Cold meat and meat that has
''been warmed over" are not easy of digestion. ^2
658 HINTS FOR TH^rWBLL.
Popular Errori In Diet. — An eminent physician has prepared this article
giving the following errors : It is an error to suppose that the appetite is
always a correct criterion of the quantity and quality of food. This is a
widely prevalent error and some very distinguished pnvsicians have given
it countenance and endorsement by saying to patients, when asked for a diet
prescription, "Eat whatever and whenever you have a mind to.** No ad-
vice could be more mischievous. It virtually assumes either that there is
no relation between diet and health, that it makes no difference what a per-
son eats, or that the appetite is an infallible guide, both of which supposi-
tions are palpably false. If all appetites were natural appetites, if there
were no such thing as depraved taste, then might the appetite be relied upon,
but in the present state of things among civilized human beings scarcely one
person in a hundred has a perfectly normal taste and appetite, if the number
be not even smaller. The appetite is to some degree a guide, but it must be
controlled and governed by common sense, by a knowledge of the laws of
digestion and the relation of elementary substances to the stomach and the
system. Either extreme on this point is bad. The appetite must not be
ignored and it must not be blindly followed unless it is Known to be normal
in its inclinations. It would be just as proper to advise a person to speak
anything that comes into his mind, to do everything for which he has an in-
clination, and to thus follow implicitly all the promptings of his various
organs, as to tell him to eat everything which he feels disposed to.
It is an error to suppose that sick persons whose appetites are poor,
should be tempted to eat by means of tiabits and dainties. Nothing is more
common than for them to be besieged with such unwholesome substances as
preserves, rich jellies and sauces, pies, cakes, confectionery, etc. About as
soon as a person is taken sick, in some communities, the neighbors begin to
show their sympathy by contributions of all . sorts of unwholesome and in-
digestible viands, and the invalid, whose stomach may be unable to digest
any but the very simplest food, beeomes a victim to the kindness of friends.
Many times have the best efforts of the intelligent physician been baffled in
this manner. '^Killed bv kindness" of this sort might be written on many' a
tombstone. The general belief that these things are essential for the sick
when confessedly Dad for the well is forcibly illustrated by the story con-
cerning the old gentleman who arrived home late at night and not finding
any pie in the cupboard awoke his wife with the exclamation, "Why, what
would you do if anyone should be sick in the night 1" Every physician
ought to look carefully after this matter whenever he has a patient in charge
and the absurdity of the custom should be thoroughly exposed. The want
of appetite in sick people, especially fever patients is usually an indication
that the stomach is not in a condition to digest food if it is received, and
only the most digestible should be given, and that in small quantities.
Page 576
Presented as published in 1890. 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
Cold meat and meat that has "been warmed over" are not easy of digestion.
658 HINTS FOR THE WELL.
Popular Errori In Diet. — An eminent physician has prepared this article giving the following errors : It is an error to suppose that the appetite is always a correct criterion of the quantity and quality of food. This is a widely prevalent error and some very distinguished physicians have given it countenance and endorsement by saying to patients, when asked for a diet prescription, "Eat whatever and whenever you have a mind to.** No advice could be more mischievous. It virtually assumes either that there is no relation between diet and health, that it makes no difference what a person eats, or that the appetite is an infallible guide, both of which suppositions are palpably false. If all appetites were natural appetites, if there were no such thing as depraved taste, then might the appetite be relied upon, but in the present state of things among civilized human beings scarcely one person in a hundred has a perfectly normal taste and appetite, if the number be not even smaller. The appetite is to some degree a guide, but it must be controlled and governed by common sense, by a knowledge of the laws of digestion and the relation of elementary substances to the stomach and the system. Either extreme on this point is bad. The appetite must not be ignored and it must not be blindly followed unless it is Known to be normal in its inclinations. It would be just as proper to advise a person to speak anything that comes into his mind, to do everything for which he has an inclination, and to thus follow implicitly all the promptings of his various organs, as to tell him to eat everything which he feels disposed to.
It is an error to suppose that sick persons whose appetites are poor, should be tempted to eat by means of tidbits and dainties. Nothing is more common than for them to be besieged with such unwholesome substances as preserves, rich jellies and sauces, pies, cakes, confectionery, etc. About as soon as a person is taken sick, in some communities, the neighbors begin to show their sympathy by contributions of all sorts of unwholesome and indigestible viands, and the invalid, whose stomach may be unable to digest any but the very simplest food, beeomes a victim to the kindness of friends. Many times have the best efforts of the intelligent physician been baffled in this manner. "Killed by kindness" of this sort might be written on many' a tombstone. The general belief that these things are essential for the sick when confessedly Dad for the well is forcibly illustrated by the story concerning the old gentleman who arrived home late at night and not finding any pie in the cupboard awoke his wife with the exclamation, "Why, what would you do if anyone should be sick in the night 1" Every physician ought to look carefully after this matter whenever he has a patient in charge and the absurdity of the custom should be thoroughly exposed. The want of appetite in sick people, especially fever patients is usually an indication that the stomach is not in a condition to digest food if it is received, and only the most digestible should be given, and that in small quantities.