How to Eat | Page 9

however,
this poison does not as often result in fever as it does in a horrible
mental depression and a complete inability to perform any sort of work.
And so there seems no question but that this terrible malady we call
"nerves," or a nervous breakdown in any of its many forms, is in a
majority of cases the result of the wrong eating habits of the individual.
The chewing of all food to a cream will go far toward curing the
trouble, but in most cases this alone will not effect a cure. It would not
have done so in my own case, although I did see much improvement as

a result of that practice alone.
And here I want to say this: There are many who say they cannot eat
acid fruits because of the distress they cause. Now if such people would
always chew an apple, a pear, or other fruit to a cream, no distress
would result from eating fresh fruit. But such people must follow in
detail the diet I shall give farther on.
Now, facts cannot be stated too strongly. It is certain acid fruits will
cause distress if you do not chew them to a cream. I would swell up
like a toad if I ate only one apple hurriedly. I don't dare think what
might happen to me if I ate three or four in that way. I might possibly
find myself transformed into a human balloon and float away into
space. But I don't eat apples that way--not now. Some who read these
pages may think it very strange, yet it is quite true that there really are
persons suffering with "nerves" who have not gumption enough to
follow this simple rule of chewing all food to a cream. I despair of ever
helping those people. They still continue to dispose of a big meal in
fifteen minutes, and then insist they have chewed all their food
carefully. I have had that thing happen right before my own eyes. Then
think of their complaining that they cannot eat apples because they
cause so much gas in the stomach!
One reason why a large number of such people are troubled with gas,
even though they do chew their food to a cream, is because they
immediately follow a meal with one or two cups of tea or coffee. Now
please remember this: An individual afflicted with "nerves" has no
business drinking either tea or coffee. He should let them both alone.
Plain hot water is the very best drink in the world for a nervous person.
If you want a drink after your meal drink a cup of plain hot water. And
you should also drink a cup of hot water half an hour before breakfast.
If you do not care for breakfast, and feel you do not need this meal,
drink the hot water anyway. The victim of "nerves" should never drink
during the meal but after it, if he must drink anything at all. He should
also drink a pint or more of cold water between meals every day.
Now, another thing with regard to chewing all solid food to a cream. It
has been proved over and over again in my own case and in that of

many others, that in doing this the brain and muscles are both made
stronger and keener for work, that those who chew their food in this
way have much greater endurance, both mental and physical, than those
who do not.
Today if I should relax my vigilance in respect to chewing my food I
should soon go down again. But with this aid, which I now so easily
employ, combined with exactly the right things to eat, I find I need
have no fear. It has been ten years since my last breakdown and in that
interval I have done the very best work and by far the hardest brain
work of a lifetime. I do not believe people break down from overwork.
You may think that a perfectly absurd statement. But I have good
grounds upon which to base my belief. If nervous people would eat
sparingly and chew their food to a cream, eating the foods I shall
mention later on, I am confident they would rarely, if ever, break down.
It is certain that in the last ten years, with the greatest mental strain on
me, I should have gone down again, and perhaps more than once, if I
had not found what caused "nerves" and how to prevent it. In the
meantime I have written ten or more books, and every writer, at least,
knows what a nerve-racking profession writing is. In addition to all this
mental labor I have gone right ahead with my medical practice. Surely
there is