Physiology of Digestion
85
reason; while the free use of hot drinks is debilitating.—
The Ministry
of Healing, 305, 1905
[
Vitality Drawn upon in Warming Much Cold Food in Stomach—
124
]
166. Many make a mistake in drinking cold water with their meals.
Food should not be washed down. Taken with meals, water diminishes
the flow of saliva; and the colder the water, the greater the injury
to the stomach. Ice water or ice lemonade, taken with meals, will
arrest digestion until the system has imparted sufficient warmth to the
stomach to enable it to take up its work again. Masticate slowly, and
allow the saliva to mingle with the food.
The more liquid there is taken into the stomach with the meals, the
more difficult it is for the food to digest; for the liquid must first be
absorbed.—[
Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 51
]
Counsels
on Health, 119, 120, 1890
[
Drinking Water with Meals—731
]
[107]
A Caution to Busy People
167. I am instructed to say to the workers in our sanitariums and to
the teachers and students in our schools that there is need of guarding
ourselves upon the point of appetite. There is danger of becoming lax
in this respect, and of letting our individual cares and responsibilities
so absorb our time that we shall not take time to eat as we should. My
message to you is, Take time to eat, and do not crowd into the stomach
a great variety of foods at one meal. To eat hurriedly of several kinds
of food at a meal is a serious mistake.—
Letter 274, 1908
.
Eat Slowly, Masticate Thoroughly
168. In order to secure healthy digestion, food should be eaten
slowly. Those who wish to avoid dyspepsia, and those who realize their
obligation to keep all their powers in a condition which will enable
them to render the best service to God, will do well to remember
this. If your time to eat is limited, do not bolt your food, but eat
less, and masticate slowly. The benefit derived from food does not
depend so much on the quantity eaten as on its thorough digestion; nor
the gratification of taste so much on the amount of food swallowed
as on the length of time it remains in the mouth. Those who are