Dress by an open fire or in a sunny room. A chill before breakfast produces indigestion and a desire for unnecessary hot foods. Never sleep by night lamps or any other artificial light. They are injurious to the eyes and absorb oxygen.
Mothers of girls should think it more important to furnish healthful exercise, wholesome food and restful sleep during the years of budding womanhood, than to worry about lessons in music and art, or a business education. All these can be taken up with much greater benefit after maturity. Arrested development of the organs of reproduction will lay the foundation for many years of unhappiness and suffering.
Many parents are impressed with the idea that their children require a large amount of sweets, in order to make them grow. We cannot force nature without paying the penalty. At maturity, we reap what has been sown for us, or what we have sown for ourselves.
Each individual is a law unto himself. Two different people afflicted with a disease of the same name may require entirely different treatment. Human beings cannot be standardized like inert machines.
All berries are rich in minerals and feed the brain cells. They contain traces of protein. Blackberries and huckleberries are rich in volatile oils and iron, and are of great medicinal value. They are excellent for the evening meal in the form of gruels and drinks. The pineapple contains bromaline and is of medicinal value in the treatment of certain stomach disorders.
Don’t use fruits in excess if you lead a very active life. The right proportion is the key note to maintain balance. Excessive fruits and rest is a prescription for sickness.
If no great hunger is felt at a meal, do not eat nuts or any kind of foods classed as protein. Neither stuff yourself with liquid foods. A fast or fruits, or fruit juices are the best under such conditions.
Cooked milk is not a natural food, but neither are cooked cereals. A combination of raw milk, or cream, and cooked cereals will force the stomach to absorb the milk immediately, while the remainder, poorly masticated and filled with germs, will tend to produce an acid process rather than an alkaline. If sugar is added to raw milk and cereals, the process of intestinal fermentation is complete.
Milk which is acid in reaction, or blue in color, is unfit as a food for children and invalids. If a mother is uncertain as to the quality of the milk she is feeding her child, she should have it examined by the city chemist.
Many people who find pancakes indigestible will do well to observe the time when they are most agreeable. If they are made with eggs, cream, and water, or with rich milk, and properly prepared and combined with suitable articles, they are generally agreeable to the most sensitive stomach. People of sedentary habits, or those who do brain work mainly, should not eat pancakes or muffins for breakfast.