Page:Food and cookery for the sick and convalescent.djvu/352

248 proves. Preparations containing meat extracts always should be avoided, as well as aerated water, and, above all, cold milk, which would prove disastrous.

The secret of good digestion lies largely in the proper cooking and mastication of foods which have been wisely selected. Regular hours for meals should also be observed if one wishes to avoid stomach troubles.

The causes of stomach trouble, commonly called indigestion, are so many as to be almost without number. Over-feeding, under-feeding, improper feeding. late suppers, poor ventilation, overwork, want of exercise, worry, nervous anxiety, depression of spirits, all tend to retard the work of the digestive system. It seems to be the office of the physician to locate the cause and try as far as possible to alleviate the suffering by making changes in diet and administering medicine.

Indigestion is usually located in the stomach, causing faintness, fullness, flatulency, hyper-acidity, or dilation. Sick headaches too are frequently caused by indigestion. Patients afflicted with chronic gastric troubles are more apt to under-eat than over-eat. When one is suffering from malnutrition as well as stomach trouble, the system is so reduced that the body as a whole needs to be considered as well as the stomach. In dealing with such patients their personal idiosyncrasies must be considered. Perhaps there is no disease in which they play a more important part.

Rest after meals is always to be recommended, which is best accomplished by lying down for fifteen minutes or even longer.

One of the commonest forms in which indigestion appears is hyper-acidity of the stomach, which is due to an excessive amount of gastric juice. This condition