(c) Malnutrition or anemia, due to insufficient food, or to lack of some food element; frequently due to lack of fats or minerals.
While the exact relation between wrong feeding and some of the specific forms of illness is still a moot question, some of the probabilities now tentatively held by many physicians may be indicated in a general way, as in the following table:
| “Colds”: | |
| Overfeeding, especially of protein or sugar | |
| Colic: | |
| Irregular feeding | |
| Overfeeding | |
| Food taken too rapidly | |
| Constipation: | |
| Lack of fruits and green vegetables | |
| Lack of cellulose | |
| Lack of water | |
| Irregular feeding | |
| Convulsions: | |
| Solid food at too early age | |
| Food difficult to digest | |
| Constipation | |
| Gastric indigestion (nausea): | |
| Indigestible combinations, e.g. fried foods, milk with acids | |
| Excess of sugar or starch | |
| Excess of fat | |
| Irregular feeding | |
| Headaches: | |
| Constipation | |
| Indigestible combinations | |
| Excess of sugar or purins | |
| Intestinal Indigestion: | |
| Excess of protein | |
| Excess of cellulose | |
| Excess of carbohydrates | |
| Kidney Disorders: | |
| Excess of purins | |
| Excess of acid-forming foods | |
| Excess of salt | |
| Excess of sugar | |
| Nervousness: | |
| Irregular feeding | |
| Auto-intoxication | |
| Constipation | |
| Excess of acid-forming foods | |
| Excess of sugar or meat | |
| Insufficient fats | |
| Insufficient minerals | |
| Rheumatism: | |
| Excess of purins | |
| Deficiency of minerals | |
| Rickets: | |
| Lack of vitamines | |
| Lack of minerals | |
| Lack of fats | |
| Scurvy: | |
| Lack of vitamines | |
| Lack of minerals | |
| Summer Diarrhea: | |
| Unclean food, especially milk | |
| Underripe or overripe fruit | |
Digestion. In the process of digestion, foods are not broken down into simple chemical elements, as nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, but into simpler yet still very complex compounds, as organic minerals (lime, phosphorus, soda), simpler sugars, fatty acids, emulsions, soaps; and the proteins into their many forms of amino-acids and (if these are inherent) purins and uric acid. Soluble minerals, simple sugars, and many drugs are quickly absorbed from the stomach directly into the circulation. Water passes into the small intestine in five to twenty minutes. The solid portions of mother’s milk complete their stomach digestion in about two hours, cow’s milk and other easily digested foods in two and a half to three hours, under favorable conditions. Digestion is continued in the small intestine, where about four hours are required for further digestion; the soluble portion is absorbed into the circulation, and the indigestible remainder, with waste cell material and bile, passes into the large intestine. There the journey is very irregular and slow, requiring from ten to twenty hours. The longer the delay, the greater the fermentation and putrefaction, and the accumulation of putrefactive bacteria and poisonous gases; the poisons, which are constantly being absorbed into the system, produce auto-intoxication. About half the solid waste is bacteria and waste cell tissue.
Food Composition. Every one who is responsible for the feeding of children should be thoroughly acquainted with the different food substances and the composition and value of common foods. For practical purposes of dietetics, foods are analyzed into their content of protein, carbohydrate, fat, mineral, cellulose, water. Some foods contain only one or two of these elements; other foods contain them all.
1. Protein foods are those that contain nitrogen; their special use is to build new body cells (for growth) and to replace waste of tissue; they also furnish energy. Proteins differ in value according to the number and the kinds of amino-acids in their composition.
Foods containing high percentage of protein:
Eggs
Milk
Cheese
Cereals
Almonds
Peanuts
Peas
Beans
Lentils
Fish
Lean meat
2. Carbohydrates (sugars and starches) furnish bodily heat and muscular energy.
Foods containing high percentage of starch: