IF YOU EAT A BIG BREAKFAST

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19903, 24 September 1926, Page 14

IF YOU EAT A BIG BREAKFAST

Those of us who like to take the early part of the day quietly', without energetic talking or eating, feel rather soothed in our vanity when the newest food experts tell us that a big breakfast is all wrong. Whether wo are really so few, whether the British breakfast is really so common as is supposed, it is difficult to judge. Most diet reform writers assume that it is a part of of our national life. Mr J. S. Bainbridge, H.Sc., in his “Diet for the Million,” even treats it with u certain respect. “The sacred British breakfast us on institution will not . be attacked, but it should certainly bo reduced to more reasonable proportions than the average. Even assuming that it is necessary ‘to lay a good foundation,’ the «ord good should he regarded as referring to the quality and not to the quantity of the material, A breakfast which begins with a largo plate of porridge, continues with lish and eggs and bacon and concludes with generous helpings ot toast and marmalade, accompanied probably by coffee made with half • milk and sweetened with 50-100 calories of sugar, may ho a culinary achievement, but it is n physiological ordeal which no selfrespecting stomach should he asked to undergo . . . Such a breakfast can hardly fail to ‘put a blanket over the brain’ at any rate for the first hour of two of the morning.” The author is convinced that three meals a day are sufficient; 'c meal which he regards as “utterly condemned” and to be safely ruled out of the diet is afternoon tea. _ Of (be early morning tup of tea. provided it is reasonably weak, bo writes quite kindly as “an excellent intestinal stimulant.” Wo must guard against the possibility of experiencing painful omotionwhilo eating, and children should never he spoken sharply to while eating. Anger is an active breeder of indigestion. T'ood must ho enjoyed_ if it, is to be digested properly, and if it is (o l>c enjoyed, care and worry at meals times must be abolished. “The cocktail is a vicious habit, but it is justified if it removes from a man’s shoulders anxieties and worries he lias been unable to leave on bis office table. . . . Pleasant company and fight <•0)1versation at a meal may be better appetite stimulants than the best cocktail ever mixed. . . . The wisest plan at any rate for anyone who suffers from digestive troubles, is to rest for half an hour before nml after ant large meal. The cross-word purile. provided if is not taken too serious seriously, may thus bo a definite aid to digestion. (Continued on p&go 15-}