SUGAR AND THE TEETH.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 587, 26 November 1920, Page 2

SUGAR AND THE TEETH.

THE CLAIMS OF HONEY.

AS FOOD AND MEDICINE

Bv W. J. JORDAN

(W lit ton for the "Times.')

At. Llie speci:: 1 request of the editor <n the "Times," the followfrg re .nnrkably interesting and convincing nrtide from the pen of Mr. W. J. Jordan, of Fapatoetoe, an expert oi bees and their product in relatioi. to the heal tli of the people, has bee: written. Wc commend its persual t' all parents. - Editor, "F. and I' Times.'

ihe article published recently b. the Education Department poiatii:; '..lit ti:e danger to the health and com fort of the children, caused by th. use of sugar, has undoubtedly bee. found necessary by the Departmer •f Health. "Tuberculosis and diseas generally may arise from dental dls ease, and dental disease is iargel. caussed by the use cf free sugar." It is true that sugar has come int general use during the last few cei turies as it has become low in prict Formerly* honey was the princip? sweet, and right down from Biblica times it has been mentioned as

valuable article of food 'which me., have been able to subsist. It is natural food and sweetmeat ant while, as is pointed out in t&e De partmental article, dental liseaswill progress in proportion to tli' consumption of free sugar consumed honey has no attendants ills; when i is restored to its former place as j common article of diet the health o the people will be greatly benefited. It is not the teeth only which an affected by the use of free sugar, bu< other organs of the body are als< detrimentally affected. Professor Cook, of Sacramento Val ley, California, says, "If cane sugar is absorbed without change it will b< removed by the kidneys and may result in their breakdown. There cai be no doubt but that in eating honev our digestive machinery is save<" ' work that it would have to perform if we ate cane sugar. We all knov. how children long for -candy. Thit longing voices a need, and is anothei evidence of the necessity of sweet meat in oup diet. Children should bt given all the honey at each meal time that they will eat. It is safer, anc will largely do away with inordinate longing for candy and other sweets, and in lessening the desire will doubtless diminish the amount of cane sugar eaten." Dr. Nuttann, of Los Angeles, Cali fornia, has stated that honey is a most valuable food, and he is recommending it to patients suffering from impaired digestion. Dr. Talmadge, of Salt Lake City, is using honey very successfully in th< treatment of typhoid fever patients, and he finds that it is readily absorbed even by those whose digestion is very weak. , - Dr. J. H. Kelloff endorses honey as the best form of sweet, in fact all doctors who have made a study of honey as compared with sugar oi syrups strongly recommend its use. Undoubtedly honey as a food is very healthy. It is admitted that those who use honey freely at meal time find it corftlucive to health and lonslife.

When Augustus Julius Caesar, dining, with Pollio Rumilius on his 100 th birthday, asked him how he had preserved both vigor of body and mind. Follio replied, "Interius melle exterius oleo" (internally by honey, externally by oil). T. G. Newman in his "Honey as food and medicine," said, "It is Nat uie's offering to man—ready for use. distilled drop by drop in myriads of flowers by a more delicate process than any human laboratory ever produced. It is a common expression that honey is a luxury, having no-1 thing to do do with the life-giving principle. This is an error; honey is food in one of its most concentrated forms. True it does not add so mucl to the growth of the muscles as does beefsteak, but it does impart othe; properties no less necessary to health and vigorous physical and intellectual action. It gives warmth to the system, arouses nervous energy, ancgives vigor to all the vital functions.' "To the labourer it gives strength, to the business man mental force. Its effects are not like ordinary stimulants such as spirits, etc., but it produces a healthy action, the results of which are pleasing and permanent—a sweet disposition and a bright in tellect."

The honey produced in this country is growing in favour the world over; hundreds of tons are exported annually, and perhaps the present sugar shortage will operate to the advantage of the people by calling them back to the food of their fathers. The traditions of the remotest antiquity show that honey has always been considered a pleasant and healthy article of food. For several thousand years it was the only sweet known.

Now that the sap of the cane, or the beet, converted into sugar, or the cheap corn syrup, made by boiling corn starch with sulphuric acid, have become a considered necessity in every family, let us see what place honey may occupy in our diet, not only as a condiment like suga*", bat as food, drink and medicine.

Fanuiers! It ir> to your interest t<rcccpt S&lr. jWldie's invitation tc meet Oddfellows' Hall on what he lias tw sayN^|*Co-operation." See advertisement in*N»js issue. IS The very high cost of petrol in this Dominion— at present, it is about 4s a gallon- was the subject of discussion at a conference of the New Zealand motor trade held at Timaru recently. It was stated that a very large proportion of the cost so fas as this country is concerned is entailcd by the 'handling of the oil in tins and eases, instead of in bulk. Delegates assorted that- if the (»fl were brought to this country in tank steamers, and stored in suitable tanks at the principal ports ;md distributing centres, the reiiuetion in freights, handling, and distribution charges would -amount to Is C>d per gallon at present rates, reducing the price to 2s (id per gallon. The conference decided to approach the Government for assistance in reforming shipping and distribution methods. As New Zealand is now spending about a million a year on petrol and other motor fuel, the matters seems well worthy of attention.