NATURE'S SANATORIUM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22193, 21 August 1935, Page 5

NATURE'S SANATORIUM

THE FOOD WE EAT STUDY THE COMBINATIONS No. 11. In further discussing the part that diet plays in health and the vital importance of securing the" right combinations. Dr. Howard Hay, in an overseas magazine, makes the comment that all we can do to cure disease is to stop causing disease. The first step in diseaso prevention is right eating. If you will remember that the starches require alkaline conditions for their initial digestion, and the proteins require acid conditions (the digestion of the fats is a much more simple process, which does not interfere with the digestion of either proteins or carbohydrates at the same time), you will see at once that these two classes of food should never be taken at the same meal. Separate the incompatible foods, eating proteins at one meal, carbohydrates at" another, and you will have begun the good work of detoxicating your body and allowing it to perform its natural functions without interference.. This is inevitably my first advice to patients who come to me. I direct them to learn which foods are incompatible, to put themselves on a diet which may include proteins, carbohydrates, the acid fruits and all the fresh vegetables —and plenty of these —a diet which, in fact, forbids nothing except rhubarb, cranberries, vinegar, spiced sauces*and condiments, cakes, pastries and rich, made-up dishes, but which strictly regulates the protein foods to one meal, the carbohydrates to another; to continue this for two weeks, while taking exercise and going about their usual business, and then see liqw they feel. The Ideal Breakfast One thing to remember is that although meat and milk are both proteins. milk in all its forms —sweet, sour, buttermilk —combines properly only with fruits and vegetables—never with bread or- potatoes, never with meats. A glass of milk and a glass of orange juice form the ideal round-the-year breakfast- Try beginning the day with these foods and watch that tired, middle-of-the-morning "gone" feeling vanish awr.y. ' Of course, for patients who are suffering from a specific disease, the diet must be regulated to individual needs, and there must be further treatment and care. If none of us ever ate until we were Hungry, or drank until we were thirsty, or slept until we were sleepy, we would be much healthier. No dog or cat will eat unless it is hungry. Man, through ages of habit, thinks that he has to, and all of us eat too much. If this does not show in overweight, it shows in illnesses, in fatigue, in chronic constipation, in lack of colour and lowered vitality, in a shortened life span.

Especially in summer is it necessary to guard against the race habit of overeating. Then is the time to cut down the amount of starch and sugar, both carbon-producing foods. Only onefourth the heat units in the food we oat is utilised as energy. The remaining three-fourths are radiated from the body. With the mercury standing at 90, which of us wants to turn his body into a furnace? Vet we do. We think to "cool off' on ice-cream, instead of on melon or unsweetened fruit juices. We eat rich cakes and pies and puddings, instead of filling up on fresh salads of raw vegetables, and then we complain of the hot weather. The Fruit Diet But, you say, I must have some sweet foods. Very well, if you must. Try dates and figs, raisins and the fresh, sweet fruits —peaches, pears, berries of all kinds (only these without sugar). After a few days you won't miss the ices and th<> creamy cakes. And you'll feel and look si- much better, it's ten chances to 'Jiic that you'll never go back to them again How does this new way of eating affect the summer picnic basket? Of course sandwiches filled with meats, fish, eggs, or cheese are taboo. Replace these with sandwiches filled with vegetable salads mixed with a litle mayonnaise, with bacon sandwiches; add a few raw shallots —the humble shallot deserves a better place on our menus—and plenty of fruits, and your picnic will be a success, with all tho picnickers feeling the better, not the worse, for the lunch. A good rule is: four-fifths of the food eaten daily should be fruits and vegetables, and u large portion of those should be raw. For persons doing active, manual work one otarch meal, and one protein meal daily is best. For sedentary workers a starch meal one day and a protein meal the next day, with other repasts made up of fruits and vegetables, is sufficient. One protein only should be taken at a meal—either milk, meat, fish, eggs or cheese. If no meat is taken you ueed two quarts of milk daily. The Root ol Trouble

We can safely write down acidosis as the father of all evils—the devil at whom Martin Luther is reputed to have Hung his ink bottle, and who has bothered a host of good men and women before and since that day. Half of your troubles that arc not caused by money, yes, even your troubles with your wife or your husband, are caused by acidosis. Cure, prevent this, and the divorce mills will stop grinding for lack of grist.

Fatigue is the first warning signal of an acid condition. Do you got up feeling tired? Does it take you several hours to get for the day? Are you one of those who can't lie cheerful before breakfast? The first morning that you get out of bed feeling weary, you are getting off on the wrong loot, aid you are heading toward disease. Heed that red light, begin that very day to eat wisely (which means, separate the incompatible ioods). A HOUSEHOLD FRIEND It is worth while to remember that milk, which is fortunately almost always at hand in the house, is valuable for manv*different purposes. Ink or iodine stains, if promptly treated with warm milk, may usually he washed out successfully afterward. Warm milk should be appl'ied to scorch marks 011 white cotton or linen articles, before they are washed, and put out to bleach. To give lustre to white silk a little milk should bo added to the rinsing water. An inadequate supply of butter may be eked out, in an emergency, by the addition of hot imlk, beaten in with a wooden spoon, in the proportion half a pint to one pound. When large quantities of bread have to be buttered for sandwiches the butter will spread more easily if a little hot milk is beaten into it. Stale rolls, cakes, or buns, if dipped in milk and slowly heated in a moderate oven, are much more appetising. Tinned thick soups of various kinds may be improved and also made to go farther by the addition of hot milk. In slight cases of choking, after the obstruction has been removed, milk may be given as a soothing drink.