The New Glutton or Epicure

Horace Fletcher believed the secret to health was simple: chew your food until it becomes liquid. Called 'The Great Masticator' by his contemporaries, this turn-of-the-century health eccentric argued that most digestive troubles stemmed from one sin - swallowing food too quickly. His 'Thorough Buccal Digestion' philosophy claimed thatproperly masticated food virtually digests itself, reducing the body's workload, curbing appetite, and extending life. The book readspart manifesto, part confession, part collected testimonials from doctors and laypeople who adopted his method. Fletcher's prose oscillates between earnest scientific enthusiasm and almost religious devotion to the act of chewing. Some passages sound like poetry to the salivary glands. Whether you find him a prophet of mindful eating or a man who spent far too much time thinking about mastication, The New Glutton or Epicure remains a wildly entertaining time capsule of early 20th-century wellness obsession.