Popular Books on Natural Science Part 14

MEAT AND VEGETABLES.

It is an old German habit to consider meat and vegetables as belonging together.

In the common kinds of vegetables there is very little nutriment. Nearly nine-tenths of the weight of cabbages and other varieties consist of water. There is therefore but little left for nutriment proper, as, for example, vegetable alb.u.men, gluten, vegetable fat, starch, and sugar. It is only such vegetables as turnips, etc., that contain much sugar, for which reason they are well adapted for children and convalescents. In fine, if nutriment alone were considered, the enjoyment of our common vegetables would be nothing but a luxury.

In truth, however, they possess elements which make them very beneficial to man, if he takes them together with meat. They contain organic acids--like fruit, which for this reason is so universally liked--and have the quality of preserving in a state of dissolution the soluble alb.u.men of the meat. Thus they save much labor to the digestive organs, and accelerate the transition of meat into chyle. Hence the well-known fact, that after dinner, though we can eat nothing more, yet we like to taste some good raw fruit, or cooked fruit of any kind. Vegetables are taken for a similar purpose, and are therefore very healthy when eaten with meat.

But why is it that our housewives often serve vegetables _before_ they do meat, and fruit _after_ the meat?

Very likely they themselves do not know why, as is the case so often; yet they act here, as in many other things, with wise instinct. Fruit contains organic acid, which, in a ready-made condition, is very beneficial to us; it needs only to be taken up by the stomach. We do well, therefore, if we take fruit after the meat, and allow digestion to go on with it. From vegetables, however, this acid is only produced in the stomach, and during the process of digestion. If taken before meat, the acid may promote the digestion of the meat; while if it is taken after the meat, the acid comes much too late to be of any benefit. This explains the fact, that vegetables in which this acid has been produced by fermentation--as is the case, for example, with sour-crout--are usually taken together with meat.

Another great advantage of vegetables is, that they are rich in mineral salts necessary for the health of the body. There are ingredients in the various kinds of vegetables, of which it may scarcely be believed that they can be eaten, for they belong to the metals and metal combinations; as, for example, chlorine, iron, pota.s.sium, and natron; these play an important part in the body. It is, therefore, not surprising to us that a judicious physician will more often prescribe a good vegetable than medicine; and one ought to be thankful to him if he sends people more to the market than to the drug-store. There are, indeed, many diseases successfully cured by such organical remedies, which only nature knows how to prepare. To mention but one remedy, spinage, so highly beneficial to children and young girls of very pale appearance. Their green-sickness takes origin from a want of iron in the blood. Though every physician is able to prescribe medicine which contains iron, yet the effect of such artificial inorganic remedies is often very doubtful; while spinage itself contains iron, and therefore offers a better organic remedy, and food.

Meat and vegetables are sufficient for the body. There is not need of much meat. From six to eight ounces a day const.i.tutes the quant.i.ty sufficient for a man. Meat and vegetables compensate each other's wants; the former is poor in water, the latter rich; vegetables are wanting in alb.u.men, which is found abundantly in meat. This happy circ.u.mstance is favorable to the formation of that mixture of elements essential to the preservation of the body.

Household fare, according to what we have seen, is precisely what it ought to be, and does not, as some people are inclined to think, result solely from the whims of the housewives. Thus is proved again what we have said above, viz., that the natural instinct and tact of woman have, by long years of practice, been guided by a better and more practical course than science itself.

There are some other important articles of food, but we must keep them for "Supper;" and our readers will no doubt be very glad if we conclude this chapter, and treat in the next one the question,

"Is it good to take a little nap after dinner?"

CHAPTER XVII.

THE NAP AFTER DINNER.

An old adage says, "After dinner thou shalt either rest or walk a thousand steps." Habit, however, has modified this very much; for people nowadays neither rest nor walk; but, if they can, they lie down and slumber. Now, it is true that sleep does not belong to the articles of food. We might despatch the question of the nap after dinner here at once; yet, if it has any influence upon the digestion of food, it is of enough importance to merit a few words.

It was mentioned before, that eating and digestion are a labor. To many it may be the most pleasant labor, to others even the only labor of their lives; but be this as it may, it is certainly a labor for all and every one; and it is important that during the process quiet should be enjoyed. He who thinks he gains by not taking enough time for eating, or he who takes his dinner while working or moving about, loses actually more than he even thinks of winning. The activity without disturbs seriously the activity within. The perspiration on the surface of the body withdraws moisture from the inside of the body to such an extent as to diminish even the saliva in the mouth, so necessary to digestion.

Have not all of you had the experience, that when fatigued you feel dryness in the mouth; that you feel as if a piece of dry bread would not pa.s.s down, but remain in your throat? And as with the saliva, it is with the other digestive fluids; if there is any want of them, the food we have taken lies in the stomach like stone.

It is therefore desirable to take a short rest before dinner, not to perform any kind of labor whatever during the same, and, above all, not to exercise the body immediately after dinner. Eating is an inward work, and should not be accompanied by any labor without. As an additional proof of what we said above, it may be stated that, as probably many of our readers know already, even in the hottest summer, perspiration diminishes after dinner. This will convince all, that when the digestive apparatus is at work, the outer organs ought to be at rest. Once more, then: before and after dinner we need rest, and it is this rest which renders us indisposed to labor and makes us feel sleepy.

On the other hand, we must take but a short slumber. Those who have accustomed themselves to sleep after dinner, feel that half an hour's slumber is all that is needed, and that they even feel weary if they have slept longer.

The reason of this is, the process of digestion is properly carried on chemically by the food, being dissolved through the gastric juice. This digestion, however, is greatly promoted by the motions of the stomach, which tosses the food about from one side to the other, mixing it entirely, and finally making a large ball of it, whose various ingredients are, as it were, fused together. This process needs rest on our part; during it sleep is sweet and agreeable. But for the further digestion of food, energy is needed, which we have not during that sleep; therefore its want makes our prolonged sleep uneasy, or renders our digestion imperfect. This latter may be felt by every one who goes to bed with a full stomach. His sleep during the first hour is undisturbed and pleasant, because it is favorable to the first stage of digestion. But after that, sleep is very uneasy; weariness and complaints about bad digestion follow, and the imprudent person rises next morning with headache, coated tongue, and indigestion in the stomach.

From what has preceded we may conclude, that a short nap after dinner is conducive to good health; while if taken too long, it will produce the contrary effect. Dizziness in the head and fetid taste in the mouth are sure signs of one's having overslept one's self, and he who has been so imprudent must animate his system--not by liquor, but with a gla.s.s of fresh water; or he must, if he feels very heavy, wash with very cold water. For this is the moment when digestion needs activity more than anything else; the above symptoms are the indications, and man should consider them as the summons of nature, who calls to him, "Thou hast eaten and reposed; go, then, to thy labor; this is the time!"

Let every one obey her call, and there will be less sickness.

CHAPTER XVIII.

WATER AND BEER.

During the forenoon a general desire for food is felt, while in the afternoon thirst is more common, in which case the best and most natural beverage should always be water.

Properly speaking, water is no article of food, if by that term we understand only animal and vegetable matter. Water is no organic, but a mere chemical agent. But if man were to consume no water he would perish. Therefore water is essentially necessary to man, although it does not satisfy his appet.i.te; for it serves to liquify our food in the body, and our blood must contain a greater quant.i.ty of water than is furnished us by food, although this itself contains much water.

Without water there can be neither digestion nor nutrition, nor formation of blood, nor secretion. Furthermore, it is remarkable that the most active of the human organs, the brain and muscles, contain the most water; we are therefore obliged, although we are aware of its containing no nutritious elements, to call it a nutritive; all the more, since it is well known that we can be longer without food than without water.

This element plays a great part in the body; it is used in three ways.

In the first place, the ingredients of water, hydrogen and oxygen, combine with the food, and effect its digestion. The starch which we eat in farinaceous and vegetable food cannot without water be converted into sugar. And the latter being transformed into fat, we should have no fat if we took no water, though it may seem strange that water should make us fat.

And there is the second task, viz., the preservation of all the fluids necessary to our body. This, also, is performed by water; and as they are excreted their loss is compensated for by water. We lose it constantly by breathing, perspiring, and urinating; therefore we must continually take it anew. Those who perspire and breathe much, as, for example, workmen or foot-travellers, must take it in greater quant.i.ties.

The third reason of its importance lies in this, that it gives us much of the salts and other ingredients that are dissolved in it, and which the human body needs for its support. Those are wrong, therefore, who prefer cistern or distilled water to spring-water; the former being, as it were artificially, free from all metallic and mineral parts which are so beneficial to our health; while spring-water contains them in abundance, and ought, therefore, to be taken in preference even to the purest rain-water.

But one of the most excellent qualities of water is, that one can scarcely ever drink too much of it. If but for a moment in the stomach, it is absorbed there and goes immediately into the blood. From this arises its rapid cooling quality; which, however, may become very dangerous when one is heated. There is but one case in which water is not readily absorbed by the stomach; when it contains salts that make it heavier than blood, for example, Glauber's salt and bitter-salt. It pa.s.ses then into the intestinal ca.n.a.l, and produces here--partly as liquid, partly by its salts exciting the nerves of the intestines--that medicinal effect for which it is famous. Many water-cures, especially those applied in cases of abdominal diseases, are of similar effects.

Common water, however, which is immediately transmitted to the blood, effects by this accelerated secretion of perspiration, respiration and urine; this const.i.tutes the beneficial effects of water-cures, where a gla.s.s of water often produces better results than a bottle of medicine.

If we can control our thirst until several hours after dinner have pa.s.sed, a gla.s.s of beer will be a welcome beverage to us. Beer contains nutriment; it includes more or less alb.u.men, sugar, gluten, hops, and alcohol. Owing to the variety in its fermentation and manufacture, we have many kinds of beer, such as, for example, porter, ale, and, above all others, the lager-beer.

Good beer--that is, beer well brewed and containing all the ingredients this beverage generally does contain--is, very justly, often given to nurses and mothers, because it a.s.similates easily and very rapidly. It is a kind of soup; one may take it when a person is too heated or fatigued to eat a regular meal. There is a kind of beer that contains more hops, and is therefore very bitter; it is very good for the stomach. The Bavarian beer, when genuine, contains more alcohol than the other, which gives it the advantages of liquor without its disadvantages. It therefore does not satisfy one's appet.i.te, but, on the contrary, tends to increase it; thus it is more adapted to be taken at breakfast and supper. Another kind of beer, called white-beer, contains more sugar and oxygen; it may, for this reason, supply the place of sugar, and Seltzer-water, and is recommended to all those who need Seidlitz powders.

In another part of this work we shall perhaps speak more about the usefulness of beer. To-day we must pray our readers to be satisfied with what we have said about it; we shall now speak about supper.

CHAPTER XIX.

SUPPER.

No time of the day is more pleasant than the evening hours after the day's work is over; there is a solemn calm and quiet in them which charms both soul and body.

This time of ease and rest must not be disturbed on our part by overburdening the stomach. We eat only for the purpose of compensating for the loss experienced through our work; we should not eat more than is necessary to supply the strength lost; in other words, to give us sufficient strength to continue our labor. And as the day's work is finished, there being not much work before us, we need not take much food.

When glancing at a sleeping person and noticing his long breathing and increased perspiration, one may be led to the belief that he loses much oxygen and water during his sleep; that therefore we must provide ourselves abundantly with food before retiring to bed. This is, however, a mistake. The breath of a sleeping person is long and deep, but very slow; and his perspiring does not cause any great loss of water, but comes rather from this, that one's body during the night is more protected by covers and closed windows, etc., from draft which dries our evaporation, and therefore prevents perspiration in day-time. During sleep we need even less of bodily strength than through the day; for this reason we feel no hunger in the night, and, in spite of the long fasting, no fatigue in the morning.

From this we conclude that supper should not be a meal for the night, but merely for the last hours of the day. It should be no meal _praenumerando_, but _postnumerando_!

It is therefore best to choose but light dishes, which, if we wish to rest well, must be easily digested, and eaten at least two or three hours before bed-time.

For healthy people a warm supper is unnecessary; our dinner is taken warm for the purpose only of keeping the gluten and fat of the food liquid; as this kind of food, however, is not proper for supper, we need not take it at all in the evening. If we do, it is but an additional burden to the housewife, who surely has enough trouble and labor in the kitchen during the day. He who is not satisfied with a piece of bread and b.u.t.ter and a gla.s.s of beer, may eat a piece of cheese besides; but it must be no other kind than sour cheese--the Germans call it _Schmierkaese_--common cheese being too heavy for night because of its containing fat. This sour cheese, whether soft or hardened, is easily digested; it even excites the stomach like spice, especially if you eat it with caraway seeds, and thus promotes the secretion of gastric juice.

The other kind of cheese is, for no other reason than that, often eaten after dinner; for, though taken by itself scarcely digestible, if eaten in very small quant.i.ty, it increases by its action upon the stomach, the quant.i.ty of gastric juice there, and, therefore, promotes digestion in general.

Should we, however, for one reason or the other, insist upon having a more substantial supper, then let us take soft-boiled eggs. The nutritive quality of eggs is equivalent to that of meat. They unite all good sides of the meat; nay, we may say here, that the most nourishing part in meat is nothing but egg-white, or, as we call it, "alb.u.men."