HEALTH MYTHS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 666, 19 October 1933, Page 2

HEALTH MYTHS

ipEAS SHATTERED APPLE A DAY AND THE OYSTER TALE BOTH FALSE DIETETIAN'S GPINION. Lies, lies, all lies- ; That story about the apple and the doctor; all the beliefs for which actresses the world over have sacrificed themselves; the simple faith of stout men in athletics and Scotsmen in pbfridge — " Dietetic experts have just turned the world of food and drink upside down, and left us only one of otlr childhood beliefs, for the milky way is still the road to health. Even that theory about oysters and stout. The stout may be all right, but it's really the brown bread and butter you eat with it that counts. No, sir, there is no Santa Claus. In fact the most nourishing foods are the cheapest, according to an address at the opening of the Middlesex Hospitals Medical School's autumn session, by Dr. Dodds, Professor of Biochemistry at the Loridon University. . Expensive foods, he declared, are generally foods containing low caldries. For instance, a dozen oysters costing, in London 7/-, yield only 88 calories of energies, compared with 100 calories, given by the slice of brown bread and butter eaten with them. Butter is the most nourishing of food, and contains 3600 calories to the pound. People eat toast for slimming yet toast is mofe nourishing than bread," contintied Dr. Dodds. "It is a pity to see a diner refusing clear soup, because the poor person believes it is fattening. "On the other hand Ttirkish and other warm baths Will iiot redu'ce weight. But coild baths increase metabolism, and therefote balance the consumption of food. Cold Bath Cure "Five minutes in a cold bath results in the loss of 70 calories," said Dr. Dodds. On he talked, shattering belief after belief. "Exiercise cannot be recommended as weight-reducing, unless it is accompanied by rigid dieting. "The consumption of a pint of beer necessitates half an hour's squash racquets to dissipate the surplus energy, while one convivial evening ihust be followed by many days of exercise. "A large whisky is the equivalent in food value of three boiled eggs, yet few take the latter as a nightcap," the professor said. Then he eoncluded with his advice to those wishing to work off excess weight, following drinking. Try something like it yourself, after your next party. "My best suggestions," said Dr. Dodds, "are to climb Ben Nevis (Britain's highest mountain) five times or walk 60 miles, or remain in a cold bath for 50 hours." • "Apple Sauce" Professor V. H. Mottram, Professor of Physiology at the University of London, and atithor of books on food then followe{l with a real knockout. "Perhaps the most famous fallaey of all is that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. "It should be an orange a day. The apple is a most delightful fruit, yet is only sweetmeat and is negligible as nourishment or as a medicine. "On the other hand the orange is most valuable nourishment and medicinally. "It is anti-scorbutic, and rich in the vitamin contained in sunlight. It also has calcium, which is essential to bone-building. Recent experiments indicate that oranges are nearly the equal of milk in nourishment. "It is milk which is the chief nourishment in porridge. Oatmeal is chiefly water, and is merely filling, and not nourishing. "Incidentally," added Professor Mottram, the tradition that fish is good brainfood is not supported scientifically." Dr. Leith, who founded the London School of Dietetics, said that potatoes were not fattening, but were most nourishing, especially when baked in their Jiackets, and eaten, with the skin, and a little milk. "Film stars and athletes need not be afraid of potatoes, eaten thus," declared Dr. Leitch.