Diet and digestion, or A series of articles on food, and how it is digested / by T.R. Allinson.

  • Allinson, T. R. (Thomas Richard)
Date:
[between 1900 and 1909?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Diet and digestion, or A series of articles on food, and how it is digested / by T.R. Allinson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    soft ones. One reason is that the solid foods get properly mixed with saliva and so partly digested, while the softer ones are swallowed hastily, and so not thoroughly prepared for stomach digestion. The quantity and quality of the saliva varies at different times of the day; thus ordinarily only sufficient is secreted to keep the mouth moist, but just before we are going to eat, more is poured out, and our mouth waters, and a still larger quantity is formed whilst eating. That secreted during the meal- time is thick and gum-lke, and specially rich in ptyalin. As I said before, the saliva does not assist in the digestion of animal products, as butter, milk, eggs, or cheese; nor does it act on flesh of any kind. It acts more readily on starch that has been cooked than on the raw material; that is why many cooked foods are more easy of digestion and nourish the body better than raw ones. Here I must protest against eating and drink- ing at the same time, as such a practice is injurious. The custom of filling the mouth with
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