should be in the middle of the day. Milk and eggs
should still form a large part of the diet, also farin-
aceous food, especially oatmeal porridge. Stimulants,
such as tea and coffee, should, if taken, be weak ;
coffee with two-thirds milk.
Healthy adults should be able to take a free
mixture of all wholesome foods, variously cooked, and
taken at intervals of about five hours. I he circum-
stances of climate and employment must, however, be
considered.
The digestive powers of elderly people are weaker
than in middle life, the food should, therefore, be
nourishing and easy of digestion \ it should be taken
warm and at shorter intervals than in middle life.
As the system is apt to become lowered during the
night a light nourishing supper is advisable, and in
cases of debility, also a little warm food during the
night.
II. Climate.
More exercise is usually taken in cold than in hot
climates, and this causes a more rapid wearing out of
the materials of the body. 1 he increased rapidity of
breathing caused by exercise, promotes the mixture of
the oxygen of the air with the minute particles of food
in the blood, and so uses or burns up more of these,
and causes demand for increased supplies of food.
Animal food is stimulating and exciting ; it is there-
fore more suitable for cold and temperate climates
than for hot. When a false appetite is created for it
in hot climates by the use of condiments, it is apt to
produce various disorders. Fat is not easily digested
unless exercise is taken freely : more oxygen must be
mixed with it to produce heat than is required for
starches and sugars. There is more oxygen in the air
22
ADAPTATION OF FOOD.
in cold than in hot weather. It is in cold weather
and climates, therefore, that fat can be most easily
digested and turned into warmth.
As cold contracts the pores of the skin, there is
then much less escape of moisture than when the
weather is warm. This moisture should be replaced
by liquids, fruits, and vegetables, in order that the
temperature of the body may be kept uniform.
Of the heat-giving foods, starches and sugars are the
most suitable for warm climates, as they are easily
digested.
III. Different Employments.
The circumstances of employment affect not only
the kinds of food consumed, but the hours of the
various meals.
In-door Occupations. — Those who are engaged
in sedentary occupations cannot, in general, digest so
much or so easily as those who are employed in active
out-door work. It is, therefore, necessary that they
should select foods that give in small bulk the amount
of nourishment required, and that these should be
served in a light and digestible form. Those engaged
in severe mental work shoiM have animal food, if
possible, as part of their diet; garden vegetables should
be used, but in small quantities, as they are difficult to
digest. The fatty heat-giving foods should be repre-
sented in their more digestible forms of cream, butter,
dripping, or toasted bacon ; and the starchy foods,
chiefly represented by bread, white or brown, should
be freely used ; also well-cooked porridge with milk,
which is a nourishing, digestible, and cheap food.
Clerks and others engaged in offices should take
only a light luncheon, and defer dinner till the chief
work of the day is over. Many do themselves much
ADAPTATION OF FOOD.
23
Page 8
Presented as published in 1881. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
should be in the middle of the day. Milk and eggs should still form a large part of the diet, also farinaceous food, especially oatmeal porridge. Stimulants, such as tea and coffee, should, if taken, be weak ; coffee with two-thirds milk.
Healthy adults should be able to take a free mixture of all wholesome foods, variously cooked, and taken at intervals of about five hours. The circumstances of climate and employment must, however, be considered.
The digestive powers of elderly people are weaker than in middle life, the food should, therefore, be nourishing and easy of digestion; it should be taken warm and at shorter intervals than in middle life. As the system is apt to become lowered during the night, a light nourishing supper is advisable, and in cases of debility, also a little warm food during the night.
II. Climate.
More exercise is usually taken in cold than in hot climates, and this causes a more rapid wearing out of the materials of the body. The increased rapidity of breathing caused by exercise, promotes the mixture of the oxygen of the air with the minute particles of food in the blood, and so uses or burns up more of these, and causes demand for increased supplies of food. Animal food is stimulating and exciting ; it is therefore more suitable for cold and temperate climates than for hot. When a false appetite is created for it in hot climates by the use of condiments, it is apt to produce various disorders. Fat is not easily digested unless exercise is taken freely : more oxygen must be mixed with it to produce heat than is required for starches and sugars. There is more oxygen in the air
in cold than in hot weather. It is in cold weather and climates, therefore, that fat can be most easily digested and turned into warmth.
As cold contracts the pores of the skin, there is then much less escape of moisture than when the weather is warm. This moisture should be replaced by liquids, fruits, and vegetables, in order that the temperature of the body may be kept uniform.
Of the heat-giving foods, starches and sugars are the most suitable for warm climates, as they are easily digested.
III. Different Employments.
The circumstances of employment affect not only the kinds of food consumed, but the hours of the various meals.
In-door Occupations. — Those who are engaged in sedentary occupations cannot, in general, digest so much or so easily as those who are employed in active out-door work. It is, therefore, necessary that they should select foods that give in small bulk the amount of nourishment required, and that these should be served in a light and digestible form. Those engaged in severe mental work shoiM have animal food, if possible, as part of their diet; garden vegetables should be used, but in small quantities, as they are difficult to digest. The fatty heat-giving foods should be represented in their more digestible forms of cream, butter, dripping, or toasted bacon ; and the starchy foods, chiefly represented by bread, white or brown, should be freely used ; also well-cooked porridge with milk, which is a nourishing, digestible, and cheap food.
Clerks and others engaged in offices should take only a light luncheon, and defer dinner till the chief work of the day is over. Many do themselves much