About Foods

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 23, 28 January 1939, Page 6 (Supplement)

About Foods

"Doctor's Orders'

ALL the things we mi mmy b« included under fined hud* ings:—l. Nitrogenous foods, such •• meat, faH and the mimll amount of nitrogenous materials in vegetables. 2. Carbohydrates, such as starch and sugar, in any form, and comprising all vegetables, bread, etc. 3. Fats, such as the fat of meat, milk, butter, and the oils of certain nuts and vegetables. 4. Salts, such as common salt, phos* phates, carbonates, etc. All these Classes are absolutely essentin 1» not only to the well-being, but to life itself; and they should be taken In proper proportion, although moot people would be better if they took less meat. far the commonest mistake is to Mi too much of the nitrogenous class. A public banquet eon* sists almost eatirely of mast, using the word to latitude fifth and gam#. The salts we eat form an Interesting class, and they arS llttls understood. The value of fresh frail lies la the salts it contains. This was clearly shown in the old days oa board the ships that went long voyagn sad could not take fresh fruit and vegetables. The sailots, living on preserved foods, all suffered fr©m Scurvy and they recovered when they got oa shore and had fresh food. ()Mai)M*lly a child suffers from scurvy rickets to* day, and . fresh ©range or lemon juice forms one of tke most valuable of curative agents. A Populm FtAUtcy One hears a good deal about phosphates. There is a superstition that phosphorus is good for the brain, and that flsh, on that account, is the diet best, suited for the brain. That is all nonsense. The phosphates are very widespread in nature, and every mouthful nf bread or meat that you take contain* a definite amount of phosphates. I>o not, think that you are lining some stin line remedy when you buy phosphates and eat them as medicine, for von have been taking phosphates from vour vpiy first meal. Remembering that milk Is u perfect food, it is useful to \ know that it contains plenty of phns- ' Jiha ten. 1 lie value of salts in forming ' bono was curiously borne out, by the 1 experiments on the rearing of young 1 lions in captivity. At the Zoological 1 fiimlcn, in London, it, was found im- ' possible to rear the little lions, as they ' all died of rickets, which is a disease of nutrition primarily affecting the 1 bones. At last someone hit on the idea 1 of mixing powdered bones with the 1 food of the whelps, and from that day 1 they thrived. Salts iri the bones were of vital value.

NettU-Rmah Not.tlp-rnxh i» i» cnniplnint which ninnifc*t« Itnolf in tho »kin. hut liha it* n»nl origin In the intestine*. Some piiUnti i* tiikcn into (lie *vstrni, unit If. niitkoH it* wiiy nut. into t li«< nkin, giving i'i«« to blister* or wt>n|« nil over t.hti body. A* the name implicit. Ihn blister* rrs«?mblr thp murk* prorlurKl by a sting from net tic. Tlu-y may ap

By A Family Doctor

. pear on the hand* or face first, but gen- , emll* come out all over the body. Fifth ■ which is not quite fresh is by far the 1 commonest cause of nettle-rash. You > should be easeful how you eat your f fWth on a Monday, for it Imn probably I been kept in the shop all through Sunday. Of coursc, the danger is worse in ' summer than in winter. Shellfish, espeei- ' allv mussels, are not infrequently found guilty of producing nettle-rash, and also , of ptomaine poisoning. Nettle-rash attacks Individuals in curious, inexplicable ' ways. Some people always have a rash i after drinking champagne; others after ; salmon, and so on through a long list of t individual peculiarities. It is easy, however, to avoid the particular drink or article of diet that is followed these undesirable results. For an ordinary . case of nettle-rash, urticaria, the treat- , ment is made obvious by the cause —a poison is in the intestines, so it must ' be got rid of as soon as possible. Take 1 a dose of salts or castor oil, and be f content with invalid diet for 24 hours. The rash will clear up of its own ae- . cord when the poison has been elimin- ; a ted. The most soothing application is ' lead lotion applied cold. ! A AfAfter W Training Ift tht avoidance of that most troubleMtnl complaint, constipation, regularity OS kabit to, perhaps, the most important consideration. Here, indeed, is a caM where good and bad habits can be easily learned in Childhood. It caftnot be too strongly insisted upon, that any function of the body regularly performed becomes a *ort t>f second nature. How soon, then, ought a child to be trained in habits of regularity? From the moment of birth is the answer. Any midwife of experience will tell you that a baby of a month old is quite capable of learning good habits. This places a great responsibility on parents in the training of their children in ways which will prevent constipation in future years. It is the same w.ith habits as it is with the skeleton. If the spine at the back is allowed to grow crooked ig youth, while the bones are soft, when the age of twenty is reached the bones become hardened and fixed, and no power on earth will make the crooked spine straight. In youth the character is soft, pliable and impressionable, and can be moulded in the right way, but by the nge of twenty the habits and tlie character are becoming fixed and stereotyped. Consider for a moment the problem which meets the doctor who is consulted by a young man of 20 who says he lias been constipated all his life. Just think of it. Twenty years. And he exnects me to cure him in a few days or nours. Do you think should be unreasonable to" ask for an other 20 venrs to undo the harm? Well, there is nothing for it but to persevere. At first the trestnient is not rewarded with success; but think of the baby learning to walk and the man learning ride the bicycle; after many failures what at first was an almost impossible task became by perseverance second nature. Regularity is the secret of health.

Some Sleep Hints If you cannot sleep, then an attempt should be made to discover the cause bv experimenting. Perhaps you eat too much late at night; or, on the other hand, you may have your last meal too early, go that by one or two o'clock in the morning you are hungry. Some people find a good "sleeping-drau<jlit" is to be found in a couple of biscuits, eaten slowly, when sleep deserts the pillow. In some persons, the air of a stuffy bedroom awakes them early in the morning—the air is soon vitiated bjr two or more people. The remedy is to steep with the window «t>pen. A dry mouth may awaken the mouth-breather, and an attempt should be -made to rultivnte the habit nf breathing through the nose.