What to eat and when

The less expensive breakfast foods, such as oatmeal and corn meal, are as economical as flour, and, as they supply heat and energy in abundance, as shown by Table VI, they should be supplied in the diet in proportion to the energy required. They are easily prepared for porridge, requiring simply to be boiled in water, with a little salt.

For invalids, children, and old people, breakfast foods prepared in gruels and porridges are valuable as they are easily digested. All should be thoroughly cooked so as to break the cell-walls inclosing the starch granules.

Oatmeal is the most nutritious cereal. The oat contains more fat than other grains and a larger proportion of protein. It, therefore, contains the proportion of nutrient elements best adapted to sustain life.

On account of the fat, oats are especially well adapted for a breakfast food in winter. Another advantage oatmeal, or rolled oats, have as a breakfast food is in their laxative tendency, due to the coarse shell of the kernel.

Oat breakfast foods keep longer than the foods made from wheat and rice.

There are no malts, or any mixtures in the oat preparations.

The difference between the various oatmeal breakfast foods is in their manner of preparation. They all contain the entire grain, with the exception of the husk. They are simply the ground or crushed oat. In preparing the oats before grinding, the outer hull is removed, the fuzzy coating of the berry itself is scoured off, the ends of the berry, particularly the end containing the germ, which is usually the place of deposit for insect eggs, is scoured, and the bitter tip end of the oat berry is likewise removed.

Rolled oats consist of the whole berry of the oat, ground into a coarse meal, either between millstones, or, in the case of the so-called “steel cut” oatmeal, cut with sharp steel knives across the sections of the whole oat groat.

Quaker Oats consist of the whole groats, which, after steaming in order to soften, have been passed between hot steel rolls, somewhat like a mangle in a laundry, and crushed into large, thin, partially cooked flakes. The oats are then further cooked by an open pan-drying process. This roasting process insures that all germ life is exterminated, renders the product capable of quicker preparation for the table, and causes the oil cells to release their contents, thereby producing what is termed the “nut flavor,” which is not present in the old-fashioned type of oat product.

Both Rolled Oats and Quaker Oats are now partially cooked in their preparation, but the starch cells must be thoroughly broken and they should be cooked at least forty-five minutes in a double boiler; or, a good way to prepare the porridge is to bring it to the boiling point at night, let it stand covered over night and then cook it from twenty to thirty minutes in the morning. Another method of cooking is to bring the porridge to the boiling point and then place it in a fireless cooker over night.

The great fault in the preparation of any breakfast food is in not cooking it sufficiently to break the starch cells.

Puffed Rice is made from a good quality of finished rice. The process is a peculiar one, the outer covering or bran, is removed and then the product is literally “shot from guns”; that is, a quantity of the rice is placed in metal retorts, revolved slowly in an oven, at high temperature, until the pressure of steam, as shown by a gauge on the gun, indicates that the steam, generated slowly by the moisture within the grain itself, has thoroughly softened the starch cells. The gun retort is pointed into a wire cage and the cap which closes one end is removed, permitting an inrush of cold air. This cold air, on striking the hot steam, causes expansion, which amounts practically to an explosion. The expansion of steam within each starch cell completely shatters the cell, causing the grain to expand to eight times its original size. It rushes out of the gun and into the cage with great force, after which it is screened to remove all scorched or imperfectly puffed grains.

This process dextrinizes a portion of the starch and also very materially increases the amount of soluble material as against the original proportion in the grain.

Puffed Wheat is manufactured from Durum, or macaroni wheat, of the very highest grade. This is a very hard, glutinous grain. It is pearled in order to thoroughly clean and take off the outer covering of bran. It then goes through a puffing process, identical with that of Puffed Rice. The chemical changes are very similar to those of puffed rice.

Both Puffed Rice and Puffed Wheat are more digestible than in the original grain state. They are valuable foods for invalids.

Stale Bread. A food which tastes much like a prepared breakfast food, but is cheaper, may be made by dipping stale bread into molasses and water, drying it in the oven for several hours, and then crushing it. It is then ready to serve with cream. This is a palatable way to use up stale bread.

Crackers and Milk or Bread and Milk. As noted by Table VI, crackers are similar to breakfast food in nutrient elements, and with milk make a good food for breakfast, or a good luncheon. Business men, and others who eat hurriedly and return immediately to work, will do well to substitute crackers and milk, or bread and milk, for the piece of pie which often constitutes a busy man’s lunch.

Cracked Wheat. In America wheat is seldom used whole. In England the whole grain, with the bran left on, is slightly crushed and served as cracked wheat or wheat grits.

Wheat is also rolled, or flaked, or shredded. The majority of wheat breakfast foods contain a part of the middlings and many of them bran. Farina and gluten preparations do not contain these, however.

The preparations of the various breakfast foods are a secret of the manufacturers. The ready-to-eat brands are cooked, then they are either rolled or shredded, the shredding requiring special machinery to tear the steamed kernels; later they are dried, and, finally packed, sometimes in small biscuits. Many preparations are baked after being steamed, which turns them darker and makes them more crisp. Some preparations are steamed, then run through rollers, while still wet, and pressed into flakes or crackers.

Predigested Foods. It is claimed that some foods are “partly digested and thus valuable for those with weak stomachs,” but breakfast foods are largely starch and the starch is not digested by the gastric juice. It is digested by saliva and the ferments in the small intestine. These change the starch into dextrin and maltose.

Experiments with “predigested” foods do not show a larger proportion of dextrin (digested starch), however, than would naturally be produced by the heating of the starch when these foods are cooked at home. The natural cooking makes starch more or less soluble, or at least gelatinized. As a result of these experiments therefore, the “predigested” argument is not of much weight.

Predigested foods, except in cases in which the patient is so weak as to be under the direction of a physician, are not desirable. Nature requires every organ to do the work intended for it, in order to keep up its strength, just as she requires exercise for the arms or legs to keep them strong. If an organ is weak, the cause must be found and corrected—perhaps the stomach or intestines need more blood, which should be supplied through exercise; or perhaps the nerves need relaxation; or the stomach less food; or food at more regular intervals.

Another argument against predigested foods lies in the fact that the chewing of coarse food is necessary to keep the teeth strong. For this strengthening of the teeth, children should be given dry crackers or dry toast each day.

Dogs and wild animals which chew bones and hard substances do not have pyorrhea, but lap-dogs and animals in the zoos, fed on bread and meat without bones, suffer from this disease.

In the so-called “predigested” or “malted” preparations, malt is added while they are being cooked.

Malt is a ferment made from some grain, usually from barley, the grain being allowed to germinate until the ferment diastase is developed.

There is no doubt that a number of foods containing malt are valuable to assist in converting starch into dextrin or sugar, just as pepsin is an aid in the digestion of protein; but eaten indiscriminately, there can be no question that it is more important for the teeth, stomach, and intestines to perform their natural work and thus keep their strength through normal exercise.

While they are not “predigested,” as claimed, these foods are, as a rule, wholesome and nutritious. They are cleanly, and made from good, sound grain, and they contain no harmful ingredients. Some contain “middlings,” molasses, glucose, and similar materials, but these are in no way injurious and have value as foods.

The dry, crisp, ready-to-eat foods are especially advantageous because of the mastication they require. This insures plenty of saliva being mixed with them to aid in digestion. A dish of such dry breakfast food, well masticated, together with an egg, to furnish a larger proportion of protein, makes a wholesome breakfast.

According to investigations made by the United States Agriculture Experiment Station, cereal coffees are made of parched grains. A few contain a little true coffee, but for the most part they are made of parched wheat, barley, etc., or of grain mixed with wheat middlings, pea hulls, or corn cobs. There is no objection to any of these mixtures providing they are clean. The cereal coffees, as seen by Table VII, contain no more nourishment than the true coffee, but they are probably more easily digested; only a very little of the soluble starch passes into the water unless the kernel is ground. Coffee and tea are not taken for their nutrition, but for their stimulating effect on the nerves; and, if stimulation is desired, the cereal coffees fall short.

TABLE VII
Composition of Cereal-Coffee Infusion and Other Beverages

By reference to Table VII it will be seen that cocoa and skimmed milk contain much more nutrition than any of the coffees. The chief value of cereal coffees is that they furnish a warm drink with the meal. They should not be too hot.

Barley or wheat, mixed with a little molasses, parched in the oven, and then ground, makes a mixture similar to the cereal coffee.

The old-fashioned crust coffee is just as nutritious as any of the coffees and has the advantage of being cheaper.

Barley water and oat water, made by boiling the ground kernel thoroughly and then straining, are nourishing foods for invalids and children. They are often used as drinks by athletes and manual laborers, as they have the advantage of both quenching thirst and supplying energy.

Gruels are made in the same way, only strained through a sieve. This process allows more of the starch to pass with the water.

The legumes are the seeds of peas, beans, lentils, and peanuts.

TABLE VIII
Legumes

Like the cereals, they are seeds, yet they contain a very much larger proportion of protein and may be substituted for meat or eggs in a diet. In all vegetarian diets, under normal conditions, the legumes should be used freely to replace meats.

All legumes must be thoroughly cooked and thoroughly masticated. Because the protein in these foods is less digestible than that in meat or eggs, particularly if they are not thoroughly masticated, they are better adapted for the use of those who do manual labor. Soldiers in battle, day laborers, and others whose work calls for hard physical exercise, can digest legumes more easily than can those whose occupation is more sedentary.

If not thoroughly masticated legumes usually produce intestinal fermentation with consequent production of gas. For this reason they occasion distress in those who partake of them too freely and with insufficient preparation by cooking.

The protein of the legumes is of the same nature as the casein of milk. It has been called vegetable casein.

Peanuts. While an underground vegetable, grown like potatoes, peanuts resemble nuts, inasmuch as they contain so much fat. The extracted oil is used in several commercial products.

Like other legumes, they require cooking. They are roasted because this develops the flavor.

Because they contain a more balanced proportion of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, they will sustain life for some time without other food, as they provide rebuilding material, energy, and heat. Used alone, however, there is no counteracting acid, and it is better to add some fruit, such as apples, or apples and dates. For this reason lemon juice is mixed with peanut butter.

In eating peanuts it is imperative that they be masticated until they are a pulp, otherwise they are very difficult of digestion. The pain which many people experience after eating peanuts is probably due to eating too large a quantity and not fully masticating them, forgetting that they are a very rich, highly concentrated food.

The habit of eating peanuts between meals and then eating a hearty meal is likely to overload the digestive organs.

Both peanuts and peanut butter contain over twenty-five per cent. of protein and about thirty-nine per cent. of fat; therefore they yield much heat and energy.

Peanuts have been made into a flour; they are also to be had in the form of grits which are cooked like oatmeal. When nuts or peanuts are used as an after-dinner relish the quantity of meat should be cut down.

Their popularity is evidenced by the fact that between 4,000,000 and 5,000,000 bushels are raised annually in America.

Peanut Butter. While peanut butter contains 46.5 per cent. fat, it contains only seventeen per cent. carbohydrates. Since sugars and starches are protections to fat, being used for energy before the fats are consumed, if these sugars and starches are not supplied in other food, the fats in the peanut butter are consumed for energy. If starches are consumed in other foods, it is clear that one who wishes to reduce in flesh should avoid peanut butter, as well as other fats.

Peanut butter is more easily digested than the roasted peanut, unless the latter is chewed to a pulp. It can be made at home by grinding the peanuts in a meat grinder, and then further mashing with a rolling pin or a wooden potato masher. A little lemon juice mixed with the peanut butter makes it not only more palatable, but more easily digested. A peanut butter sandwich is quite as nourishing as a meat sandwich.

Shelled Peas. Shelled peas were used in Europe as far back as in the Middle Ages, and there, to-day, the dried or “split” pea is used quite as extensively as the dried bean. In America, peas are used almost entirely in the green stage, fresh, or canned.

As seen by Table VIII, the green, shelled pea contains seven per cent. of protein and sixteen per cent. of sugar and starch, while the dry or “split” pea contains over 24.5 per cent. of protein and sixty-two per cent. of sugar and starch, the difference being in the amount of water contained in the shelled peas. Canned peas contain even a larger percentage of water.

A variety of the pea is now being cultivated, in which, like the string bean, the pod is used as a food. They are sweet and delicious.

Dried peas are used in this country mostly in purées.

Beans. Baked navy beans may well be substituted on a menu for meat, containing, as they do, 22.5 per cent. of protein. It is needless to state that beans and lean meat or eggs should not be served at the same meal. Beans have the advantage of being cheaper than meat, yet, as stated above, the protein in the legumes is less easily digested than the protein of meat or eggs. They must be thoroughly cooked and thoroughly masticated.

There is but a small percentage of fat in dried beans; for this reason they are usually baked with a piece of pork. They make a very complete, perhaps the most complete food, containing nutrient elements in about the proper proportions.

A bean biscuit is used for the sustenance of soldiers on a march; it gives a complete food in condensed form.

In baking dried beans or peas, soft or distilled water should be used, as the lime of hard water makes the shell almost indigestible. Parboiling the beans for fifteen minutes in two quarts of water with a quarter of a teaspoon of baking soda softens the shell, making them easier to digest.

String Beans. The string bean contains very little nutrition, as shown by Table VIII. The pod and the bean, at this unripe stage, contain nearly ninety per cent. water. Their chief value as a food consists in their appetizing quality to those who are fond of them, thus stimulating the flow of gastric juice.

Like all green vegetables they stimulate the action of the kidneys. All green vegetables are particularly valuable to those who drink little water.

The dried Lima bean, used during the winter, may be boiled or baked. If old, they are practically indigestible.

Kidney Beans contain much water but are more nutritious than the string bean.

Soy Bean. In China and Japan this bean is used extensively. Being rich in protein, used with rice it makes a well-balanced diet.

The soy bean is made into various preparations, one of the most important being shoyo, which has been introduced into other countries. To make it, the soy bean is cooked and mixed with roasted wheat flour and salt; into this is put a special ferment. It is then allowed to stand for an extended time in casks. The result is a thick, brown liquid with a pungent, agreeable taste. It is very nourishing.

A kind of cheese is also made by boiling the soy bean for several hours, wrapping the hot mass in bundles of straw, and putting it in a tightly closed cellar for twenty-four hours.

Lentils are not commonly used in this country, but they were one of the earliest vegetables to be cultivated in Asia and the Mediterranean countries. They are usually imported and may be obtained in the markets. They are used like dried peas and are fully as nourishing, but the flavor of the lentil is pronounced and they are not so agreeable to the average person as peas or beans.

Nuts are classed with the carbo-nitrogenous foods, because of the more nearly equal proportion of proteins and carbonaceous substances.

TABLE IX
Nuts

It will be noted, by reference to Table IX that nuts contain a much larger proportion of fats and less starch than the legumes. Chestnuts contain the largest amount of starch, and pecans the most fat.

Peanuts are classed here with nuts because of their similar use in the diet. Their comparative richness in protein will be noted.

Nuts are a valuable food, but they should be made a part of a meal and may well take the place of meat rather than eaten as a dessert, because of the large percentage of protein. They are too rich to be eaten as a relish at the end of a meal, if one has eaten as much other food as the system requires.

In planning a meal, if the dietary is rich in starches and lacking in protein, a side dish of nuts may be served.

Too great stress cannot be laid on the importance of the thorough mastication of nuts; otherwise they are difficult of digestion. When thoroughly chewed, however, they are as easily digested as cereals or legumes. If ground fine in a meat grinder or rubbed through a sieve, they digest more readily, but this grinding does not take the place of the grinding with the teeth and the mixture with the saliva. They are best chopped for salads, cake, or croquettes. When ground the oil extracted makes them pasty and not appetizing in appearance for use in salads or cake.

Milk is a perfect food for the infant because it contains the elements in proper proportions to sustain life and growth, though, alone, it is insufficient for the nourishment of healthy adults. The adult, in order to get sufficient nutriment, would be compelled to take a larger proportion of water than necessary, the proportion of water required by the system being about sixty-seven per cent., while milk contains eighty-seven per cent.

In many diseases, however, a whole or partial milk diet is desirable, especially in any inflammatory condition of the gastro-intestinal tract.

TABLE X
Milk and Milk Products

The milk of the cow is not perfectly adapted for the young child—it is lacking in the proper proportion of sugar, and when fed to the infant it must be modified. Mother’s milk is not only richer in sugar than cow’s milk, but it contains about half as much casein. The calf needs more albumin than the baby does because it grows faster. Human milk is also richer in fat.

An all-milk diet may be followed when it is desirable to gain in weight. Such a diet should be accompanied by exercises for the vital organs and by deep breathing, but experiments have shown that healthy digestive organs do their work better when a part of the food is solid.

A milk and cream diet of about three quarts milk and one quart cream with the addition of one to two eggs a day will keep up the strength of one in bed, but is not sufficient for one who is active.

In order for an adult to obtain the proper quantity of carbohydrates and fat, from an all-milk diet, it is necessary for him to drink from four to five quarts of milk a day (sixteen to twenty glasses). It is usually said that on an all-milk diet an active person requires as many quarts as he is feet tall.

Young babies on mother’s milk are almost always fat, because of the larger proportion of sugar and fat in the mother’s milk.

Reference to Table X shows that the thirteen per cent. of solids are about equally divided between fat, sugar, and protein. The sugar is lactose. It supplies heat to the infant before it can exercise its muscles vigorously. The protein is casein.

There is no starch in milk. The digestive ferment, which acts on starch, has not developed in the young babe and it cannot digest starch.

The salts promote the growth of bone.

The fat in milk is in small emulsified droplets within a thin albuminous sheath. When allowed to stand in a cool place it rises to the top.

Besides casein, milk contains a certain amount of albumin—about one-seventh of the total amount—called lactalbumin. It maintains the fat in milk in emulsified form.

In young babes the milk is curdled in the stomach, or the casein separated from the water and sugar, not by hydrochloric acid, but by a ferment in the gastric juice, known as rennin. Rennin, or rennet, from the stomachs of calves, is used in cheese and butter factories to coagulate the casein. This with other chemicals so hardens the casein that it is used in the manufacture of buttons.

Preserving milk. If milk could be kept free from bacteria, it would keep sweet almost indefinitely. At the Paris Exposition, milk from several American dairies was kept sweet for two weeks, without any preservative except cleanliness and a temperature of about forty degrees. The United States Bureau of Animal Industry states that milk may be kept sweet for seven weeks without the use of chemicals.

The importance of absolute cleanliness in the preparation and marketing of this important article of food is being recognized both by the producer and the consumer, and careful inspection has done away with many abuses. In the absence of an efficient health department, the consumer should ascertain in every case how the milk he uses is handled at every stage before it reaches him. Care in this regard may safeguard his family from disease and save him many dollars.

The best method for the housewife to follow is to keep the milk clean, cool, and away from other foods, as milk will absorb a bad odor or flavor from any stale food or odorous vegetables, from fresh paint, or other substances.

Milk must never be left exposed in a sick room or in a refrigerator unless the waste pipe and the ice chamber are kept scrupulously clean.

Milk Tests. In testing the value of milk, or the value of a cow, butter makers and farmers gauge it by the amount of butter fat in the milk, while the cheese maker tests the milk for the proportion of protein (casein). The amount of butter fat depends on the feed and water, and on the breed. If the total nutrient elements fall below twelve per cent., it is safe to assume that the milk has been watered.

In cheese and butter there is no sugar; it remains in the buttermilk and the whey, both of which the farmer takes home from the factories to fatten his hogs.

Pasteurized Milk. In pasteurizing milk the aim is to destroy as many of the bacteria as possible without causing any chemical changes or without changing the flavor. One can pasteurize milk at home by placing it in an air-tight bottle, immersing the bottle to the neck in hot water, heating the water to 167 F. for twenty minutes, and then quickly cooling the milk to 50 F. by immersing the bottle in cold water. The rapid cooling lessens the cooked taste. The best dairies pasteurize the milk before it is marketed.

Sterilized Milk. Milk is sterilized to destroy all bacteria, by heating it to 212 F. Sterilized milk remains sweet longer than pasteurized milk, but more chemical changes are produced and the flavor is changed, resembling that of boiled milk.

Formerly borax, boric acid, salicylic acid, formalin, and saltpeter were used to keep the milk sweet, but this adulteration is now forbidden by the pure-food laws.

Malted milk is a dry, soluble food product in powder form, derived from malted barley, wheat flour (dextrin), and cow’s milk, containing the full amount of cream.

The process of the extraction from the cereals is conducted at elevated temperatures so as to allow the active agents (enzymes) of the barley malt to effect the conversion of the vegetable protein and starches. The filtered extract, containing the derivatives of the malt, wheat, and the full-cream cow’s milk, is then evaporated to dryness in vacuo, the temperature being controlled so as to obviate any alteration of the natural constituents of the ingredients and so as to preserve their full physiological values. The strictest precautions are observed to insure the purity of the product. It contains:

Malted milk is free from germs. The starches and sugars are converted in the process of manufacture into maltose, dextrin, and lactose. The fats are in an absorbable condition, and it contains a high percentage of proteins derived from both the milk and the grains, as well as a marked percentage of mineral salts. It is readily soluble in water and is easily digested.

The hydrochloric acid of the stomach coagulates or curds milk much as it is curded by many fruit and vegetable acids, such as those in lemons or tomatoes. Thus the milk forms into curds immediately on entering the stomach, the casein being at once precipitated by the rennin. This is the chief reason why it should be drunk slowly, otherwise too large curds will form, causing distress from pressure.

A part of the digestion of the casein is performed by pepsin in the stomach and a part by the trypsin of the pancreatic juice.

The larger part of the digestion of the milk sugar or lactose, is performed by the pancreatic juice; although it is partly acted on by the saliva. Usually, however, the saliva is given little chance to become mixed with the milk, unless it is taken slowly and mixed with saliva by chewing movements. This is one reason why children should be given milk in which bread has been broken, rather than a piece of bread and a glass of milk. By swallowing the milk slowly, smaller curds are formed in the stomach and the milk is more thoroughly digested.

The salts of milk, to a large extent, the water, and perhaps a portion of the sugar are absorbed in the stomach.

When the fat (cream) is removed milk digests more readily, so that in cases in which the stomach is delicate, skimmed milk, clabbered milk, or buttermilk are often prescribed instead of sweet milk.

Boiled milk is also more readily digested by some; the lactalbumin is separated and rises to the top in a crinkly scum. The casein of boiled milk is also more readily digested, forming in small flakes in the stomach instead of in curds.

Sterilizing the milk by boiling will prevent the action of bacteria in producing fermentation and disordered digestion, and, if relished, milk can thus be treated. Pasteurized milk is more palatable than boiled milk.

Milk is often better assimilated if other food is not too suddenly cut off. When the diet is radically changed the digestive system is apt to show derangement. Therefore when for any cause an all-milk diet is desired, it is unwise to begin it at once, by feeding from eighteen to twenty glasses of milk a day. This amount may be approximated within a week’s time. The change in diet should be begun by cutting down all meats and legumes and gradually eliminating starches. In changing from a milk diet to a diet including more hearty foods, the transition should also be gradual.

If a milk diet is to be followed and the milk seems to disturb the stomach when taken in quantities, one may begin by taking it in very small quantities every fifteen minutes for the first hour. If one’s purpose is to gain in flesh the quantity may be increased to a glass, and time intervals be lengthened to every hour as the stomach becomes accustomed to caring for the milk. It should be sipped slowly and thoroughly mixed with saliva before being swallowed. The mouth should be carefully rinsed with equal parts of peroxide of hydrogen and water, or listerine and hot sterile water, each time milk is taken.

Milk, in whatever form it is taken, leaves a coating on the tongue and teeth. The heat of the mouth, especially if the patient is feverish, quickly causes changes which give a disagreeable taste and a chance for bacterial action. These bacterial products are carried into the stomach and excite digestive changes through which fermentation and gas formation appear and biliousness may result. This may be avoided if, after taking the milk, the mouth is carefully washed and, in feverish conditions, the tongue gently scraped or swabbed with absorbent cotton dipped in listerine or peroxide of hydrogen. Without such cleansing of the mouth milk may disagree.

When from two to three glasses of milk at a meal are taken, less solid food is needed, because the required nutriment is partially supplied by the milk. One reason why milk seems to disagree with many people, is because they lose sight of the fact that milk is an actual food, as well as a beverage, and they eat the usual quantity of food in addition to the milk. As one pint, or two glasses of milk, contains approximately the same amount of nutrition as one-third of a pound of beef, the amount of food to be taken in addition may be readily calculated.

The chief reason for the lessened activity of the bowels on a milk diet is because the nourishment in milk is practically all absorbed—there is very little residue and milk gives little rough surface to excite peristaltic action and stimulate the walls of the intestine to activity.

The calcium, one of the constituents of milk, tends to lessen the peristaltic action of the intestines and this is one of the causes of constipation. Fruit and coarse bread containing much bran, should be used with a milk diet.

Constipation may also be occasioned by drinking milk rapidly. When the hydrochloric acid is very active coagulation may take place so quickly as to cause hard tough curds to form; these enter the intestine undissolved because the gastric juice can act only on the exterior portion; the stomach retains the curds in its effort to dissolve them and fermentation may occur, with irritation and constipation from irregular action. In this case the constipating effect may be overcome by taking the milk in small sips or by the addition of one part of limewater to six parts milk. The limewater causes the curds to be precipitated in small flakes.

Limewater may be prepared by putting a heaping teaspoon of unslaked lime with a quart of boiled or distilled water into a corked bottle or Mason jar. Shake thoroughly two or three times during the first hour; then allow the lime to settle, and after twenty-four hours pour or siphon off the clear fluid. Be careful not to allow the lime to be poured off with the water.

Barley water or oatmeal water added to milk also prevents the formation of large curds.

Milk may also be taken with any variety of gruel—oatmeal, sago, arrowroot, or tapioca.

If there is much mucus in the stomach, mucous fermentation may occur in milk because of the lack of hydrochloric acid. The partially digested curds are tough, stringy, and slimy and the intestinal walls find no resistance in the mass. In this case constipation may be followed by diarrhea.

If the stomach is deficient in hydrochloric acid the juice of half an orange or a little lemon juice may be taken a half hour before the glass of milk.

Constipation and, later, diarrhea may also result when stomach digestion is weak, the curds passing through the stomach and intestines undissolved.

When there is any tendency to torpidity of the liver, daily exercise should be directed to the liver, stomach, and intestines or milk may cause biliousness, because the excess of fat and protein taken overstimulates the liver, causing an excess of bile. The bile may enter the stomach and cause nausea and vomiting. Constipation results from the disordered digestion. This will not often occur if one exercises daily and cuts down the quantity of solid food as the amount of liquid is increased.

A glass of hot Vichy or Hunyadi water taken the first thing on rising, and followed by a glass of cool water will help to relieve any engorgement of the liver.

In case of biliousness resulting from a milk diet, abstain from all food for twenty-four hours, cleanse the mouth as indicated above, and drink freely of water.

When the liver is a little inactive, milk may be diluted with an aërated water or even plain water. Daily exercise directed toward securing a greater activity of the liver and gall-bladder should be followed. Four tablespoonfuls of soda water, Apollinaris, or carbonic-acid water to the glass may be used.

As noted in the preceding pages, orange and lemon juice will encourage greater activity of the stomach and bowels.

One-third of a glass of hot Vichy water to each glass of milk renders it easily digested and most people relish it. Unless the liver is very inactive milk taken in this way will not constipate and exercise directed to the liver, as previously mentioned, will help to obviate this condition.

Skimmed milk, Kumyss, or buttermilk are easily digested and are valuable when the digestive system is weak.

The monotony of a milk diet tends to create a distaste for milk and the mental revolt may upset digestion and result in constipation. This should be kept in mind and various ways of modifying the milk be used to create variety; mental aversion and antagonism should be corrected.

When its taste is not relished milk may be made acceptable and the stomach induced to retain it by using a variety of flavors. A drop or two of vanilla, a trifle of cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper, chocolate, or any other flavor that is liked may be used, varying them so as to keep from monotony.

If milk seems to produce gas in the stomach with distress and the milk is retained too long in the stomach from the interference with its movements caused by the gas, a teaspoonful of malt extract may be added to each glass of milk. If the malt extract is not at hand, four teaspoonfuls of malted milk to each glass may be used.

Equal parts of cream and hot water to which has been added a third of a teaspoon of soda may be used, for the same purpose.

If milk disagrees because of an excess of hydrochloric acid and the formation of hard curds, a saltspoon of salt or bicarbonate of soda may be used, or one part of limewater to six parts of milk.

When milk seems to disagree because digestion is somewhat slow and the milk does not offer enough bulk to excite peristaltic action, it remains too long in the stomach and fermentation occurs. A slice of bread, a couple of crackers, a piece of zweiback, a tablespoonful of Nestle’s or Mellin’s food or of arrowroot gruel added to each glass, or eaten with the milk, will give it more body and prevent the formation of large curds.

When the stomach is excessively weak because of a lack of the digestive juices and a consequent incomplete action of the stomach, only predigested milk should be taken until the stomach has been brought to a normal tone. Pepsin or pancreatin may be used for the partial digestion. Milk so predigested must be freshly prepared each time it is used or must be kept on ice until used. The stomach will find practically no difficulty in assimilating milk thus prepared, and constipation will be avoided.

It must be remembered that milk must be sipped slowly and be well mixed with saliva before it is swallowed.

Milk can be soured and taken separated as a variation, the curds and whey being relished by many when properly prepared. A little sugar and cinnamon or nutmeg sprinkled on curds or mixed with the whey make a palatable mixture. Buttermilk or kumyss offer still other variations.

With all these means of varying the taste, appearance, or condition of milk it is hardly possible that some way cannot be found whereby milk may be taken and be well borne by the stomach and the full benefits from its use be derived.