CHAPTER XIV 



HYGIENE OF FOOD AND FEEDING 



Questions. 1. How often should a person eat? 2. What is the ideal 

 number of meals per day ? 3. What is the advantage of cooked food 

 over raw food ? 4. What is the harm of eating between meals ? 5. What 

 is the objection to drinking water with meals ? 6. Why can we not eat 

 concentrated food, like pure sugar, pure fat, and so on ? 



128. When to eat. A young infant eats but a little at a time, 

 the food is liquid and quickly digested and absorbed, and the 

 child is soon hungry again. Some people have relatively small 

 stomachs, which cannot hold much food ; they may have to eat 

 at shorter intervals than others. Some people can get all they 

 need for one day in tv^o meals, v^ithout any discomfort, and 

 many men and women have been quite healthy and happy wath 

 but a single meal a day. 



In trying to find out the best rations for human beings, some 

 experimenters discovered that they were in better working con- 

 dition with only two meals a day than they were with three 

 meals. The improvement may have been owing to the reduction 

 in the total amount of food taken, or it may have been owing to 

 the longer rest periods given the stomach. It is impossible to 

 lay down fixed rules as to the number and regularity of meals, 

 to suit all people and all conditions. On the other hand, it is 

 just as unwise to avoid all regularity and eat whenever you 

 happen to be hungry. 



129. Cooking of food. The cooking of food has several dis- 

 tinct uses : 



I. Cooking breaks up and softens the cell membranes of the 

 plant and animal tissues used as food. This liberates the fats, 

 proteins, and carbohydrates contained in the cells. 



152 



