In this lecture delivered to his students at Amherst College and later published as a book, Edward Hitchcock explained the cause of “premature prostration and early decay of students and professional men in our country”. As an example of “dyspepsy” he described himself, and warned his students to eat healthfully to avoid ending up suffering as he had. “Nervous disorders” were described as the worst of maladies, to be avoided at all cost.
Hitchcock ended on a positive note, believing that his students did not suffer yet from dyspepsy because their diets were good. He urged them to continue eating well, to be temperate, and wished them to leave “the light and warmth of a lovely example, to kindle up other fires in future times.”
A memoir by a Princeton student many years later paints a different picture, describing the blandness of Hitchcock's preferred diet and saying that he and his friend tried to live by it for two weeks until they couldn't stand it any longer.