So the only consideration which an allopath
has in choosing what he thinks to be the right type
of foods for the dyspeptic is only this. The
dyspeptic is weak and hence he should have enough
calories to make him energetic; he should have
enough protein and fat to enable him to put on
flesh. So the foods which he chooses are/ rice/
wheat/ pulses, meat, rnilk, eggs, sugar, ghee/ eta,
The allopath/ as was pointed out already, only
treats isolated symptoms. Hence he advises that
foods meant for dyspetics should be soft and
slippery so that they will not irritate the walls of
the stomach by friction. Wheat flour is carefully
sifted in a sieve and the coarser particles* which
contain a high proportion of vitamins and minerals/
are removed and only the fine flour or maida,
which being deficient in the essential elements/ is
disease- causing/ is prescribed Similarly rice is
polished well in order to remove the bran and
germ Indigenous doctors recommend ' Punaf-
pakam' in cooking rice. That is rice is cooked
once, the excess of liquid is decanted off, more
water is added/ the once-cooked rice, is cooked
a second time and the excess of liquid is again
decanted. This rice is mixed with plenty of dal,
and ghee, and this dishf along with milk constitutes
the highly nourishing, bland diet commonly
recommended to the dyspeptic in the south. Little
thought is paid to the fact that the'digestive trouble
itself was the consequence of eating such devitalised
foods. Rice/ cooked in this fashion/ contains only
* The coarser particles are bran and germ. These contain
a high proportion of protein and are much tougher than the
inner core of the grain which is mainly starch. Because of their
toughness, the bran and germ remain as coarse particles after
milling.
t. This South Indian dish is the same as the Kichdi of north
India,