Because the adjustment is so important it is imperative that we give it particular mention, even if only briefly: The adjustment is always made taking the characteristics and peculiarities of the personality into account. Tiredness in the evening, if lacking, must be acquired with careful planning. Whoever wants to fall asleep in the evening has to be tired. Merely laying oneself to rest is not enough. In the case of various worn-out, neurasthenic or healthy subjects, the planned adjustment was accomplished easily within two days, while in the case of those who regularly overslept and the chronically ill persons it took somewhat longer, up to seven days in fact. Robust and healthy people could adjust with immediate success as they arose in the first night much earlier than usual and worked hard all day. They were therefore very tired when they went to bed at 7 p.m., fell asleep immediately and got up again at 11:20 p.m. To their amazement and satisfaction they realized that the adjustment was complete: Immediately upon arising they were fresh and alert, ready and happy for work. Drastic cures are not at all to be recommended.
When necessary, the adjustment was undertaken in conjunction with a directed reform of the way of life in accordance with nature. Towards evening, everything connected with excitement, irritation, strenuous activity and anything with an excitable effect on the nerves was avoided. In the diet, the main role was played by easily digested, whole food with few spices and fruit and vegetables found the attention they rightly deserve. Several doctors and priests, an educated farmer, a leading pedagogue and a labourer, none of whom knew the others and who had undertaken the sleeping experiment for lengthy periods, were unanimous in stressing that natural sleep, coupled with an unadulterated, vegetarian diet, leads to the highest levels of health, performance and well-being. In this context one must note that children love raw food of all kinds but are often, regrettably, and to their detriment, stopped from doing so. Natural sleep stimulates the appetite in all cases, and is easier to satisfy with natural food than with extravagant and sumptuous processed foods; an experience which in times of general food shortages could be of importance. Those natural sleepers who are dependent on processed food generally tend to eat large amounts of it. This phenomenon is based on the fact that during processing, these foods lose many of their essential nutrients. Digestion which has been strengthened owing to natural sleep is better able to utilize nutrients and this increases the need for the correct, that is, natural, composition of foods.