Light Hearts Make Good

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23281, 25 February 1939, Page 14 (Supplement)

Light Hearts Make Good

WHAT are the best surroundings for meal-times? We want an environment where our digestion is stimulated and oUi' senses soothed. The art of eating as apart from merely swallowing food varies in different countries, but talk at the table is always welcomed, whatever the language. Talk, if it is pleasant or stimulating; is a piquant sauce, whereas a dull, prosy monologue is like a heavy ing of white sauce, which hides all beneath with its tasteless surface. Amusing Talk Just as soup stimulates the digestive juices, so an amusing story gets the party going and creates an easy atmosphere. Light, amusing talk will help on the real business of enjoying a good dinner and of digesting it easily. Arguments have quite a different effect, especially when the subject is

political or religious. The blood whioh is necessary to the stomach for its process of assimilating food is diverted to the brain, and sd a natural physiological process is upset. Family Discussions This is especially true of family discissions &t the table. So many people, especially women, air all their grievances at meals; nothing will teach them the folly of such a cours6. One would think that they rather enjoyed spoiling a good dinner by poisoning it with bitterness. This is really what happens; the iiver becomes upset and the bile thrown out results in a bad headache or a bilious attack next day. With others, quarrelling at the table may just paralyse the stomach muscles through strong nervous strain.

As well as oUr own physical and mental reaction to a miserable meal, there is also the effect on our children

or friends. If quarrelling is allowed, the young members of the family soon indulge in bitter remarks or teasing. When you are young and healthy, it takes a lot to make you ill, but the cumulative effect is one of disgust for family meals and a wrong idea of domestic life. The parents can soon learn self-restraint or patience between themselves and the children. A niild correction of a child's manners is allowable because it makes more impression when delivered on the spot. Any serious debatable point between parents should be kept until the evening, when the children are in bed, the day's work is done, tempers have cooled down, and the annoyances of the day have 'faded. Flavour of Happiness It is not always at the rich man's board that contentment prevails. A poor family with meagre fare have more amusement, because unconsciously they realise how happiness deliriously flavours the plainest food. Not the debatable subjects, nor tlio scientific subjects are suitable at meal times. The interest in debate or the eagerness to gain knowledge inhibits the digestion. At the early part of the dinner , such a conversation may have no ill-effect, but if complete relaxation after the meal is missed by close thought, then the breaking up and absorption of the food may be delayed for hours.

Any topic which causes grief or pain should never bo broached at the table. The anguish of sorrow is a destroyer of normal health; only light dishes and gentle Words can rebuild body and spirit. Other offenders against the laws of health are office workers who snatch at meals. So many women prefer to have a snack at their desk rather than to make the effort to get out for lunch. Sonio save the valuable hour by eating lutstily at work and spending the rest of tile time out of doors. These

will not suffer so badly, because at least they get fresh air and mental relaxation. Wo need a revival of tho art of living to fit present-day rush and strain. It should Do mado illegal for anyone to road a business letter or to continue working while eating. Lectures on physiology should bo popularised so that tired stomachs, torpid livers and overworked gallbladders would be given a chance to function properly because their owners understood how they worked. Light conversation, or any amusing book, may be permitted at an office lunch. But the very atmosphere of work does not stimulate the bodily processes like a walk in the fresh air or the pleasant aroma from a restaurant.

ByDr. Mary Anthony (Copyright Reserved)

The sight and smell of food brings increased saliva to our mouths, which acts reflexly by causing an outpouring of gastric juices. That is just the right moment to sit down to food, listen to music, or gaze upon others and make idle chatter. Failing these surroundings, some exercise should be taken after stopping work before beginning to cat. If Wo must eat alone, a light book or a picture paper will distract our thoughts and help us to eat slowly. Whether to have the radio on at meals or not is a point on which families often differ. Light music or singing, which is not loud enough to deafen or to make talk impossible, is quite pleasant. But loud, musical noises, or a harsh voice booming into tho room, upsets the general harmony. Our sense of well-being and capacity to work depend on how we look after the fuelling of that delicate engine, our body.