Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-29

amounts In the seeds Of leguminous plants,
such peas, beans. lentils. Cereals con-
tain proteids in fair amount. The glutinous
part of wheat Is of this nature.
About one-Quarter of our total food should
be of this kind. Most people of the weather.
classes exceed this. The results of this ex-
cess are well known.
Negiecting water, which Is present in
more or less amount In all food stuffs, an
individual should consume for each portion
Of lean meat, which consists practically en-
tirely Of porteids, three times its quantity
Of other foodstuffs, such as vegetables, CO.
reals, etc. The proteid present in these has
to be allowed for in addition. 30 that the
amount Of flesh and egg food consumed
daily should always be considerably less
than one-quarter Of the total solid food
taken. When the safety point is exceeded
the System" goes out on strike, as it were;
instinct comes to the rescue and all food
is refused until the bodily processes in
course of time adjust themselves. This is
signalized by a return Of appetite and dis
appearance Of the feelings Of tiredness dis
inclination for eXertton, either bodily or
mental, and general disgust with life which
invariably accompany the condition.
The liability to suffer in this way varies
much in different individuals and in the
same person at different times. It Is inf1u-
enced very considerably by physical exer-
else, which may prevent or at least delay
the condition for long periods Of time by
powerfully stimulating the circulation Of
the blood and lymph. This was fully ex-
planned in previous article. A predispos-
ing factor is the breathing OF bad air, de-
privation of oxygen, combined with the re-
breathing Of poisonous products from the
lungs, having most prejudicial effect on
the changes which take place in the food
which has entered our blood and thus has
become a part of ourselves. The means Of
obviating this was fully explained pre-
vfously.
4. The starches and sugars (the carbo-hy-
drates). These are the heat-givers and en-
ergy-producers. The body has often been
compared to an engine, and these are its
fuel. Excess is felt only when so great as
to choke the fires, and this Is hard to at
tain, because digestion generally fails be-
fore that point is reached. But habitual
daily consumption of these substances in
slight excess leads to the f1abbiness and eX-
cessive corpulence seen conspicuousiy IN SO
many women when their first youth has
passed. This tendency is greatly aggraVat-
ed by the lack Of oxygen which want of
physical exercise of an active nature en-
tails 1t Is well known that a horse in full
hard work can consume an amount of food
and indeed, cannot do good work without
1t, which would fnjure him materially If
standing in the stable all day or even doing
light work.
s. The fats The role of these In main
tanning healthy nutrition Is perhaps better
known than any OF the foregoing considera-
lions. The taking of cod liver oil by con-
sumptives and people who are run down
has taught this. The nutritiousness of
cream is as scientifically true as it is firmly
believed in by the tradtion-governed care
taker of the young.
The bounds to the absorption of the fats
into the body are to be measured not by
the limitation of capacity of digestive or
gan, but by the needs of the organism it
self; for the absorption Of the substances Is
direct-that is, occurs without their change
into intermediate products-While before
the assimilation of the proteids or carbo-
hydrates can take place an elaborate chem
ical change must occur through the inter-
vention of the digestive ferments. The
blubber-c consuming capacity OF the Esqui-
meaux and the cod-liver Oil bill of the con-
sumptve illustrate this.
Other substances than these are habftu-
ally consumed by human beings. Tea, cof-
fee beer, wine, spirits, mustard. pepper,
spices, tobacco or other less usual sub
stances enter into the dietary Of nearly
every one. None of these are foods in the
true sense of the word; that is. they neil
produce energy, with the exception of alco-
hol, which performs the latter function to
an extent not at all commensurate with its
cost and more than offset by its other fnJu-
rious effects.