As the relative amount of proteid, carbonaceous matter, water, and salts, may vary considerably in different articles, we rightly have combinations of food at our meals. A pudding of corn-flour and water contains no building material, hence we add milk and eggs, which do. A meal of meat and cheese requires bread and potatoes, etc., etc.
Appetite is a good test of the amount and also of the particular kind of food required, provided the appetite is in a healthy condition. If a healthy man refrain from carbonaceous foods for a day or so, he feels a great longing for them, a sign that the body really needs them. It is of immense importance, then, that the appetite should not be accustomed to over-indulgence, for then it is no guide in our selection of foods (see Appetite). If disease indicates such over-indulgence, food should be restricted till the appetite is accustomed to a smaller diet. Bilious people, for example, may have accustomed their appetite to desire more carbonaceous and fatty foods than necessary. On the contrary, badly-fed people often require a coaxing of the appetite to eat strengthening foods, such as oatmeal, cheese, and brown bread.
In order to regulate our diet, it is of importance to have some idea of the composition of common articles of food. We get our food, as everybody knows, from the vegetable and animal kingdoms. The majority of the Anglo-Saxon race live on a diet of animal and vegetable combined, but many exclude flesh from their diet. In Southern Asia, for example, the vast bulk of the people rarely, or never, touch meat. The vegetable kingdom supplies us largely with the carbonaceous or muscle-forming food, whereas the animal kingdom is rich in proteid, or tissue-forming food. Much proteid, however, can be obtained from the vegetable kingdom—peas, beans, lentils, dried fruits, and nuts being particularly rich in it. We should endeavour to cultivate an appetite for these vegetables containing proteid, as it is a great mistake to rely entirely for this element on meat, as so many of our race do. The animal products—such as cheese, milk, and eggs—will also form an efficient substitute for much flesh-food. This simple diet suits both the brain-worker and the athlete, though each will have to make a selection of those foods most required by him. Certainly much animal food is liable to produce kidney disease, gout, and kindred troubles. If we have a tendency to corpulence (and many have this in advancing years), to resort to an exclusive meat diet will produce these troubles. Far better abstain from vegetables, such as potatoes, and from sweet dishes, pastry, etc., and eat largely of the green-leaf vegetables and fruits with the articles of a simple diet which build but do not fatten the body. (See Diet and Corpulence; Diet for Middle Age, and the Aged.)
Fruit is a very useful article of food. The acid helps to keep the blood alkaline (which alkalinity is necessary for the normal performance of its functions). It prevents acidity of the stomach. The dried fruits, such as dates, figs, raisins, are very rich in proteid. Nuts also are rich in proteid and in fat; they require, however, careful mastication. Mills can be purchased cheaply for grinding nuts; the ground meal, either alone or made into a cream, forms a delicious adjunct to stewed fruit.
Green vegetables are a much neglected food. The salts they contain are very useful. They require careful cooking. A cabbage boiled in the ordinary way loses in the water its valuable salts. In case of flatulence arising from indigestion, the use of vegetables may, however, require to be restricted, at least for a time. Some vegetables are palatable raw, such as salads and celery. Indeed, raw vegetables have a tonic effect on the bowels.
Bread should never be too fresh, and should be thoroughly chewed. Zwieback (twice baked) can be recommended, especially for those who suffer from indigestion. It is made by cutting bread, preferably wheaten, in thin slices, and putting these in a slow oven till thoroughly dry and lightly browned. Wholemeal bread should always be present on the table, as its use prevents constipation. Indian corn can be made into a number of palatable cakes, and is a very nutritious food. Home-made jam and honey are digestible forms of sugar, but like all sugar foods should be consumed in moderation, especially by sedentary individuals. Condiments should be avoided, the healthy appetite is better without them, and they irritate the stomach.
Regarding animal foods, they are often spoilt by over-cooking, and it should be remembered that when lightly done they are easiest to digest. White fish, tender steak, or juicy joint and cutlet are superior to the oily fish, and kidney, liver, and heart. These internal organs should be avoided, as they contain even more than the rest of the animal certain extracts liable to produce uric acid (see). Milk, cheese, eggs, and butter are not open to these objections. Cheese is a food very rich in proteid. It requires careful chewing, and may with advantage be grated before use. Buttermilk is a valuable and strengthening food. A generation or so ago the Scotch peasants lived almost exclusively on buttermilk and oatmeal, and were a magnificent type of men in every respect. Whey is a pleasant drink, and may be made a substitute for tea where the latter is prohibited. It is also beneficial for the kidneys. Jellies are a pleasant addition to the diet of convalescents, but have little nutritive value.
We would strongly urge upon our readers the advantages of simple diet. We mean by this the avoidance of all those rich and spiced dishes which are made up in so many ways to tempt the appetite, of alcohol in every form, of meat to the extent often consumed by the well-to-do, of pastry and such indigestible food as heavy cakes, of fried food in general; and, on the other hand, the adoption of a diet largely consisting of milk, cheese, eggs, butter, cereals, root and green vegetables, fruits, and nuts. It will not be found an expensive diet; on the contrary, it is remarkably cheap; it will give little trouble, for but little cooking will be needed. It may require some little effort at first, and some breakings with social customs, but far less of both than will be imagined. Seeing that a large part of disease is ultimately traceable to a rich and stimulating diet, and to too much food in general, simplicity is imperative on all who seek for the preservation of health. Eat less, eat better (or more slowly, with perfect mastication), eat simpler foods at your meals, eat at these meals only when you require it, and never between your meals. Such eating will ensure good digestion, good assimilation, good blood, and good health.
Diet and Corpulence.—A tendency to obesity should always be carefully checked by attention to diet and exercise (see Exercise). The fattening foods are those which contain either fat or carbonaceous substances. Carbonaceous substances are found in bread, sugar, arrowroot, puddings in general, pastry, potatoes. The fats, such as butter, cream, and animal fat, should be much restricted in their use. As we have above indicated, however, it is not wise, as many corpulent people do in their efforts to get rid of this superabundance of fat, to make up for their restriction by an increase in the quantity of meat consumed. Cheese, peas, beans, buttermilk, and oatmeal might with advantage be drawn upon instead. At the same time, if the circulation is good it is well with such proteid diet to increase the amount of water drunk during the day, as this helps to eliminate the waste which would otherwise overtax the kidneys. Green vegetables and fruits should form a large part of the diet.
It must be remembered that it is dangerous to strike out at once all fattening foods from the diet; many have injured their health permanently by such injudicious haste, and brought on floating kidneys, etc. Remember, also, that exercise is a much safer reducer of fat than a very great reduction in diet, unless there has been a decided tendency to continually overeat. All alcoholic beverages must be strictly forbidden.