Part 40 (2/2)
Some eat to live, they loudly cry; But from the pace they swallow pie And other food promiscuously, One would infer they eat to die.
--_Sel._
BEVERAGES
The use of beverages in quant.i.ties with food at mealtime is prejudicial to digestion, because they delay the action of the gastric juice upon solid foods. The practice of was.h.i.+ng down food by copious draughts of water, tea, or coffee is detrimental, not only because it introduces large quant.i.ties of fluid into the stomach, which must be absorbed before digestion can begin, but also because it offers temptation to careless and imperfect mastication, while tea and coffee also serve as a vehicle for an excessive use of sugar, thus becoming a potent cause of indigestion and dyspepsia. It is best to drink but sparingly, if at all, at mealtimes. Consideration should also be given to the nature of the beverage, since many in common use are far from wholesome. Very cold fluids, like iced water, iced tea, and iced milk, are harmful, because they cool the contents of the stomach to a degree at which digestion is checked. If drunk at all, they should be taken only in small sips and retained in the mouth until partly warmed.
Tea is often spoken of as the ”cup that cheers but not inebriates.”
”The cup that may cheer yet does injury” would be nearer the truth, for there is every evidence to prove that this common beverage is exceedingly harmful, and that the evils of its excessive use are second only to those of tobacco and alcohol. Tea contains two harmful substances, theine and tannin,--from three to six per cent of the former and more than one fourth its weight of the latter. Theine is a poison belonging to the same cla.s.s of poisonous alkaloids, and is closely allied to cocaine. It is a much more powerful poison than alcohol, producing death in less than one hundredth part the deadly dose of alcohol; and when taken in any but the smallest doses, it produces all the symptoms of intoxication. Tannin is an astringent exercising a powerful effect in delaying salivary and stomach digestion, thus becoming one of the most common causes of digestive disorders. It is also a matter of frequent observation that sleeplessness, palpitation of the heart, and various disorders of the nervous system frequently follow the prolonged use of tea. Both theine and tannin are more abundant in green than in black tea.
The dependence of the habitual tea-drinker upon the beverage, and the sense of loss experienced when deprived of it, are among the strongest proofs of its evil effects, and should be warnings against its use. No such physical discomfort is experienced when deprived of any article of ordinary food. The use of tea makes one feel bright and fresh when really exhausted; but, like all other stimulants, it is by exciting vital action above the normal without supplying extra force to support the extra expenditure. The fact that a person feels tired is evidence that the system demands rest, that his body is worn and needs repair; but the relief experienced after a cup of tea is not recuperation.
Instead, it indicates that his nerves are paralyzed so that they are insensible to fatigue.
Some people suppose the manner of preparing tea has much to do with its deleterious effects, and that by infusion for two or three minutes only, the evils resulting from the tannin will be greatly lessened. This, however, is a delusion, if the same amount of tea be used proportionate to the water; for tannin in its free state, the condition in which it is found in tea is one of the most readily soluble of substances; and tea infused for two minutes is likely to hold nearly as much tannin in solution as that infused for a longer period.
Tea is not a food, and it can in no wise take the place of food, as so many people attempt to make it, without detriment to health in every respect.
Coffee, cocoa, and chocolate rank in the same category with tea, as beverages which are more or less harmful. Coffee contains caffein, a principle identical with theine and a modified form of tannin, though in less quant.i.ty than tea. Cocoa and chocolate contain substances similar to theine and equally harmful, though usually present in much less proportion than in tea.
Custom has made the use of these beverages so common that most people seldom stop to inquire into their nature. Doubtless the question arises in many minds; If these beverages contain such poisons, why do they not more commonly produce fatal results?--Because a tolerance of the poison is established in the system by use, as in the case of tobacco and other narcotics and stimulants; but that the poisons surely though insidiously are doing their work is attested by the prevalence of numerous disorders of the digestive and nervous systems, directly attributable to the use of these beverages.
Both tea and coffee are largely adulterated with other harmful substances, thus adding another reason why their use should be discarded. It is stated on good authority that it is almost impossible to obtain unadulterated ground coffee.
In view of all these facts, it certainly seems wisest if a beverage is considered essential, to make use of one less harmful. Hot milk, hot water, hot lemonade, caramel coffee, or some of the various grain coffees, recipes for which are give in the following pages, are all excellent subst.i.tutes for tea and coffee, if a hot drink is desired.
_RECIPES_
BEET COFFEE.--Wash best beets thoroughly, but do not sc.r.a.pe; slice, and brown in a moderate oven, taking care not to burn. When brown, break in small pieces and steep the same as ordinary coffee.
CARAMEL COFFEE.--Take three quarts best bran, one quart corn meal, three tablespoonfuls of mola.s.ses; mix and brown in the oven like ordinary coffee. For every cup of coffee required, use one heaping tablespoonful of the caramel. Pour boiling water over it, and steep, not boil, for fifteen or twenty minutes.
CARAMEL COFFEE NO. 2.--Take one cup each of white flour, corn meal, unsifted Graham flour, and mola.s.ses. Mix well, and form into cakes half an inch thick and a little larger around than a silver dollar. If the mola.s.ses is not thin enough to take up all the dry material, one fourth or one half a cup of cold water may be added for that purpose. Bake the cakes in the oven until very dark brown, allowing them to become slightly scorched. When desired for use, take one cake for each cup of coffee required, pour sufficient water over them, and steep, not boil, twenty minutes.
CARAMEL COFFEE NO. 3.--To three and one half quarts of bran and one and one half quarts of corn meal, take one pint of New Orleans mola.s.ses and one half pint of boiling water. Put the water and mola.s.ses together and pour them over the bran and corn meal which have been previously mixed. Rub all well together, and brown slowly in the oven, stirring often, until a rich dark brown. Use one heaping tablespoonful of coffee to each small cup of boiling water, let it just boil up, then steep on the back of the stove for five or ten minutes.
CARAMEL COFFEE NO. 4.--Beat together four eggs and one pint of mola.s.ses, and mix thoroughly with four quarts of good wheat bran. Brown in the oven, stirring frequently. Prepare for use the same as the preceding.
MRS. T'S CARAMEL COFFEE.--Make a rather thick batter of Graham grits or Graham meal and milk, spread it in shallow pans and bake in a moderate oven until evenly done throughout. Cut the cake thus prepared into thin strips, which break into small uniform pieces and spread on perforated tins or sheets and brown in the oven. Each piece should be very darkly and evenly browned, but not burned. For each cup of coffee required, steep a small handful in boiling water for ten or fifteen minutes, strain and serve.
PARCHED GRAIN COFFEE.--Brown in the oven some perfectly sound wheat, sweet corn, barley, or rice, as you would the coffee berry. If desired, a mixture of grains may be used. Pound or grind fine. Mix the white of an egg with three tablespoonfuls of the ground grain, and pour over it a quart of boiling water. Allow it to come just to the boiling point, steep slowly for twelve or fifteen minutes, and serve.
WHEAT, OATS AND BARLEY COFFEE.--Mix together equal quant.i.ties of these grains, brown in the oven like ordinary coffee, and grind. To one quart of boiling water take three tablespoonfuls of the prepared coffee mixed with the white of an egg, and steep in boiling water ten or fifteen minutes.
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