The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-28
Home Nursing
Froclk Facts
sy \. JESSIE LEiTcH

| OOCLOrS tOudy COuSlucE uLeG Ouc OL the chief treatments in illness. Diet and proper feeding have to great ex- tent supplanted the "tonics' and "blood builders" of yesterday. Improper food may and undoubtedly does cause disease. s--
 It is impossible in a short space to say a great deal about food and there is so much to say about it, But we can give briefly the principal primary clements of food and perhaps throw q little light upon the subject that is too often discussed without understand. ing.
 Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus, iron potassium sodium, calcium and magnesium all enter into food principles necessary to health.
 Food is divided into two classes, nitrogenous and nOn-nitrogenous. In the first class we find all the protein foods, in the second, the carbohy' drates, fats, minerals and water.
 The chief uses of food are to form body tissues, to repair body waste, to yield heat, to keep the body warm and to generate energy. -. 2
 Hungry people are weak and unable | to work because they need the stimulus of food. If you are very tired food will quickly make you feel stronger again Heat and energy necessary to life is formed by the burning up of food by the body, the body being the stove and the food the fuel burning in it.
 So it is important to know the diff. ferences in foods that we may not al- ways eat the same kind of food. If we do we supply only one kind of fuel The body requires several kinds in order that health be maintained.
 We thrive best on a mixed diet Such a diet. supplies to the tissues their various needs. Old Nature is a wise alchemist. We find in milk and eggs, in vegetables. and fruit and meat the very clements we require. The only thing to be careful about is choosing the properly balanced diet that gives our body all it needs without oyerdo- ing it, Too much sugar and starch makes fat. Enough and no more ere ates energy and comfortable warmth and sense of well being.
 We find less nourishment in fish than in meat, but fish has the advan- tage of being more easily digested. Dark fleshed fish contains more fat, than white feshed fish and is more easily digested.
 Eggs contain all the food principles except carbohydrates. They are im- portant in cases of anemia because they contain so much iron. The white of an egg is more easily digested than the yolk when one's digestive powers are impaired. Bacteria enters eggs through the shells, which are porous. To pre- vent this they should be kept in cool clean place. 6sae
 Milk is the most easily digested of all foods and contains all the ingredi- ents necessary to maintain life. But if one lives an active life it is not enough and should be supplemented with other foods. Still, one could live a long time and thrive on milk.
 Eggs, meat, fish, gelatine and milk are the nitrogenous foods.
 Non-nitrogenous foods are car bohydrates: fats, minerals and water. Under the heading "carbohydrates' we find oxygen, carbon and hydrogen. They hberate heat an energy. Starehes, sugar, glncoses and dextrines come un. der this classification.
 Fat is important as the chief fuel ingredient The amount required in one's diet depends upon the climate and ones occupation. Laborers and people in cold countries need more fat than people in the tropics or those doing of- flee work. Try to remember that when you order your food and don't eat too much fat unless you want to feel stuffy and put on unnecessary flesh. If you eat wisely and exercise properly you can, to a great extent, control your health.