Evening star., 1927-09-09
Answers to Food Questions

diet will be given BY Wintfred Stuart Gibbs.
%sE shoad ara be- on
by a self,-addressed envelope as only. those
OF general interest wi will be answered in this
the mail. Every effort T viii iT'fe" be made made" 10
answer questions promptly but we bespeak
ceiyed is larg9s. and each must take its turn
Fourth avenue. New York City.
Do you approve of using water out
Of hot-water tap for cooking and for
making tea or coffee? In most hot
water boilers there must be certain
amount of stale water and rust.
have found great many of my neigh
bors using the same, and always Won
der what is the matter with their
stomachs.-Mrs. E. M.
To answer your question directly,
do not favor the using of water from
the hot-water tap for cooking pur-
poses. Some years ago this was espe-
cially dangerous, since many old
plumbing systems used lead in the
manufacture of the pipes. Since the
salts of lead are soluble in hot water,
there might easily have been cases of
lead poisoning from the pipes. Even
now, in spite Of the fact that efficient
plumbing systems are the rule rather
than the exception, there may be even
one or two old houses left in the com.
munity where the practice would be
dangerous because Of this fact. But
the somewhat remote danger Of lead
in the pipes Is only one reason for
not using this hot water.
AS you say, practically all boilers,
unless kept in immaculate state, have
been collecting on their sides sedi.
ment from water which has been
standing. While this sediment may
not in itself contain any organisms
that are actually harmful, 1t Is also
possible that such organisms may be
present. Therefore, it Is only common
sense to do as you suggest and draw
the water to be used in cooking from
the freshly running stream of cold
water and to boil this for use in cook.
ing. Remind your friends that prac.
tically all directions for making good
tea stress the Importance of using
freshly boiling water Entirely
apart from the possible danger in
Volved in using stale water, 1t is an
undeniable fact that the flavor is
much impaired unless the water is
freshly heated.
Are the following foods permissible
for any one who suffers from acid
stomach, chronic collitis, Brights dis.
ease: Sauerkraut, cottonseed oil, olive
Oil, lemon and orange juice?-J. u.
Or the three disturbances which you
mention, Bright's disease being the
most serious, I will do what can to
answer your question about that first.
This disease calls for plenty Of fat in
the diet, and while do not see any
in I~nr E1A
tlon, namely, cottonseed and olive oil,
| should think that where Bright s
disease is concerned it would be better
to vary the fats, adding cream and
butter. AS for the sauerkraut, green
vegetables are valuable in diet for
Br1ght's disease. But it seems to me
that the matter of sauerkraut should
only be determined in the Individual
case. This is particularly so with
you, since you mention having other
digestive disturbances as well. Sauer.
kraut, by the way, would be excellent
for the acid stomach. but it might be
Irritating for the collitis.
1t seems to me that you will have to
follow in the main this line Of diet
planning; that Is, beginning with diet
for Bright's disease and fitting in the
FOODS best for the other disturbances
as pest you can. In collitiS, for ex-
ample, the diet should be very easily
dlgested, soft and finely divided food
with as little residue as possible. The
vegetables should be boiled in slightly
hat water, mashed through a strainer
and made into thick purees or cream
soups. In general, the diet as out
lined for Bright's disease will not
cause difficulty in the case Of those
having collitis also.