How to Live

I-Quanti

eing the bellows and food the coal. The comparison is a good one, for

lo

ses the person is usually unaware of the fact, because he makes the mistake of measuring his food by its weight or bulk. Some foods are concentrated, that is, contain many calories of food value in a given bulk; others are bulky, that is, contain few calories in a giv

e (about an ounce); in an ordinary side-dish of sweet corn (about 3? ounces); in one large-sized potato (if baked, about 3 ounces; if boiled, about 4 ounces); in an ordinary thick slice of bread (about 1? ounces); in one shredded wheat biscuit (about an ounce); in a very large dish of oatmeal (about 6 ounces); in a small piece of sponge-cake (about an ounce); in a third of an ordinary piece of pie (about 1? ounces); in three teaspoonfuls or 1? lumps of sugar (about 1 ounce); in

to muscle and active tissue and not to fat) or the more muscular the work he does, the more food he needs. It has b

able

hat weight, especially in relation to age, is

latively to the average for that age) is a more unfavorable

uld be remembered that notwithstanding the effort of life insurance companies to carefully select the favorable types of overweight and underweight, the mortality experience on youthful underweights has been unfavorable, and the mortality experience on middle aged and elderly overweights has been decidedly unfavorable. The lowest mortality is found among those who average, as a group, a few p

rwe

If considerable overweight is already present, caution is necessary in bringing about a reduction. Barring actual

s worth while when one considers the inco

e formed that will keep the weight down automatically, instead of relying upon intermittent attempts that are more than likely to fail. No m

ess

such as butter and cream, which may contain more actual food value than all the rest of a meal put together. Ice-cream and other desserts also have more food value than is usually realized. Nature counts every calory very carefully. If the number of calories ta

erw

he matter of increasing the fuel or energy foods. But he should not force himself to eat beyond his natural capacit

n Midd

it and vegetables, especially those of bulky character and low food value, such as lettuce, toma

n Hot

in the heat of the body. In particular, less meat should be eaten in the summer, on account of what is called the "

amount is right which will maintain the most favorable condition of weight. If the weight, enduran

ork an

y creates a special need for food is erroneous. The sedentary brain-worker often gains weight without eating very much. What he really needs is e

When

oid heavy meals just before heavy work. When very tired it is sometimes advisable to skip a meal or to eat only lightly,

cific directions regarding diet

II-Prote

at, and Ca

onstituents in food are fat and carbohydrate, the last term embracing what are familiarly known as starch and sugar. Fats and carbohydrates are only for fuel and contain carbon as the essential element. Protein contains nitrogen as the essential element in tissue-building. The white of egg and the lean of meat afford the most familiar examples

ion of

on the other. A certain amount of protein is absolutely essential. While, for a few days, protein may be reduced to little or nothing without harm, if the body

generally about 10 per cent. of the total number of heat-units consumed. This does not, of course, mean 10 per cent. of the total weight no

an

's food, the mother's milk, is richer in protein than the food of the grown animal. Consequently an analysis of human mother's milk affords a clue to the maximum protein suitable for human beings. Of this milk 7 calories out of every 100 calories are protein. If all protei

se of High-

s excessive proportion of protein is usually due to the extensive use of meat and eggs, although precisely the same dietetic error is sometimes committed by the excessive use of other high-protein foods such as fish, shell-fish, fowl,

Over-abundan

ygiene, said, in a paper on "The Nutrition of the People," read b

mful. But this meat is publicly sanctioned; it is found in all hotels; it has become international and has supplanted, almost everywhere, the characteristic local culinary art. It has also been adopted in countries where the European culinary art was unknown

usually the case in the diet of Americans, added work is given th

l Pro

nown deficiency in flesh foods of lime often needs to be taken into consideration in the dietary. Some of the vegetable foods, such as peas and beans, rich in protein, are likewise not free from objection. Their protein is not always easily digested and is, therefore, likewise liable to putrefaction. Unlike most

the calories, may be divided according to personal preference between fats and carbohydrates in almost any prop

rd, Bulky, and

sist entirely in balancing the ration

d F

e chewing. This exercises and so preserves the teeth, and insures the flow of saliva and gastric juice. If the food is not only hard, but also dry, it still further invites the flow of saliva. Stale and crusty bread is preferab

s Concentr

ast, an ounce of cellulose, or "woody fiber." This is contained in largest measure in fibrous fruits and vegetables-lettuce, cel

taries, especially for army rations. It was this tendency that caused Kipling to say, "compressed

Fo

ta

o the well-being of the body. Their absence is probably responsible for certain diseases, such as beriberi, scurvy, and possibly pellagra, as well as much ill health of a less definite sort. Some raw or uncooked foods, therefore, such as lettuce or tomatoes, celery, fruits, nuts, and milk, should be us

w

the germs. But this heat, even at the comparatively low temperature of pasteurization, has been found to destroy the vit

hy foods, such as cereals and potatoes and unripe fruit m

nfec

nd parasites, and it is extremely advisable that all ra

d Inorga

ons. These are the fruit and vegetable acids and inorganic salts, especially lime, phosphorus, and iron. These substances are usually supplied, in ample amounts, in a mixed diet, containin

-Thorough

odern life, or from other causes, it is undoubtedly a fact that most people in America eat too rap

holding the food in the mouth, counting the chews, or otherwise making a bore of eating. It merely means giv

sufficient

division of food by mastication (and hence slow digestion); the failure of the taste nerves to telegraph ahead, as it were, to the stomach and other digestive organs an intimation of the kind and amount of digestive juices required (and hence indigestion); the overseasoning of food to make it relishable even when bolt

d Relish

f food-bolting has wisely ordained that no boy may leave the dining-room until a certain hour, even if he has finished eating long before. In this way the boy soon learns that there is nothing to be gained by fast eating, and, in fact, that the pleasantest way of spending the meal-time is to prolong

t Three

one will merely attend carefully to the first three mouthfuls of a meal, the sl

ul Ta

as a matter of taste and enjoyment. Food must have a pleasing taste and

sed En

ve to be made, the net result of reforming one's diet is not to diminish but to increase the enjoyment of food. In general, it is extremely unhygienic to

sing

e wisest physiologist can not depend altogether on his knowledge of food values, while, to the layman, the problem is so complicated that his main reliance must be on his own instincts. Animals depend exclusively on instin

and "Ba

human beings into "good" and "bad." All we can say is that some foods are better than others, remembering that it is usually more

masticated), milk, sour milk, and vegetables. Among the worst foods are p

to help the ordinary man choose his foods is to advise him to use as much as possible of the "better" and as

Pepper

ndiments should be used

and

the sedentary. One reason why sugar has a high food value is that it is readily utilized for comb

with

amount of water at meals-say one or two glassfuls-provided it is

of So-called "In

n the other hand, many have mistaken ideas as to their own idiosyncrasies. For instance, many people think that nuts never agree with them, when the trouble really is that they do not masticate them properly. Many think peanuts indigestible, not realizing either the importance of mastication or the importance of avoiding over-roasting. The ordinary peanuts are over-roasted. Peanuts very

ance

d accepting a theory without sufficient evidence; and the opposite mistake of accepting as hygienic the customs about him sim

of Medical

self-indulgence or custom. Moreover, since many, without being aware of the fact, are affected with Bright's disease, diabetes, etc., in their early stages, in which dietetic precaution