Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-07-06
What One Should Eat When the
Mercury Scars Aloft,
BASED ON SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES
Why Some Articles Are So Much
Better Than Others.
SEASONABLE SUBJECT

Exactly what you should know. this very
day, about proper and improper summer
foods has just been determined as a result
OF the most exhaustive and most careful
research ever made by a scientific detitian.
1t came about in this way. Uncle Sam has
been worried as to how best to feed his
soldiers stationed beneath the burning heat
of the tropics. Hence he has had to Off
cially pry. for the first time, into the hither-
to unanswered question, What is the best
diet for hot weather." To aid things a bit,
DR.. Louis L. Seaman, late major surgeon
U. S. Il, offered s100 in gold as prize for
the best thesis on the subject A board of
award, headed by Commissary General
Weston was appointed and all papers re-
ceived We're written under NOMINEES de
plume. Captain Edward L.. Munson, as
sistant surgeon, U. S. A. won the prize.
becoming evident that what he doesn't
know about foods which cool and foods
which heat is not worth knowing by
long shot.
First of all, here is what summer wealth
er does to You and your stomach accord
ing to Dr. Munson. A loss of weight is
suffered by the average American in his
own country in summer as we'll as by the
average American who goes from his zone
into the tropics. Laborers in the cooler
part of the temperate zone average 14J
pounds in weight: in the warmer part. 125
pounds; among the native tropical races,
115 pounds. In other words, the hotter the
climate. the lighter men grow. This de-
crease is found to be greater when the air
is laden with excessive moisture and as
labor becomes harder. DR.. Munson be-
lieves this falling off of our weight in hot
weather to be due to the destructive in
fiuence of heat upon the cells of our bodies,
also to the decrease of oxygen in the air
we breathe.
What Hot Weather Does to Man.
4 lima Of oIIr fat 1sf as
a cold one puts more on our bodies This
decrease of fat in hot weather is altogether
normal and beneficial Even artificial fat
tening of animals is difficult in a heated
climate. On the other hand, animal flesh
OF the far north, as seal bear and walrus
meat, is rich in fats The whales thick
layer of blubber it's chief protection
against the frozen temperature of the arc
tic seas. Hence, to be fat is to be warm
and to be lean is to be cool.
Summer heat lowers mans pulse beat.
which is less by two and half throbs per
minute in the torrid than in the
temperate zone With increased heat
the pulse beats diminish, not only
III frequency, but in force. We per
spire more in summer as result of our
relaxed capilares. We take fewer breaths
in tropical weather, but breathe in great
quantity of air at each heaving of
chests. Men have been put in heated air
chambers, for experiment, and it has been
fOunQ that their respiration becomes slower
as the temperature rises. But the greater
quantity of air taken in at each breath in
hot climate does not make up in oxygen
supply for the diminished number of
breathings. Air grows greater in volume
for every degree of heat, and hence, in
hot weather We get less oxygen from q
given bulk than in cooler weather. Each
breath, therefore, becomes of less value the
hotter it gets, for oxygen is what need
most from the air Hot weather also de-
creases our saliva and digestive juices.
dries our throats, cxaggerates our thirsts,
weakens our appetites and impairs our di-
geStiVe powers
To learn what man should eat in hot
weather DR.. Munson first investigated the,
natural appetites of tropical native races.
The digestive system of a man is a com
pact chemical shop, and it is a chemical
instinct which leads the natives of the
tropics to choose their diet. White men
born in hot countries intuitively adopt it
and thrive. Tropical man removed to cold
climate adopts the food customs OF
the new region.
How Tropical Man Solved the Problem
Here are foods which tropical man has
found to agree with him most: The Malay
in a day eats 800 to 1900 grams of boiled
rice, $50 to 200 grams of ducks eggs, $50
to $50 grams of pastry free from fat
grease, and only 20 grams of meat or fish.
With these he devours a varying amount
of fresh fruits.
The native Abyssnian soldiers in the
Italian service subsist almost entirely upon
the native kaftir corn. made into cakes.
without fat, sharp-taSting sauces and
ground beans or lentils. They eat meat
only once a week and regard it as a con-
diment rather than a staple food.
The coolie of British India rarely tastes
animal food, but subsists almost entirely
upon rice and soy beans. The natives of
Guiana and Guadeloupe diet almost wholly
upon vegetables, particularly yams,
and other fruits
Before going further we must consider
man as an engine. His food is his fuel.
This burned in the furnace of the diges-
tive system, is transformed into heat and
motion. But the human engine has prop
critics not present in the ordinary engine of
iron and steel. Portions of it's fuel are
transformed to build up and repair it's own
parts 1t is furthermore automatic en-
CINE, which regulates and directs it's own
running. Part of its fuel goes to furnish
this directive foree-brain energy. The fuel
of the human engine consists of protein,
which Is found in the whites of eggs the
lean of meat. the curd of milk. the SUBJ
stance of cheese and the gluten or sticky
portion of wheat flour; Of fat found in fats.
grease and oils; of carbohydrates, found
especially in sugars and starches. therefore
in potatoes, other vegetables and cereals.
Man in tropical climates prefers half as
much protein, one-third as much fat and
five-SiXthS much carbohydrates as man
| living and working in the northern or cool
er portion of the temperate zone In other
words, he eats less Of every food, but par
ticularly of fat and protein.
Hot Weather Eating Lessons.
Now here, in a nutshell. are DR.. Mum
sons hot weather eating lessons for per-
spring, tanning sun-burnt. tanned, freckled
mosquito-bitten and fiy-tickled Americans.
His researches had primarily in view the
American soldier subjected to tropical heat,
but they apply just as well to you and to
me- They are based upon experiments
with human beings and careful analyses of
all ordinary food stuffs.
In the first place, eat less Of everything
these hot days. Prolonged heat hnders d-
gestion and assimilation. Therefore diet
should be restricted
Reduce your fatty foods to a minimum.
Fat is a heating food to the highest degree.
1t should be largely replaced by sugars
and starches. A hundred parts of fat
taken into your stomach give off as much
heat aa ma RI of starch or cane sugar.