Food and Exercise Fallacies Exposed by a Professor

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18255, 25 November 1933, Page 10

Food and Exercise Fallacies Exposed by a Professor

MAXY fallacies about food and excrci.Mi were exposed and..rmi'cli.'useful advice was given to (hose who wish to “slim ”'by J)r. U. Dodds, Courtauld Professor "of Biochemistry iu the University of London, when he spoke at the opening of the winter session of the. Middlesex Hospital Medical School in October. Common beliefs which he exploded included those. that: I’.eef tea, oysters and lobsters are. restorative;

Soup that sets to a. .jelly is particularly nourishing; Turkish baths, warm baths, massage and exercise all reduce weight; and Toast is less fattening than bread. All these beliefs I'rot. Dodds eont ro verted.

“Most, people,” he said, “have no idea what a nourishing food really is, and during times of convalescence and illness many valuable pounds are wasted in preparing more or less valueless dishes to rally the invalid’s strength. A typical example of this may be found in the misplaced faith of most people in beef tea. “The anxious mother purchases a pound or so of beef and proceeds to (mil it ‘lor a prolonged period. Then the solid material is strained oil’, and tin.' watery ttui i, which contains lhe so-called nourishment, is given to the invalid, while the solid matter is usually given to the dog.

“On 1 his •occasion it is very definitely the • dog which scores, because 99 per cent.-of the nourishment goes to the dog and only I per cent, to the invalid

“To the lay mind there is perhaps no more potent restorative than oysters. Now a dozen . oysters will yield 8S calories of energy. That is to say, the well-to-do person is spending sav 7s to purchase 88 calories ol food. “Hut the, slice of brown bread and butter which he eats with the oysters will give him well over .100 calories. Cold Baths Por ‘ ‘Slimming ’ ’ “How often does one hear a person refuse bread because- it is fattening, and say that he can only eat toast ’ Weight for weight, toast is more nourishing than bread. “One often hears that a particular soup must be really good and nourishing because it sets to a jelly when cold. This is due to the gelatine which is extracted from the nival or tendons, and if is known that gelatine is one of the few proteins which will riot support life..” “Clear soup is of very low caloric value and can be taken with impunity by a fat person. It is a pity to see anyone at a dinner, refusing oysters and clear soil]), because they fear that they will get fat, but while their Tltin friends arc consuming these low caloriod delicacies, they themselves are taking in literally hundreds of calories by eating rolls and butter. Most people, lie went on, had a false view of the weight-reducing character of exercise. It ivas much easier to absorb energy than to dissipate it, and exercise could not be recommended for weight reducing unless combined with very rigid dieting. Turking baths, warm, and tepid baths had no effect in dissipating energy, while -massage only reduced the weight of the masseur.

itold baths, on the other hand, did get rid of energy. A cold bath at (lodeg. F., lasting for live minutes, caused the loss of about seventy calories.

One Whi3ky— Three Eggs. “A glass of champagne, is equivalent to about 10 minutes’ squash, and a double whisky and soda would require tin* full half-hour to allow for the expenditure of the necessary amount of energy. Remember that a large whisky corresponds in food value to throe boiled eggs, yet very few who have dined out would take six boiled eggs as a night cap.”