.
It is entirely a question of appetite. If you have no appetite for
breakfast then follow the two-meal-per-day plan. I will say, however,
that in many cases one can enjoy and profit by a breakfast of fruit.

The question of how to eat is closely related to the question of how
many meals one should take. Overeating is a very prevalent failing.
There is no question that large numbers eat themselves, as it were, into
a condition of stupor. Their energies are required for the disposal of
the excessive quantity of food ingested, and they have no energy left
for mental work or for physical activity. They are, so to speak, "food
drunk." I am personally satisfied that the best cure for overeating is
food in less frequent meals and the practice of masticating the food
thoroughly in the manner that I have suggested. In a case of this kind
the two-meal-per-day plan is also to be recommended. Actual experience
shows that those inclined to overeat do not eat any more at one meal
when eating two meals than when eating three meals-they may possibly eat
less, because of the more normal condition of the stomach. Another good
plan to pursue is the use of uncooked foods, or at least the
adoption of a diet consisting in part of uncooked foods. It is
entirely possible to eat too little of nourishing food, just as it is to
eat too much. But one who lives a natural and active life, especially
if out-of-doors a fair part of the time, is not likely to lack a good
appetite nor to eat less than the required amount. Good general health
always brings with it a normal appetite.

Overeating, however, is no doubt in many cases due very largely to the
inadequate character of the foods consumed. I am satisfied that if
all our foods were eaten in their natural condition and if they
perfectly supplied the needs of the body there would be no
tendency toward overeating. The great trouble is that conventional
methods of food preparation have such a destructive effect upon the
nutritive value of the foods in common use that a healthy body often
craves large quantities of diverse foods in order to get a sufficiency
of certain elements which are lacking. The use of white bread is a
case in point, for, as stated in another chapter, the best part of the
wheat has been eliminated in the process of milling. Furthermore, to
a large extent the mineral salts are removed from our vegetables in the
process of boiling; that is t