The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1941-01-02
Homemakers' Column
Edited by Miss Mildred Barton, Home
Demonstration Agent for Garrett
County, Oakland.
Ups and Downs in Weight

OpS dHu DONHS III WEIGHT
Before the last Christmas cooky
and the last slice of fruit cake dis
appear, it's time to look ahead to the
DAYS and weeks of planning regular
meals. Time to think about better
nutrition, time to modify meal plans
if there are any special diet problems
in the family.
But nutritionists discourage a lop-
sided interest that over emphasizes
only one phase of nutrition. They point
out the Importance of all the different
angles in planning well-balanced
meals, and explain that a good diet
must include foods to furnish fuel,
protein, vitamins, and minerals.
Simply reading the scales will not
always tell when weight control is in
order. It's best to seek the advise of a
doctor before trying to make drastic
changes in body weight. And it takes
some knowledge of nutrition to modi-
fly the diet without emitting any of
the necessary food values.
Milk is one of the best foods both
/ for those who want to gain weight and
/ those who want to lose. Milk is such
a rich source of calcium that it isn't
easy to have a we'll balanced diet
without it, even if we disregard its
other food values. A pint of whole
milk provides only a little over 800
calories, which is less than a single
serving of most desserts. A person
who is trying to lose weight may pre-
fer to drink buttermilk or skim milk
because they contain only about half
as many calories as whole milk. But
there must be some butter or other
fat to give a staying quality to both
the gaining and reducing diet.
Everybody needs such fruits and
vegetables for the vitamins and min
erals they contain. When trying to
gain weight, add the more filling veg
etables, such as corn and fresh or
dried peas or beans, and serve vege-
tables with extra butter, cream sauce
or Hollandaise sauce.
An egg day is good rule for
most any diet. And meat, fish, or
poultry should be fitted into at least
one of the days meals. When trying
to lose weight, use the lean portions of
meats and omit rich sauces and gra-
vies.
But when trying to gain weight, in
clude the fat along with the lean of
meats and serve with drippings or
gravy.
Fats and sweets help a person to
gain weight, but they should take
their proper place along with variety
of other foods. Weight for weight,
fats yield more than twice as many
calories as starches or sugars. So the
over-weights must use fats sparingly.
Remember that nuts and most salad
dressings are high in calories. Stay
away from pastries and foods fried in
fat.
Sugar and other sweets are also
fattening and must be used sparingly.
Most prepared desserts are high in
both sugar and fat, so it's best to use
fruits for dessert with little or no adj
ded sweetening. If you are overweight
beware of candy or nuts between
meals.
Underweights turn the tables and
season foods literally with fats and
sugar, enjoy rich gravies and desserts,
They can add jelly or marmalade, and
plenty of salad dressing, some candy
and nuts now and then. These "extras"
help to move the weight balance up
ward, but they should only be added
to diet that is well-balanced.