THE BODY'S BOOK-KEEPING.
Man's food is as varied as his work, more varied than the climate, with
one food for the luxurious and one for the poor. The majority of us
take what we can get, making no complaints; even when we have a cook
and a good one the same is true. The ideal diet prepared by the ideal
cook no one has as yet made fashionable, but one thing is within the
reach of all--cleanliness of the sewers of the body. Keep the contents
of the bowels moving down and out steadily and regularly and you may
eat almost any food and in almost any preparation and still be healthy.
Just as a steam-engine, running at a given rate of speed, must be
supplied with fuel sufficient to maintain that speed, so the human body
must have the requisite food to maintain the speed of civilized society
and business, and replace the waste of the tissues; otherwise decline
sets in and the reserve store of strength is exhausted. How shall we
determine the proper amount and kind of food for the various ages,
sexes, and conditions of life?
A leading authority says that the character and amount of the daily
excreta furnish suggestions as to the required food supply. (Kirk's
_Physiology_, p. 208.) These excreta are found to be carbon, nitrogen,
hydrogen, oxygen in great part, with some sulphur, phosphorus,
chlorine, sodium, etc. A summary is given (_ibid._, p. 432) of the
expenditure for twenty-four hours:
1. From the lungs:
Carbonic acid about 15,000 grains
Water " 5,000 "
2. From the skin:
Water " 11,500 "
Solid and gaseous matters " 250 "
3. From the kidneys:
Water " 23,000 "
Organic matter " 680 "
Saline bodies " 420 "
4. From the intestines:
Water " 2,000 "
Organic and mineral substances " 800 "
Total daily expenditure:
Solid matters " 17,150 "
Water " 49,500 "
Altogether about eight and a half pounds.
The credit side of the sheet is about as follows:
Solids (chemically dry foods) " 8,000 grains
Water, combined or otherwise 35,000 to 40,000 "
Oxygen, absorbed by the lungs " 13,000 "
Altogether about eight and a half pounds.
With the proper balance between the intake and the outgo, the functions
of the body will be carried on normally, but the balance must be a
proper one; that is, not only must the entire waste be repaired but the
correct proportions of one kind of food and another must be observed.
If all the elements needed are not furnished there can be no true
counterpoise.
How do we expend the energy? By the common wear-and-tear incident upon
all voluntary motion, all work and recreation, carrying on the internal
movements of digestion and respiration, by thinking, by loss of
temperature, by indulgence of any of our functions, and by any wrong
indulgence especially. Excessive use, voluntary or otherwise, will of
course diminish our total capital and cut short our lives. Could we
always maintain the right balance we need never die.
The importance of what has been said must now be clearly apparent. We
ought to be wisely interested in choosing the proper foods for our
daily needs and in having them properly prepared; we ought to know how
much carbohydrates we need, how much proteids, and regulate our diet
accordingly. The foods which contain nitrogen are chiefly the
following: flesh of all animals, milk, eggs, leguminous fruits (peas,
beans, lentils); those which contain carbohydrates chiefly are bread,
starch, vegetables and especially potatoes, rice, etc.; foods supplying
fat are butter, lard, fat of meat, etc. Salts are furnished in almost
all other substances, but especially in green vegetables and fruits.
Liquid food is obtained by water, too often neglected, and tea, coffee,
beer, cider, etc.
Alcohol has no power to form tissue or to repair waste and cannot be
regarded as a true food. Tea and coffee are almost entirely stimulant,
not nutritious, and should be taken sparingly or not at all.
The common mistakes in diet are over-feeding or taking too much of one
kind of food, and of the latter class perhaps an excess of starchy food
is the most mischievous. If taken in excess, especially by the young,
the starchy foods are not digested and what does not digest must
putrefy: the result is a bowel distended with harmful gases. Many
people eat too much nitrogenous food, with resulting plethora or gout.
A great deal of vigorous exercise in the open air is required to use up
such a diet.