Overeating and Snacking between Meals

<Overeating> 

   Overeating is worst than eating meat. Because our stomach and brain are linked directly to each other, our brain is clear when our stomach is unclogged, and our brain becomes cloudy when our stomach is clogged. Therefore a glutton is hopeless. In order to free us from such a bad habit, the savior of mankind had to fast for six weeks (forty days) to pay the price for mankind’s bad habits of overeating and heavy drinking. An old proverb teaches, “If your child is lovely, do not spare the rod. If your child is loathsome, feed him more.” It means that children who eat too much, will fall to ruins. Those who overeat will never understand the truth of heaven. Since their brains are clogged, they will merely yawn in their seats without being able to understand a thing. Those who desire to understand the truth should strictly avoid overeating. However, when engaging physical labor, you should eat enough to work while avoiding overeating at the same time.

Self-indulgence of the appetite (overeating) does not strengthen the body, but rather weakens it and causes feeble-mindedness, forgetfulness, amnesia , and loss of memory. It also fatigues the tissues of the body. It calls an excess amount of blood to the stomach, causing the extremes of the limbs – the hands and feet – to chill quickly. If we tax our stomach with an excessive amount of food to digest, it will become fatigue and we will feel hungry. Some mistakenly think that they are hungry, as their stomach had digest everything. Many do not know that the stomach is crying out, “Please let me rest. Please spare me!” and mistakenly interpret the feeling to be a sign of malnutrition, a demand for more food. Instead, of allowing the stomach to rest, they again burden the stomach with more food. Repeating this will give rise to serious illnesses and ultimately lead to death. A glutton (overeater) can never become a saint.

You can see how terrible overeating is by looking at a puppy. When a puppy overeats, its front legs warp. It cannot run properly and will live deformed for the rest of its life. That is how harmful overeating is. It brings fatal consequences to our body. Since our stomach and brain are linked together, we should never be so foolish as to clog our brain by overeating. On the other hand, we should not eat too little. People who farmed supposedly take five meals a day; that is being intemperate. If your work involves physical labor, you should have no problem digesting three full meals. Eating too eating too little will result in lack of energy. Therefore, we should eat three full meals. Please be sure to chew your food sufficiently.

<Snacking between Meals>

We should never snack between meals. Snacking between meals is like digging our grave with our own hands. No matter how strong a man may be, he will soon collapse if he is made to work day and night without sleeping. Likewise, if our stomach is not given rest, it will soon become exhausted and break down.

Carefully observe regulated dietary habits, making sure not to eat a single grain or morsel of fruit between meals. Once food enters our stomach, it needs three to four laborious hours to digest. Afterwards, the stomach needs thirty minutes to an hour of rest in order to strengthen itself so that it can digest the next meal. It is when the stomach has become exhausted and is about to rest after laboring to digest large quantities of food that many snack on a piece of bread or minced meat. For example, a rice mill has to run all its rice-polishing machines whether it is polishing one bowl or one bushel of rice. In the same way, even if it is just for a grain of rice or a piece of fruit, the stomach must labor to digest it.

Those who overcome their appetite can overcome the devil, the god of this world. On the other hand, he will overcome those who cannot overcome their diet. Man fell because he could not overcome appetite and as a result, the god of this world defeated him.

 Many eat snacks after breakfast, then after lunch, again after dinner, and while watching television until midnight. The food forces the stomach to continuously dispose of it until the stomach finally cannot push out anymore. Then, it begins to decay, and when such a person burps, he releases a putrid smell. Moreover, if the person continues to eat, the stomach will suffer from prolapsed and later gastroptosis, the ultimate cause of cancer. That is why we are digging our grave with our own hands when we overeat and eat between meals.

Those who are suffering from gastroptosis should fast for several days. Then, all the food that has accumulated will exit the stomach, and the prolapsed stomach will be restored to its original position. After fasting, they should remedy their stomach by starting with rice porridge. Otherwise, their stomach will have to be removed, eventually placing their life in danger. Therefore, breakfast should be taken early, and a sufficient amount should be eaten deliciously. Because our digestion is good in the morning, we should eat enough, but at the same time not overeat. In addition, we should not eat anything except water or juice until lunch time. Dinner should be taken early and consist of light, simple foods that can be easily digested. Our stomach should be completely empty when we sleep at night. Then, we will be able to sleep soundly and get up the next morning filled with strength and vigor.

Those who eat heavy dinner or eat late at night may snore while they sleep. This is because their their stomach has to work all night long in order to digest the food, and they cannot sleep soundly. Their fatigue is not relieved, and so when they get up the next morning, they feel wearied and exhausted. They have no appetite and lose all interest in work. However, those who sleep on an empty stomach after having a light early supper of just fruits will be full of life and vigor the following morning. They will feel refreshed and have a good appetite for breakfast. Such people have happiness and victory guaranteed for them that day.