Maintaining Health (Formerly Health and Efficiency)Alsaker, Rasmus Larssen
Science
Maintaining Health (Formerly Health and Efficiency)
Alsaker, Rasmus Larssen
Diet; Hygiene
A large part of the heat is given off by the skin. Those who overeat are
compelled to do a great deal of radiating. This excessive amount of fuel
taken into the system in the form of food, wears out the body. As
figured by the experts, it gives a result of food need that is at least
twice as great as necessary. Experience is the only correct guide to
food requirements, and each individual has to settle the matter for
himself. The human body is not exactly a chemical laboratory, nor is it
an engine which can be fed so much fuel with the resultant production of
such and such an amount of heat and energy. Some bodies are more
efficient than others. It is among human beings as among the lower
animals, some require more food than others.
We need enough food to repair the waste, to perform our work and to
furnish heat. Every muscle contraction uses up a little energy. Every
breath deprives us of heat and carries away carbon dioxide, the latter
being formed by oxidation of tissues in the body. Every minute we lose
heat by radiation from the skin. Every thought requires a small amount
of food. If we worry, the leak of nervous energy is tremendous, but at
the same time we put ourselves in position where we are unable to
replenish our stock, for worry ruins digestion. All this expenditure of
energy and loss of heat must be made up for by the food intake. Only a
small amount of surplus food can be stored in the body. Some fat can be
stored as fat. Some starch and sugar can be put aside as either
glycogen--animal sugar--or be changed into fat. This storing of excess
food is very limited, except in cases of obesity, which is a disease.
Overeating invariably causes disease. It may take two or three years,
yes even twenty or thirty years, before the overeating results in
serious illness, but the results are certain, and in the meanwhile the
individual is never up to par. He can use neither body nor mind to the
best advantage.
To emphasize and illustrate these remarks, I shall copy a few diet
lists, which their authors consider reasonable and correct for the
average person for one day, and I shall give my comments. The first is
taken from Kirke's Physiology, which has been used extensively as a
text-book in medical colleges:
340 grams lean uncooked meat,
600 " bread,
90 " butter,
28 " cheese,
225 " potatoes,
225 " carrots.
An ounce contains 28.3 grams; a pound, 453 grams. It is easy to figure
these quantities of food in ounces or pounds, which give a better idea
to the average person.
It is self-evident that this is too much food. Over twelve ounces of
lean, uncooked meat, over twenty-one ounces of bread, almost one-half of
a pound each of potatoes and carrots, about an ounce of cheese and over
three ounces of butter make enough food for two days, even for a big
eater. He who tries to live up to a diet of this kind is sure to suffer
disease and early death.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account