Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-18
DIET FOR EXCESSIVE THINNEss
EDITED BY HAROLD KINGSLEY

DIET FOR EXCESSIVE THlNNESS
The dietetic treatment of excessive
thinness usually appears to one who
is engaged in trying to reduce her
weight as liberty to indulge in all the
good things of this life. However, 1t
is sometimes more difficult to build up
a thin person than to reduce a stout
one; restriction of diet and persistence
in active exercise are practically GER
tain to cause a loss of weight, Whlle
many factors, besides a too slender
diet, may be at the bottom of the thin
woman's condition. Diseases of many
different organs, a run down nervous
condition, too much hard work and
too little rest, improper food and dis
orders of the digestive tract are among
the causes that may produce malnu-
triton, and the first measure adopted
by the painfully thin person should We
a frank talk with her family physician,
as the diet required may not be that
intended especially for increasing
weight but one that shall improve nu-
triton by remedying the defective
working of some organ or system OF
the body.
1t is practically hopeless to attempt
to build up a patient when the proper
conditions cannot be secured; where
there is no possibility of relief from
severe physical, mental or nervous
strain, where a sufficient amount of
sleep is impossible, or where there can
he no escape from an unhyglen1c way
of life, the Wisest dietetic measures
will accomplish as much as can be ex-
pected of them if they merely enable
the body to hold it's own without tur-
ther loss of weight and strength.
Under favoring circumstances, now
fIa qfQFOhaS fats and OILS
which the stout person must avoid are
the food substances from which the
thin person may expect the most ben
eficial results. Foods difficult of d1-
gestion should be excluded from the
menu, as an attack of indigestion
might mean a considerable setback,
but many Of the most nourishing and
fat-producing articles of food are
readily digested and assimilated,
though they should not, of course, be
used to the exclusion of other kinds
of food.
A quart or two of milk a day, when
taken in addition to the regular meals,
will often work wonders; the cream
should be stirred into it, not removed
and a raw egg may be beaten INTO an an
occasional glassful. Butter should pe
spread with a generous hand, salad
dressing should contain as much oil as
is practicable, and a tablespoonful OF
pure olive oil, taken after each meal
will be an effective aid, and also pro-
mote the free action of the bowels
that is so great a help in bringing
about a condition of general GOOD
health.
Properly-made bread, potatoes,
starchy vegetables, like beans and
peas and corn, macaroni and spaghetti,
rice and the whole array of we'll mace
breakfast cereals, with a generous sup
ply of sugar and cream, should be Wen
represented in the thin persons diet
Cream sacues should be used frequent
ly with meat, fish or vegetbles, ana
cream soups and purees are to be pre-
ferred to bouillons and other thin
soups. Ice cream, milk puddings ana
other nourishing desserts may have
place in the menu, as may all SortS OF
sweet fruits, chocolate and cocoa,
honey, maple sugar and syrup, ana
even simple and pure confectionery
There are few articles of food that are
forbidden to the woman who desires TO
increase her weight, except those Wnlcn
nut a strain upon the digestion. A
luncheon In the middle of the morning
and one in the afternoon, with glass
of hot milk before retiring, assist very
greatly in the building-up process
while a nap, or at least quiet rest,
after the midday meal, enables the sys-
TEN to put to the best uses the ruel
which has been supplied to it. Long
hours of sleep, avoidance of hurry ana
tension, regular hours for meals and
pleasant surroundings and converse"
ton at mealtimes are all aids In over
coming the tendency to excessive tnln-