About Tea and Coffee. — The effect of the drug caffeine in
coffee is to stimulate the nervous system. It removes the sense
of fatigue, but cheats the body by producing sleeplessness. Its
use is often followed by palpitation of the heart and indigestion.
Dr. Harvey W. Wiley is quoted on this point:
"For my part, believing, as I do, in the eternal principles of
energy, and that you cannot get something for nothing, I am
unable to see how the stimulation produced by a drug like caffeine
can secure any energy except at a corresponding expense."
"That caffeine is a lethal poison in not very large doses is thor-
oughly established by Dr. Slant's work on rabbits, guinea pigs,
83
SCIENCE of FOOD and COOKERY
cats, and dogs. The evil effects of extensive drinking of coffee
and tea are well known to all members of the medical profession."
— "Journal of the American Medical Association," May II, 1912.
Dr. Oilman Thompson, professor of medicine in the Cornell
University College, New York, says concerning the effects of tea :
"The ill effects of excessive tea drinking . . . the 'tea
habit' . . . are referable to its action on the digestive and nerv-
ous systems, and are cumulative. If taken in large quantities with
meals, tea precipitates the digestive ferments, retards the activity
of digestion, and may occasion gastric irritation and catarrh. Con-
stipation usually results. . . . The effect of the 'tea habit' on the
nervous system is to overstimulate and then depress it, first pro-
ducing restlessness, worry, and insomnia, and finally muscular
tremors, sensory disturbances, and palpitation."
"In a recent report upon insanity in Ireland, tea is mentioned
as a contributing factor." — "Practical Dietetics," pages 250, 251.
Dr. Alexander Haig says of tea:
"In taking tea, . . . man is taking pure poison and no nour-
ishment whatever, and with the introduction and diffusion of tea
and coffee throughout the land, there has come about a very great
increase in all uric acid diseases."- -"Uric Acid in the Causation
of Disease," page 804.
XI.
PLANNING THE MEAL AND MENU MAKING
"// is worth a life effort to lift a man from degradation. To prevent
his fall is better."
SINCE the health and efficiency of the family depend so directly
upon what they eat, no study could be more worthy of the house-
wife's attention than the art of planning harmony in her meals,
and this subject should appeal to every thinking mother.
A small amount of food in right combination gives more energy
than a large amount poorly combined, just as a small, well disci-
plined force of arms is more effective in war than an untrained
mob. This makes the selection of foods a matter not only of
health, but of economics as well ; and when the principles of com-
bining foods are rightly understood, very palatable and nutritious
meals may be prepared from the most simple and inexpensive foods.
In planning the meal, two great objectives should be kept in
view: first, the selection of foods that provide in about the right
proportion all the kinds of substances required to nourish the body;
second, the selection of foods that agree with one another, as
discussed in a previous chapter.
Page 46
Presented as published in 1921. 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
About Tea and Coffee. — The effect of the drug caffeine in coffee is to stimulate the nervous system. It removes the sense of fatigue, but cheats the body by producing sleeplessness. Its use is often followed by palpitation of the heart and indigestion. Dr. Harvey W. Wiley is quoted on this point:
"For my part, believing, as I do, in the eternal principles of energy, and that you cannot get something for nothing, I am unable to see how the stimulation produced by a drug like caffeine can secure any energy except at a corresponding expense."
"That caffeine is a lethal poison in not very large doses is thoroughly established by Dr. Slant's work on rabbits, guinea pigs,
cats, and dogs. The evil effects of extensive drinking of coffee and tea are well known to all members of the medical profession." — "Journal of the American Medical Association," May 11, 1912.
Dr. Gilman Thompson, professor of medicine in the Cornell University College, New York, says concerning the effects of tea :
"The ill effects of excessive tea drinking . . . the 'tea habit' . . . are referable to its action on the digestive and nervous systems, and are cumulative. If taken in large quantities with meals, tea precipitates the digestive ferments, retards the activity of digestion, and may occasion gastric irritation and catarrh. Constipation usually results. . . . The effect of the 'tea habit' on the nervous system is to overstimulate and then depress it, first producing restlessness, worry, and insomnia, and finally muscular tremors, sensory disturbances, and palpitation."
"In a recent report upon insanity in Ireland, tea is mentioned as a contributing factor." — "Practical Dietetics," pages 250, 251.
Dr. Alexander Haig says of tea:
"In taking tea, . . . man is taking pure poison and no nourishment whatever, and with the introduction and diffusion of tea and coffee throughout the land, there has come about a very great increase in all uric acid diseases."- -"Uric Acid in the Causation of Disease," page 804.
PLANNING THE MEAL AND MENU MAKING
"// is worth a life effort to lift a man from degradation. To prevent his fall is better."
SINCE the health and efficiency of the family depend so directly upon what they eat, no study could be more worthy of the housewife's attention than the art of planning harmony in her meals, and this subject should appeal to every thinking mother.
A small amount of food in right combination gives more energy than a large amount poorly combined, just as a small, well disciplined force of arms is more effective in war than an untrained mob. This makes the selection of foods a matter not only of health, but of economics as well ; and when the principles of combining foods are rightly understood, very palatable and nutritious meals may be prepared from the most simple and inexpensive foods.
In planning the meal, two great objectives should be kept in view: first, the selection of foods that provide in about the right proportion all the kinds of substances required to nourish the body; second, the selection of foods that agree with one another, as discussed in a previous chapter.