Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-12-14

FALLACY, in regard to diet, is to sup
pose that the natural appetite is not the
best guide as to the quantity and quality
of our food.
II is true that the appetite does some
times become perverted. 1t is true that
II does become sometimes a symptom of
disease. But these cases are exceptional.
Hideous doctrines have been taught on
this subject We have been solemnly
told to rise from the table as hungry as
when we sat down. We have been told
to be always ready for meal-in other
words, to live in state of perpetual hun
ger. We have been told to eat those
things which we most hate, and to avoid
those things that we most love-that to
have longing for any article is the very
reason why we should be denied it.
These doctrines are monstrous. They
are unworthy of the nineteenth century.
They are libe! oT the Creator W no gave
us taste and appetite, in order that we
might know what to eat and drink, and
gave us also judgment to direct appetite
and taste when the system becomes dis
cased
Notwithstanding all its liability to per
version the appetite is, on the whole, a
better guide in selecting food, and in
measuring its quantity, than all the
books on hygiene tina have ever been
written
The practice of weighing the food,
which was introduced to the world by the
example and teachings of Cornaro, the
Italian, cannot be too strongly repro
bated. 1t is impossible for the scales to
tell Us how much to eat The quantity of
food that we need depends on the amount
of labor that we do, on the nature of the
constitution, on our mental moods and
on the quality and variety of the food
which is served.
To weigh or measure the food habiiually
is not only silly, unnecessary and useless;
il is actually crime. 1t wastes valuable
hours that should be better employed 1t
makes us miserable, and that fact alone is
argument enough against it. Ii brings on
Indigestion and all other woes, and there
fore prevents us from getting the best adj
vantage of what we eat
Another common fallacy, in regard to
diet, is the theory that one or two kinds of
food, at each meal, are more easily di-
gested, and more wholesome than a large
and palatable variety.
Our books on health tell US over and
over again that two articles at each meal
are sufficient and that we shall be liable
to eat more if the table is covered with a
generous variety.
NV advice is emphatic and clear Let
there be as generous, agreeable and at
tractivc a variety at each meal rs we can
afford. Let the limits of that variety be
determined by our purses. our tastes, our
appctitee, and our talent in cooking, and
not by the books.
1t is possible for nearly every family to
have a good variety Of food AT each meal,
or, at least, at the principal meal of the
day, without great expense. Cookery is
one Of the fine arts. II should be made a
study. We have good books on cookery
at the present time, and every young wife
who loves her household, and every young
maiden who hopes to have household TO
love, should study the best works on this
subject, just as they study grammar, arith-
mctic and geography in the schools; and,
above all, should practice the art with
their own hands at home.
Genius never made any lady good
cook The art is acquired by close study
and patient practice, by many and re
peatcd failures A good cook can make
pleasant and hcalthful meal out of "A few
simple articles. A poor cook will make
ket at her disposal. hope to see the day
when the art of preparing food will be
taught in our schools, like other impOr-
tant branches: when young girls and
Young wives will 90 to the cooking school
as they now 90 to the dancing hall, and
when even ladies of fashion will boast of
their bread and their buildings as they
now boast Of their acquisitions in music
and French.
A variety Of food is more healthful than
one or two kinds, because il is more easily
digested This il II law of nature. APP
petite teaches us To combine sweet with
sour, vegetables with meat, dry food with
wet, etc.
A meal composed simply Of dry Ora
ham bread, or Of potatoes, or Of fruit even,
is far, far less palatabe and less digestiblc
than meal composed of all three varic-
ties at once. Science and experience are
here in perfect accord.
If, therefore, we must eat candy, let il
be with or Just after our meals. If we must
eat sweets in the evening, let us have
sour fruit-apples, or lemons, or oranges
at the same time, and we shall be less in
lured We should never eat large guam
tity, either Of sweet or Of sour substances,
on a perfectly empty stomach.
Still another common fallacy rs, that
brain workers need less nutriment than
those who live by their muscles.
This idea would never have been enter
tanned if people had depended on their
own observation and experience. But we
have been influenced by false teachings
and erroneous theories.
ANY one who has attended associations
Of clergymen, or alumni meetings, or has
boarded with students, has had opportuni
ty to see that brain workers are large eat.
crs, as indeed they should be if they are
really hard workers. The changes Of It's
sue in the brain, that take place during
study and thought, are very important and
very rapid. and must be replaced by album
dant ood.-Our Honae Hysician, by DR..
Be0rd.
THE vine was planted in California
nearly one hundred years ago, by the first
missionaries. But now the grape region
consists of vast area OF mountain
lands, too high and dry for other crops.
On this soil the grape flourishes and pro
duces better wine than in the moist val
lsys. IT is estimated that there are thirty
million vines growing in California, while
the number is increasing every year Los
Angeles is the Oldest vine growing coun.