Page:Food and cookery for the sick and convalescent.djvu/63

Rh easily digested food, usually in a liquid form. Water is given freely, to assist in carrying off the waste products.

In chronic cases, by a careful study of the food supply, much can be done to keep up the strength of the patient while endeavoring to overcome the disease. The greater the activity of the patient, the greater the need for food.

Personal idiosyncrasies in disease, as well as in health, play a very important part. Avoid giving food that will overtax the digestion or disagree with any of the conditions of the patient. Food must be assimilated to be of value. The teeth, the mouth, the stomach, and the intestines all must be considered. Some food, if well masticated, might easily pass from the stomach into the intestines, while if not masticated, might prove a stomach irritant. Some food that would not prove irritating to the stomach would cause fermentation in the intestines.

Many patients during the early stages of convalescence have an abnormally large appetite, which must be restricted, as over-feeding would prove dangerous; while with others the appetite needs to be stimulated.

Important things to consider in feeding the sick:

1. Appeal to the sense of sight.

2. Appeal to the sense of taste.

3. Consider temperature.

4. Digestibility.

5. Nutritive value.

6. Economy.

During the gradual return to a normal condition, through the long tedious hours of convalescence, the patient devotes much thought to when and what he shall be allowed to eat, and it is at this time that the taste is gratified as far as is advisable.

The best means of stimulating the appetite is to have good food, well cooked, and attractively served. The