HEALTH COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2513, 14 May 1902, Page 64

HEALTH COLUMN.

Foods Under-estimated ia Value. As a general rule, too little attention is 1 given to the subject of foods. We frequently eat those which are either unwholesome or not suited to the demands of the body. , If more attention were given to the study of foods we would all be better off health-wise and financially, except, perhaps, some doctors and undertakers. A perfect food should supply all of the demands of the body: (1) Heat for warming the body and producing mechanical energy, and (2) material for renewing worn-out tissues. Some foods contain more heat-producing and less tissue-renewing materials than others. The potato, for example, is an excellent heat-producing food, but is deficient in the nutrients most necessary for vital purposes. The egg, on the other [ hand, is rich in the albumen, or proteid nutrient — the tissue-renewing material. Neither food alone -will supply all of the demands of the body, but jointly they are capable of doing so. A great many of our foods are overestimated in value, while some are underestimated. Cream is generally considered the most important part of milk, Avhile ekhnmed milk is considered of little account. What is cream? Its principal material is but-ter-fat, a valuable heat-producing food, but deficient in nutrients essential for vital purposes and for the general repair of the body. Skimmed milk contains these compounds. Of the two, skimmed milk, strange as it may seem, will sustain life much longer than cream. If a healthy child were fed entirely on cream it would be starved for the want of proper bone, muscle, and tissue form- ! ing food. The intention here is not to underrate cream, but to give a different impression in regard to the value of skimmed milk. More skimmed milk should be used in the preparation of food. In bread-making it results in producing a more nutritious bread. As to the use of mi'k it can be said that it is not- economy to purchase meat, even at 15 cents per lb, in preference to milk at 5 or 6 cents a quart. While milk comes nearest to being a perfect food, the mistake should not be made in confining a growing child too closely to a milk diet and not giving any solid food. A child's digestive apparatus is weakened if some solid food is not given at the proper stage of its development Professor Davenport, of the Illinois Experiment Station, recently conducted some interesting experiments in feeding calves. While they are not human babies, these bovine babies nevertheless illustrate the point in question. All solid food was withheld, and nothing but milk was given. At first the calves grew, but after a time, even with an abnormally large amount of milk, they failed to grow, became weak, were unable to stand, aVid finally died— even -Rhcn fed with a generous amount of pure, whole milk. They died simply because they were unable to get some solid food to develop the various organs. Some of the calves were fed a little .solid food, after they were partially paralysed, and they soon recovered. Sugar is another article of food which is de'?rving of more attention. Many regard Fiigar simply as a food adjunct, and not as a true food. This is a mis- | take ; sugar is just as much of a food |as flour. Every adult should use, on an I average, 2oz per day of svgar — it is a I part of his food ; the amount for young j children should, of course, be proporI tionately less. A child should not be deI jnciraA eaikelv pi au£stf. neither should he

ibe allowed to eat excessive amounts. An , ounce to an ounce and a-half per day is j not an excessive amount for a child of 12, and three ounces per day for a hard working man is only a liberal allowance.'^-" New York Herald.