SUMMER HEALTH

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 2, 4 January 1937, Page 15

SUMMER HEALTH

WELL-BALANCED DIET ; PROPRIETARY FOODSTUFFS It is one of Nature's paradoxes that at this season, when sunshine batokens the passing of winter and the coming of a brighter, healthier season, extreme care is necessary in regard to diet and conduct generally if one is to avoid ill health, states the "Cape Times." Actually it is not difficult, on reflection, to understand this seeming contradiction. It is necessary, first of all i to appreciate the functions of food. The output of energy involves wastage in the cclls which make up the human body, and a proportion of the food consumed each day goes to the replacement of the substances which have been used up in maintaining the functions of the body. Where there is any excessive dissipation of energy the normal production, or input, of reparative substances, in the form of nutritive foodstuffs, is insufficient to maintain a balance, and the body must fall back 0:1 its reserves. There is usually, in a well-nour-ished person, enough reserve nutriment in the body to enable the individual to pursue his ordinary activities for some little time, even if no food whatever were taken. But a long period of inclement weather involves a more or less constant drain on these respurces, so that the arrival of spring finds the reserves at their lowest. Every ailment, according to- its severity, accelerates this debilitating process, and the incidence of even an ordinary "common cold" once or twice during the winter has a seemingly disproportionate effect in lowering the reserves of vitality which are so necessary for the preservation of good health. When it is pointed out that the body is in need of careful nourishment at the end of the winter it should be correctly understood what is meant by the term'. The actual quantity or bulk of food taken at a meal may well be less, and. in fact, usually should be' less, on a spring or a summer day than during the winter. ■ But the quality of the foodstuffs consumed —that is to say, their content of the vital nutrient elements— is all-important; and there is not necessarily any constant relationship between the quantity of original food which forms the menu and the amount converted to the uses of the body. IDEAL DIET. Human life depends for its proper continuance on an adequate supply of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, water, and salts, in their correct pro- 1 portions. The digestive system needs all these, in addition to a . certain amount of "roughage," if it is to function properly. A deficiency of one cannot be made good by an excess of any other, so that the ideal diet is one which has a sufficient variety to provide a bal- 1 anced ration. To be ideal, however, it must also' be palatable. Even supposing that one could reconcile the still divergent views of dietists on this subject, a dietary which, on paper at least, conformed exactly to the requirements of any one individual would inevitably prove to be monotonous after a time. Monotony is the enemy of appetite, and food which has no appeal to the palate is unlikely to be properly digested. There are in the mouth three pairs of salivary glands; they secrete-' a

fluid which prepares the ingested food for the subsequent processes 01 digestion, and their activity is either stimulated or depressed .according to the reaction produced by the "food that is to be eaten. . Lacking this, assistance, not even the most nutritious foods can be' expectcd to yield their full benefit, so that pleasing the appetite is equal in. importance to conformity with dietary needs as defined by the chemist. Hence the importance of food preserving, which has to a large extent made us independent of seasons in regard to the choice of food. The remarkable advances made during recent years in regard to the canning and bottling of fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, and other edible commodities nave cohsiderab 1 ;' fied the problem of drawing up suitably nutritious menus' at all seasons.! Laboratory tests and the researches of diet dietetic experts have shown that food which is promptly and properly canned or bottled retains practically all its original food value, and, having escaped handling' ahd exposttre, has definite value. NUTRITIOUS FOODS. The housewife is thus - enabled .to keep in her larder a great variety oi nutritious foods which often tempt the palate, especially on hot days, when kitchen-cooked foods fail to appealOne drawback .of .the otherwise commendable picnic habit is also overcome by the food preserver. To' spend a day or a weekend in the open air invariably means a considerable output of energy. All the benefit which would otherwise result from such an outing may be, and frequently is, r negatived by the fact that an inadequate or illchosen meal is taken;, to' maks up for the natural forccs which' have been expended. Cost is a factor that, must : enter into any consideration of'diet; whatever the season—now, perhaps, more- particularly, in view of recent economic difficulties. Quite definitely it can be said that good nourishing food is not expensive; and as surely it can be stated that inferior food is costly. And one must not overlook the fact that ill health is inevitably a most expensive matter, and that what little may be gained by pairsimony in regard to the food bill is frequently offset by a much greater expenditure on remedial medicines, to say nothing of the indirect cost of illness. DANCE AT FRENCH PASS A very successful dance, organised by Mr. . Michael Rout, of . Nelson, was held in the schoolroom at French. Pass, at which the many visitors and local people had a delightful time. There were competitions and .songs interspersed with the dancing, so there was amusement for young and old. Miss E. Webber and Mr. Port played good music for the dancing and also accompaniments. The singing of "Auld Lang Syne" and of the National Anthem concluded a thoroughly happy evening. Among those present were Mr. and Mrs; S. S. Millington (Hutt), Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Ricketts, Mr. and Mrs. and Miss B. Van Staveren, Mr. and Mrs. N. Broad, and the Misses Bentley. J. Ricketts, Valentine (all of Wellington), Mr. and Mrs. H. Stoupe, Miss- Millington (Lower Hutt), Mr. and Mrs. N. Rout', Miss S. Rout, Mr. M. Rout (Nel« son), Messrs. R. Connolly, K. Turner, J. and R. Webber, B. Harvey, S. Gansell, and many others from FrenCft Pass.