MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 March 1934, Page 9

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OF INTEREST

TOO SOLID FLESH keeping the happy mean. Women lire endowed by nature 'with a thicker layer of subcutaneous! fat than men of the same weight and apparent obesity. (Wriies-the “Sydney Herald,” 'Medical Correspondent.) This explains the fact that they can bear cold bettor than men. It also rounds off their limbs and hides their muscles. This gives the beauty of outline to classical figures of Greek and Roman statuary. Beauty of figure has been made subject to the dictates of fashion. The Venus de Milo would at present be considered almost vulgar, and certainly any young woman of to-day would mistakenly diet if she possessed her figure. In parts of Africa , the bridegroom purchases his wife from the father, and she is sold by weight. The curvcless boyish figure has had a long run, but. fashion is now swinging a little, from the emaciated. Apart from fashion and considered from a health and beauty standpoint,

a woman should have a certain amount, of tat beneath her skin. If she has as little as a man in good physical condition she is neither as healthy nor as graceful as she should and usually could be. Excess - of fat is certainly unhealthy and awkward in either sex. If fat is deposited under the skin to excess it hampers activities and commences a vicious circle, in which obesity causes inactivity, the inactivity increases the fat, and -so on. At a later age fat is deposited in the internal organs,, heart, liver, intestines, etc., and the general health suffers. As long as the fat is only under the skin the activity of some over-stout women is surprising, and their lightness in dancing almost, proverbial. It is important to check the . increasing weight and break the vicious circle.

Once internal deposits have become heavy it is far more difficult to reduce weight and restore reasonable health. The ill effects of unduly low weight are almost as bad. Emaciation is sometimes caused by chronic illness. In such conditions as cancer and tuberculosis the course of the disease is largely measured by the weight curve of the sufferer. When, on the other hand, deliberate starvation is carried out by a woman the effect t after a few weeks or months is harmful. It is one thing to reduce’ the amount of food consumed until excess fat has been utilised and another thing to continue when most of the available fat has disappeared. In the former case,"provided that there was excess of fat to commence with, no harm is done, and eventual good results if the reduction in weight is not too rapid.

In the latter case, where there is no previous storing of fat in large quantities, the body is compelled to live on its own tissues. This is extremely dangerous to health, and the consumption of tissue causes the production of poisons. Under the age of twenty excess of fat is more ugly than leanness, but is more healthy.

Beyond thirty excess .fat is more serious to health, but less deleterious to appearance than emaciation. There is nothing that can add more :o the apparent age of a woman past thirty than rapid loss of weight. She will inevitably develop wrinkles, and these incline to be permanent. It is natural for man or woman to increase in weight with the years, but this process must be controlled by diet and exercise. After sixty it is a different matter, and loss of weight in old age accompanies sound health.

VITAMIN WAY TO BEAUTY.

FRUIT AND VEGETABLES. How often one sees a face with perfect features and flawless skin, yet somehow lacking in attractiveness, lacking sparkle, vim, in fact, lacking life. And these subtle qualities cannot be bought in tubes and pots; they are the outward and visible sign ot an inward well-being, the result ol correct diet and proper care of the body. (Writes “Clelia” in the Sydney Morning Herald.). . In these days when even babies babble of vitamins it is safe .to assume that most women are aware of their value in maintaining good health. A little intelligent study of food values will teach the average woman how she may not only keep down her weight but build a body that radiates vitality and is restistant to disease. For those who must consider their weight, it is well to observe that ;:oinc vegetables, while rich in mineral salts and other valuable properties, are also inclined to produce adipose tissue. Peas, beans, parsnips, . and beetroot are in this class. Practically all other vegetables can be used with advantage by all, types. But it must bo remembered that uncooked vegetables are best of all, because their vitamin content is intact. All the salad vegetables are excellent—lettuce, celery, tomatoes, cucumber, radish, and watercress. Carrot? are now used raw; shredded and added to salads they are considered particularly valuable as a beauty aid. A meal of these uncooked vegetables, combined with wholemeal bread and butter, is unequalled in nourishment and health-giving properties. To offset the pallor following a long, hot summer, foods rich in iron are particularly valuable. Spinach is the best of these, then asparagrus, oranges, and tomatoes. Pears, peaches, grapes, and pineapple, as well as all citrus fruits, are well-known “skin foods.” The juice of oranges and lemons, contrary to general opinion, tends to correct overacidity of the blood, which is the cause,very often, of a. dull, .lifeless skin.

An excellent rule is make one meal a day of fruit and vegetables only. It can be as delicious as it is wholesome, especially in this hot weather, when meat and other fuel foods do not tempt the appetite. Here is a beauty lunch that should suit all purses and palates: A potato cooked in its jacket with a dab of butter, and sprinkled thickly with chopped parsoly or mint.;* half a lettuce, and sliced tomato in a simple dressing of oil and vinegar,

followed by a slice of pineapple or a bunch of grapes. The woman who fears potatoes on account of fat may remove some of the floury middle, as fortunately it is the skin of the potato and the part just underneath which contains its most valuable properties. If your skin is not all you could desire, try a diet which consists mainly of fruit and vegetables, and watch it improve!

AGED WOMAN'S RECORD.

ALWAYS WITH ONE FAMILY.

A t the age of' fourteen Elizabeth Vincent went.to her first employment —as one of the undermaids in the third Lord Radstock’s household. At. the age of 85 she is still serving that family. , , , Miss Vincent was promoted from her post of undermaid to be Lady Radstock’s personal maid, and still later housekeeper to the family at Coife Castle, Dorset. Now she is housekeeper to the Hon. Mrs Edwyn Bevan, of Wray Lane House, near Reigate, Surrey, granddaughter of the third Lord'Radstock. The old lady has. covered the walls of her cosy little room at Wray Lane House with photographs of members of the family. There are pictures of quaint Victorian groups, romping children, pretty girls in their "presentation” gowns and feathers. Some of those photographed are dead, some are married and are now the parents of yet more romping children. But Miss Vincent knew or knows them all, and can tell the whole history of their lives and romances. “After seventy years of sharing their, joys and sorrows, I feel that the Radstock family is as close to me as my own,” Miss Vincent said to an interviewer. “I have seen five generations of them grow up, and have had my part In all that has happened to them. I am immensely proud to have been in their confidence all these years.” Mrs Bevan still allows Miss Vincent to keep all the household accounts. “She is a first-class accountant,” said Mrs Bevan.

INCUBATOR FOR BABIES. At the- Chicago World’s Fair an “Infant Incubator” w r as a feature which attracted great attention. This was in the form of a wellappointed ten-room apartment where a staff of 20 kept constant vigil over 25 prematurely-born babies. - Meals were prepared at any and an hours on a restaurant-size gas range. A gas-actuated refrigerator supplied all the domestic needs. Another kept food and serums fresh in the nursery room. An automatic gas water heatci with tank capacity for the entire household was connected in the St< An infant incubator looks more or less like a glass and enamel refrigleft is the air supply apparatus, where filtered and warm air comes in with a closely-measured amount of pure oxygen. To the right is a small tank with thermostatic conU A gas-burner heats the water, which is circulated in the baby compartment to supply the correct heat. This is the important element in bringing the plan to a successful conclusion. lust beyond the incubators at the Chicago Fair was a model nursery enclosed in Plate glass. You were allowed to look, but not to touch, foi cleanliness was the first order. Everything was sterilised, and the demand fdP hot water reached the peak in this section. ( Dr Couney, inventor of the napj incubator,” is already a national figure in his work. He has exhibited the invention all over the United States, but in recent years has worked exclusively at Atlantic City and Coney Island.