Evening star., 1926-02-01
FOOD AND HEALTH
BY WINIFRED STUART GIBBS.
Food Specialist.

| Some day an inspired soul may be
| moved to pen a treatise on fashions
| In diseases, particularly those Of the
digestive system. In such case 1t is
safe prediction that among the most
prominent will be found acid indiges
ton, obesity, high blood pressure,
liver trouble" and constipation.
Just by way of suggesting prevent
i've measures, why not study the chief
characteristics of those disorders,
with the idea of ascertaining whether
or not there may be formulated
diet which will be useful in warding
OH attacks of any or all of the fash
ionable maladies?
Acid indigestion, for example, is
caused by the presence of excessive
acid, useful and in fact necessary in
itself. In normal stomach, however,
this digestive acid enters into combi-
nation with the protein of the food.
so acid indigestion may have one of
two cuuses--eithor it is brought about
by an oVersecretion of the important
digestive acid or by d failure on the
part OF the acid to enter into proper
combinations with the body building
elements of the food The diet list
begins with vegetables. celery. olives,
oyster plant, peas carrots, beans, po-
tatoeS, to mention a few. 1t contin-
ueS with the addition of sweet fruits
DiueberTieS, apples, grapes, bananas,
melons, with buttermilk, unsweetened
custardS, nuts. cream cheese, ice
cream, Sherhets and crisp breads by
way of completion.
High blood pressure. that bette noir
OF middle life. demands dietary made
up chiefly of Starchy foods fruits. veg
etableS and milk and milk products
IL we are bent on staging a real
fashion show" of diseases, featuring
corrective diets. we come next 10
liver trouble" and constipation.
These are braCketed together for the
reason that in So many cases each is
an oHShoot of the other. Any author
ltative diet list for these disorders will
advise the very fruits and vegetables
listed for sufferers from high blood
pressure and acid Indigestion; constipa-
ton, for example, or, strictly speaking,
the sufferer, being helped both bv the
roughage in the bulky foods and the
complete digestion brought about by
attention to the laws Of balance in
the diet
Naturally one must be careful not
To be dogmatic. No one individual
case of any one of the disorders cited
but Will require special attention and
Hayhap special diet In the main,
however. the principles are starttngly
similar. This fact should give any one
who breads the onslaught of these
| fashionable maladieS Considera BILE
cheer. It is far easier to fight all or
at least several of ones enemies with
the same weapons.
We are often prone TO think Of the
matter OF diets as one of foods ONLY:
of balance in the diet solely in rela-
ton 10 the proper proportion of the
/ main food elements In reality. the
factors entering into the satisfactory
solving OF the diet problem as a whole
are so interviewer that il is we'll nigh
impossible TO separate them and to
say: Such and such foods will cure
such and such diseases or "A bal
anced diet Is necessary for complete
nutrition. To each of these state
mentS must be added the qualifying
causes that connect causes with ef-
ectS. and that show the marvellous
| lnterrelationShip- OF the process of the
digestive system as a whole.
But it is a satisfaction to know that.
in the main. one general type of diet
| Is serViceable in treating several types
! of digestive disorders.
tCopyrght. 1920