DR KEITH ON DIET.

Grey River Argus, 16 May 1922, Page 8

DR KEITH ON DIET.

(Our Westport Correspondent.) Tn his lecture on “Diet” at the Town Hall, at Westport, one night recently. Dr Keith said good health depended on the proper nourishment of the child in its infancy. Malformed jaws ami irregularity of the teeth were due to insufficient exercise of the jaws during babyhood. Exercise, he said, stimulated the (low of blood to the jaws and so built them up to their regular and proper formation. If the jaws were • exercised and well nourished with blood from proper food, the teeth would be full, sound and free from decay. He advocated cleaning the teeth at least once a day, at night preferably. A piece of raw apple, after each meal, would cleanse the teeth and mouth, and go a long way towards preventing decay, lie said that, in his examination of school children, he had come across some who never cleaned their teeth at all and yet had a sound set. He attributed this 1o the fact that they ate a lot of fruit, particularly apples. There were many instances of this in the Nelson district. Fruit juice was an antiseptic and acted as a germ killer in the mouth. Lettuce was an excellent article of diet for young children, because they had to chew it well before swallowing, and the exercise stimulated brisk circulation to the jaws. Dr Keith said most of our foodstuffs were robbed of their vitamines, or life-giving properties, by being overcooked. Dried and tinned foods were no good, they were known as dead foods, on account of the excessive heat they are subjected to, robbing them of their life-giving properties. They were satisfying and filling, but that was all. Disease was the result of certain deficiencies in the various food composition. The disease known as rickctts was prevalent in. England because of the small amount of butter consumed. Fat was essential in the diet of the young to prevent this malady. It was not prevalent in New Zealand, because the people here were big butter eaters. In England there were many homes without it, on account of its costliness. Alargerine was used as a substitute, but it was composed mostly of vegetable fats, and ’ they were not so highly nourishing or valuable as the animal fats. Most children did not like tho fat of meat, but they should be persuaded to eat it. until they got to like it. Meat once a day was sufficient for a child. It. was a stimulant in moderation, but, taken to excess, ir was most deleterious ami gave rise to gout and rheumatism. Mutton was tho least harmful. The tendency of New Zealanders was Io take too much meat. It was erroneous to think that much of it was necessary for keeping up the strength of the body, and he instanced the case of the South African Zulu, one of the finest types of physique in the ■world—who only uie lib of meat a week. Further, meat was not an essential article of diet. This had been proved by scientific experiments on animals, and there was now no excuse for ignorance on the part of human beings. The Health Department frequently circulated articles on the subject, of diet. They contained valuable information, but. the majority of people only bothered reading the head lines. ]t was very lamentable indede. Speaking further on foodstuffs, Dr Keith said vegetables grown above ground were more desirable, as a food, than those which developed underneath the ground®—root vegetables. lie advised cutting cabbage up into pieces, and boiling hard for not more than 20 minutes. Any longer cooking robbed it of some of its food value. Soda must, not be put in to preserve the colour, it was harmful. The water strained from the vegetables was of food value and should be utilised. He strongly impressed upon his hearers not to cook food too much, particularly vegetables, because it made medicine necessary Io stimulate the intestines. Bran should be usi'd in porridge in the proportion of one tablespoonful to three of oatmeal. The former eliminated the necessity of taking medicine. The oatmeal should be soaked overnight and cooked for 20 minutes next morning. Any further cooking destroyed its nourishing properties. He said it was very necessary that young children should have the right kind of food to build up bone amt muscle. Adults don’t need it so much as their bodies are fully developed. Beans, peas, cabbage, spinach and lettuce formed excellent food for growing children. As opposed to excessive I meat eating, he said vegetables ■were I easily digested and taken to excess did i not do very much harm. He advocated the eating of foods in their crude form, i White bread was a form of polished diet. Tho process that the wheat went I through in its manufacture into flour, 'robbed the finished article of much of its food value. In brown and wheatlineal bred we got food .in a cruder form and consequently containing much more of the cereals’ original properties than iis contained in milled wheat. —flour— of which white bread is made. Cheese was a. substitute for meat, but it had | not the stimulating properties of the. ‘latter. At the conclusion of his lecI hire. Dr Keith displayed a number of • charts showing the malformation of the i . .... , teeth and jaws due to insufficient exerc.ise during infancy. lie also showed j the effect of the growth of adenoids .which, if neglected, might result in complete loss of hearing. Dr Keith was asked several quesI tions at the close of his lecture, which were answered to the satisfaction of the inquirers. I I