Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1919-06-24
Adapting the Diet to the Times.
(By Kurt Heppe.)


the cook stove, and yet, this is the very
lcondition we appear to be approaching:
how to keep the house attractive, the
table supplied with appetiz!ng viands,
and the members of the household In
perfect health, has been Q problem since
Adam; and yet in summer the oonsum-
nation Of this task is not impossible.
In order to achieve the desired result,
the family must be gradually VERY
gradually weaned from some of the hot
dishes, and these should be replaced, as
the summer advances, by unflred food.
This procedure Is not only in conform
ity with the laws of hygiene and die
tstics, but the results will be found to
be manifold and surprising.
It has long been the aim of eminent
practiciDg dietitisDs to induce house
wives to compose their menus in such q
way that vegetables, fruits and cereals
preponderate over meat rations.
And reference to these aims has never
been as timely as just now.
In order to arrive ct the desired re-
suits, we should take nature for our
guide, and use, In our summer dishes,
the various products that nature sup
plies rs with; and We should prepare
these products in as natural q manner
a. possible.
In the process of cooking great many
Of the mineral salts and vitsmines are
lost, particularly il the cooking be done
according to the precepts of the conven-
tionsl French kitchen; this accepted
standard, also, has the disadvantage of
removing from our food those elements
that provide a heslthful peristslsis and
furnish matter for our teeth to exercise
upon.
II we once admit these defects, then
we must arrive at the conclusion that
natural foods, in their natural state, or
in as near a natural state as possible,
| must be most wholesome.
Opposed to this conclusion, on the
other hand, are the findings of many
doctors, that delicate persons can not
in their natural state.
This admission, however, is simply an
indication that we have drifted away
from q natural mode of living, and have
become so effeminste that we can no
longer suffer the action of foods which
IN the beginning furnished the material
in accordance with which our bodies de-
veloped their present form.
Ii must be evident to the thinking
person that the human organs adapted
themselves TO the matter which was
available to them for nourishment.
According to the law of least resist
lnce, which undoubtedly governs the
growth and development of all living
beings, our digestive organs took on
their present shape only after having
developed from inferior and less adapta-
ole conditions.
Through the facilities offered by civili-
cation, and through misguided dietetic
expansion, the lines of least resistance
became non-resistant, and humanity slid
into the slough of food-confnsion, from
which to-day all humanity is suffering.
This fact, however, is not widely
recognized.
II any French chef, or any leading
society lady, should be questioned upon
the subject, her opinion undoubtedly
would be that the only improvement in
our cookery needed is novelty, and still
greater complication.
And yet, the complication already
existent is exactly what furnishes the
| living conditions of our dietetical doctors
| and institutions.
According to the frank admission of
such eminent specialists as DR.. Lorrand
Scholtz and many others, their practice
| would dwindle and disappear, if the
general public would adopt the few
rational advices they have been offering.
However, I'll these specialists are not
in the least afraid of losing their livsli-
hood, because they have found that the
average human will change his habits
,nly when his well-being becomes seri.
| Iusly endangered.
But the essence of the teachings of
shess doctors, and the means by which
they would gently guide their patients
! back to rational diet, L.: To live
| simply, to eat frugally, to exercise in
he open air, and To sleep restfully.
The latter point again Is entirely
dependent upon the kind of food the
patient consumes. Ii he lives simply,
MS body will have q chance to devote
some of its strength to the work of elm
nation, instead of devoting all of its
power to the task of digestion.
1t must be remembered that foods that
keep the organs of the body busy for
hours, tire these organs the same as
muscular work would; and where the
organs are tired great amount of sleep
will be necessary to let them rscuperate.
1t becomes, therefore, imperative to
avoid overexertion of the digestive tract,
II we would give our bodies q chance to
10 reorganization work. And this over
sxertion can only be avoided by eating
foods that are easily digested, and fur
nish thorough peristslsis, and which in
duce Us to chew and masticate assidu-
lusly, and in this manner insalivste and
prepare the food for digestion.
Another point to be considered, par
Eicularly in the summer, is, that food
should be adapted to the season.
During the hot weather, therefore, the
menu should be so composed as to fur
Dish few heat elements, and the temper
Azure of the food, itself, greatly con-
tributes to The temperature of the body.
Therefore, we should endeavor to in
luce the members of our households to
compose their menus for breakfast OF
milk, or fruit juice, fresh, stewed, cold,
or soaked, dehydrated fruit, cold breads,
butter and, perhaps, cold cereal with
cream and sugar.
Such a breakfast will be found to
cave the consumer cool, refreshed, in
good form for exercise, and will permit
him to return to the table at luncheon
with an appetite that sugurs good health
and sunny disposition.
The housewife, on the other hand, will
avoid the task of cooking, and save her
self q great deal of dishwashing; should
ihs be In the happy position Of being
able to afford servant, then she can
employ this assistant for other work.
II she has to do the work herself, abe
will find that her dishes need but very
little cleaning, and that this cleaning can
be done without slksli-soap, and In this
way she will preserve the texture of her
hands.
For luncheon, cold salads, such a.
tomato salad, fruit or vegetable salad,
ali thoroughly mixed and dressed with q
good dressing, and served with corn, rye,
or wbole-wheat bread and plenty of
butter; a glass of milk with an egg
whipped into IL aud pinch of sugar, or,
for q change, fish salad, or . cold cut,
with iced chocolate, and fresh or stewed
cold fruit, will be found to b. delicious
This system of setting the table will
make IL possible for the lady Of the
house to prepare those foods which must
be cooked In quantities, and keep the
remaining part in the refrigerator, where