To Prevent Heat Frostration.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 24 July 1914, Page 8

To Prevent Heat Frostration.

WHY SOME FOODS ARE GOOD AND OTHERS BAD FOR YOU DURING HOT WEATHER.

(By EUGENE CHRISTIAN, F.S.D.)

Heat in the human body is con- ! trolled almost entirely by what we eat and drink. The temperature of the body is raised by three things only : 1. The temperature of the atmosphere. 2. Activity of work. 3. The fuel (food) we put into the human power plant. We have, of course, no control over the temperature of the atmosphere, but everyone can control very largely the heat of the body by the food they eat. Meat and energy being synony- :>!'■•!'-: term:. H is a popular theory that in order to keep the body supplied with the maximum of energy t:..- same amount of heat-producing foods must be taken winter and summer. Modern science has shown this theory to be wrong. All cases of sunstroke and heat prostration are caused by partaking of food or drink \'-at raise the heat up to the danger line inside, while the sun is giving us almost body temperature direct. Starches, sweets, and fats are three of the principal heat-makang foods and at the same time are the three staple articles of diet. People are such creatures of habit that ■were their doctor to prescribe a aaeal omitting any one or all of these things they would feel that they were being starved and probably accuse their adviser of being a crank while in reality the over-consumption of these very things is the cause of not only sunstroke and heat prostration, but a vast majority of stomach and intestinal disorders. Starches, fats, and sugars, therefore, should be eaten very sparingly during hot weather, as fat is used by the body wholly for the purpose of making heat. The amount of fat we should consume at each meal can be easily determined by the temperature of the weather. While starches and sugar serve other purposes, yet the same rule should govern their consumption. All grain products, such as corn, wheat, rye. barley, oats, rice, potatoes, honey, and sugar are classed as carbohydrates .'starch and sugar). The principal fat foods are butter, cream, nuts, olive oil, and meat. While meat, as usually • served, contains only from 10 to 15 per cent, of fat, yet its heat-making property is .not .confined entirely to the fat element. Meat contains a large J :imount of uric acid,' carbon diox- | trie, and toxic poisons, which must'1 be cast out of the body, all of which requires energy Cheat). This accounts for the immediate or stimulating effect of meat. Potatoes and all grain products, bread, pastries, breakfast foods, etc. belong to the starch family, and these, together with flesh foods, constitute the principal diet of a large majority of the people winter i and summer. These are all heat-1 producing foods, and if the body is not able to convert them info heat and energy the surplus, which cannot lx) used, undergoes fermentation and decay which we call auto-in-toxication. The circulation is quickened, the heart is worked overtime, and the blood becomes superheated in the effort of Nature to rid the body of these poisons. This becomes the direct, cause of a great number of physical disorders, while. if digestion and assimilation is good 'and the body is able to make -use of them they are stored up in the form of fat and become a source of great danger, especially in hot Weather. The milk-soda fountain drink, cold fruit juices, and ices are all good, but sweet drinks or an excess of sweets in any form should be avoided during hot weather. Sugar is one of the great heat makers, besides the excess that cannot be used produces a langour that is often mistaken for fever, 'want of sleep, or plain laziness. Of all drinks, plain and cold water (not iced) is the best. If an abundance of this was drunk and a reasonable amount of activity taken the body could be given a real "house cleaning," and the hot day, instead of being a menace to life could be made a thing to be desired. Instead of resting in the shade, : lolling in the shade, and doing everything to avoid the heat, people should learn how to make the hot day healthful. The hot day is as necessary to good health as the cold or temperate one. In health the food we eat controls bodily heat almost entirely, therefore the remedy for sunstroke and heat prostration goes back to the food question, as all water goes back to the sea. The following diet regime, which is given for one day, if observed throughout the heated term of summer, would so far remove the causes of sunstroke and heat prostrations that the average person could go ' about their daily pursuits, work or play, without the slightest fear or danger from heat. The first thing after rising take a glass of cold water (not iced) and a j bit of juicy fruit. Devote from i three to five minutes to taking moderate deep breathing exercises by a cool shower or sponge bath and then a short walk in the open air before breakfast. I Breakfast (for the sedentary worker): [ Melon, peaches, or berries. I Two very ripe bananas with '

cream, raisins, or figs. Two or three tablespoons'of nuts One or two glasses of milk. Tablespoon of bran. Luncheon : Onions, carrots, or parsnips. Lettuce and tomato salad. Baked potato. Melon, fruit and berries. •Dinner : One fresh vegetable, peas, beans, corn, or asparagus. Baked potato. A green salad. Melon, peaches, or berries, or a small service of home-made ice cream. Breakfast (for the out-of-door man): Fruit or berries. One or two eggs lightly cooked or whipped with a little sugar, cream, and lemon juice. One or two very ripe bananas with thin cream. . \One or two spoonfuls of nuts. A glass or two of milk. Luncheon : Whole wheat bread with butter. Very ripe bananas with dates, figs or raisins and nuts. One pint of milk or cottage cheese with brown bread. Dinner : Corn, carrots, parsnips, beans, peas. Any two of these. A green salad. Baked potato. Two very ripe bananas baked in ten minutes. A small piece of whole wheat bread. One glass of buttermilk or a bit of fish. Insomuch as the human body is composed of 66 per cent, water, each meal should contain approximately 66 per cent, of moisture. If the meal is composed of dry food or articles containing less than 66 per cent, moisture, then the difference should be made up Ijy drinking water with meals. * All stimulants and narcotics, such as tobacco, beer and spirits, should be avoided ; they heat the blood and raise the nervous system.above par only to drop it further below each time . they are partaken of. In studying and experimenting with foods it should be borne in mind that quantity has much to do with the production of body heat. Every pennyweight ot food eaten in excess of the amount accually needed and used, especially in summer, becomes a source of danger, from two sources : First, the excess which undergoes a form of decomposition and is irritating and feverish to the body, and, second, this excess must be disposed of at the expense of energy which might be devoted to useful physical or mental labour. —"London Budget."