by tobacco and eradicate its effects. Having abstained this long,

compare the body in its present state with its state while using tobacco.

This will decide the real influence of tobacco upon the body.

In the same way, when changing from the conventional eating practices to

hygienic eating practices, the immediate feelings determine nothing. Only the

final result of a long-continued experiment will reveal the real effects of

the two modes of eating.

Whether you abandon a stimulating diet for a non-stimulating one or abandon

over eating for moderation in eating, you will at first, in almost every

case, feel a want of " sufficient " food. There is likely to be faintness and a

feeling of weakness. There may be a loss of flesh although, there is a

frequent gain. There are often discomforts and unpleasant sensations in the

stomach, headache and other symptoms that may alarm the reformer and his

friends. All of these symptoms may occur while you are still taking much more

than enough food to meet all the demands of your body.

But if you will continue with your efforts until the body has had time to

re-adjust itself and repair the damages of the prior unwholesome food or

excessive quantities of food you will not be long in realizing the actual and

lasting benefits of your change of eating.

I am convinced from years of experience that the easiest way to make the

transition from the old and unwholesome mode of eating to the new and

hygienic mode of eating is to first undergo a fast. Cleansing of the system,

nervous readjustment, repair of damages and fading away of cultivated and

abnormal longings and cravings are much more rapid in the fast than while

eating.

It is not easy for the habitual user of salt, pepper and other condiments to

learn to relish unseasoned foods if he stops using condiments and goes on

eating. But after a fast he finds keen relish in uncontaminated foods and

does not miss the condiments. He can overcome his craving for stimulating

foods, coffee, tea, etc., quicker by fasting just as by fasting he can more

easily and quickly get away from his cravings for tobacco, alcohol, opium,

etc. Fasting not only speeds up the systemic readjustments, it makes them

easier and more bearable. If the fast lasts long enough, even the old desire

for large quantities of food comes to a natural end.

No reader should get the idea from this that he should put off reforming his

eating habits until some time in the future when he can find the time to

undergo a fast. There is no time like the present to change from unwholesome

to wholesome habits and anyone can do it that is determined. It is as

difficult as pictured above in only the worst cases and will become more

difficult the longer the old habits are persisted in.

Young people can adjust themselves to a of change of habits much more readily

and in less time than old people, not only because their bodies are more

pliable but, also, because they have not, as a rule, become so thoroughly en

slaved to the habits that they need to break. Break your bad habits early and

cultivate good ones that will sustain you in health and strength throughout a

long, happy and useful life.

In the great main the difficulties that one encounters in breaking bad habits

are determined by the condition of the body. The less enervated and enslaved

the body, the easier the transition to good habits. For this reason, also,

the sooner you abandon your imprudent eating habits and Al begin to cultivate

habits that are in harmony with your highest and best physiological

requirements, the easier will be the switch-over.