Go to your old doctor and talk to him about what worries you. Most
doctors will be pleased to chat with you. The trouble is that you
have not been instructed in the fact that what you want from a man
of knowledge and kind and appreciative heart, is a good talk, not
medicines. Go and have a plain talk with your father first; if he is
too busy to give you the time then seek a friend in the physician――the
right kind.
Boys, if you are healthy boys, no matter if you haven’t big muscles and
strength, all you need for a tonic is fresh air, plenty of sleep and
food, and a clear understanding of your body. Not one single portion of
it or its uses should be kept from your knowledge, and it shall not in
these chats.
Boys often ask me: “Doctor Howard, what shall I eat to make me big and
strong? Is underdone meat good? Shall I chew, so many times, all my
food?” and many other questions along the same lines.
Eat what you like. In this matter study the healthy animals――for in
our bodily living we are simply animals. Let all food fads alone. The
only rule to follow is that of common sense. You should be certain
that the food is fresh, that you eat at regular intervals and only eat
that which you relish. Man, as an animal, needs variety. Sometimes a
boy will crave one kind of food, at another time a totally different
sort. If he is not suffering from some disease, nature tells him what
chemical constituents his body needs and then gives him a craving for
the foods containing these materials.
I know of some fathers who wrongly blame a boy because he will not eat
fat with his meat. The father likes fat and so unthinkingly, believes
that the son should not waste it, but relish it. The full grown and
the elderly man needs fat to give him heat; the boy has hot blood
coursing in him and besides, exercises; his system does not need fat;
so his appetite rebels. If he relishes fatty substances, it shows that
his system needs it.
And so on through all foods――eat what you relish if it is fresh. Of
course there are a few general principles to be followed. Chewing, for
instance. Every animal chews his food according to the nature of its
food. Man has teeth to handle all sorts――flesh and vegetable. Watch a
good-sized dog eat――not the lap dog brought up on candy and cookies;
such is not a regular dog; just an unfortunate, wheezy, overfat,
ill-smelling substitute for a little baby――something to fondle. The
boy’s dog will bite, grind and then chew his bone or meat. He does not
count the number of times his jaws work, just gets the food ground up
into small pieces so that the digestive fluids in the stomach can get
it ready for further digestion in the intestines. For in reality it
is these latter organs which have more to do with digestion than the
stomach.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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