Health Notes

Hutt News, Volume 11, Issue 12, 18 August 1937, Page 5

Health Notes

H _ (By H. K. and I). W. Adamson.) A FEW HEALTH RULES. We do not go so far as to claim that diet is a cure all, but we do insist that good health depends more upon what we eat than upon any other single factor. Specialised exercise, manipulative treatment, electro-therapeutic measures all play their respective roles in building up bodily resistance to disease or the eradication of physical defects. We may even delude ourselves into the belief that even these acknowledged avenues to better health arc all superfluous and that the panacea for all human ailments is a correct mental attitude. When we consider however, that all bodily tissues icnluding those of the nerves, brain, muscles, and indeed every single cell of which we arc 'composed and their secretions, have their origin in substances provided by the food we cat, it should not be a difficult matter to relegate diet to its proper place in all health regimens, viz., that of primary importance. Now it is not necessary, even if it were possible, l'or everyone to make an extensive study of nutrition, but the least one can do is to become acquainte\i with the more important facts relating to health, for, as we have so frequently emphasised, good health is no mere matter of luck, it is simply a question of knowing how.

Kat plain foods only, and particularly those foods which are unadulterated, unprocessed, and are free from condiments and preservatives. Then again,' oat according to the load your body machine has to carry, i.e., the manual worker needs more fuel than docs the sedentary worker. He requires more starchy foods an'd fats, foods such as breads, potatoes, butter, because these supply the necessary energy for the • greater output from his muscles. Most manual workers are under the impression that they must have more meat. As a matter of fact, however, there is little difference in the relative amounts of meat required by either manual or sedentary workers. This may be more readily understood when it is pointed out that meat, or the protein substance in meat, is used chiefly for structural purposes which is a vastly different function. True enough, meat can also be utilised by the body for the production of heat and energy, but it is not economical either for your health or for your purse. The brain or sedentary worker requires tar less starchy or carbohydrate foods than the physical workers, almost the same quantity of flesh iood, or its equivalent in vegetable protein, but he requires more of the vitamin containing foods, the greens and the fruits. Meat or flesh t'ood to the extent of }lb. daily will furnish the average adult of Mollis, weight with approximately half of his protein or muscle-building substance daily requirement. More and more foods should be eaten in the uncooked or so-called raw state. All fruits can be relished in this way, besides a great many vegetables, particularly lettuce, celery, onions, tomatoes, carrots (grated), parsley, cabbage and the like. All vegetables which require cooking should be steamed 1 , stewed, baked or cooked in a double boiler or casserole dish. The casserole method is easily the best as there is tar less waste of flavour or mineral salts. When vegetables have to be boiled, be sure and utilise the liquid in which they have been cooked because it contains most of the very substances for which the vegetables are consumed. Eat only when hungry, and on no account eat between meals. ' Chew every mouthful to a liquid before swallowing. The first phase of digestion takes place in the mouth and it is worth remembering that this is the only phase over which we have direct control. .Make use of it. Also, don't eat when overtired or when mentally distressed, as such emotional states as worry, agitation, eU-., simply interfer with the secretion of the digestive fluids. One of the best health rules is to drink two or three large cups of fairly warm water about half an hour before breakfast. Taken on a perfectly empty stomach this serves the .purpose of an internal bath and is just as important as your external toilet. The best of all health rules is—to make good health a habit.