Diet

“ In the diet, both as a beverage and as a part of most of the food materials ingested, water serves to moisten the tissues; to furnish the fluid medium for all of the secretions and excretions of the body; to carry food materials in solution to all parts of the organism; to stimulate secretory cells producing the digestive juices, thereby aiding in the processes of digestion, absorption and excretion; to promote circulation; to furnish material for free diuresis, thus preventing to a great extent the retention of injurious substances by the body, which might otherwise take place. ”

“ Any change in diet that carries with it the persuasion that for any reason digestion ought to be better, will, because of this, make digestion better. Any habit of taking warm or cold water before meals, or of chewing in a particular way, or of taking a particular kind of food different from what is usually taken—exclusively cereal, uncooked, largely fruit, vegetarian, etc.—will lift the concentration of attention on the digestive process, and so give the stomach a chance to do its work without interference from the brain. ”

“ Persons, whose solids are weak and relaxed, ought to avoid all viscid food, or such things as are hard of digestion. Their diet, however, ought to be nourishing; and they should take sufficient exercise in the open air.
71Such as abound with blood should be sparing in the use of every thing that is highly nourishing, as fat meat, rich wines, strong ale, and such like. Their food should consist chiefly of bread and other vegetable substances; and their drink ought to be water, whey, or small beer.
Fat people should not eat freely of oily nourishing diet. ”

“ As to the choice of food and the amount that is necessary for the average person, generally the appetite is a safe guide; but the accurate observations of physiologists have gone so far as to determine the exact requirements of the body. Not the least important principle taught by these investigations is to avoid dietary fads, for in arranging a satisfactory diet the problem to be solved is not, What is it possible to live on? but, What serves best as nourishment? The experience of countless generations has taught us that we thrive best on a diet which includes all five food-stuffs. ”

“ One of the chief considerations of life is, or ought to be, the food we eat, for our physical well-being depends mainly on diet. The perfect adjustment of diet can only be maintained by a combination of certain factors, of which suitable food and good cooking may be considered the most important. ”

“ In discussing the question of health, we have given the greater part of the space to the subject of diet, for the reason that experience has convinced us that diet is two-thirds of health, and that nearly always in disease you find errors of diet playing a part. ”

“ One mode of diet is declared pernicious, shortening the days, and making the few that are granted undesirable. Yet, just as you are ready to accept this theory, you are told of those who have lived wellnigh to a hundred years, or perhaps have passed that period, always healthful and cheerful, yet the proscribed diet or article of food has been habitually indulged in by them. ”

“ The necessity for occasionally changing or varying the diet, is seen in the fact that no single article comprises all the necessary principles of food, and that the continuous use of any one diet, whether salt or fresh, is followed by defective nutrition and disease. ”

“ Many are practising the diet after consultation with their own medical advisers; some few have gone to mine, and others are practising upon their own convictions of the advantages detailed in the Pamphlet, though I recommend all to act advisedly, in case their constitutions should differ. I am, however, so perfectly satisfied of the great unerring benefits of this system of diet, that I shall spare no trouble to circulate my humble experience. ”

“ What should be eaten at this meal? Everything and anything agreeable to the appetite and as much as one wants. Eat a mixed diet; the system needs all kinds of food from which to select the new fuel for its new release of interior substance, and a single diet will not satisfy the demands of the physical cells. ”

“ The influence of diet upon health is indeed a subject of far deeper importance than it would usually appear to be considered, if we may judge by the profound indifference with which it is commonly treated. ”

“ Dietetic Treatment.—When the first acute symptoms have passed, the diet must consist of fluids, well-skimmed meat broths, buttermilk, peptonized milk, albumen water or albumenized orange juice. No solid food must be given until the acute symptoms have disappeared. When the tenderness in the right side has entirely left him and he no longer suffers the pain or nausea, a gradual return to a normal diet may be made. ”

“ One must have lived on such diet to discover what ghastly trouble the necessity of swallowing one’s food may become. ”

“ All excretions from the patient should be buried, and not committed to privies to communicate disease to those who frequent them.
The Diet contains a very important relation to health. During the process of acute disease, the appetite is generally much impaired, if not entirely absent. It should then be the study of the nurse to devise such articles of nourishment as will [pg 381] be acceptable to the patient and suitable to the condition. The food should be light, nutritious, and easy of digestion.
Each individual disease requires a diet adapted to its peculiarities. ”

“ In old age the digestive organs lessen in activity, and the diet should be almost as simple as that of a child, increasing the amount of carbohydrates and decreasing the amount of proteins and fat. Many diseases which occur after middle life are due to eating and drinking such foods as were indulged in during vigorous manhood. ”

“ DIET FOODS AND DRINKS FOR THE SICK ROOM. DIET.—The importance of diet and its relation to the needs of the system in disease can hardly be overrated. One should not only know what kind of food to give, but how much and how often it should be given to get the best result. Food should be given in small quantities in acute diseases and at regular intervals. It will digest better. The food should never be left in the sick room after a patient has finished with it. ”

“ The difficulty is to arrive at a conclusion as to what is really the suitable and reasonable diet for an individual—yourself or one like yourself—having regard to the lifelong habits of the individual, and the consequent nervous reactions established in him or her in relation to the taste, quality, and mode of presentation of food. ”

“ The body should be bathed daily, or, if impracticable, then a brisk rubbing from head to foot, with a towel, and exercise—more or less—taken every day. The diet should consist largely of vegetables and fruit, especially after the fourth month, avoiding farinaceous foods as much as possible, such as wheat, peas, beans, barley, and especially fine wheaten flour. ”

“ Reënforcing the Diet.—On account of the great increase in the rate of metabolism and because of the difficulty of furnishing the requisite number of calories in the diet, reënforcing agents such as lactose, eggs, some forms of casein, or beef preparations are used.
Idiosyncrasies against certain foods are, at times, manifested by patients. Efforts must be made to determine whether they are real or imaginary before eliminating any food which may be of importance to their future welfare. ”

“ Before discussing the question of suitable foods for individual needs or the ill-health which is so likely to follow an unrestrained or unwise diet, it will be well to trace briefly the passage of food through the human body, with the various changes which take place in its mass from the time it enters the mouth until it is absorbed by the stomach. ”

“ When the body requires a given kind of diet, specially demanded by brain, lungs, or muscles, the appetite will crave food for it until the necessary amount of this article is secured. If, then, the food in which the needed aliment abounds is not supplied, other food will be taken in larger quantities than needed until that amount is gained. For all kinds of food have supplies for every want of the body, though in different proportions. ”

“ These people also regained their health, but it took them a year at minimum, and once well they had to remain on a diet tailor-made to their digestive capacity for the rest of their life, usually along with food supplements. ”

“ High Calorie Diet is one in which the fuel value of the food ingested meets or exceeds the energy expenditures of the patient. Foods composing the diet are, milk and eggs for the proteins, with carbohydrates and fats in their simplest and most digestible form to balance the diet. ”

“ Chief Points to be remembered in formulating a diet and instituting an obesity treatment are the necessity for small meals and dry meals, no fluid given at all during the meal except perhaps one or two small cups of coffee per day, without sugar or cream, the avoidance of fat-forming foods, sugars and starches in all forms, milk, cream, butter and oil, potatoes, bananas, fat meats of all descriptions, especially pork, soups of every description and alcoholic or malted beverages. ”

“ Where the constitution is of a mixed nature, or a compound of two or more of the temperaments already described, a diet composed of animal and vegetable aliment in nearly equal proportions is under ordinary circumstances the best. But where any one temperament predominates, the diet ought to be modified accordingly. ”

“ With respect to diet, he should carefully observe the important rule of taking food frequently, in small quantities, and never making a full meal; that the digestive organs may not be overpowered, or the vessels charged with too large a quantity of chyle at a time ”

“ From the above comprehensive sketch of the principles of diet, we see to what an extent food influences the health of the individual, and consequently the prosperity and happiness of the nation. The subject of diet is so important, so full of interest, and opens so wide a field for interesting investigation, that I feel I cannot do better than refer those who wish for scientific information conveyed in popular terms on the subject of food, to Dr. ”

“ Hence the reason and necessity of living on a varied diet, which experience taught our ancestors long before the scientific facts on which it is founded were discovered. For with the exception of milk, which is a perfect food, no ordinary article of diet contains all the necessary elements. ”

“ To fulfill the second indication, to restore healthy nutrition, requires not only a proper diet, both as regards quantity and quality, but demands that the integrity of the organs concerned in the process of digestion and assimilation, shall be maintained at the highest standard of perfection possible. ”

“ When we consider the organization of the human system, the form and arrangement of the teeth, the structure of the stomach and intestines, we are led to conclude, that both animal and vegetable food is requisite, and that a mixed diet is most conducive to strength, health, and long life. ”

“ Metrical Texts:—An intelligent physician, considering the nature of the disease, the strength and temperament of the patient, and the state of his digestion as well as the seat of the affection, the physical features of the country and the then prevailing season of the year, should prescribe a diet which he thinks the most proper and suitable to the requirements of the case. ”

“ Diet.—A regular time for eating and no eating between meals. Do not eat too much or too fast, or anything that you know disagrees with you. Fried foods are generally harmful, pies, cakes, hot breads, strong tea and coffee and alcohol, gravy and highly spiced foods; vinegar pickles, preserves, etc., are generally bad. If there is acid belching gas on stomach, the starch foods should be restricted, particularly potatoes and the coarser vegetables. ”

“ For a well balanced diet, at least one article from each group should be represented in the meals each day.
It is most vitally important that we see to it that whatever we do eat is thoroughly chewed. ”

“ In the following I shall give the outline a natural diet regimen which has been found by experience to meet all requirements of the healthy organism, even when people have to work very hard physically or mentally. In case of disease, certain modifications may have to be made according to individual conditions. Persons in a low, negative state, whether physical, mental or psychical, may temporarily require the addition of flesh foods to their diet. ”

“ It ought to be made an article of diet more often than it is, as the particles it contains tend to purify the blood from the grossness it receives in partaking of animal food; and when taken at the commencement of dinner, tends to assist the digestion of those substances which form the more substantial part of the meal. ”

“ Adjusting the Diet.—More and more is it coming to be understood that the diet must be adjusted to suit the individual. Three wholesome meals a day are insisted upon, with lunches given between the morning and midday meal and during the course of the afternoon. ”

“ The diet should be graded to the ability of the stomach to digest and the body to assimilate. Our chief reliance will be upon milk, plain or peptonized, eggs, and beef given in the various forms of acceptable preparations, so as not to impair the tone of the stomach nor clog the appetite by sameness. Such vegetables and fruits as agree with the patient may be allowed. I have tried exclusive diets of milk, farinacea, and meat without marked benefit. All stimulants, tea, and coffee should as a rule be interdicted. ”