The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1901-12-21
WHY THIN MEN EAT MORE.
Common Sense Explanation of Their
Greater Need of Bodily Fuel.


DR.. James J. Walsh explains in a re-
cent number of the New York Journal
why thin folks need more food than
stout ones.
The question of individual appetite is
always interesting. 1t is often mat
ter of surprise to find that thin men
have larger appetite and actually
consume more food than stout men of
about the same size. There are good
physical reasons, however, for this diff
ference of appetite. The thin man
must eat more than his stout friend to
accomplish the same amount of work
and keep up the bodily equilibrium
that is the index of good health.
! The reason for this is found in the
relative amount of heat given off by
the two men. 1t is in the large organs
within the body that the important
/ chemical processes on which life de
ponds are accomplished. All of these
chemical changes lead to the produc-
ton of heat and require heat for their
accomplishment.
In the stout man all the important
| organs are covered with good layer
+ of fat. This is a bad conductor of
| heat. Hence the heat in the large in
! ternal organs is protected from dissipa-
! ton into the surrounding air.
! In the thin man the internal organs
lie just below the skin. Their heat is
distracted readily by the surrounding
! air, which. in winter time especially is
| constantly from so to 20 degrees below
! them in temperature.
| The human body is practically a ma
! chine for the manufacture of heat. This
| is converted into chemical energy in
! the digestive processes within the body
! and into motion in the muscles.
! Heat may be wasted into the air,
however. OF late years the realization
| of this has led to the wrapping of
steam pipes and engine cylinders in Il
! nOncOnducting substance, such as ce-
| ment or asbestus.
Long ago nature in her wonderful
economy made use of this method of
saving heat waste by wrapping such
| important organs as the kidneys in
| fat and then covering the body with
a layer of fat that lies just beneath
| the skin.
Thin men lack this protective layer
of nonconducting substance, and so,
! like the old fashioned steam pipes and
engines. they waste heat. To supply
| this superfiuous heat fuel must be
| consumed. The main part of the fuel
| for the human machine is composed of
carbon, just as it is for Il steam en-
| CINE. The heat of the body changes
| this to carbOnic acid, which is given
off from the lungs of man. In the en-
| CINE the carbonic acid passes off through
| the stack.
Besides this, there is another impor
tant reason why the thin man gives off
more heat than the stout man. The
| thin man exposes more surface 10 the
air. Heat is given off just in proper
| ton to the amount of surface exposed.
| There is a third reason for greater
consumption of heat by the thin man.
He is more largely composed of muscle
| than the stout man. Muscles are very
| good organs to have when they are
needed, but they are great consumers
| of energy.
In q word, the most economical hui
| man machine is the one that has no
need of safety valves and is well pro-
tected from the outer air by Il benef-
| cent layer of fat, not too thick, because
then there is a waste of energy carry
ing it around, and its presence inter-
feres with the action of certain organs,
| but just about the amount that Mother
Nature gives to most middle aged men
and women when she rounds them out
into prosaic but practical samples Of
| her mature handiwork.