The Portland daily press., 1890-02-22
FOOD AND HEALTH.
Importance OF Rightly Understand
ing their Relation.
washington Post.1

The lecture was by Professor w. o.
Atwater, on Food and Health" TWAS
under the auspices of the scientific socie-
ties of Washington and the Smithsonian
institution. The principal point of the lee
ture was the adaptation Of food to the
demands of the body, and of the evils of
overeating and insufficient nutrition.
The eating of bread and meat is simple
matter, but the way in which the differ
emit constituents of the food perform their
offices in the maintenance of life are prob
ems as profound as any with which ply
sical science has to deal. The works of
nature eliminate in man. In his organ
SIN her operations are most complex and
econdite. The laws which regulate our
physical being are discovered but slowly,
md by the most ingenious and profound
esearch. Those which govern the nutri-
ion of our bodies have been shrouded in
MYSTERY, which only the investigation of
alter time has begun to unveil But the
rude theories of the past are being grad
ally replaced by the more certain knowl-
dge of the present.
But this evil of overeating, be it
.reat or small, is, of course, confined to
he classes to whom generous fortune,
nchecked by reasonable restraint, al
ows it. There are countless sufferers
rom dietary habits into which self in
ulgence has not tempted, but relentless
ate have forced them. The overfed only
ay for pleasure the penalty of pain.
he greater misery of the underfed, their
unger, with It's inseparable attendants,
ignorance, selfishness, crime and degra-
alton, are things of terrible moment.
The lecturer referred to the income and
expenditure of the body, as follows:
"The body receives food, drink and
xygen, which constitute its income.
art of this material is transformed into
esh, fat, bone and other tissues of the
ody. The remainder, together with the
ssues worn out by use, is transformed
lto urea, carbonic acid, water, etc.
'hese products are given off from the
ody and constitute its expenditure"
Illustrated maps were used to show
he dietaries of different people engaged
II different occupations, and he proved
hat although people in this country
work harder and need to have more and
better food than those Of corresponding
,lasses in Europe, yet that many persons
If sedentary habits, who really need but
title, consume as much as would be re-
tired if they were engaged in severe
muscular labor.
A certain amount of food is necessary
10 keep the machinery moving. A large
number of well to do people of this coun-
try eat much more than is necessary.
The excess consists of meats and sweet
meats. We ransack the four quarters Of
the earth for materials to excite the ap-
petite, and thus increase the amount of
food consumed. Most people of this
country are engaged in occupations
which require comparatively little mus
cular exercise, and the result is we inn
pose upon our bodies the task of getting
rid of a large amount Of material in ex-
cess of its needs at fearful cost to health
and happiness.
The cheapest food is that which sup
plies the most nutriment for the least
money. The most economical food is
that which is cheapest and best adapted
to the wants of the user. But the maxim
that "the best is the cheapest" does not
apply to food. The best food, in the
sense of that which has the finest ap-
pearance and flavor and is sold at the
highest price, is not generally the cheap
est nor the most economical, nor is it al.
ways the most healthful. 1t is important
that people be taught about their food,
but the first requisite is the information
to give them. The subject is, however,
new. In its investigation we stand upon
the borders of a continent of which but
small part has yet been explored. In
the great European universities investi-
cation is active. In our own country
extremity little has been done, and that
little is dependent almost entirely upon
private munifcence for its support.
"What," said the speaker, sis to be
done about it? In the first place we
ought to find what flaws there are, IL
any, in the conclusions to which the best
research of the time seems to force
us. Than we must see how these con.
illusions are to be supplemented. This
will require abstruse and costly expert
menting. But at the same time the pub
lie needs to be educated. People need
to understand the fundamental princi-
pies. The laws of a large number of
states and territories require that physi-
ology be taught in the public schools,
but unfortunately the teachers them
selves are deficient in training, and many.
of the text books are sadly defective" i
In referring to the Importance of palms.
taking research, the speaker cited the
experience with the respiration appar-
atus. This in its best form has been used
in few European universities and ex-
pertinent station laboratories, but not in
this country. The greatest difficulties
attend its management. Professor Hen
neberg, of the University of Goettingen,
began work of this kind over twenty
years ago and has only lately, and after
the expenditure of many thousands of
dollars, succeeded in getting his respira-
ton apparatus into condition for expert
ments of the desired accuracy. But the
great problem now before the student of
animal nutrition is that of the income
and expenditure Of energy in the animal
body. 1t will require the keenest, most
elaborate and most painstaking efforts of
the chemist, the physicist, and the biolo-
gist, but the effort toward its solution
must be made.
In speaking of researches in this line
in the United States it was that we are
very far behind European investigators,
that, indeed, we have hardly made be-
ginning. What we most need is trained
men with high, scholarly ideas, enthusi-
astic devotion, and abundant means at
their command. That we shall some
time have these there is good ground to
hope.