Show WHAT to 0 EAT and WHY I 1 G wo bouton fo uton ua t 0 n qa loudl Jou U dl aatu aalt ay dyads and fallacies no N nationally c known food auf authority hority explains how they may endanger health by C HOUSTON GOUDISS 6 east selth st new york city aa A S SCIENCE and civilization have progressed painstaking aa investigators have sought to replace ignorance with knowledge to substitute truth for superstition but in spite of their efforts our eating habits are still influenced by a multitude of food fads and fancies which should have no place in this enlightened age some of these are harmless others may endanger health and the homemaker must learn to distinguish between fact and fancy A fish Is not a brain food one of the most persistent r ersi stent fallacies is the notion that certain kinds of food are especially ally beneficial for certain parts of the body many people believe that fish is a brain food and celery a nerve tonic lettuce is thought to be a soporific none of these things is true the idea regarding fish probably arose because fish contains phosphorus and the brain also contains 11 P Y V phosphorus P hosp horus how H ow simple it would be if one could in increase brain power merely by eating fish unfortunately there is nothing to it the brain A like other parts of the body requires a balanced diet no case has ever been reported of a man soothing the irritated nerves of his wife by feeding her celery and as for lettuce it is a fine source of minerals vitamins and gentle roughage but it does not contain any narcotic drug that induces sleep tic other fallacies disproved science has exploded many common notions about vegetables which may change your ideas of what is best to buy and eat many homemakers prefer lettuce that is light green in color and they believe that string beans which snap are superior in quality but it has been demonstrated that deep green lettuce is much richer in vitamins and that a snap in string beans merely indicates that the beans have been kept in a cold moist place A score of superstitions cling to the eating of fruits there is is a false notion that acid tasting fruits cause or aggravate rheumatism because they produce acidity the truth is that most fruits regardless gard less of their acid taste leave an alkaline ash following digestion t ion one often hears that fruit should not be taken at the same time as mills milk because the fruit acids w will ill cause the milk to curdle but the fact is that milk is always curdled in the stomach by the hydrochloric acid A not necessary to sip milk another false idea is the widespread notion that milk must be sipped slowly or it will be difficult to digest this has been refuted by a widely known investigator who made many tests one day he fed a man a pint of milk in 10 seconds the next day the same man was fed the same amount of milk in 10 minutes on both occasions the contents of the stomach were examined a half hour later it was discovered that the milk which was drunk in 10 seconds had formed smaller curds than the milk which was sipped in 10 minutes and in both cases the curds were ere of practically the same consistency sis tency A water with meals it is widely held that water should not be taken with meals the argument being that it dilutes the gastric juice and thus interferes with digestion this sounds logical and many people have been fooled but the truth of the matter is that water stimulates the how flow ot of the digestive juices and careful research has es established tab that normally water taken with meals in reasonable quantities aids digestion A danger of half truths the most insidious food fallacies are those which contain some portion of truth for example the belief that cooked fruit is more wholesome than raw fruit it is t true rue that cooking increases the digestibility of some fruits and also has a sterilizing effect on the other hand most fruits are easily digested in the raw state are more palatable and richer in 1 vitamins A widespread belief which has a small portion but only a small portion of truth is that whole wheat bread is vastly superior to white bread whole wheat bread contains more minerals vitamins and roughage than white bread but the minerals and vitamins lacking in white bread can easily be supplied by other common foods and there is no justification for going to the extreme of omitting white bread entirely from the diet A fad diets lack balance far more harmful than the fallacies regarding individual foods are you 0 t you can R 91 ED U safely surely comfortably send loir this tree rree bulletin offered by C houston godus headers readers of this newspaper are invited to write to C houston goudiss at 6 east street new york city for his bulletin which shows how to reduce by the safe and saoe sane method ot of counting calories the bulletin is comi u lih a chart showing the caloric balue of all the commonly used foods and contains sample samp lemenu menu that tai you can we use as a guide to comfortable huen and d healthful weight reduction j are the fad diets constantly put forth by those who seek to exploit the homemakers desire for dietetic knowledge A foods not incompatible A fad diet which has gained a large number of adherents in recent years is based on the notion that certain foods notably starches and proteins are incompatible and should d not be consumed at the same meal because they cannot be digested at the same time it is int interesting erestine to note that this fad has been condemned by the medical profession and that a physician of the highest standing has brov proved p d clinically that starches and pro proteins beins do not interfere with one another in the stomach the fallacy of this theory is further appreciated when one realizes that there are few pure proteins beins or pure carbohydrates most foods containing varying proportions of protein carbohydrate and fat such foods as dried peas and beans and whole grain cereals contain a substantial percentage of both starch and protein A dangers of fasting fasting is urged by some fad dests as a means of detoxifying detoxify ing the body advocates of this practice claim that it is natures method of housecleaning house cleaning As a matter of fact fasting for any length of time may be dangerous to health because it may result in the accumulation of incomplete oxidation products of fat and the development of acidosis homemakers must put aside superstitions half truths and food fallacies it if they are to nourish their families properly put your faith only in established food facts remember that upon your knowledge and breadth of vision depend to a great degree not only the health but the happiness of your family 0 5 C houston goudiss 1938 14 |