CHAPTER XIX.
MENUS.
For a balanced dietary we need some building food, protein; some force food, starch, sugar and fat; some of the mineral salts in organic form, best obtained from raw fruits and vegetables; and a medium in which the foods can be dissolved, water.
We need a replenishment of these food stuffs at intervals, but it is not necessary to take all of them at the same meal, or even during the same day. Those who believe that all alimentary principles must enter into every meal must necessarily injure themselves through too complex eating. In talking of these alimentary principles, reference is made to them only when they are present in appreciable quantities.
To have the subject better in hand, let us again classify the most important foods:
Flesh foods, which are rich in protein.
Nuts, which contain considerable protein and fat.
Milk and cheese, which contain much protein.
Eggs, taken principally for their protein.
Cereals, the most important contents being starches.
Tubers, containing much starch.
Legumes, rich in protein and starch.
Fresh fruits, well flavored and high in salt contents.
Sweet fruits, containing much fruit sugar.
Succulent vegetables, chiefly valuable because of salts and juices.
Fats and oils, no matter what their source, are concentrated foods which furnish heat and energy when burned in the body.
When people are free and active in the fresh air they can eat in a way that would soon ruin the digestive powers of those who lead more artificial lives. It is a well known fact that we can go hunting, fishing, tramping or picnicking and eat mixtures and quantities of foods that would ordinarily give us discomfort. The freedom and activity, the change and the better state of mind give greater digestive power.
Those who wish to live their best must pay some attention to the combination of food. It is true that very moderate people, those who take no more food than the body demands, can combine about as they please. These moderate people do not care to mix their foods much. They are satisfied with very plain fare. Much as we dislike to acknowledge the fact, nearly all of us take too much food, even those who most strongly preach moderation. By combining properly much of the harmful effect of overeating can be overcome.