EXERCISE. 437 



Fat, sugar, and starch readily form fat in the body. Starch 

 has the further disadvantage from a weight reducing point 

 of view, that many people, especially those who have passed 

 their first youth, are unable to digest it easily, and from 

 eating it are liable to suffer from rheumatism, as a con- 

 sequence of dyspepsia. One of the chief reasons for toast 

 being more digestible than bread, is that the process of 

 toasting converts a portion of the starch into sugar, which 

 is very easy of digestion. In the dilemma of getting ill 

 from eating too much albumen, or of getting fat from 

 relying too much on starch, sugar and fat, we may escape 

 both difficulties by adopting a diet of ordinary mixed food, 

 and reducing its amount to the required extent. Such a 

 plan, though thoroughly sound, demands more self-denial 

 than most men can exercise. A more workable alter- 

 native is to take advantage of the small fat-forming powers 

 of nitrogenous food, and to use means for obviating the 

 effects of its deleterious products, which we may do by the 

 consumption of a sufficiency of green vegetables and fruit, 

 neither of which unduly increase the weight. As the mineral 

 matter of plants is more or less soluble, boiled vegetables will 

 contain a much smaller proportion of it than raw vegetables 

 or fruit. The mineral constituents of vegetables employed 

 in soup, will of course be retained. 



Water plays such an important part in the removal of 

 deleterious substances from the system and in all other vital 

 processes that undue curtailment in its consumption should 

 not be resorted to, except in extreme cases, and then only for 

 a comparatively brief period of time. 



As all the movements of the body are produced by 

 oxidation of the tissues, exercise will be accompanied by loss 

 of weight proportionate to the severity of the work. Apart 

 from its weight-reducing action, exercise increases the strength 

 of the tissues and improves the general health, by quickening 



