FOOD
In considering the matter of food it is natural to associate with it the stomach. Too often we are likely to consider the stomach simply as a convenience to receive whatever we may feel in the humor of eating. Its main function, however, is to receive certain limited supplies of food, properly prepared, and to take from them the necessary elements required to sustain the body. We need certain foods, like eggs, meat, cheese, beans, to build muscle; starchy foods, such as bread and potatoes; sweets, such as those from fruits and certain vegetables, and also smaller quantities of oils and minerals. It is a good plan to so arrange the daily diet that a combination of starch, sugar, fats and muscle-building foods may be had. Most of us, however, do not have the time or experience necessary to analyze the food we eat to learn its construction and relative food value. Many excellent text books have been prepared on this subject with ready-made menus for the inexperienced. The American Red Cross Text Book on Home Dietetics gives not only proper food combinations but tells how to prepare the food. A copy may be found in any public library.
Dr. C. F. Langworthy has prepared a tabulation of common foods in the five important groups. For a well balanced diet, at least one article from each group should be represented in the meals each day.
It is most vitally important that we see to it that whatever we do eat is thoroughly chewed. If there should be a limit on the time we have for eating we could make no mistake by eating half as much and chewing it twice as well. Too much food, insufficiently chewed, can be nothing but harmful. In fact, the popular tendency is to eat too much on Sundays and holidays. This habit of forcing the stomach to work overtime on state occasions is probably responsible for most cases of indigestion. Eat to satisfy your hunger. Remember the old copy-book maxim: “We eat to live; we do not live to eat.”
| For Muscle | For Heat and Energy | For Blood and Bone | For Fat | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Protein) | (Starch) | (Sugar) | (Mineral or organic acids) | (Fats) |
| Lean meat | Bread | Syrup | Spinach | Butter |
| Poultry | Crackers | Honey | Peas | Cream |
| Fish | Macaroni | Jellies | Lettuce | Top-milk |
| Oysters | Rice | Dried-fruits | Potatoes | Salt pork |
| Eggs | Cereals | Candy | Turnips | Bacon |
| Nuts | or some other form of flour | Sugar | Apples | Chocolate |
| etc. | etc. | etc. | Oranges | etc. |
| Berries | ||||
| etc. | ||||
The stomach is a delicate instrument, it is the center of a great many nerves, and it operates best only when these nerves are normal. Excitement, worry, over-exertion and the like, all have a bad effect upon the stomach. Under such conditions it would be better not to eat at all, for the time being at least, rather than to force upon the stomach a lot of food it is not in condition to digest. The suggestion, therefore, is to choose pleasant surroundings, free yourself of any nervous tension, and chew thoroughly.
Drink water. It acts as a drainage system to carry off waste matter of the body, and the more you drink the better. However, don’t use it as a means of washing down the food to save the trouble of chewing it.