HEALTH NOTES

Hutt News, Volume 16, Issue 4, 24 June 1942, Page 8

HEALTH NOTES

DRINKING WIT;.i MEALS By H. K. & D. W. Adamson, (Osteopaths). To drink or n-ot to drink at meal time;? seems to exercise the minds of many health seekers. Now, several factors have a direct bearing on this question and as happens in all case;; relating to diet, one man's meat may be another man's poison. Generally speaking however, there is nothing very objectionable about drinking with, one's meals, as a matter of fact, it is .sometimes advantageous, but the amount of liquid taken should depend upon the nature of the meal. For instance, the ordinary house-j hold meal in which breads and meats figure so largely, contain much less liquid than the more rational meal in which fruits and vegetables are the main features. In | the former more liquid can be tolerated in order to compensate for that drawn upon by the digestive juices. Heavily salted meals also draw upon the stored up liquid in the tissues and here again, more liquid is required, though of course not necessarily at meal time. Liquid is necessary for the digestive functions and in the normal digestive processes of the average adult, the digestive fluids receive, or obtain, the desired amount of water from the blood. We speak of digestion as a purely chemical process, but it must be remembered that in addition to its function as a medium for the conveyance of the various chemical agents in solution, water plays an important role as a solvent of food particles and thus aids the processes of emulsiffccation of food. But whether additional liquid per medium of the various meal timedrinks is required or not, depends, more upon habit and pathologlca. states of the digestive function than any real physiological necessity. There would be no need at al! fm liquid at meal time, if uie meals, were based upon our bodily ronuire-

ments, instead of as at mainly upon long continue. 1 habi's and custom. We would then eonoiime far greater amounts of fojd£ in their natural state as Nature intended us to eat them—unprocessed and unrefined, or before they had been despoiled by the »'ai"i »iU'' processes of manufacture "'through which most of our foods now' pass. Meal time drinking is more a question of expediency and habit. The body needs liquid of course. Lots of it in fact, but Ihe best time to take it is between meal::, and, immediately before and aPer meal?. A few minutes before eating, and from twenty minutes to half jln hour after eating. However, provided .one possesses no digestive weakness, there is as already stated, no serious objection to drinking at meal time, the drinking' is not used as a substitute for the salivary fluids, i.e., provided it is not taken into the mouth with the idea of assisting in tire'swallowing of food. Take your drink, either before or after eating and remember, if the meal is - a comparatively dry meal or one consisting mainly of bread stuffs, then you can tolerate more liquid than if the meal were better balanced by the addition of ample amounts of fruits and vegetables. A rather more important question to most people is not when to drink, BUT WHAT TO DRINK. Now don't think of tea and coffee as drinks; think of them as drugs. It might interest you to know that each average cup of either contains a medicinal dose of calfiene and if this does not place them in the same category as drugs, then we would much like to know what would. lir addition to this drug they both contain the more deadly poisons of | tannic acid and oxalic acid. Caffiene is a heart stimulant and although it adds nothing to one's general physical efficiency, it must be admitted that in mild and occas ional doses it is not particularly destructive. It is the constant use oi stimulants that deaden nervous sen- j sibility in time. Tannic jind oxalic acid, on the other hand, are particularly destructive poisons. Their introduction into the body in these ' and other drinks and foods, seriously impairs the digestive function and they are responsible for much rheumatoid disease as well. Water is the best drink. Milk and water is another excellent drink and so is plain milk, but remember that milk is also a most, nutritious

food. Then there are the various »"ruu and vegetable juice ; drinks which become available throughout their respective seasons. The juice of half a lemon or other citrus l'ruit when available in a tumbler of either hot or cold water makes an excellent dijink, for both young and old. Then there is a cereal coffee which may well take the place of tea or coffee. It is quite palatabic land has the merit of containing sufficient mineral salts to make it mi- | tritiou.s and gently laxative. j | Take six breakfast cups of bran, to one lb of black treacle (or preferably malt extract). Mix thoroughly together and place in shallow baking dishes. Bake in a slow oven till mixture becomes dry and dark coloured. (From two to three and a half hours). Turn frequently to prevent burning. When cooked through, allow to cool and pluco iu

screw top jars. To licjuify, take one cup of the col Tee to about four cups of water. Boil for ten minutes then .strain into a jug for use as required. The coffee will keep well and is wholesome and nutritious. If you must drink tea, make it weak and take it fresh. Another thins, don't indulge in extremes of hot or cold drinks at meal time. They both temporarily check the digestion. Finally, however harmless a drink is, or for that matter anything you take into your stomach may be, make doubly sure you take nothing that is definitely harmful.