THE advocates of what is known as "Fletcherism"
have for a motto "Forty chews to a mouthful,"
and they claim that a really thorough mastication
of food will regulate all digestive disturbances and will
restore to one a normal appetite. Horace Fletcher was
the first to advocate the particular method in question,
though Gladstone before him preached that every morsel
of food should have thirty 'two chews before it was
swallowed. Mr. Fletcher was a great traveler and un*
derwent many adventures in his efforts to make a fortune.
When he finally found himself with wealth and leisure
to indulge his cultivated tastes, he was unable to enjoy
anything because his health was gone, and he was
obese and scant of breath. From several sources he
received the inspiration which led to his method of
cure. His principles are based on three gernvthoughts
— the value of abstinence from food until a true appe-
tite has been earned, thorough mastication and the ban"
ishment of anger and worry.
Q Mr. Fletcher pushed the importance of mastication to
its limits, and taught even those who thought that they
knew its importance, something new in connection
with the mechanism of the tongue as applied to chew
ing food, and he also emphasized as well the necessity
for the thorough mixing of saliva with all food as the
first step in the process of healthy digestion. Not only
should solids be so thoroughly chewed that there will
15
"The strength of the nation is in the
hands of tts cooks."
be no forced swallowing, or any strained motion of the
muscles of the back of the tongue or throat in swal'
lowing, but all liquids having taste, and therefore hav-
ing in them something to be digested, should be treated
to a preparatory process in the mouth before being
swallowed. That means that every liquid, except pure
water, should be sipped and tasted in the mouth long
enough to give it a chance to be well mixed with the
saliva.
(J By following out these principles the appetite will
soon become a true index to the needs of the body for
food, and it will demand nothing more after the craving
for food is satisfied. In addition, a normal appetite,
when once it is attained, will demand only what the
system requires, and there will be a feeling of repulsion
towards what is undesirable. The system attaches the
utmost importance to the mechanical action implied in
the forty chews necessary for the thorough chemical
preparation of the food — liquid or solid — in order to
make it fit for digestion, which is, after all, the most vital
process of the physical system, for on it depend health
of body and of mind alike.
17
It is hard to provide so simple and clean a
diet as will not offend the imagination. * * * It
may be vain to ask why the imagination will not
be reconciled to flesh and fat. 1 am satisfied that
it is not * * and he will be regarded as a
benefactor of his race who shall teach man to con-
fine himself to a more innocent and wholesome
diet
— Thcreau.
BAKED DISHES
There is nothing so hygienic
as love
PREPARING NUTS
Meat substitutes
1907Page 2
Presented as published in 1907. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
THE advocates of what is known as "Fletcherism" have for a motto "Forty chews to a mouthful," and they claim that a really thorough mastication of food will regulate all digestive disturbances and will restore to one a normal appetite. Horace Fletcher was the first to advocate the particular method in question, though Gladstone before him preached that every morsel of food should have thirty 'two chews before it was swallowed. Mr. Fletcher was a great traveler and un* derwent many adventures in his efforts to make a fortune. When he finally found himself with wealth and leisure to indulge his cultivated tastes, he was unable to enjoy anything because his health was gone, and he was obese and scant of breath. From several sources he received the inspiration which led to his method of cure. His principles are based on three germinal thoughts — the value of abstinence from food until a true appetite has been earned, thorough mastication and the banishment of anger and worry.
Q Mr. Fletcher pushed the importance of mastication to its limits, and taught even those who thought that they knew its importance, something new in connection with the mechanism of the tongue as applied to chew ing food, and he also emphasized as well the necessity for the thorough mixing of saliva with all food as the first step in the process of healthy digestion. Not only should solids be so thoroughly chewed that there will
"The strength of the nation is in the hands of tts cooks."
be no forced swallowing, or any strained motion of the muscles of the back of the tongue or throat in swallowing, but all liquids having taste, and therefore having in them something to be digested, should be treated to a preparatory process in the mouth before being swallowed. That means that every liquid, except pure water, should be sipped and tasted in the mouth long enough to give it a chance to be well mixed with the saliva.
(J By following out these principles the appetite will soon become a true index to the needs of the body for food, and it will demand nothing more after the craving for food is satisfied. In addition, a normal appetite, when once it is attained, will demand only what the system requires, and there will be a feeling of repulsion towards what is undesirable. The system attaches the utmost importance to the mechanical action implied in the forty chews necessary for the thorough chemical preparation of the food — liquid or solid — in order to make it fit for digestion, which is, after all, the most vital process of the physical system, for on it depend health of body and of mind alike.
It is hard to provide so simple and clean a diet as will not offend the imagination. * * * It may be vain to ask why the imagination will not be reconciled to flesh and fat. 1 am satisfied that it is not * * and he will be regarded as a benefactor of his race who shall teach man to confine himself to a more innocent and wholesome diet
— Thcreau.
BAKED DISHES
There is nothing so hygienic as love
PREPARING NUTS