AIDS TO DIGESTION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19418, 28 August 1926, Page 6 (Supplement)

AIDS TO DIGESTION.

USE OF CONDIMENTS, Although the various condiments have in themselves (if we except olive oil) no food value, they have, nevertheless, an important and definite place in the dietary of civilised man. The more our lives beoome sedentary and artificial, the more do our appetites require to bo whetted, for bad digestion too frequently attends lack of appetite, says a physician in an exchange. The condiments, by rendering flavourless foods palatable, flog into activity the jaded salivary glands ("make our mouths water" in fact), tor it must not be forgotten that an important part of the process of digestion takes place in the mouth, uower down in the stomach their sharp tang is a direct stimulus to the gastric glands. their use is, therefore, from a dietetic i int of view, entirely justified, and it is b argument to point out that their abuse may lead to digestive troubles. Most important of all, perhaps, is vinegar, for in addition to the added zest Wiich its sharp taste gives to the appetite, it has a definite chemical digestive tction. It softens and partially absorbs the tough fibres of such meat as crab cr lobster, a;id dissolves the "cellulose" or indigestible capsule in which so much of the nutriment contained in vegetables is enclosed, enabling food that would otherwise be wasted to be absorbed. Popper, mustard, and the various spices which nowadays usually appear at our ibles depend for their effect upon the presence of pungent essential oils. The timulating action of a mustard plaster ■in the skin is well known. Precisely the . me effect, in a minor degree, is proluced in mouth and stomach when it is "nten. Heat and redness mean increased hlood-supply, and that in its turn means more efficient fulfilment of function. Most, of us, eat daily very much more salt that is actually necessary, but here again we may rightly justify ourselves by arguing that it is in itself harmless and fhat it renders food more appetising. Green vegetables are markedly deficient in it, and for this reason vegetarians often have a marked salt-craving.