Next, "don’t worry!" You know care killed a cat, and cats are supposed to have nine lives. Don’t hurry, or over-work or over-play. Don’t lie awake and think about that examination. If you do your best every day you don’t need to worry; and if you don’t do your best worrying will make it worse. If your brain is to do good work it must have sleep. Eight hours for work, eight for eating and playing and eight for sleep is a good rule for grown people. Children need less work and more play and sleep.
Eat at regular hours, but never eat unless you are hungry. Missing a meal gives an overworked stomach a chance to catch up. It needs rest as well as the muscles and brain. Eat enough at meal times and don’t "piece" between meals. It takes several hours to empty a stomach. Don’t eat anything "to keep it from spoiling." It is better for food to spoil outside a stomach than inside. Don’t make a meal of one kind of food because you like it. A dinner all meat, potatoes and pie is too heavy for anyone but an ostrich. There are several kinds of food. One kind is mostly starch, such as bread potatoes, rice, etc. Then there are fat foods, as butter, cream, oil and fat meats. The third kind is lean meat, beans, eggs and cheese. Besides these we need green vegetables and fruits, for their water, sugar, acids and minerals. They help digest the heavier foods. A mixed diet is best for human beings.
Take time to eat. Chew your food. Many grown people eat as if they had to catch trains. This is a greedy, unpleasant habit. Besides, it is harmful. In chewing, the mouth makes a liquid that the stomach needs for digestion. It is called saliva. Think of sugar and feel the saliva run into your mouth. Swallow it; don’t spit it out. Spitting is another bad American habit. It is not only disagreeable for other people to see, but it wastes saliva. If you eat too fast, the mouth hasn’t time to make enough of it. Besides, your teeth need exercise. The broad, grinding teeth in the back of the mouth usually decay first. We use them less than we do the front, cutting teeth. Don’t overeat. If you fill a furnace too full of coal you smother the fire. Doctors often have to be called to help people digest their Thanksgiving dinners.
When you were rubbing yourself dry, after a bath, did you ever rub little rolls up on your skin? That was dead skin, dust, dried sweat and oil. An air-tight coating soon forms on the outside of the skin. Warm water, soap and scrubbing with a brush remove it. If not removed it injures your health and your
