ption
that the various organs will not digest efficiently the food necessary
for ordinary existence. If the necessary nourishment is not adequately
digested, the general health will suffer as a consequence. If the
general health is below standard the individual will not be competent to
carry on the requirements of a normal, healthy life.

We must, however, give some thought to the effect which the excess of
food exerts upon the human machine.

Nature provides and maintains a standard relationship between the
capacity of the individual and his needs. A child has a digestive
capacity to digest and assimilate a quantity of food sufficient for his
growth and proper nourishment; an adult maintains the same standard
according to his requirements. All the other organs are adjusted to
harmonize with this scheme. If we overeat, the immediate result is to
disorganize this relationship between the various organs; hence we have
a multitude of effects which manifest themselves in various ways as a
direct result of overeating. The combined general effect expresses
itself in the form of what is regarded as poor health and a low standard
of efficiency. When a larger quantity of food is taken into the stomach
than it can properly digest within a reasonable time, two conditions
immediately follow. The stomach itself is dilated and the food is not
thoroughly digested. If the habit is persisted in, indigestion, and
later chronic gastritis ensues. The direct symptoms of these conditions
are given in detail in another part of this book. Very few individuals,
however, appreciate the indirect consequences of overeating and of
indiscriminate eating on the general health. It is impossible to
tabulate in so many words the effect which this habit has on efficiency
and temperament. We read and hear a great deal to-day about efficiency.
Now, an individual's efficiency is an expression of that individual's
health standard or capacity. To be 100 per cent. efficient one must
enjoy good health. It would be absurd to expect a high standard of
efficiency from an individual with a low standard of health. Poor health
means poor vitality. Vitality is the mark of the master. Without
vitality one can never dominate. All the great achievements of the race
have been consummated by those who conserved their vitality. No single
factor contributes a larger percentage of inefficients and failures than
overeating. The man or woman who, from habit or experience, has