Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-05-05
FOOD AND BEAUTY.
Prof Wiley Tells What Foods Tend to
 Pulchritude.

Do you WISH 70 De DoauUlIul! UT, IF you possess beauty already, are you anxious to retain it?
 The chances are, in either case, that 1 the answer is, yes. We'll, then, it all depends to a great extent upon what you eat Certain kinds of foods en- courage pulchritude, while others have an opposite tendency. It is worth while to know how to regulate your diet with a view to acquiring beauty if you have it not, or to retaining it. if you are its fortunate possessor.
 At the present time Uncle Sam is culttvating, on his experimental farm near Washington, a beauty making plant. It is called the "fenugrek," and l the seeds of it are eaten by the women of Algeria to make them beautiful Their belief is that 1t makes them plump and improves their complex l ions. But the government experts as /! yet have not reached g. satisfactory 1 conclusion as to whether this faith is ! justified or not. It may be correct, but ] Judgment on the point is suspended. 1 However, there are foods which un- l worth any woman's while to know what they are, and to try them-un- l less, perchance, she is so perfect physi- cally as not to need them-in her own case, and for her own advantage. After all, when one comes to think of 1t, it is doubtful whether any woman, no matter how we'll content with her own charms, was ever satisfied that they were not susceptible of improve
 ment. Did Cleopatra who in her day was voted the most beautiful person in the world, as we'll as the most seduc tive and enhcing, use no cosmetics?
 One thing to be set down as gospel, to begin with is that all of the adver- tised beauty foods-"skin foods" ct i'd genus Omne-are humbugs. The best of them are useless. and not few are harmful. The only real foods for beau ty are of the everyday kind, but to be properly and judiciously selected.
 ''The best of all beauty-making foods are fresh fruits and fresh vegetables"
 said Prof H. W. Wiley, the famous government chemist. who Is incidental ly a skilled physician, yesterday. "They l contain relatively little nourishment-a woman could hardly live on them ex- 1 clusively for any length of time; but, for reasons which as yet are imperfect ly understood, they possess extraor- dinary value as health-givers. If you want bright eyes and a clear complex ion, eat plenty of them."
 The fact is that most fresh vegeta- bles and fruits are nearly all water. Spinach is 9235 per cent water; cabbage is " per cent water; beets are 88 per cent water; carrots are 91 per cent
 water; caulifower is ,91 per cent water; cucumbers are 96 per cent water; egg plant. Is o3 per cent water; onions are
 78R per cent water; tomatoes are 96 per cent water; green corn (cut from the cob), is S17a per cent water. and
 celery is 947a per cent water. Fruits
 are pretty nearly all water, though the
 banana is relatively rich in starch.
 Fruits and vegetables, then, are of no
 great use for supporting the human 1 body. Their value is mainly medicinal,
 and as beauty makers they are the chief among foods. It is almost i'm
 possible to eat too much of them, in a = fresh state, though, of course, the diet
 must include a reasonable proportion
 of those substances such as meat,
 which furnish blood and muscle tissue.
 Peas and beans, fresh from the garden.
 are an all-purposes diet, inasmuch as
 they, unlike other vegetables, contain
 a large proportion of the stuff that
 makes muscle, and blood, while pos
 Sesslng at the same time high useful
 ness as green "provender." ~.-
 Where beauty is considered in con-
 nection with diet the greatest puzzle,
 from the viewpoint of most women,
 has to do with avoirdupois. It is an
 unfortunate fact that three women out
 of four by the time they have reached
 the age of 30, are mortally afraid of becoming too fat. The fourth is fear full of too severe an attenuation, which
 is even less to be desired, perhaps, and
 she who is satisfied with her figure in , prospectu is an exception indeed, and much to be envied.
 It is all very absurd. To regulate , ones weight. save in those unusual
 eases where the fatty tendency is dis ease, or attenuation due to constitution
 al defect, is perfectly easy. and may be , accomplished almost to the requisite . ounce. 1t Is simply matter of regu- .&1g one's diet not in painful way, !, be it, understood, but merely by com } mon sense. t~ . Are you getting too fat? Then, drop } bread and potatoes; that is all that is , necessary. Of course, you are not ex- Dected to gorge yourself with pastry
 and candy. Gut these out, if you can, or, if you can't. be moderate in that kind of indulgence. Eat all you want ) If you like. eat twice as much as usual, but consider potatoes and bread are not for you-just for while at all events. You will be surprised to find that you lose two pounds in the first thirty-six hours, and a pound a day after that Anybody can give up potatoes. The bread is far more serious depriva- tion. but. as the French say 7"Il faut
 souffrr pour etre bean" In' other ! words, you must choose between food and your figure. The cure is unfail- ing. if you are capable of the requisite , self-denial
 } Such being the case. the cure for ex. cessive thinness is obvious. Eat free lv of the fat-making foods-bread, DO tatoes. pastry. candy and, in the way of fruits. bananas and apples. With