Volume 1

The standard physician : a new and practical encyclopaedia of medicine and hygiene especially prepared for the household / edited by Sir James Crichton-Browne [and others].

Date:
1908-1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The standard physician : a new and practical encyclopaedia of medicine and hygiene especially prepared for the household / edited by Sir James Crichton-Browne [and others]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    vegetables, and all fat substances ; the last-named are most valuable, especially butter. A second division includes foods which are to be totally excluded, such as all sugars and foods containing sugar (as honey, syrup, chocolate, sweetened fruits, fruit ices, etc.b If sweetening of the drinks or food cannot be dispensed with, certain substances may be used which have the virtue of tasting sweet even in small quantity, and which do not harm the body. Of these there are several kinds, the most useful being saccharine and crystallose. These are bought in the form of minute pills or tablets, one of which possesses the sweetening effect of an ordinary lump of sugar. A third group includes foods which, although containing sugar-forming material, cannot be entirely dispensed with. Such are bread, potatoes, leguminous plants, rice, barley, oats, milk, and fruit. After a careful physical and chemical examination, the family ])hysician should give the necessary directions to each patient as to the quantity to be eaten, d he most difficult part of the diet to regulate is the (juantity of bread and fruit, as both are very important for the well-being of the body, and particularly for the organs of digestion. Special breads are made for diabetics, d'hese contain less Hour and more albumen than the ordinary kind. The best known are the aleuronat breads, the gluten breads, and various kinds of pastry made by special processes of manufacture. Wdth these products it is easier to satisfy the patient’s craving for bread, without harm from excess, than with the ordinary wheat and rye breads. These sj)ecial kinds of bread are more expensive than ordinary breads ; in fact, the entire diet required for a diabetic is more expensive than an ordinary diet. Of late, fruit has been recognised as a useful addition to the diet of a diabetic. Certain fruits contain very little sugar ; for instance, sour apples, sour cherries, early oranges, cranberries, and huckleberries. On the other hand, many fruits, as usually prepared, are so rich in sugar that they should be given only in the smallest quantities and only in mild cases. As in the case of bread, attempts have been made to diminish the quantity of sugar in preparing fruits for the use of diabetics. Similar atteixipts have been successfully made with drinks, particularly with sparkling wines. These may be found free from sugar in almost all large distilleries. Regarding alcoholic drinks the patient may not choose for himself, but must obtain advice, the same as for the necessary articles of nourishment. This applies especially to beers. Small quantities of light, thin beer are generally per- missible; the actual quantity will differ in each case. As a rule, the light, mild, domestic beers deserve the preference, as they are much pooiei in sugai than the renowned Pilsener beer or the darker, sweeter beers. Thus it will be seen that there are many details to be observed in the diet of a diabetic'in order to accomplish the desired result —to keep up the nutrition -of the body while excluding an excess of caibohydiates, which class of foodstuffs are not oxidised by the body as they should be.