Food

FOOD, in Relation to Hunger and Thirst.

Food consists of substances taken into the stomach for the purpose of digestion, or of con version into blood. Food is rendered necessary by the waste of the system. Food is the primary source of nervous and muscular power. Food which supplies calorific power is termed heat forming, respiratory, carbonaceous, or fuel food, and consists of starchy, saccharine, of oleaginous bodies which contain a preponderance of carbon, or of carbon and hydrogen. Food which supplies dynamical (mechanical and men tal power) is termed histogenetic,(tissue-forming), nitrogenous, azotized, proteinous, or albuminous; and consists of substances which are compara tively rich in nitrogen, as milk, eggs, flesh, cheese, peas, beans, and other bodies containing fibrin, albumen, canine, or gluten. A small portion of the respiratory food also probably contributes to the formation of the tissues; and likewise a por tion of histogeuetic or albuminous food to the development of the animal heat. The student and the hard-laboring professional man require even more tissue-forming food than the ordinary physical laborer. A due supply of animal food is necessary to the development of a high civiliza tion; that is, to the development of races who are capable of sustained muscular and mental labor. Alcohol, either strong or dilute, can not possess any histogenetic power from its deficiency of nitrogen; and, as far as the results of modern experiments can show, is neither oxidized nor burnt in the system, and therefore is probably neither a heat-former nor a flesh-former. It is consequently deficient in true food power, or, in other words, can neither nourish the body nor develop heat. A due mixture of heat-forming and flesh-forming food is most beneficial, econo mizing both food and digestive (vital or nervous) power. An excess of animal food is much more, injurious than a correspondingsexcess of vegeta ble food. Cooking renders food more savory, wholesome, and digestible, and destroys the parasitic animals which might otherwise excite serious if not fatal disease; it saves food, and enables the same amount of digestive (vital) power to do more effective work, and diminishes the quantity which would otherwise pass away undigested Any system of instruction in cook ing which does not include some knowledge of the chemistry and physiology of food must be defective. What is food? how is it converted into blood? how does the-blood circulate? and how is the body nourished and kept in health? are questions of the greatest importance in their relation to public health and morality, and should be generally taught in our schools. The follow ing may be taken as correct as to the qualities of human food mentioned, and their characteristics when introduced into the stomach. Beef. When it is the flesh of a bullock of middle age, it affords good and strong nourishment, and is,pectiliarly well adapted to those who labor, or take much ex ercise. It will often sit easy upon stomachs that can digest no other kind of food; and its fat is al most as easily digested as that of veal. Veal is a proper food for persons recovering from indisposi tion, and may even be given to febrile patients in a very weak state, but it, affords less nourishment than the flesh of the same animal in a state of maturity. The fat of it is lighter than that of any other animal, and shows the least disposi tion to putrescency. Veal is a very suitable food in costive habits; but of all meat it is the least calculated for removing acidity from the stomach. Mutton, from the age of four to six years, and fed on dry pasture, is an excellent meat. It is of a middle kind between the firmness of beef and the tenderness of veal. The lean part of mutton, however, is the most nourishing and conducive to health, the fat being hard of digestion. The head of the sheep, especially when divested of the skin, is very tender; and the feet, on account of the jelly they contain, are highly nutritive. Lamb is not so nourishing as mutton; but it is li ght, and extremely suitable to delicate stomachs. Rouse lamb, though much esteemed by many, possesses the bad qualities common to the flesh of all animals reared in an unnatural manner. Pork affords rich and substantial nourishment; and its juices are wholesome when properly fed, and when the animal enjoys pure air and exercise. But the flesh of hogs reared in towns is both hard of digestion and unwholesome. Pork is partic ularly improper for those who are liable to any foulness of the skin. It is almost proverbial, that a dram is good for promoting its digestion; but this is an erroneous notion, for though a dram may give a momentary stimulus to the coats of the stomach, it tends to harden the flesh, and of course to make it more indigesti ble. Smoked hams are a strong meat, and rather fit for a relish than a diet. It is the quality of all salted meat that the fibers become rigid; and therefore more difficult of digestion; and when to this is added smoking, the heat of the chimney occasions the salt to concentrate, and the fat between the muscles sometimes to become ran cid. Bacon is also of an indigestible quality, and is apt to turn rancid on weak stomachs; but for those in health it is an excellent food, especially when used with fowl or veal, and even eaten with peas, cabbages, or cauliflowers. Goat's flesh is hard and indigestible, but that of kids is tender as well as delicious, and affords good nourish ment. Venison, or the flesh of deer, and that of hares, is of a nourishing quality, but it is liable to the inconvenience, that, though much disposed to putrescency of itself, it must be kept for a lit tle time before it becomes tender. The blood of animals is used as an aliment by the common people, but they could not long subsist upon it unless mixed with oatmeal, etc., for it is not very soluble, alone, by the digestive powers of the human stomach, and therefore can not prove nourishing. Milk is of very different consist ence in different animals; but that of cows being the kind used in diet, is at present the object of our attention. Milk, where it agrees with the stomach, affords excellent nourishment for those who are weak and can not digest other aliments. It does not readily become putrid, but it is apt to become sour on the stomach, and thence to pro duce flatulence, heart-burn, or gripes, and in some constitutions a looseness. The best milk is from a cow at three or four years of age, about two months after producing a calf. It is lighter, but more watery than the milk of sheep and goats; while, on the other hand, it is more thick and heavy than the milk of asses and mares, which are next in consistence to human milk. On account of the acid which is generated after digestion, milk coagulates in all stomachs; but the caseous or cheesy part is again dissolved by the digestive juices, and rendered fit for the pur poses of nutrition. It is improper to eat acid substances with milk, as these would tend to pre vent the due digestion of it. Cream is very i nourishing, but, on account of its fatness, is dif ficult to be digested in weak stomachs. Violent exercise, after eating it, will, in a little while, convert it into butter. Butter. Some writers in veigh against the use of butter as universally per nicious; but they might with equal reason con demn all vegetable oils,which form a considerable part of diet in the southern climates, and seem to have been beneficially intended by nature for that purpose. Butter, like every other oily sub stance, has doubtless a relaxing quality, and if retained long in the stomach is liable to become rancid; but, if eaten in moderation, it will not produce those effects. It is, however, improper in bilious constitutions. The worst consequence produced by butter, when eaten with bread, is that it obstructs the discharge of the saliva in the act of mastication or chewing, by which means the food is not so easily digested. To obviate this effect, it would be a commendable practice at breakfast, first to eat some dry bread, and chew it well, till the salivary glands were ex hausted, and afterwards to eat it with butter. By these means such a quantity of saliva might be carried into the stomach as would be sufficient for the purpose of digestion. Cheese is likewise reprobated by many as extremely unwholesome. It is doubtless not easy of digestion; and when eaten in a great quantity, may overload the stomach; but if eaten sparingly, its tenacity may be dissolved by the digestive juices, and it may yield a wholesome, though not very nour ishing, chyle. Toasted cheese is agreeable to most palates, but it is rendered more indigestible by that process. The flesh of birds differs in quality according to the food on which they live. Such as feed upon grain and berries, afford, in general, good nourishment; if we except geese and ducks, which are hard of digestion, especial ly the former. A young hen or chicken is a ten der, delicate food, and extremely well adapted where the digestive powers are weak. But of all tame fowls, the capon is the most nutritious. Turkeys, as well as guinea or India fowls, afford a substantial. nutriment, but are not so easy of digestion as the common domestic fowls. In all birds those parts are the most firm, which are most exercised; in the small birds, therefore, the wings, and in the larger kinds, the legs, are com monly the most difficult of digestion. The flesh of wild birds, in general, though more easily di gested, is less nourishing than that of quadru peds, as being more dry on account of their al most constant exercise. Those birds are not wholesome which subsist upon worms, insects and fishes. The eggs of birds are a simple and wholesome aliment. Those of the turkey are superior in all the qualifications of food. The white of eggs is dissolved in a warm tempera ture, but by much heat it is rendered tough and hard. The yolk contains much oil, and is high ly nourishing, but has a strong tendency to putrefaction; on which account, eggs are im proper for people of weak stomachs, especially when they are not quite fresh. Eggs boiled hard or fried are difficult of digestion, and are ren dered still more indigestible by the addition of. butter. All eggs require a sufficient quantity of salt, to promote their solution in the stomach. Fish, though some of them be light and easy of digestion, afford less nourishment than vegeta bles, or the flesh of quadrupeds, and are, of all the animal tribes, the most disposed to putrefac tion. Salt water fish are, in general, the best; but when salted; though less disposed to putres cency, they become more difficult of digestion. Whitings and flounders are the most easily di gested. Acid sauces, and pickles, by resisting putrefaction, are a proper addition to fish, both as they retard putrescency, and correct the re laxing tendency of butter, so generally used with this kind of aliment. Oysters and cockles are

eaten both raw and dressed; but in the former state they are preferable, because heat dissipates considerably their nutritious parts as well as the salt water, which promotes their digestion in the stomach; if not eaten very sparingly, they gener ally prove laxative. Muscles and periwinkles are far inferior to oysters, both in point of digest ion and nutriment. • Sea muscles are by some supposed to be of a poisonous nature; but though this opinion is not much countenanced by experience, the safest way is to eat them with vinegar, or some other vegetable acid. Bread. At the head of the vegetable class stands bread, that article of diet which, from general use, has re ceived the name of the staff of life. Wheat is the grain chiefly used for the purpose in this country, and is among the most nutritive of all the farinaceous kinds, as it contains a great deal of starch. Bread is very properly eaten with animal food, to correct the disposition to putres cency; but is most expedient with such articles of diet as contain much nourishment in a small bulk, because it then serves to give the stomach a proper degree of expansion. But as it pro duces a slimy chyle, and disposes to costiveness, it ought not to be eaten in a large quantity. To render bread easy of digestion, it ought to be well fermented and baked, and it never should be used till it has stood twenty-four hours after being taken out of the oven, otherwise it is apt to occasion various complaints in those who have weak stomachs; such as flatulence, heart burn, watchfulness, and the like. The custom of eating butter with bread, hoefrom the oven, is compatible only with very strong digestive powers. Pastry, especially when hot, has all the disadvantages of hot bread and butter, and even buttered toast, though the bread be stale, is scarcely inferior in its effects on a weak stomach. Dry toast, with butter, is by fax the wholesomest breakfast. Brown wheaten bread, in which there is a good deal of rye, though not so nourishing as that made of fine flour, is both palatable and wholesome, but apt to become sour on weak stomachs. Oats, barley, and rice. —Oats, when deprived of the husk, and particu larly barley, when properly prepared, are each of tLem softening, and afford wholesome and cooling nourishment.. Rice likewise contains a nutritious mucilage, and is less used in Great Britain than it deserves, both on account of its wholesomeness and economical utility. The notion of its being hurtful to the sight is a vulgar error. In some constitutions it tends to induce costiveness; but this seems to be owing chiefly to flatulence, and may be corrected by the addi tion of some spice, such as caraways, aniseed, and the like. Potatoes are an agreeable and wholesome food, and yield nearly as much nour ishment as any of the roots used in diet. The farinaceous or mealy kind is in general the most easy of digestion, and they are much improved by being toasted or baked. They ought almost always to be eaten with meat. and never without salt. The salt should be boiled with them. Green peas and beans, boiled in their fresh state, are both agreeable to the taste and wholesome, being neither so flatulent, nor so difficult of di gestion, as in their ripe state; in which they re semble the other leguminous vegetables. French beans possess much the same qualities; but yield a more watery juice, and have a greater disposi• tion to produce flatulence. They ought to be eaten with some spice. Salads, being eaten raw, require good digestive powers, especially those of the cooling kind; and the addition of oil and vinegar, though qualified with mustard, hardly renders the free use of them consistent with a weak stomach. Spinach affords a soft lubricating aliment, but contains little nourish ment. In weak stomachs it is apt to produce acidity, and frequently a looseness. To obviate these effects, it ought always to be well beaten, and but little butter mixed with it. Asparagus is a nourishing article in diet, and promotes the secretion of urine ; but in common with the vegetable class, disposes a little to flatulence. Artichokes resemble asparagus in their qualities, but seem to be more nutritive, and less diuretic. Cabbages are some of the most conspicuous plants in the garden.' They do not afford much nourishment, but are an agreeable addition to animal food, and not quite so flatulent as the common greens. They are likewise diuretic, and somewhat laxative. Cabbage has a stronger tendency to putrefaction than most other vege table substances; and, during its putrefying state, sends forth an offensive smell, much, re sembling that of putrefying animal bodies. So far, however, from promoting a putrid disposi tion in the human body, it is on the contrary, a wholesome aliment in the true putrid scurvy. Turnips are a nutritious article of vegetable food, but not very easy of digestion, and are flatulent. This effect is in a good measure obvi ated, by pressing the water out of them before they are eaten. Carrots contain a considerable quantity 'of nutritious juice, but are among the most flatulent of vegetable productions. Pars nips are more nourishing and less flatulent than carrots, which they also exceed in the sweetness of their mucilage. By boiling them in two dif ferent waters, they are rendered less flatulent, but their other qualities are thereby diminished in proportion. Parsley is of a stimulating and aromatic nature, well calculated to make agree able sauces. It is also a gentle diuretic, but preferable in all its qualities when boiled. Celery affords a root both wholesome and fragrant, but is difficult of digestion in its raw state. It gives an agreeable taste to soups, as well as renders them diuretic. Onions, garlic, and shallots are all of a stimulating nature, by which they assist digestion, dissolve slimy humors, and expel flatulency. They are, however, most suitable to Persons of a cold and phlegmatic constitution. Radishes of all kinds, particularly the horse radish, agree with the three preceding articles in powerfully dissolving slimy humors. They excite the discharge of air lodged in the intes tines. Apples are a wholesome vegetable ali ment, and in many cases medicinal, particularly in diseases of the breast and complaints arising from phlegm. But, in general, they agree best with the stomach when eaten either roasted or boiled. The more aromatic kinds of apples are the fittest for eating raw. Pears resemble much in their effects the sweet kinds of apples, but have mare of a laxative quality, and a greater tend ency to flatulence., Cherries are in general a w wholesome fruit, when they, agree with the stomach, and they are beneficial in many dis eases, especially those of the putrid kind. Plums are nourishing, and have, besides, an attenuating as well as a laxative, quality, but are apt to pro duce flatulence. If eaten fresh, and before they are ripe, especially in large quantities, they occa sion colics, and other complaints of the bowels. Peaches are not of a very nourishing quality, but they abound in juice, and are serviceable in bil ious complaints. Apricots are more pulpy than peaches, but are apt to ferment, and produce acidities in weak stomachs. Where they do not disagree they are cooling, and tend likewise to correct a disposition to putrescency. Gooseber ries and currants, when ripe, are similar in their qualities to cherries, and when used in a green state, they are agreeably cooling. Strawberries are an agreeable, cooling aliment, and are ac counted good in cases of gravel. Cucumbers are cooling, and agreeable to the palate in hot weather; but to prevent them from proving hurt ful to the stomach, the juice ought to be squeezed out after they are sliced, and vinegar, pepper, and salt, afterward added. Tea, by some, is condemned in terms the most vehement and unqualified, while others have either asserted its innocence, or gone so far as to ascribe to it salubrious, and even extraordinary virtues. The truth seems to lie between these two extremes; there is, however, an essential difference in the effects of green tea and of black, or of bohea; the former of which is much more apt to affect the nerves of the stomach than the latter, more especially when drank without cream, and like wise without bread and butter. That, taken in a large quantity, or at a later hour than usual, tea often produces watchfulness, is a point that can not be denied; but if used in moderation, and accompanied with the additions just now mentioned, it does not sensibly discover any hurtful effects, but greatly relieves an oppres sion of the stomach, and abates a pain of the head. It ought always to be made of a moder ate degree of strength: for if too weak it certainly relaxes the stomach. As it has an astringent taste, which seems not very consistent with a re laxing power, there is ground for ascribing this effect not so much to the herb itself as to the hot water, which not being impregnated with a sufficient quantity of tea, to correct its own emollient tendency, produces a relaxation, un justly imputed to some noxious quality of the plant. But tea, like every other commodity, is liable to damage, and when this happens, it may produce effects not necessarily connected with its original qualities. It is allowed that coffee promotes digestion, and exhilarates the animal spirits; besides which, various other qualities are ascribed to it, such as dispelling flatulency, re moving dizziness of the head, attenuating viscid humors, increasing the circulation of the blood, and consequently perspiration; but if drank too strong, it affects the nerves, occasions watchful ness, and tremor of the hands; though in some phlegmatic constitutions it is apt to produce sleep. Indeed, it is to persons of that habit that coffee is well accommodated; for to people of a thin and dry habit of body it seems to be injuri ous. Turkey coffee is greatly preferable in flavor to that of the West Indies. Drank, only in the quantity of one dish, after dinner, to pro mote digestion, it answers best without either sugar or milk ; but if taken at other times, it should have both ; or in place of the latter, rather cream, which not only improves the beverage, but tends to mitigate the effect of coffee upon the nerves. Chocolate is a nutritive and whole some composition, if taken in 'a small quantity, and not repeated too often; but is generally hurtful to the stomach of those with whom a vegetable diet disagrees. By the addition of vanilla and otherAngredients, it is made too heating, and so much affects particular constitu tions as to excite nervous symptoms, especially complaints of the head.