NO SWEET TOOTH

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 8, 9 July 1931, Page 24

NO SWEET TOOTH

ENGLISHMAN'S DEFICIENCY

SHOULD BE REMEDIED

"Englishmen do-not eat swcetsj they do not, as a rule, eat sweet puddings. Sweet things are left to the womenfolk, and looked on, in consequence, as the expression of an effeminate taste." It exeeedingily difficult to understand this dietetic habit," says the medical correspondent of the "Times Trade and Engineering Supplement,", "which in process of time has acquired a kind of sanctity, so that one would blush, being a man, to-be caught with -a - bag of sweets or a box of chocolates. Why should lack of sugar be approved as a sign of moral, worth? "It is true that women and children need more, sugar than men, and that men need meat and other 'proteins' more 'than women and children. But that men do not need sugar is untrue. "The Englishman's diet is: not well calculated, to give a ready source of energy. It tends, on the contrary, to sour the temper, clog the machine, and lead to gout and acidity. "And yet the baro idea of offering one's fellow countrymen the advice to suck sweets is terrifying. Thoy would not do it. "Modern medicine, however, is less squeamish. Sugar, in one form or another, is now often prescribed by doctors. Tlie discovery of insulin, which reduces tho' sugar-content of the body, has shown how disastrous are the effects, of. a sharp reduction of this food. ' The value of sugar as -a tonic of the muscles, and especially of tho heart muscle, is widely recognised. Again, some physicians treat bilious attacks with glucose, and claim excellent results from the method. "One naturally asks: Where does the Englishman obtain the supplies of sugar without which ho cannot live? "There is a possibility, even a probability, that he does not obtain enough sugar. It may be that tho advice, 'Eat more fruit,' has brought physical benefit to many, • simply because" it has brought them a fresh source of sweet*ness. At any rate, it is worth anybody's while to determine whether or not an- addition of sugar to tho daily diet results in increased vigour. "If it does, then, clearly, the individual has been suffering from dietetic insufficiency. ' "Honey may be recommended as a suitable means of taking sugar—Englishmen do not seem to object as strongly to sugar gathered by bees as to sugar gathered by human agoncies. Fruit, also, is a source to which dignified resort can be had. Among confections. j toffee, of happy memory, is worth consideration."