DIET AND HEALTH.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 3 December 1925, Page 3

DIET AND HEALTH.

MEDICAL MAN’S HINTS. SOME SUGGESTED MENUS. Practical hints on diet are contained in a letter to the Auckland Herald written by a medical man. The writer considers that neither doctors •nor laymen pay sufficient attention to the effect of diet on health. While eschewing “faddism,” he contends that it is necessary that more thought should be given to such matters. He continues: “I offer my own opinion on some questions of diet. First thing in the morning, I would advise taking a large cup of boiling water as hot as one is able to sip it with a teaspoon. A large cup of cold water sipped slo-wly is also good. Instead of these, especially for those who suffer from liver or indigestion, a warm lemon drink is advised with as little sugar as possible. I do not advise tea. Tea is a stimulant, and also from the fact that it contains tannin, it interferes with the digestion and you do not have the same appetite for breakfast. AN IDEAL BREAKFAST. “Mineral salts added to tea or water only turn the stomach into a drug store. No food and no fruit shoujld be taken Hvith the morning drink. All that is wanted is the cleansing effect of the water or lemon and water. For breakfast a few stewed prunes or pears with oatmeal porridge is recommended, but with no sugar and no milk. Sugar is bad for the teeth, and milk dillutes the porridge. The result is the porridge is swallowed too quickly for proper digestion/. ’To (follow,, I suggest a small piece of nice fat bacon, with plenty of gravy if possible, with egg. The egg is not to be fried, but may be very lightly boiled. VARIATIONS OF THE MENU. On other mornings, fresh fish or smoked fish may be had for a change. Wholemeal bread may be toasted, or home-made wholemeal scones, with butter or marmalade. An apple, or a piece of apple, form an admirable finish. A drink should be taken when breakfast is finished and not used to wash down the food. Milk or a lemon drink is recommended, and adults may take good coffee with hot milk, but they are better without it.

“For luncli in winter, tomato soup, wholemeal bread and butter with sco-nes is suggested. A banana can also be taken. Then a glass of hot milk or milk and hot water sipped slowly, and finally an apple. In summer the soup may be left out and fresh tomatoes and lettuce used inistdud. Somtatimes Cor a pining© a tinned salmon and mayonnaise can be taken. Children going to school can have no better lunch than wholemeal bread, some spread with inarmite, other with butter and a- thin layer of cheese. a tomato; if in season, and an apple. IMPORTANCE OF VEGETABLES. “Soup of some kind is advisable for dinner although not frequently used. Then meat with plenty of gravy, and potatoes and vegetables. The vegetables arc very important, but it is wonderful the number of houses in which they are not used, even at seasons of the year when they are plentiful and cheap. In summer time, cold meat and salad, tomatoes and lettuce, are to be remembered. Then for dessert nothing equals a rice, sago or tapioca pudding, with or without fruit. Then it is wise always to have a small piece of cheese with wholemeal bread or scones and butter. If one can afford it, a date, a prune or two, or a few raisins, are good for young and old. “Then comes the time sfor fluid. The drink may be milk, milk and hot water, lemon drink, or plain water. Adults can take a small glass.of wine, small glass of beer or cider if so inclined. Then as a grand finish an apple or piece of apple. Eat slowly and masticate thoroughly. Take a little fluid slowly when you have finished your meal and just before you eat your apple. I do not advise dinner in the middle of the day, as it is bad for the digestion and bad for the individual. Some people sleep better if they have some supper, hut it must he light. A glass of hot milk, sipped slowly, with or without a wholemeal scone or biscuit is splendid. PROPER TIME FOR DRINKING. “We should not take much fluid with our meals, and then only when

we have finished the meal, the fluid to be sipped slowly. The time to take drinks is between meals. We do not take enough fluid and we take it at the wrong time. If young ladies took a nice warm lemon drink instead of tea in the morning and afternoon, they would find it much better for their health and nerves. Some men folk take fluids between meals, but of the wrong kind. Some now frequent the tearooms, but- the stimulant they take is tea, a form of intemperance. Others, however, go elsewhere for ‘spots.’ I do not want to give a temperance lecture, but alcohol between meals, on an empty stomach, is deadly. “We are all trying to do. too much these days. Rush to business, rush home from business, rush to pleasures. The result is every woman is more or less nervy. In a few years we will be a race of neurasthenics.. We want to take both business and pleasure more quietly. We should walk more. For instance, in the morning we should walk a mile or . two before getting to the office. It may mean .getting up a little earlier in the morning. Do net take the tram or motor all the way. Then do the same going home in the evening. Do not forget a nice book and a comfortable chair for a quiet read at night take a lot of beating. “Instead of observing Sunday as a day of rest it is a rush again, on a motor drive or something of the sort. Nothing would be much more acceptable in these servantless days than a. ‘forty winks’ in the afternoon, and then'a quiet walk in the garden.”