, 1888-10-02
GOOD ADVICE ABOUT EATING.
Doctors Smashing Old Time superstitions
About Different Kinds of Food.


Doctors Smashing Old Time Superstition
About Different Kinds of Food.
Some recent remarks by DR. James @.
White. professor of dermatology in Har-
YARD university. are directly in line with
an article published only a few days ago
in these columns on the subject of sensi-
BILE eating There Is, of course, no sub
ject concerning which people need infor-
mat; IN more than they do about eating,
and there are very few subjects on which
more ridiculous notions are extant, ''One
mans meat is another mans poison" il
an old and r saying, yet a great ma
jority of mankind AVE ideas of diet that
are formed from the experience of other
people, and these ideas are very commonly
absurd. DR.. White disposes of some Of
these notions. by the authoritative utter,
ance of q thorough scientist.
For example. he touches on the old
wives fable that butter in liberal quaint.
ties will cause children's faces to break
out with butter sores" He declares,
what intelligent people lave long known,
that good butter knocked is perfectly
harmless food so far as the skin is con
cerned. and he might nave gone much
farther, for the limitation was unneces-
sary. He says. however, that the notion
alluded to probably came from the fact
that the use of impure butter in food
otherwise indigestible may lave dis
turbed the stomach and produced impure
blood in some cases 1t is more likely to
have come from the efforts of parents of
limited means to curb their children's in,
diligence in an expensive dainty 1t is
certain tina much of the prejudice against
candy came from this particular cause.
though with candy. as with butter, the
prejudice is entirely justifable in refer
ence to adulterated and impure grades.
Nothing is more common than to hear
parents tell their children hat eating
candy will ruin their teeth, but it is most
likely to be an utterance dictated by
economy At all events. no educated
dentist will indorse the statement.
The notion that b~uckwhest cakes and
oatmeal are productive of skin diseases is
ais attacked and pretty thoroughly de-
molished by Professor White. as well as
that absurdity about tomatoes which was
started by bio Lewis a generation or so
ago. He said that tomatoes were pro
ductive of cancer, and that they loosened
and destroyed the teeth. DR. White de
clares tomatoes and oatmeal to be harm
less and valuable foods, and points at the
simple fact that the only danger in eat
ing buckwheat lies in the fact that
it is apt to be served up hot in the form
of improperly cooked cakes. These may,
n are very likely 20. upset the diges-
ton. He declares ,'nreover, that a good
digestion and a lr@.,I,ly appetite will take
care of the skin 50 far as the effects of
food are concerned, and that it matters
little what kind of food is used so long as
it is pure, of good quality and properly
prepared The healthy stomach will turn
it into good blood This, it will be seen,
is a similar utterance TO that of DR.. Aus
tin Flint, recently quoted. only that Dr.
White, treating as he did on the skin only,
did not make so sweeping a statement as
DR.. Flint, who said Eat what you like,
when you like, and eat as much as you
like. You may get govt that way. but
not dyspepsia New York Mail and Elk
press