UNHEALTHFUL FOODS.
~1.~ Most persons eat many things which are not good for them. Some
people do not stop to think whether what they eat is good for them or
likely to do them harm. Sometimes, without knowing it, we eat things
which are harmful to us. Do you not think that we should try to learn
what is good to eat and what is not good, and then be very careful not
to eat anything which is likely to do us harm?
~2. Diseased Foods.~--When a person is sick, he is said to be diseased.
Animals are sometimes sick or diseased. Vegetables are also sometimes
diseased. Animals and vegetables that are diseased are not good for
food. Dishonest men, however, sometimes sell them to those who do not
know that they are unfit to be eaten.
~3.~ Pork, the flesh of the hog, is more likely to be diseased than any
other kind of animal food.
~4.~ Beef and mutton may be diseased also. Sheep and cattle are
sometimes sick of diseases very much like those which human beings
have. Meat which is pale, yellowish, or of a dark red color, is
unhealthful, and should not be eaten. Meat should never be eaten raw. It
should always be well cooked.
~5. Unripe Foods.~--Most vegetable foods are unfit to be eaten when
green or unripe, especially if uncooked. Sometimes persons are made very
sick indeed by eating such articles as green apples or unripe peaches.
~6. Stale or Decayed Foods.~--Food which has been allowed to stand until
it is spoiled, or has become _stale_, _musty_, or _mouldy_, such as
mouldy bread or fruit, or tainted meat, is unfit to be eaten, and is
often a cause of very severe sickness. Canned fish or other meats spoil
very quickly after the cans are opened, and should be eaten the same
day.
~7. Adulterated Foods.~--Many of our foods are sometimes spoiled or
injured by persons who put into them cheap substances which are harmful
to health. They do this so as to make more money in selling them. This
is called _adulteration_. The foods which are most likely to be injured
by adulteration are milk, sugar, and butter.
~8.~ Milk is most often adulterated by adding water, though sometimes
other things are added. Sometimes the water is not pure, and people are
made sick and die. The adulteration of milk or any other food is a very
wicked practice.
~9.~ Butter is sometimes made almost wholly from lard or tallow. This is
called _oleomargarine_ or _butterine_. If the lard or tallow is from
diseased animals, the false butter made from it may cause disease.
~10.~ A great deal of the sugar and syrups which we buy is made from
corn by a curious process, which changes the starch of the corn into
sugar. Sugar which has been made in this way is not so sweet as cane
sugar, and is not healthful.
~11. Condiments or Seasonings.~--These are substances which are added to
our food for the purpose of giving to it special flavors. Condiments are
not foods, because they do not nourish the body in any way, and are not
necessary to preserve it in health.
~12.~ The most common condiments are, mustard, pepper, pepper-sauce,
ginger, cayenne-pepper, and spices. All these substances are irritating.
If we put mustard upon the skin, it will make the skin red, and in a
little time will raise a blister. If we happen to get a little pepper in
the eye, it makes it smart and become very red and inflamed. When we
take these things into the stomach, they cause the stomach to smart,
and its lining membrane becomes red just as the skin or the eye does.
~13.~ Nature has put into our foods very nice flavors to make us enjoy
eating them. Condiments are likely to do us great harm, and hence it is
far better not to use them.
~14. Tobacco.~--Most of you know that tobacco is obtained from a plant
which has long, broad leaves. These leaves are dried and then rolled up
into cigars, ground into snuff, or prepared for chewing.
[Illustration: Tobacco-Plant.]
~15.~ Tobacco has a smarting, sickening taste. Do you think it would be
good to eat? Why not?
~16.~ You know that tobacco makes people sick when they first begin to
use it. This is because it contains a very deadly poison, called
_nicotine_.
~17.~ If you give tobacco to a cat or a dog, it will become very sick. A
boy once gave a piece of tobacco to a monkey, which swallowed it not
knowing what a bad thing it was. The monkey soon became sick and died.
~18.~ Many learned doctors have noticed the effects which come from
using tobacco, and they all say it does great harm to boys, that it
makes them puny and weak, and prevents their growing up into strong and
useful men. If tobacco is not good for boys, do you think it can be good
for men? Certainly you will say, No.
SUMMARY.
1. Both animals and plants are sometimes diseased. Flesh obtained from
sick or diseased animals is unfit for food.
2. Unripe, stale, and mouldy foods are unfit to be eaten and likely to
cause severe illness.
3. Foods are sometimes spoiled by having things mixed with them which
are not food, or which are poisonous.
4. The foods most liable to be adulterated in this way are milk, sugar,
and butter.
5. Tobacco, while not actually eaten, is thought by some persons to be a
food, but it is not. It is a poison, and injures all who use it.
6. Boys who use tobacco do not grow strong in body and mind.