Page:In defense of Harriet Shelley, and other essays.djvu/373

 AT THE APPETITE CURE

&quot;Those passengers learned no lesson, then?&quot; &quot;Not a sign of it. They went to their regular meals in the English ship, and pretty soon they were nibbling again nibbling, appetiteless, disgusted with the food, moody, miserable, half hungry, their out raged stomachs cursing and swearing and whining and supplicating all day long. And in vain, for they \vere the stomachs of fools.&quot;

&quot;Then, as I understand it, your scheme is &quot; Quite simple. Don t eat till you are hungry. If the food fails to taste good, fails to satisfy you, rejoice you, comfort you, don t eat again until you are very hungry. Then it will rejoice you and do you good, too.&quot;

&quot;And I observe no regularity, as to hours?&quot; &quot;When you are conquering a bad appetite no. After it is conquered, regularity is no harm, so long as the appetite remains good. As soon as the appe tite wavers, apply the corrective again which is starvation, long or short according to the needs of the case.&quot;

&quot;The best diet, I suppose I mean the whole- somest &quot;

&quot;All diets are wholesome. Some are wholesomer than others, but all the ordinary diets are wholesome enough for the people who use them. Whether the food be fine or coarse, it will taste good and it will nourish if a watch be kept upon the appetite and a little starvation introduced every time it weakens. Nansen was used to fine fare, but when his meals were restricted to bear-meat months at a time he suffered no damage and no discomfort, because his

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