But, as a general rule, meals should be five hours
apart, and eating between meals avoided. There is nothing more unsafe,
and wearing to the constitution, than a habit of eating at any time
merely to gratify the palate. When a tempting article is presented,
every person should exercise sufficient self-denial to wait till the
proper time for eating arrives. Children, as well as grown persons,
are often injured by eating between their regular meals, thus weakening
the stomach by not affording it any time for rest.
In deciding as to _quantity_ of food, there is one great difficulty
to be met by a large portion of the community. The exercise of every
part of the body is necessary to its health and perfection. The bones,
the muscles, the nerves, the organs of digestion and respiration, and
the skin, all demand exercise, in order properly to perform their
functions. When the muscles of the body are called into action, all
the blood-vessels entwined among them are frequently compressed. As
the veins have valves so contrived that the blood can not run back,
this compression hastens it forward toward the heart; which is
immediately put in quicker motion, to send it into the lungs; and they,
also, are thus stimulated to more rapid action, which is the cause of
that panting which active exercise always occasions.
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