EATING is the process of receiving the food into the mouth, _i.e., prehension; mastication and insalivation_--minutely dividing and mixing it with the saliva; _deglutition_--conveying it to the stomach. Plenty of time should be taken at meals to thoroughly masticate the food and mix it with the saliva, which, being one of the natural solvents, favors its farther solution by the juices of the stomach; the healthy action of the digestive powers is favored by tranquility of mind, agreeable associations, and pleasant conversation while eating. It is proverbial of the American people that they bolt their food whole, washing it down with various fluids, thus forcing the stomach to perform not only its own duties, but also those of the teeth and salivary glands. This manner of dispatching food, which should go through the natural process above described, is not without its baleful consequences, for the Americans are called a nation of _dyspeptics_.
Eating slowly, masticating the food thoroughly, and drinking but moderately during meals, will allow the juices of the stomach to fulfill their proper function, and healthy digestion and nutrition will result.
If the food is swallowed nearly whole, not only will a longer time be required for its solution, but frequently it will ferment and begin to decay before nutritive transformation can be effected, even when the gastric juice is undiluted with the fluids which the hurried eater imbibes during his meal.
REGULARITY OF MEALS cannot be too strongly insisted upon. The stomach, as well as other parts of the body, must have intervals of rest or its energies are soon exhausted, its functions impaired, and _dyspepsia_ is the result. Nothing of the character of food should ever be taken except at regular meal times. Some persons are munching cakes, apples, nuts, candies, etc., at all hours, and then wonder why they have weak stomachs. They take their meals regularly, and neither eat rapidly nor too much, and yet they are troubled with indigestion. The truth is they keep their stomachs almost constantly at work, and hence tired out, which is the occasion of the annoyance and distress they experience.
EATING TOO MUCH. It should always be remembered that the nutrition of our bodies does not depend upon the amount eaten, but upon the amount that is digested. Eating too much is nearly as bad as swallowing the food whole. The stomach is unable to digest all of it, and it ferments and gives rise to unpleasant results. The unnatural distention of the stomach with food causes it to press upon the neighboring organs, interfering with the proper performance of their functions, and, if frequently repeated, gives rise to serious disease. People more frequently eat too much than too little, and to omit a meal when the stomach is slightly deranged is frequently the best medicine. It is an excellent plan to rise from the table before the desire for food is quite satisfied.
LATE SUPPERS. It is generally conceded that late suppers are injurious, and should never be indulged in. Persons who dine late have little need of food after their dinner, unless they are kept up until a late hour.
In such cases a moderate meal may be allowed, but it should be eaten two or three hours before retiring. Those who dine in the middle of the day should have supper, but sufficiently early so that a proper length of time may elapse before going to bed, in order that active digestion may not be required during sleep. On the other hand, it is not advisable to go wholly without this meal, but the food eaten should be light, easily digestible, and moderate in quantity. Persons who indulge in hearty suppers at late hours, usually experience a poor night's rest, and wake the next morning unrefreshed, with a headache and a deranged stomach.
Occasionally more serious consequences follow; gastric disorders result, apoplexy is induced; or, perhaps, the individual never wakes.
FEEDING INFANTS. For at least six or seven months after birth, the most appropriate food for an infant is its mother's milk, which, when the parent is healthy, is rich in all the elements necessary for its growth and support. Next to the mother's milk, that of a healthy nurse should be preferred; in the absence of both, milk from a cow that has recently calved is the most natural substitute, in the proportion of one part water to two parts milk, slightly sweetened. The milk used should be from but one cow. All sorts of paps, gruels, panadas, cordials, laxatives, etc., should be strictly prohibited, for their employment as food cannot be too severely censured. Vomiting, diarrhea, colic, green stools, griping, etc., are the inevitable results of their continued use. The child should be fed at regular intervals, of about two hours, and be limited to a proper amount each time, which, during the first month, is about two ounces. From 11 P.M. to 5 A.M. the child should be nursed but once. As the child grows older the intervals should be lengthened, and the amount taken at a time gradually increased. The plan of gorging the infant's stomach with food every time it cries, cannot be too emphatically condemned.
After the sixth or seventh month, in addition to milk, bits of bread may be allowed, the quantity being slowly increased, thus permitting the diet to change gradually from fluid to solid food, so that, when the teeth are sufficiently developed for mastication, the child has become accustomed to various kinds of nourishment. Over-feeding, and continually dosing the child with cordial, soothing syrups, etc., are the most fruitful sources of infant mortality, and should receive the condemnation of every mother in the land.
PREPARATION OF FOOD. The production of pure blood requires that all the food selected should be rich in nutritious elements, and well cooked. To announce a standard by which all persons shall be guided in the selection and preparation of their food is impossible. Especially is this the case in a country the inhabitants of which represent almost every nation on the face of the globe. Travelers are aware that there is as much diversity in the articles of food and methods of cookery, among the various nationalities, as in the erection of their dwellings, and in their mental characteristics. In America we have a conglomeration of all these peoples; and for a native American to lay down rules of cookery for his German, French, English, Welsh, and Irish neighbors, or _vice versa_, is useless, for they will seldom read them, and, therefore, cannot profit by them. There are, however, certain conditions recognized by the hygienic writers of every nation. The adequate nutrition of the organic tissues demands a plentiful supply of pure blood, or the digestive apparatus will become impaired, the mental processes deranged, and the entire bony and muscular systems will lose their strength and elasticity, and be incapacitated for labor.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF FOOD REQUIRED. The different periods and circumstances of life require their appropriate food, and the welfare of mankind demands that it should supply both the inorganic and organic substances employed in the development of every tissue. The inorganic elements employed in our construction, of which _Phosphorus, Sulphur, Soda, Iron, Lime,_ and _Potash_ are the most important, are not considered as aliments, but are found in the organic kingdom, variously arranged and combined with organic materials in sufficient quantities for ordinary purposes. When, however, from any cause, a lack of any of these occurs, so that their relative normal proportions are deranged, the system suffers, and restoration to a healthy condition can only be accomplished by supplying the deficiency; this may be done by selecting the article of food richest in the element which is wanting, or by introducing it as a medicine. It must be remembered that those substances which enter into the construction of the human fabric, are not promiscuously employed by nature, but that each and every one is destined to fulfill a definite indication.
_Lime_ enters largely into the formation of bone, either as a _phosphate_ or a _carbonate_, and is required in much greater quantities in early life, while the bone is undergoing development, than afterwards. In childhood the bones are composed largely of animal matter, being pliable and easily moulded. For this reason the limbs of young children bend under the weight of their bodies, and unless care is taken they become bow-legged and distorted. Whenever there is a continued deficiency of the earthy constituents, disease of the bones ensues. Therefore, during childhood, and particularly during the period of dentition, or teething, the food should be nutritious and at the same time contain a due proportion of lime, which is preferable in the form of a phosphate. When it cannot be furnished by the food, it should be supplied artificially. Delayed, prolonged, and tedious dentition generally arises from a deficiency of lime.
With the advance of age it accumulates, and the bone becomes hard, inelastic, and capable of supporting heavy weights. Farther on, as in old age, the animal matter of bone becomes diminished, and lime takes its place, so that the bones become brittle and are easily broken. Lime exists largely in hard water, and to a greater or less extent in milk, and in nearly all foods except those of an acid character.
_Phosphorus_ exists in various combinations in different parts of the body, particularly in the brain and nervous system. Persons who perform a large amount of mental labor require more phosphorus than those engaged in other pursuits. It exists largely in the hulls of wheat, in fish, and in eggs. It should enter to a considerable extent into the diet of brain workers, and the bread consumed by them should be made of unbolted flour.
_Sulphur, Iron, Soda_, and _Potash_ are all necessary in the various tissues of the body, and deficiency of any one of them, for any considerable length of time, results in disease. They are all supplied, variously arranged and combined, in both animal and vegetable food; in some articles they exist to a considerable extent, in others in much smaller quantities. _Sulphur_ exists in eggs and in the flesh of animals, and often in water. _Iron_ exists in the yolk of eggs, in flesh, and in several vegetables. _Soda_ is supplied in nearly all food, and largely in common salt, which is a composition of sodium and hydrochloric acid, the latter entering into the gastric juice. _Potash_ exists, in some form or other, in sufficient quantities for health, in both vegetable and animal food.
CLASSES OF FOOD. All kinds of food substances may be divided into four classes. _Proteids, Fats, Amyloids_, and _Minerals_. Proteids are composed of the four elements, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, sometimes combined with sulphur and phosphorus. In this class are included the _gluten_ of flour; the _albumen_, or white of eggs; and the _serum_ of the blood; the _fibrin_ of the blood; _syntonin_, the chief constituent of muscle and flesh, and _casein_, one of the chief constituents of cheese, and many other similar, but less frequent substances.
Fats are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen only, and contain more hydrogen than would be required to form water if united with the oxygen which they contain. All vegetable and animal oils and fatty matters are included in this class.
Amyloids consist of substances which are also composed of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen only; but they contain just enough hydrogen to produce water when combined with their oxygen, or two parts of hydrogen to one of oxygen. This division includes _sugar, starch, dextrine_, and _gum_. The above three classes of food-stuffs are only obtained through the activity of living organisms, vegetable or animal, and have been, therefore, appropriately termed by Prof. Huxley, _vital food-stuffs._
The mineral food-stuffs may, as we have seen, be procured from either the living or the non-living world. They include water and various earthy, metallic, and alkaline salts.
VARIETY OF FOOD NECESSARY. No substance can serve permanently for food except it contains a certain quantity of proteid matter in the shape of albumen, fibrin, casein, etc., and, on the other hand, any substance containing proteid matter in a shape in which it can be readily assimilated, may serve as a permanent vital food-stuff. Every substance, which is to serve as a permanent food, must contain a sufficient quantity, ready-made, of this most important and complex constituent of the body. In addition, it must also contain a sufficient quantity of the mineral ingredients which enter into the composition of the body. Its power of supporting life and maintaining the weight and composition of the body remains unaltered, whether it contains fats or amyloids or not.
The secretion of urea, and, consequently, the loss of nitrogen, goes on continually, and the body, therefore, must necessarily waste unless the supply of proteid matter is constantly renewed, since this is the only class of foods that contains nitrogen in any considerable quantity.
There can be no absolute necessity for any other food-stuffs but those containing the proteid and mineral elements of the body. From what has been said, it will readily be seen that whether an animal be carnivorous or herbivorous, it begins to starve as soon as its vital food-stuffs consist only of amyloids, or fats, or both. It suffers from what has been termed _nitrogen starvation,_ and if proteid matters are withheld entirely, it soon dies. In such a case, and still more in the case of an animal which is entirely deprived of vital food, the organism, as long as it continues to live, feeds upon itself, the waste products necessarily being formed at the expense of its own body.
Although proteid matter is the essential element of food, and under certain circumstances may be sufficient of itself to support the body, it is a very uneconomical food. The white of an egg, which may be taken as a type of the proteids, contains about fifteen per cent. of nitrogen, and fifty-three per cent. of carbon; therefore, a man feeding upon this, would take in about three and a half times as much carbon as nitrogen.
It has been proved that a healthy, adult man, taking a fair amount of exercise and maintaining his weight and body temperature, eliminates about thirteen times as much carbon as nitrogen. However, if he is to get his necessary quantity, about 4000 grains of carbon, out of albumen, he must eat 7,547 grains of that substance; but this quantity of albumen contains nearly four times as much nitrogen as he requires. In other words, it takes about four pounds of lean meat, free from fat, to furnish 4,000 grains of carbon, the quantity required, whereas one pound yields the requisite quantity of nitrogen. Thus a man restricted exclusively to a proteid diet, must take an enormous quantity of it.
This would involve a large amount of unnecessary physiological labor, to comminute, dissolve, and absorb the food, and to excrete the superfluous nitrogenous matter. Unproductive labor should be avoided as much in physiological as in political economy. The universal practice of subsisting on a mixed diet, in which proteids are mixed with fats or amyloids, is therefore justifiable.
Fats contain about 80 per cent. of carbon, and amyloids about 40 per cent. We have seen that there is sufficient nitrogen in a pound of meat free from fat, to supply a healthy adult man for twenty-four hours, but that it contains only one-fourth of the quantity of carbon required.
About half a pound of fat, or one pound of sugar, will supply the quantity of carbon necessary. The fat, if properly subdivided, and the sugar, by reason of its solubility, pass with great ease into the circulation, the physiological labor, consequently, being reduced to a minimum.
Several common articles of diet contain in themselves all the necessary elements. Thus, butchers' meat ordinarily contains from 30 to 50 per cent. of fat; and bread contains the proteid, gluten, and the amyloids, starch and sugar, together with minute quantities of fat. However, on account of the proportion in which these proteid and other components of the body exist in these substances, neither of them, by itself is such a physiologically economical food, as it is when combined with the other in the proportion of three to eight, or three quarters of a pound of meat to two pounds of bread a day.
It is evident that a variety of food is necessary for health. Animals fed exclusively upon one class, or upon a single article of diet, droop and die; and in the human family we know that the constant use of one kind of diet causes disgust, even when not very long continued.
Consequently, we infer that the welfare of man demands that his food be of sufficient variety to supply his body with all of its component parts. If this is not done the appetite is deranged, and often craves the very article which is necessary to supply the deficiency. After the component parts of the organism have assimilated the nutritious elements of particular kinds of food for a certain length of time, they lose the power of effecting the necessary changes for proper nutrition, and a supply of other material is imperatively demanded. When the diet has been long restricted to proteids, consisting largely of salt meats, fresh vegetables and fruits containing the organic acids, become indispensable; otherwise, the scorbutic condition, or scurvy, is almost sure to be developed. Fresh vegetables and fruits should be eaten in considerable quantities at the proper seasons.
VALUE OF ANIMAL FOOD. The principal animal food used in this country consists of _Pork, Mutton, Beef_, and _Fish_. Beef and mutton are rich in muscle-producing material. Although pork is extensively produced in some portions of this country, and enters largely into the diet of some classes, yet its use, except in winter, is not to be encouraged. The same amount of beef would give far greater returns in muscular power.
In addition to the meats mentioned, _Wild Game_ furnishes palatable, nutritious, and easily-digested food. _Domestic Fowls_, when young, are excellent, and with the exception of geese and ducks, are easily digested. _Wild Birds_ are considered much healthier food than those which are domesticated. All of these contain more or less of the elements which enter into the composition of the four classes of foods.
VEGETABLE FOODS. _Wheat_ is rich in all the elements which compose the four classes, and, when the flour is unbolted, it is one of the best articles for supplying all the elements.
_Barley_ stands next to wheat in nourishing qualities, but is not so palatable.
_Oats_ are rich in all the elements necessary for nutrition. Oatmeal is a favorite article of diet among the Scotch, and, judging from their hardy constitutions, their choice is well founded. In consequence of the large proportion of phosphorus which they contain, they are capable of furnishing a large amount of nourishment for the brain.
_Rye_ is nutritious, but it is not so rich in tissue-forming material.
_Indian Corn_ is an article well known and extensively used throughout the United States, and is a truly valuable one, capable of being prepared in a great variety of ways for food. It contains more carbon than wheat, and less nitrogen and phosphorus, though enough of both to be extremely valuable.
_Rice_ is rather meagre in nutriment; it contains but little phosphorous matter, with less carbon than other cereals, and is best and most generally employed as a diet in tropical countries.
_Beans and Peas_ are rich in nutritious matter, and furnish the manual laborer with a cheap and wholesome diet.
The _Potato_ is the most valuable of all fresh vegetables grown in temperate climates. Its flavor is very agreeable, and it contains very important nutritive and medicinal qualities, and is eaten almost daily by nearly every family in North America. Until very recently it, with the addition of a little butter-milk or skim-milk, constituted almost the sole diet of the Irish people. The average composition of the potato is stated by Dr. Smith to be as follows: Water 75 per cent., nitrogen 2.1, starch 18.8, sugar 3.2, fat 0.2, salts 0.7. The relative values of different potatoes may be ascertained very correctly by weighing them in the hand, for the heavier the tuber the more starch it contains.
_Turnip and Cabbage_ are 92.5 per cent. water, and, consequently, poor in nutrition, though they are very palatable. The solid portions of cabbage, however, are rich in albumen.
It is evident that the quantity necessary to maintain the system in proper condition must be greatly modified by the habits of life, the condition of the organism, the age, the sex, and the climate. The daily loss of substance which must be replaced by material from without, as we have seen, is very great. In addition to the loss of carbon and nitrogen, about four and a half pounds of water are removed from the system in twenty-four hours, and it is necessary that about this quantity should be introduced into the system in some form or other, however much it may be adulterated. Professor Dalton states: "From experiments performed while living on an exclusive diet of bread, fresh meat, and butter, with coffee and water for drink, we have found that the entire quantity of food required during twenty-four hours by a man in full health and taking free exercise in the open air is as follows:
Meat, . . . . . . 16 oz., or 1.03 lb. avoir.
Bread, . . . . . . 19 " 1.19 " "
Butter or fat, . . . 3 " 0.22 " "
Water, . . . . . 52 fluid oz., 3.38 " "
That is to say, rather less than two and a half pounds of solid food, and rather over three pounds of liquid food."
CLIMATE exerts an important influence on the quantity and quality of food required by the system. In northern latitudes the inhabitants are exposed to extreme cold and require an abundant supply of food, and especially that which contains a large amount of fat. On this account fat meat is taken in large quantities and with a relish. The quantity of food consumed by the natives of the Arctic zone is almost incredible.
The Russian Admiral, Saritcheff, relates that one of the Esquimaux in his presence devoured a mass of boiled rice and butter which weighed twenty-eight pounds, at a single meal, and Dr. Hayes states that usually the daily ration of an Esquimau is from twelve to fifteen pounds of meat, one-third of which is fat, and on one occasion he saw a man eat ten pounds of walrus flesh at a single meal. The intense cold creates a constant craving for fatty articles of food, and some members of his own party were in the habit of drinking the contents of the oil-kettle with great apparent relish.
DIGESTIBILITY OF FOOD. Unless an article of diet can be digested it is of no value, no matter how rich it may be in nutriment. The quantity of food taken, will influence to a considerable extent, the time consumed in its digestion. The stomachs of all are not alike in this respect, and the subject of time has been a difficult one to determine. The experiments of Dr. Beaumont with the Canadian, St. Martin, who accidentally discharged the contents of a loaded gun into his stomach, creating an external opening through which the process of digestion could be observed, have furnished us with the following table, which is correct enough to show relatively, if not absolutely, the time required for the digestion of various articles:
====================================================== ARTICLES OF DIET. Mode of Hours. Min.
Preparation. ---------------------------- ------------ ------------ Milk........................ Boiled...... 2 00 " ........................ Raw......... 2 15 Eggs, fresh................. " ......... 2 00 " " ................. Whipped..... 1 30 " " ................. Roasted..... 2 15 " " ................. Soft boiled. 3 00 " " ................. Hard boiled. 3 30 " " ................. Fried....... 3 30 Custard..................... Baked....... 2 45 Codfish, cured, dry......... Boiled...... 2 00 Trout, salmon, fresh........ " ......... 1 30 Trout, salmon, fresh........ Fried....... 1 30 Bass, striped, " ........ Broiled..... 3 00 Flounder, " ........ Fried....... 3 30 Catfish, " ........ " ......... 3 30 Salmon, salted.............. Boiled...... 4 00 Oysters, fresh.............. Raw......... 2 55 " " .............. Roasted..... 3 15 " " .............. Stewed...... 3 30 Venison steak............... Broiled..... 1 35 Pig, sucking................ Roasted..... 2 30 Lamb, fresh................. Broiled..... 2 30 Beef, fresh, lean, dry...... Roasted..... 3 30 " with mustard, etc........ Boiled...... 3 10 " " salt only........... " ...... 3 36 " " " " ........... Fried....... 4 00 " fresh, lean, rare........ Roasted..... 3 00 Beefsteak................... Broiled..... 3 00 Mutton, fresh............... " ..... 3 00 " " ............... Boiled...... 3 00 " " ............... Roasted..... 3 15 Veal, fresh................. Broiled..... 4 00 " " ................. Fried....... 4 30 Porksteak................... Broiled..... 3 15 Pork, fat and lean.......... Roasted..... 5 15 " recently salted....... Raw......... 3 00 " " " ....... Stewed...... 3 00 " " " ....... Broiled..... 3 15 ------------------------------------------------------
ARTICLES OF DIET. Mode of Preparation. Hours/Min.
--------------------------- --------------------- ---------- Pork, recently salted----- Fried------------ 4 15 " " " ----- Boiled----------- 4 30 Turkey, wild ------------- Roasted---------- 2 18 " tame ------------- " ---------- 2 30 " " ------------- Boiled ---------- 2 25 Goose, wild -------------- Roasted --------- 2 30 Chickens, full-grown ----- Fricasseed ------ 2 45 Fowls, domestic ---------- Boiled ---------- 4 00 " " ---------- Roasted --------- 4 00 Ducks, tame -------------- " --------- 4 00 " wild -------------- " --------- 4 30 Soup, barley ------------- Boiled ---------- 1 30 " bean --------------- " ---------- 3 00 " chicken ------------ " ---------- 3 00 " mutton ------------- " ---------- 3 30 " oyster ------------- " ---------- 3 30 " beef, vegetables, and bread ---------- " ---------- 4 00 " marrow-bones ------- " ---------- 4 15 Pig's feet, soused ------- " ---------- 1 00 Tripe, soused ------------ " ---------- 1 00 Brains, animal ----------- " ---------- 1 45 Spinal marrow, animal ---- " ---------- 2 40 Liver, beef, fresh ------- Broiled --------- 2 00 Heart, animal ------------ Fried ----------- 4 00 Cartilage ---------------- Boiled ---------- 4 15 Tendon ------------------- " ---------- 5 30 Hash, meat, and vegetables Warmed ---------- 2 30 Sausage, fresh ----------- Broiled --------- 3 20 Gelatine ----------------- Boiled ---------- 2 30 Cheese, old, strong ------ Raw ------------- 3 30 Green corn and beans ----- Boiled ---------- 3 45 Beans, pod --------------- " ---------- 2 30 Parsnips ----------------- " ---------- 2 30 Potatoes ----------------- Roasted --------- 2 30 " ----------------- Baked ----------- 2 30 " ----------------- Boiled ---------- 2 30 Cabbage, head ------------ Raw ------------- 2 30 " " with vinegar " ------------- 2 00 " " ------------ Boiled ---------- 4 30 Carrot, orange ----------- " ---------- 3 13 Turnips, flat ------------ " ---------- 3 30 Beets -------------------- " ---------- 3 45 Bread, corn -------------- Baked ----------- 3 15 " wheat, fresh ------ " ----------- 3 30 Apples, sweet, mellow ---- Raw ------------- 1 30 " sour ------------- " ------------- 2 00 " " hard --------- " ------------- 2 50
Milk is more easily digested than almost any other article of food. It is very nutritious, and, on account of the variety of the elements which it contains, it is extremely valuable an article of diet, especially when the digestive powers are weakened, as in fevers, or during convalescence from any acute disease. Eggs are also very nutritious and easily digested. Whipped eggs are digested and assimilated with great ease. Fish, as a rule, are more speedily digested than is the flesh of warm-blooded animals. Oysters, especially when taken raw, are very easily digested. We have known dyspeptics who were unable to digest any other kind of animal food, to subsist for a considerable period upon raw oysters. The flesh of mammalia seems to be more easily digested than that of birds. Beef, mutton, lamb, and venison are easily digested, while fat roast pork and veal are digested with difficulty. According to the foregoing table vegetables were digested in about the same time as ordinary animal food, but it should be remembered that a great part of the digestion of these is effected in the small intestine. Soups are, as a rule, very quickly digested. The time required for the digestion of bread is about the same as that required for the digestion of ordinary meats. Boiled cabbage is one of the most difficult substances to digest.
COOKERY. "Cookery," says Mrs. Owen, "Is the art of turning every morsel to the best use; it is the exercise of skill, thought, and ingenuity to make every particle of food yield the utmost nourishment and pleasure, of which it is capable." We are indebted to this practical woman for many valuable suggestions in this art; and some of our recommendations are drawn from her experience.