Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-09-01
The Selection Of Food.

e.S 0OAOOt4V4 VI = VOOs
The wise selection of food Is Influenced
Dy many and various circumstances.
VI these such as grow out of the eli
mate, the season, of occupation, of tenn
permanent and the period of life and the
state OF health are the chief. We re-
quire certain foods in the frigid zone
ana widely different ones in the the tor
nd zone; one kind in summer and an
otner KIND in winter. The man who
works with his muscles must feed differ
entiy from him who works with his
Drains, and from him who does not
work at all. The child and growing
youth require different diet from that
OF the midie-aged and old. The persons
OF sangune temperament can eat many
tnings that "disagree'' with him of
bilious and him of a nervous tempera-
ment. The invalid must be fed accord
ing to his special wants, which vary as
diseases varys
Taking the infinite number of COM
Dlnations made by these infinitely vary
ing conditions and circumstances, it
Is easy to see that the problem of the
wise selection of food is for each indi-
vidual at once difficult and delicate. It
Is possible, however, to strike a general
average, as the makers of readY-made
clothing do, and give bills of fare and
rules OF diet that will not very greatly
mistit'' the average stomach. The
man or the woman who insists on per.
fectly fitting garments must first have
accurate measurements taken and
special artist employed to do the work.
The man who would have his table ex-
actly suited to his needs at all seasons
will have to employ directly or Indirect
~ many scores of people to do the work;
should we say hundreds rather than
scores we should probably speak more
accurately.
Warmth and strength are the two OBJ
Jects for which we eat. 1t may be add
ed that we often eat for pleasure also,
and this makes us sometimes warmer
than we should be, producing fever,
sometimes weaker than we should be,
but rarely colder or stronger. Writers
on foods have therefore divided foods
into those which produce warmth and
those which produce strength. Carbon
in its various forms-of starch, sugar,
Oils the fuel that keeps the tempera-
ture of the body at SO deg, whether at
the tropics or the poles, in the dead of
winter or in the heat of summer. Nitro
gen in its various forms produces
strength in the body, and as it abounds
in meat, eggs, milk and vegetable
gluten, these foods are termed nitrog-
enous. In summer, when the mercury
ranges in the eighties and nineties, it is
easy to see that less carbon is required
than in the winter, when we breathe a
frozen air and are surrounded by snow
and ice. Therefore our summer diet
should contain less sugar, less starch,
less oil than our winter diet. At this
season we want acids, fruits, ice-creams
and sherbets, cold beverages, salads.
But the temperature of the stomach
when performing its duties must not be
reduced below the normal point, or
trouble follows, and hence in tropical
countries spicy and peppery dishes are
used to counterfeit the effect of ices and
cold dishes. This is given as simply a
fact upon which to the reflective mind
comment is unnecessary, considering
that pleasure is large motive with
many people for eating. The hygienic
philosopher will eat only what is 'con-
venient'' for him, what is wholes me,
suitable, nutritious, using his stomach
only for strictly legitimate purposes.
The heterogeneous foods contain carbon
in less proportion than nitrogen, as the
carbonaceous foods contain less nitrogen
than carbon. There are no foods that
are all either one thing or the other.
Tigers in Central Park are fed on meat,
and the carbon and nitrogen in it keep
up their warmth and compel them to
pace their cages restlessly to consume
the unnecessary strength it gives. Some
heterogeneous foods are more easily di-
IL
sition for persons who work with their
brains and nerves rather than with their
muscles. Juicy steaks, not overdOne,
eggs, poultry, game, wheat bread are
chief among foods of this class. Those
who work with their muscles will not
object to these dishes by any means,
but they will add to them corn bread,
beans, peas, cabbage, onions, cheese,
potatoes.
Some foods digest almost Immediately.
There is mouth digestion, stomach di-
gestion and bowel digestion. One gets
hungry very soon after eating certain
articles of food, because they are soon
assimilated, and there is nothing for the
digestive organs to exercise themselves
upon. That meal is most skillfully pre-
pared which is so composed as to meet
all three digestions, first those of the
mouth and stomach, afterward that of
the bowels. Soups are digested IN the
mouth and stomach; the taste and smell
of nutritious soup refreshes the hungry
soul. Meats and vegetables are digest
ed chiefly in the stomach. All fatty
substances must pass into the duode-
mum or second stomach, where they are
mingled with the bile before they are
digested. Hence pastries, nuts and rich
buildings are always served after meats
and the close of the meal. When skill
fully blended in healthy stomach and
not permitted to overload it, they are
not nnwholesome. But on such occa-
sions-Thanksgiving Days and the like
the digestive organs should not be
robbed Of the vital fluid while at their
work by activities in other parts OF the
body.
In children, food for growth, no less
than for warmth, strength and to supply
- Aop,ondod Milk ia the