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Foods—

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Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jun 20, 1916

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 43, No. 25.

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Foods—

By D. H. KRESS, M. D.

"THE whole digestive apparatus gets ready for the reception of food that is relished. When other foods are eaten, in place of the one for which preparation is made, they receive no welcome, and digestive disorders may result."

Foods—

Wise & Otherwise

By D. H. KRESS, M. D.
THE term "food" cannot be applied to every substance that satisfies or arrests the appetite, although real food should do both. The savage arrests his appetite by swallowing lumps of clay. Civilized man satisfies his cravings for food with substances almost as indigestible. Food must either be identical with the elements of the human body, or be capable of being transformed into them. It must be digested within a proper period to prevent putrefaction or fermentation, or the body itself may starve while food is within it.
In order to have good digestion, it is necessary to relish and enjoy what is eaten. The mere sight, smell, or thought of food that is relished, will produce a copious flow of saliva. Could a glimpse be obtained of the stomach, gastric juice would be found trickling down its walls. The whole digestive apparatus gets ready for the reception of food that is relished. When other foods are eaten, in place of the one for which preparation is made, they receive no welcome, and digestive disorders may result.
The juices produced by stimulation of the appetite are known as "appetite juices," and they possess many times the digestive power that is possessed by juices formed when food is eaten mechanically, or without a relish for it.

Artificial Appetizers Invented

OUR forefathers ate what they relished, as a rule. No delicacies were required to stimulate the appetite. Hard out-of-door work gave a relish for simple foods, and poverty made simple foods and few varieties a necessity. The digestive fluids were always of a superior quality, and consequently there was little suffering from indigestion.
When country life was exchanged for the city and the office, then, deprived of the natural appetizer — employment in the open air — people no longer relished simple foods. This led to a search for artificial appetizers, and to the invention of delicacies, complicated and complex dishes, and a variety of spicy and highly seasoned foods. Indigestion and malnutrition, or overwork of the organs of digestion and over nutrition, have been the result.
The rapid increase in constitutional diseases, of late years, has forced upon us the need of making reforms in eating. It will be observed that the ordinary meal taken by those who pay no attention to diet begins with some highly seasoned soup, and ends with a sweet in the form of pudding or pastry. The meal begins and ends with a pleasurable sensation, which stimulates the appetite, and causes a copious flow of "appetite juice."
While it is unwise to use unwholesome foods, the need of providing foods that appeal to both the eye and the palate must not be ignored. When a person sits down to a meal without any appetite, a spoonful or two of tasty soup, a little fruit, or something else that is relished, may create an appetite that will lead to the enjoyment of the entire meal. Soups were at first employed more as a relish at the beginning of the meal. They still have their place, but should not be used too freely.

Fixed Rules Impossible

FAST and fixed rules in diet can never be laid down. Each person possesses likes and dislikes that must be respected. The appetite may be trained to relish only the most wholesome foods. The one who possesses the same relish for wholesome foods that the epicure has for highly seasoned foods and delicacies, is on the highway to real and lasting health.
It is unwise for those who are ill to make many sudden changes in diet; for often, owing to the diseased condition of the stomach, about all the digestive juices formed are those which are formed by the stimulation of the appetite. It is also important that nutritious foods should be served to invalids in an attractive manner, so as to tempt the appetite. Recovery depends upon this.
No one can prescribe in detail what another should eat. Each one is a law to himself. Even the physician, to meet with success in his practice, must learn, within certain limits, to respect the whims of his patients. Foods, to be most beneficial, must be those of one's choice. It is necessary to see, in the food before us, the good it possesses, in order to obtain the greatest amount of good from it. Education must therefore precede or accompany all reforms in eating.
Business cares, home sorrows, and other depressing influences retard digestion. Beer, wine, tea, and coffee, being narcotics, benumb the brain, and lead to a forgetfulness of sorrows, and in doing so, may appear to improve the digestion for a time. The difficulty is that from such artificial exhilaration there follows a corresponding state of depression, which calls for another and often an increased dose of the same narcotic.
To keep free from worry and other depressing influences by the use of narcotics, it is necessary to remain in a continuous state of mild intoxication. This is ruinous both to health and to morals. But peace, and contentment, and hopefulness of mind must exist in order for the digestive organs to do their best work; for the quality of the impulses sent forth from the mind determine, to a great extent, the quality of the work done by the organs of digestion.
The lower creatures require neither delicacies to stimulate the appetite, nor narcotics to shut out depressing influences. They are content with their simple fare. The horse is satisfied with his meal of oats. Animals prefer to select their own food, and when left free to do so, take it direct from the bosom of nature. From the foods thus obtained, they derive their energy, and the elements out of which to construct strong bones, muscles, and nerves.
The savages live in the same simple manner. They do not always have the most suitable foods, and therefore their example cannot be fully followed by intelligent men and women; but their wants are few, and their habits simple. None of the complicated mixtures and messes used among civilized races appear on their bill of fare.
The peasants who are the backbone of the various civilized countries are also content with one or two kinds of simple food at a meal. The staple articles of food of the Irish peasant are milk and potatoes. Macaroni and chestnuts form the chief food of the Italian and French peasants, while the German makes use of black (rye) bread, and the Bulgarian uses corn flour and sour milk. The heartiest, healthiest, and happiest people are always to be found among those who are content with simple foods.
In sitting down to one of our modern tables, it is sometimes difficult to know what to select. The names of the prepared dishes are meaningless, and are no help in the selection of a well balanced meal. The name of any food should indicate what it is. On account of the many confusing names one encounters on the modern menu, it is impossible for even an expert in diet to make an intelligent selection or combination of foods at a meal. If nine tenths of the modern cookery books, claiming to teach reforms, could be blotted out of existence, there would be fewer dyspeptics.