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Quantity of Food.It is unnecessary to lay down any rules as to the exact quantity required. It is a generally recognized fact, that in this country, at least, more food is eaten than is required by the wants of the body. This fact is especially impressed upon an American who resides for a time on the continent of Europe, and observes the difference between the habits of eating there and here. In cold climates and in cold seasons more food is required by the same individual than under other circumstances ; one who is engaged in manual labor needs more food than a person of sedentary habits. A sudden change from active habits of life to employments which are sedentary and confining, is apt to be followed by disturbances of digestion. This is often observed in persons who have suffered severe injuries, in consequence of which they are compelled to keep the bed; when the appetite is gratified to its full extent, such persons are usually troubled by indigestion. Yet while the tendency among us is to excessive eating, there are those who go to the other extreme, and follow some rigid plan of diet. Such a habit is frequently followed by disorders of digestion no less marked and obstinate than those which result from overeating. Another cause of digestive disorders is the prevalent habit of eating between meals. There is no harm in regular indulgence in more than the usual three meals a day. In fact, it is customary in many parts of the continent of Europe to take five meals a day. The important point is that food should be taken at the same hours every day. The exact hours selected may vary with the convenience of the individual; he should simply be careful to have his meals with regularity. One of the most serious errors which are so prevalent with regard to eating, is the habit of eating too fast. The act of chewing is an essential part of the process of digestion; if it be imperfectly done, digestion cannot be complete, and indigestion or dyspepsia results. This fact is so evident, and is so amply demonstrated around us on every hand, that further discussion seems superfluous. Much has been said in popular works upon medicine against the habit of drinking at meal times ; it is generally advised that liquids be avoided, on the supposition that, by diluting the gastric juice, they interfere with the process of digestion. It seems certain, however, that the one objection which can properly be urged against taking liquids with the food is the fact that there is, under such circumstances, a tendency to swallow the food prematurely before it has been properly chewed. The result is that the stomach is compelled to perform the work of the teeth as well as its own, and usually shows itself incapable of performing the task ; dys pepsia results. If care be taken to masticate the food properly, no harm results from the use of the ordinary table beverages at meal times. As to the articles of food which are best adapted to the maintenance of health, no exact rules can be given. The general principle should be borne in mind that both animal and vegetable food is absolutely essential to the perfection of the body. It is possible for a man to live upon flesh alone or upon vegetables only ; but neither diet conduces to the most perfect performance of the bodily and mental functions. Foods may be divided into two general classes: Those which contain compounds of nitrogen in considerable quantity, and are hence called nitrogenous substances. These are found largely in the flesh of animals. The second class of foods are those which consist largely of sugar or starch, and are called saccharine (sugary). These are obtained chiefly from plants. Since both nitrogenous and starchy substances enter largely into the composition of the human body, it is evident that the best diet comprises both animal and vegetable food. There is a third class of substances, the mineral constituents of the body, which are just as essential as the nitrogenous and saccharine ingredients ; yet, since these mineral substances are contained in both animal and vegetable food, it is not necessary to make special provision in our food for securing these elements. The nutritious value of food is measured chiefly by the amount of the nitrogenous and saccharine matter which it contains. The following tables indicate the relative values of some of the commoner articles of food:
While plants contain a large amount of material which cannot be digested, and is hence worthless as food, yet because of the starch and sugar which they contain, vegetables are fattening food. This was well understood by Mr. Banting, who devised the famous method which bears his name, for reducing the flesh " His original dietary table," Mr. Banting tells us, " consisted of bread and milk for breakfast, or a pint of tea with plenty of milk, sugar and buttered toast ; meat, beer, much bread and pastry for dinner ; the usual meal of tea similar to that of breakfast, and generally a fruit tart or bread and milk for supper. " For this he substituted : Breakfast at 9 a. m.; five to six ounces of either beef, mutton, kidneys, broiled fish, bacon or cold meat of any kind, except pork or veal, a large cup of tea or coffee without milk or sugar, a little biscuit, or one ounce of dry toast, making together six ounces of solids and nine of liquids. Dinner at 2 p. m.; five or six ounces of any fish, except salmon, herrings or eels, any meat except pork or veal, any vegetable except potato, parsnip, beet root, turnip or carrot, one ounce of dry toast, fruit out of a pudding not sweetened, any kind of poultry or game, and two or three glasses of good claret, sherry or madeira-champagne, port and beer forbidden-making together ten to twelve ounces of solids and ten of liquids. Tea at 6 p. m.; two or three ounces of cooked fruit, a rusk or two and a cup of tea without milk or sugar, making two to four ounces of solids and nine of liquids. Supper at 9 p. m. ; three or four ounces of meat or fish, similar to dinner, with a glass or two of claret or sherry and water, making four ounces of solids and seven of liquids. With this change of diet, Mr. Banting states that he fell in weight from fourteen stone six pounds to eleven stone two pounds in about a year.-Pavy. Milk is a typical food containing all of the elements required for nutrition during the early part of life. The nitrogenous material is a fonii of casein ; the saccharine ingredient is the sugar of milk, and there is present, in addition, a quantity of fat and of mineral salts. The average composition of cow's milk is as follows: Casein, ------- 4.48 Butter, - - - - - - 3.13 Sugar, ------- 4.77 Salts, - - - - - -.- .60 Water, ------- 87.02 Human milk differs from that of the cow, in that it contains a larger amount of sugar and a smaller amount of casein and fat. Butter is the fat of milk, which is separated from this fluid by the process of churning. It contains only the fatty elements of the milk, and lacks, therefore, many of the ingredients necessary for a perfect food. An artificial butter is now extensively manufactured from beef fat. This is obtained by cutting and melting the suet; after cooling and becoming solid, the oily part is pressed out from the mass. This oil is called oleomargarine; by churning it with a small quantity of milk, a substance is produced which much resembles butter in appearance. There is nothing objectionable in the article, though it lacks some of the qualities found in the best butter; it is preferable in every way to the cheaper grades of butter. Cheese is the nitrogenous part of milk-the casein. If it be made from unskimmed milk, the cream or fatty portion is also contained in it. Cheese is therefore a highly concentrated nitrogenous food, and should be eaten only in small quantities. It constitutes a fair substitute for lean meat. Cheese, also, is now made by substituting oleomargarine for the cream of the milk. Eggs contain nitrogenous material in large quantity, but no starch nor sugar ; hence they do not constitute a complete diet. Meat contains all the elements necessary for food, though not in the proportions required by the animal body ; hence the necessity for supplying certain elements by vegetables. Meat is especially rich in the nitrogenous and fatty elements of food, but lacks the starchy matter. Fish contain less nutritious material than the warm-blooded animals ; the flesh is lacking in nitrogenous and fatty matters. Wheat contains about ten per cent, of nitrogenous matter, over sixty per cent, of starchy substances, and a large amount of
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