DIET AIDS TO HEALTH

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 894, 11 February 1930, Page 5

DIET AIDS TO HEALTH

IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING

WHAT TO EAT

One of the penalties we pay for living under the artificial conditions of modern civilisation is the loss of some of our primitive instincts. One of these is the instinctive selection of the proper foods we should eat, and the quantities we should consume.

Few people give any attention to the question of diet. Nearly everyone is influenced in the choice of foods by cravings which are no longer natural, yet the food we eat is of the most vital importance. It either gives us the materials from which the digestive system can build up new, healthy tissue, or it cumbers the system with substances which are either non-nour-ishing, or actively injurious. How, it may be asked, is the busy man or woman to know just what foods are nutritious and what are actively harmful ?

The answer is that this i 3 only possible by a. careful and intelligent study of diet and its effects on health. The old-world system of prescribing medicines for every sort of ailment complained of by patients is fast passing. Today the well-equipped and enlightened doctor aims at building up the strength of his patient to resist disease and to overcome that terribly common malady of a 50 per cent, feeling. And lie does this by regulating diet. NECESSARY PROPORTIONS

One can take; the analogy between the hurain body—which is an engine —and the modern motor-car. Both go efficiently so long as the fuel supplied —the food or petrol—is pure and of high quality—and so long as waste products —carbon and dirt, or toxins—are eliminated. The ideal diet must contain in the right proportion of fats, carbohydrates and proteins. Generally speaking, (hose foods which enter the body uncooked supply the maximum of what is known as vitaminnus

potency. Vitamins are mysterious qualities of several sort 3 which, exist in large quantities in some foods, and are almost absent from others. It is the vitamins which confer health. For the man or woman who feels that he or she has not the necessary time or patience to study this very important question of diet, a few hints as to foods and feeding may be helpful. First and this is most essential in hot weather—the diet should contain a high percentage of uncooked green foods and fruits. The day should always be started with fruit of some sol 'i- grape fruit, refreshing and tonic, is ideal. After uncooked fruits, vegetables come next in importance. The use of soya beans as a vegetable is as yet practically unknown. Yet these despised beans are the richest food known to science. UNFAIR TASK Brown bread, containing all the vitamins of the wheat, should always be used. White bread is bad, not only for the digestion, but for the teeth as well. It probably accounts for the major part of our dental troubles. Meat should be eaten in moderation, and only once a day in hot weather. Fish is a good basis for a meal. It is (ich in phosphates, and more easily digested. Most people bolt their food, thus throwing on the intestines work intended for the teeth. Food swallowed unmasticated enters the stomach in lumps, which have to be broken down by the digestive juices. When a large meal is consumed in this way the stomach is unable to cope with its unfair task. Indigestion, flatulence and heartburn are the common symptoms of this abuse of the digestive apparatus. East slowly, eat regularly, eat moderately. Avoid artificial foods, and foods which conlain little nourishment. Rest for a little after meals, and never talk of work or worries at the table. Remember that diet, which so many people never think twice about, is the first and most important factor in health and happiness. In the stomach and lower digestive tract is the seat of the majority of modern ills.