New Britain herald., 1925-09-25
Your Health How to Keep lt--
 Causes of Illness
By DR. HUGH s, CUNNING Surgeon General United States

Public Health Service B
 It is common fallacy In many minds that thero exists somewhere in the world an ideal food--some one material that will satisfy all the needs of the body and that could this material he found we would be able to save much Of the thought and expense of arranging our meals and he freed from the danger Of eating the wrong kind of food,
 Careful studies Of food substances and their effects upon the human body, however. have tuuGht us that there are flew substances that con tain the proportions of protein and fuel foods necessary t0 meet our needs.
 If, for instance, you eat enough beef to satisfy the protein needs ot the body and eat uothing else. you will have an insufficient supply of fuel If you eat enough beef 10 sup ply the needs of the body you will take in too much protein.
 On the other hand, if you try 10 live on fruit you will have 10 eat about the equivalent of @i pounds of apples 10 supply the necessary pro- tcin, whereas nine pounds would supply sufficient energy but there would be a shortage of protein. Baked potatoes. onions. corn, al- monds and bread approach g bal anced diet, but even these fall tar short. Potatoes and corn alone . would have to he consumed in large quantities to meet the needs. ] Taken by itself, good bread, mads i of whole grain, comes the nearest, perhaps, of all food articles 10 fur nishing q balanced diet of satisfac- tory bulk.
 With bread is included a variety of flour preparations such as i macaroni, biscuits, Vienna rolls. and crackers, but to try to live on these alone would be manfestly absurd.
 Combination of Foods Necessary
 If we cannot live on bread alone. certainly we shall not be able to find any other one substance that will meet the dietary requirements of the day
 It is necessary to combine high protein foods with low protein foods
 in such proportions as will furnish bulk, the proper nutritive ratio. and will, at the same time, suit the taste.
 Persons unacquainted with the importance of balanced diet often purchase food entirely on the basis of appetite or the temptations of the
 market; also there are those who are so poor .as to be unable to buy anything but the cheapest articles to
 be obtained. and such persons often suffer from malnutrition.
 Tn the case Of school children the
 indulgence of the appetite in an ex-
 cessive amount of sweets and the
 consequent throwing of the diet out
 of balance has been found to be a
 frequent cause of malnutrition. The resort to cheap foods may
 lead to malnutrition through an ex- cessive amount of starches. Meat is a valuable food but there , are objections to the excessive use of
 meat.
 , Bacteria thrive better in tho in- , testines of those who eat too much meat and while there are both good
 and bad bacteria the products of the l activity of these intestinal bacteria l may sometimes be injurious. Also l with the excessive use Of meat you
 are likely to accumulate an excess of l protein.
 Any excess of protelns, unless l burned up by physical exercise, must . be thrown off from the body by the . action of the liver and kidneys be-
 cause the body has no way of Storing l up surplus of proteins If we tak' Q too much fat or carbohydrates "
 are usually able to convert some l ho-hydrates into fat, but this Il
 undesirable and overweight is dan 8 gerous after forty.