[Sidenote:  If Appetite Not Perverted]

But listen!  You don’t have to bother with all this fussy stuff. Be careful not to over-or under-eat of the proteins, and your tastes will be a fair standard for the rest.  You should remember that a balanced diet contains some of all these foods, in about the proportions given, and that, while watery vegetables and fruits contain very few calories, they contain very important mineral salts, vitamines, and cellulose. The latter is good for the daily scrub of the intestinal tract.

[Sidenote:  A Pretty Nearly Universal Error]

CONSTIPATION is many times caused by a too concentrated diet, or one containing too little roughage.  It has also been discovered that some individuals who are troubled with faulty elimination digest this cellulose, and only the more resistant, like bran, is not absorbed.  For those, the Japanese seaweed called agaragar in the laboratory, but more familiarly known as agar by the layman, is excellent.  The most industrious digestive tract apparently can not digest that.  It has the further property of absorbing a large amount of water, thus increasing its bulk.

[Sidenote:  C.S.]

[Sidenote:  Have Enough Water, Else You’ll Choke to Death.  I Did Once]

Mineral oils (refined paraffine) also are not absorbable, and they act with benefit in some cases.  About the worst thing to do, in general, is to take physics constantly.  These are not physics, however; they act mechanically.  Even the C.S. (common-sense?) individual can take these.  The agar may be taken two or three heaping teaspoonfuls in a large glass of water before retiring, or in the morning before breakfast, or in lieu of 4 o’clock tea.  Drink it down rapidly—­for goodness’ sake, don’t try to chew it.

Mineral oil will make fine mayonnaise dressing.  It has little or no food value, so the constipated overweight individual may indulge freely.  For faulty elimination, then—­

1.  Correct diet.

2.  Exercise—­especially brisk walking.

3.  Regularity of habit.

4.  Possibly the addition of bran, agar, or mineral oils.

5.  Sweet disposition.  Mean people are always constipated.

Review

1.  Give classes of food, with examples of each.

2.  What are vitamines?  How importance discovered?

3.  Where most abundant?

4.  What is a balanced diet?

5.  What should be done for faulty elimination?

4

More Keys and More Calories

[Sidenote:  List of Foods to Follow]

The following list probably does not contain all of the foods you might like and want to know about, but from those named you can judge of the food value of others.  In general, the caloric value, and therefore the fattening value, depends upon the amount of fat and the degree of concentration.