Rules for Eating

1. Eat slowly; no drink is necessary with meals. Chew the food thoroughly so it will be well mixed with saliva. Digestion begins in the mouth. Chew the food well so that it swallows itself.

2. Do not drink with meals. Food should not be washed down. The more liquid there is taken in the stomach with meals, the more difficult it is for the food to digest.

3. Drink plenty of water on arising and between meals. Water is the best liquid possible to cleanse the tissues, and purify the blood. Try two glasses of hot water on arising—it is easy to get down. Drink some water a little time before meals.

4. Eat sparingly “for strength, and not for drunkenness.” Eccl. 10:17. The benefit you derive from your food, does not depend so much on the quantity eaten, as on its thorough digestion. Neither does gratification of taste depend so much on the amount of food swallowed, as on the length of time it remains in the mouth. Overeating clogs the machinery and weakens the power to resist other passions.

5. Eat at regular intervals, allowing 5-6 hours to elapse between meals. Do not eat a morsel between meals. This is a bad habit to overcome once started. When hungry between meals, look at the clock. If it is not time to eat, take a big drink of life-giving cool water. (Hunger pangs after a full meal is probably a sign of indigestion).

6. Do not eat before going to bed. The stomach must not be constantly at work, but must have periods of rest. When you retire, the stomach should have its work all done so it may rest with you. If you feel that you must eat, take a drink of cold water, and in the morning you will feel better for having not eaten.

7. Do not eat when emotionally upset or overtired or in pain.

8. Two meals a day are better than three—but if a third meal is to be eaten at all, it should be light, and several hours before going to bed.

9. Foods that are too hot or too cold should not be eaten. Very hot soups and such foods tend to debilitate the stomach and are best partly cooled. Very cold foods require the vitality of the system to warm them until they are the same temperature as the stomach before the work of digestion can be carried on.

10. Eat more raw fruits in their natural state. Include in the diet more raw fresh foods and less cooked foods. At least 1/2 of the foods we eat should be raw. Avoid spending precious hours trying to “doctor up” foods that are more wholesome in their natural raw state.

11. Eat raw vegetables or raw fruits before the main course. This will stimulate and assist digestion and help avoid overeating of cooked foods. Even fruit should not be eaten after a full meal of other foods. Do not mix fruits and vegetables at the same meal.

12. It is not well to take a variety of food at one meal. Three or four dishes are plenty.