It is as easy to form healthful tastes and habits of eating as unhealthful ones, and care should especially be exercised over the formation of healthful habits in the growing child.
One should not allow himself to become “finicky” or no food will give him its best service.
Time, energy, muscular activity, nerve force, and money are spent in combining, seasoning, and cooking foods in such a manner as often to render them difficult of digestion.
Let me repeat for emphasis—when the appetite wanes, deep breathing of fresh air to supply an abundance of oxygen to oxidize the waste, thus putting it in condition to be expelled from the system, brisk exercise to accelerate the circulation, that the blood may carry the oxygen freely and that the tissues may liberate the carbon dioxid and other waste, and a copious drinking of water, are the best tonics for loss of appetite or for a lack of vitality.
Season and Climate
The food required by the body varies according to the season of the year and the temperature. Thus, during cold weather, the body craves hot foods and drinks, and the heavier foods which furnish more heat-producing elements. In summer, the lighter foods, fruits, and the proteins supplied in green vegetables instead of in meats, are relished, and cold foods and drinks are desired as aids in equalizing the heat of the body. The total amount of food taken in summer may be lessened because so much food is not required to maintain the body heat and energy. The lessened amount puts less strain on the digestive system.
Owing to the increased perspiration, the desire for water is greater in summer, while in winter or in cool weather, from the opposite condition, the quantity of water taken is usually insufficient.
In travel, when one shifts with more or less rapidity from one temperature to another, the diet should not be altered too greatly or too suddenly; the system must be allowed time to accommodate itself to the change.
The occupation must be taken into consideration. Great muscular activity requires a more liberal diet than a sedentary habit, no matter what the climate may be.