Health on the Farm: A Manual of Rural Sanitation and HygieneHarris, H. F. (Henry Fauntleroy)
Science
Health on the Farm: A Manual of Rural Sanitation and Hygiene
Harris, H. F. (Henry Fauntleroy)
Rural health; Sanitation, Household
Oily substances when in good condition are certainly of high value
as foods, but should be taken more or less with an eye to the
climate, and to the season of the year. When placed on cold bread
and eaten along with it they are extremely palatable, and may be
taken in reasonable amounts with decided benefit to the whole body.
In temperate climates it is generally estimated that about three
ounces is a desirable amount for the average adult. In this
connection it may not be out of place to mention that the various
preparations of cod-liver oil, advertised so freely in the lay
press, in some instances actually do not contain a single particle
of the substance that they are supposed to be principally composed
of; and it may be further stated that there is no good reason to
believe that bulk for bulk oils of this kind are in any way
superior to those fats commonly eaten. The writer often recalls the
saying of a very wise old physician of his acquaintance that
"cod-liver oil is nearly as good as butter."
_Sugars._--This term includes the large number of different substances of
a more or less sweetish taste that belong to the group of carbohydrates.
They are closely related to the starches, and it is generally assumed
that they play much the same part after being taken into the body. Some
of these are of animal and some of vegetable origin--but except the sugar
found in milk, the only ones commonly consumed are those derived from
cane, beets, and fruits; the sugar from the first two is known as cane
sugar or dextrose, and that from the latter as grape sugar or glucose.
Like albumins they may be eaten without having been previously cooked,
and are unique in that they undergo no chemical change whatever as a
result of ordinary degrees of heat.
While the consumption of sugars in all civilized nations is rapidly
increasing, there can be no question that, irrespective of fruits, they
are, of all foods, the most frequent causes of digestive disturbances. It
is only within comparatively recent times that mankind has possessed
means of separating sugars in any great bulk from the plants containing
them, and as a consequence they have only entered prominently into our
every-day diet for a relatively short period of time. Before this, it is
true, they were consumed to a greater or less extent in various fruits,
but the quantity was insignificant as compared with the amount now
universally eaten. As a result of this we are now confronted with a new
dietetic problem. For ages the human stomach has been accustomed to deal
with only small quantities of these substances, and developed
accordingly a capacity to digest them proportionate to the amounts then
eaten. Now, however, we constantly call upon our digestive organs to deal
with large quantities of such foods, and it is not strange that there has
been more or less rebellion on their part.
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