LIFE EXTENSION 



3413 



LIFE EXTENSION 



fore, to mix these foods with vegetables, green 

 salads and fruits, to bring down the average food 

 value for the total bulk needed, and to furnish 

 fruit and vegetable acids, minerals, etc. The 

 stomach should be comfortably filled, not over- 

 loaded. But its contents should be made up of 

 things not too high in food value. The mistake 

 which is generally made is of filling the stomach 

 with things too high, such as meat, fish, eggs, rich 

 desserts, cream, candy, etc. 



It is well to have a printed table of food values 

 to which to refer for authoritative information 

 regarding what things have lots of food in them, 

 for their bulk, and what ones have not. It is 

 easy enough to remember, however, that all meats 

 and eggs are high in food value, that among the 

 vegetables peas and beans are high, that pure 

 fats are high and sugar is high. These should 

 never be taken in large quantities by themselves, 

 but should be mixed with other foods of lesser 

 nutritive value, such as potatoes, turnips, cab- 

 bage, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, celery, fruits, 

 etc. 



The most expensive foods are by no means 

 the best to eat. Among the best foods for most 

 people are fruits, potatoes and other vegetables, 

 nuts (if well chewed), green things, cereals and 

 milk. These are among the cheapest foods. 

 Putrefactive cheese, sweetbreads, liver, kidneys, 

 oysters and "high" game and poultry are not so 

 good for us, and most of them are rather ex- 

 pensive. 



There are mainly three kinds of food, called 

 protein, fat and carbohydrate. Protein food is 

 what we get from lean meat or fish and the white 

 of egg. Fat food is what we get from butter, oil, 

 nuts and fat meats. Carbohydrate food is what 

 we get from brgad, cereals, rice, sugars, potatoes 

 and fruits. 



Protein food repairs the structure of the body. 

 Fats and carbohydrates furnish the energy. Pro- 

 tein corresponds to the iron with which a stove 

 is repaired, while fat and carbohydrates corre- 

 spond to the fuel which is burned in the stove. 

 We need in protein only ten per cent of the food 

 value of what we eat ; that is all that is required 

 to replenish worn tissues, even in the most active 

 people. The remainder of the food should be in 

 fat and carbohydrates, the latter twice as much 

 as the former. 



That is why we should eat sparingly of meat 

 and eggs, lest we get more protein than we need 

 and it becomes a burden to the body. This excess 

 has to be used as fuel, and it is not as good fuel 

 as other kinds of food. Also, protein foods decay 

 rapidly, and decayed food in the intestines causes 

 several kinds of damage. It causes fatigue and 

 various illnesses and burdens the liver and kid- 

 neys, which are the organs whose duty it is to 

 eliminate poisons. 



8. Eat some hard, some bulky, some raw foods. 



It is a good idea to include some hard foods in 

 the dietary, such as crusts, toast, hard crackers, 

 hard nuts, and fibrous vegetables. They make 

 it necessary to chew, which is good for the teeth 

 and gums, and for the digestion. The most of us 

 do not chew enough. 



While we need a certain amount of food, we 

 also need a certain amount of bulk, regardless 

 of its food value. This is one of the reasons why 



we cannot subsist entirely on very fat or very 

 sweet things, for they have a great deal of food 

 value in little bulk, and bulk is needed to 

 keep the intestines moving; also, they lack cer- 

 tain mineral elements and certain substances 

 called vitamines, which do not furnish fuel or 

 energy but are needed to keep our tissues healthy. 

 Certain elements that the body needs are lost 

 from some foods when they are cooked. So it is 

 well for the average person to eat some raw 

 foods every day fruits, nuts, milk, salads, etc. 



9. Eat slowly. 



Whether it be from lack of hard foods requir- 

 ing prolonged chewing, or from the nervous hurry 

 of modern life, or from other causes, it is un- 

 doubtedly a fact that most people eat too rapidly. 

 The correction of this habit will go far toward 

 reforming an individual's diet in every way. 

 Thorough mastication means masticating up to 

 the point of involuntary swallowing. It does not 

 mean forcibly holding the food in the mouth, 

 counting the chews and otherwise making a bore 

 of eating. It merely means giving up the habit 

 of forcing food down, and applies to all foods, 

 even to liquid foods, which should be sipped. 



The habit of insufficient mastication is subtle, 

 because it has become second nature to most of 

 us. To free ourselves of it we must first of all 

 allow plenty of time for our meals and rid our 

 minds of the thought of hurry. A boy's school in 

 which the principal is endeavoring to fight the 

 habit of food-bolting has wisely ordained that no 

 boy may leave the dining room until a certain 

 hour, even if he has finished eating long before. 

 In this way the boy soon learns that there is 

 nothing to be gained by fast eating and that the 

 pleasantest way of spending the mealtime is by 

 prolonging the relish of the food. It would be 

 well if all of us would adopt a similar rule for 

 ourselves. 



10. Evacuate thoroughly, regularly and 

 frequently. 



The sewage channel of the body is not always 

 efficient in releasing its wastes. This condition 

 of stagnation, or sluggish movement which we 

 call constipation, is so common that it is accepted 

 by most people as an inseparable feature of so- 

 called civilized existence. The condition of con- 

 stipation is not only an important factor in re- 

 ducing the general level of health, but it is, in 

 itself, often an index of lowered bodily vitality. 



The causes of constipation are manifold, but 

 may be grouped under the general cause of im- 

 proper living habits. Heredity plays some' part, 

 as many people are poorly endowed at birth as 

 regards their muscular and nervous systems. 

 Left to drift for themselves, they naturally de- 

 velop bowel weakness and inefficiency. Proper 

 physical care and training in early life can trans- 

 form many of these cases and protect them in 

 later life. A prominent cause of constipation Is 

 the use of laxatives and purgatives. It is' so much 

 easier to take a pill or glass of mineral water 

 than to study one's diet and properly modify It 

 that the individual takes the course of least re- 

 sistance, with the result that the bowels become 

 tired out through continually being whipped and 

 spurred, and finally absolutely refuse to move 

 unless so whipped and spurred. Many purga- 



