The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-04-28

DOES TT MATTER MUCH WHAT YOU EAT? Another popular falIacy we Wiscacrcs reluct to relinquish is the notion that any fool can prescribe diet. I know, for every day n TOT of Wiseacres ask me to prescribe one Tor en- It is obvious they take me for fooI, because aB a rule they merely mention the name or some real or imaginary malady and curtly or- der to send tho diet for It.. Or some or the more gulIbc go to the trouble of telling me the nature cause and symptoms or the malady for which the diet is required without delay.
 Take "acidosis' for instance. Now there's n purely imaginary malady that almost any TOO, but il physician can recognize at guess: Mahcs q pleasant variation from hutointoNiea,.o when you're played out on that me. Wore- over some of the more snooty fneolu1na ar' manifcNinp actual dinidence about unpleasant discussions of certain bodily functions and It Is growing increasingly difficult to- sell autoih- toxication" treatment, but "acidoss' Is sub feet on which anybody can say what he fixes and nobody stop him. So "acidosis is now all the rage amongst the hoipolloi, and many are go badly obscssed that they insist on count ing the calorics. assaying the vitamins ana knowing precisely how acid the ash or every item in the bill of fare.
 | 50 far as my observation goes, there is rarely | any serious harm done by all thls monkeyins | with diet Occasonaly some girl with more | beauty than brains goes to extremes with re- duction and presently finds that the latent tu- | berculoss that this lights up will keep her re- | duccd for long while. It is quite conceivable. too. that injudiclous restriction In the variety and quantity of food consumed may impair health various functions through vitamin deficiency.
 Catering to the popular demand for dietetic | hokurn is quite a business In this free country. | For every odd notion or belief about rood there | is at least one "authorty" in the form of self | commended flood expert" or 'gpccinst." From | the fancy that tomatoes cause cancer. rhcuma- | tism or acdosis to the belief that fats sweets, | buckwhcat and other good foods cause pim- | plcs thCre Is some such "authority.' That's | enough for the Wiseacrc mind. 1 do not mean to deny that In some phrticu- i lar conditions special dietctic treatment is l .Auta ff.t | espondents-reduction regimen corrective | protective regimen, menus for victims of peptc | ulcer or hyperacidity and for tho well members | of the family and suggestions in reference to the diet in many other conditions But do | believe that 1t doesn't matter much what you eat if you fairly well, provided you have q | normal liking for reasonable variety of nat | ural or not too much proccsscd foods. | Even in diabetes as we now understand the functional fault, 1t is impossible to prescribe q suitable diet without such knowledge of the pa tient's individual capacity to mctabolizc util. ize the different food materials as the physician obtains by tolerance tests.
 Show me your cut and dried diet list for thi, or that ailmcnt and I'll point out tho miscon- captions on which it is based il QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS II Born with We'll T some lime ago you had an article aIpou babies born with veil. My son wns born tina way Please tell me what significance ti,s has
 (Mrs $. O
 Answcr--Bcfore birth tho baby is contanet In mcmbranous sac. floating in tho ainniot | ObuHIIy Wnen the neck or womb is full, dilntcd. at the beginning of tho expuislve stag
 of labor. the membrane spontaneously brcalst
 and there Is q gush of waters Sometimes thi
 does not happen. or the physician or midwif
 does not rupture the bag of waters" and tn
 membrane is thus intact when the child's hca. k born. It has significance.
 Hankcring for Salt
 What would cause m intense hankcrlng fO
 salt? [ cat 6 tcaspoonfui of dry salt every daS
 Is ft injurious? Mrs T.. H)
 Answer--1t is harmless in that fnodcrat
 quantity. Perhaps your diet does not inciud
 sufficient fresh meat Where the diet is 1argei
 vegetarian there is insufficient salt present fl
 the food.
 | I1p Reading
 Please tell readers every dcaf person cal
 learn to read fIsc lips in hls own home H ever,
 one will speak slowly and naturally and forn
 all words properiy with tl'e lips. In ttis way
 Can talk by tac isOur with some 0f Ty friend
 and never have to ask them (, repeat anything | Mrs E. J.D
 Answcr-Pcrsons so handicapped should ais
 get in touch with the local bcadqunrters of tn
 American Federation of Orgn nbzBtlOns for tn | Hard Of IIearing. headquarters at 1901 Thirty Fifth Street. N. w, Washington. ID. c.