Eugene Christian

“ While there is a dominating substance in all foods, yet they usually contain many compounds which render them, from a chemical standpoint, very difficult to classify accurately. For example, the principal nutrients in wheat are carbohydrates (starch and sugar) , yet wheat contains mineral salts, fat, and protein, the latter being a compound consisting of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. Wheat would, therefore, be placed in the carbohydrate class, but it would overlap into several other classes. What is true of wheat, is true of nearly all other articles of food. ”

“ Inasmuch as the several nutritive elements found in a single article of food are better proportioned by Nature, than man can usually proportion them, the relation of one substance to another will be better divided if the entire meal be made to consist of only one kind of food, and both digestion and assimilation will therefore be more perfect. ”

“ When food is properly prepared by mastication by the time it reaches the pancreas, it should be thoroughly split up or subdivided, in which state it is ready for assimilation.
The true interpretation of the word "assimilation" is the absorption of all food substances through the walls of the intestinal tract, and the final passing of them into the circulation.
It is nothing unusual, however, for a person to become afflicted with predigestion, [631] and, at the same time, with poor or faulty assimilation; in other words, digestion being too rapid, and assimilation being too slow. ”

“ Inasmuch as the majority of people favor cooking, probably forgetting that about half of the food consumed in the world at the present time is taken in its natural or uncooked state, it may be well to mention some of the views advanced by those who believe that the present diet of cooked grain is better for modern man than an elementary diet, and who [600] attempt to give a natural explanation. One theory is that man has subsisted so long upon cooked foods that his organs have become fitted for a cooked diet, and a cooked diet only. ”

“ The carbohydrate substance in food is used by the body chiefly for the purpose of keeping up body-weight; that is, for the purpose of supplying the various fluids which fill the cell-structure. If one is suffering from emaciation, the carbohydrate element in food should predominate. While some of the more soluble proteids, especially milk and eggs, will give a rapid gain in weight, the weight will not be permanent unless sufficient carbohydrates are taken to supply the [626] blood with all the required elements of nutrition, or, in other words, to level or to balance the body requirements. ”

“ This method is not exact because the per cent of nitrogen in various proteids is not always the same, but it will give an intelligent average. I will discard the use of the term protein, and refer to the amount of nitrogen directly.
All compounds of the element nitrogen are not available as food. For example: The nitrogen of the air, of ammonia gas, or gunpowder cannot be utilized in the animal body. The nitrogen in foods only refers to available nitrogen. Compounds containing other forms of nitrogen are not foods, but are frequently poisons. ”

“ Neither volume nor weight are correct standards for measuring food values
Things are commonly measured by volume, or by weight. That volume could not be made sufficiently accurate in the measurement of food values is evident. A bushel of lettuce leaves would contain much less food value than a bushel of wheat. Weight would seem to be a fairer way to compare foods, but all foods contain [647] water, which may vary from five to ninety-five per cent. A pound of turnips, which is nine-tenths water, would not be comparable with sugar, which has scarcely any water. ”

“ The object of cooking is to tear down the cell-structure of foods, and to make them more digestible. After the cell-structure is demolished, every degree of heat to which foods are subjected injures the foods instead of improving them. ”

“ Another view sometimes advanced is, that while cooked foods were originally detrimental, yet by continued use man has become fitted for such a diet and unfitted for a natural diet. These are but other forms of the old belief in the inheritance of acquired characteristics. This belief, however, is steadily losing ground among evolutionists. There is no more reason to believe that a modified function of the stomach would be inherited, than there is to believe that small feet would be inherited among the Chinese women just because these organs are mutilated by local custom. ”

“ About thirty years ago, when the scientific study of agriculture first became prevalent, an experiment was made in cooked food for animals, upon an extensive basis. At that time it was the universal belief that man owed much of his superiority over other animals to the use of cooked food. ”

“ Fevered stomach is caused by fermentation of food—hyperacidity. After the diet is balanced so as to be chemically harmonious, the next most important thing is copious water-drinking at meals and between meals. ”

“ Boiled onions, carrots, or parsnips A baked white potato Half a glass of milk, mixed with one whipped egg white
Take a spoonful or two of wheat bran and a spoonful of pineapple juice at the close of this meal, either cooked, or in hot water, uncooked.
[806]
The above menus are the minimum of food for this condition. The quantity may be increased according to the demands of normal hunger. Hunger, however, should be determined by labor or exercise. Abnormal appetite, caused by supersecretion of acid in the stomach, is very often mistaken for hunger. ”

“ LESSON XIV VIENO SYSTEM OF FOOD MEASUREMENT
The amount of nutrition contained in a given quantity of food is often a determining factor in curative dietetics.
The two most important things to be considered in prescribing foods are:
1 The amount of energy contained in a given quantity
2 The amount of available nitrogen or tissue-building material in a given quantity
ENERGY
Energy is the power to do work. That form of energy with which we are most familiar is mechanical energy, as raising a stone or turning a wheel. ”

“ The cell walls on the interior of the grain kernel are very filmy, and in the mature grain scarcely exist at all. The analysis of wheat flour shows only a trace of cellulose fiber. Were these cellulose walls within the wheat grain, as this theory commonly teaches, flour would show a liberal quantity of cellulose. The cellulose wall theory, as a necessity for cooking starch, is an excellent illustration of the ease with which a groundless statement or theory may be used to prove or to explain some popular prejudice. ”

“ The steam-engine turns heat into work, while a "hot box" on a car-wheel is a case of work being turned back into heat.
Amount of heat a food produces determines its energy
Experience shows that a definite amount of heat will yield a definite amount of work, so that the amount of heat produced by a given amount of food, when combined with oxygen, is taken as a measure of its energy. This is ordinarily expressed in calories, a calorie being the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one thousand grams of water one degree on the centigrade thermometer scale. ”

“ Two or three eggs, prepared as for breakfast Two medium-sized baked sweet potatoes, with butter A small portion of rice, or corn hominy, with butter and cream DINNER
Cooked spinach, or anything green, as a salad Carrots, parsnips, turnips, squash—any one or two of these or two of these [849] A small portion of fish or half a glass of butter milk A baked white potato A cup of hot water
Sufficient coarse wheat bran or bran gems should be taken to keep the bowels in natural or normal condition. Unless elimination of waste is normal, it is difficult to gain weight. ”

“ Under the old system of food measurement, feeding the human body cannot be made a practical science for the masses, therefore a new system becomes necessary. [643] That we may more fully appreciate the value of a new system, let us consider the methods hitherto available. ”

“ It is well to remember that the best nourished person is the one who subsists upon the fewest number of things that will give to the body the required amount and character of nutrition.
Two glasses of cool water on rising, and the juice of a sweet orange. Devote as much time as possible to vigorous deep breathing exercises before an open window. ”

“ The question whether foods should be eaten cooked or uncooked can best be answered by examining the chemical and mechanical changes produced in the process of cooking, and their consequent physiological effects. ”

“ HOME-MADE BUTTER
Sweet butter may be made in a few minutes from ordinary cream by placing it in a deep bowl and whipping with a rotary egg beater.
[675]
SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING THE SELECTION
AND THE PREPARATION OF CERTAIN
ARTICLES MENTIONED IN
THE MENUS
THE BANANA
The banana is a vegetable. It is one of our most valuable foods, as well as the most prolific. It will produce more food per acre, with less care and labor, than any other plant that grows.
While the banana grows only in the tropical countries, it is equally as good and useful to people of the northern zones. ”

“ Bananas that are transported to the North are cut green, and often immature; that is, before they have attained their full growth. This latter variety should never be used. In their green and unripened state, they are wholly unfit for food, and for these reasons there has arisen a broadcast prejudice against this most excellent article of diet. ”

“ For instance, a pound of butter gives about two and one-fourth times as much heat to the body as sugar.
As before mentioned, the two chief food factors which we ought to measure are energy-producing and tissue-building power.
What constitutes a true food
All true foods when assimilated in the body produce some energy. In fact, only such substances as produce bodily energy, when combined with the oxygen taken in through the lungs, can be correctly termed food. ”

“ This condition is augmented by intoxicating and stimulating beverages—tobacco, liquor, beer, tea, coffee; by acids, such as vinegar, lemon, grapefruit, and pineapple juices; by cane-sugar, cereal starches, and meat. The remedy, therefore, is found in eliminating these things, and in confining the diet to the following foods:
Inasmuch as the primary cause of stomach catarrh is supersecretion of hydrochloric acid, an abundance of pure water should be drunk at meals and also between meals. ”

“ Cantaloup or peaches—no cream Half a cup of wheat bran, cooked Whipped egg—a dash of sugar A baked banana—very ripe One or two glasses of water LUNCHEON
A green salad An ear or two of tender corn, masticated very thoroughly Nuts Wheat bran A glass or two of water DINNER
A green salad Choice of two fresh vegetables—peas, corn, beans, okra, eggplant beans, okra, eggplant [741] A potato Cream cheese with nuts and raisins A small portion of bran, cooked Water
Cool water should be drunk freely at meals, and mastication should be thorough. ”

“ From one and a half to two glasses of water should be drunk at each of these meals.
If constipation occurs, soaked prunes or soaked evaporated apricots may be taken just before retiring. A glassful of water in which the prunes or apricots have been soaked should also be drunk just after rising.
If stomach-acidity or intestinal fermentation should occur, omit all acid fruits and regulate the bowels by the use of wheat bran.
One hour during the day should be devoted to vigorous physical exercise. ”

“ The application of heat to food is comparatively of recent origin in the evolution of mankind. The use of fire involves a certain amount of mental ingenuity, and could not be practised by man's anthropoid ancestors. Anthropoid animals, whether human or ape, have a great amount of curiosity for the unusual and the new. ”

“ Three egg whites and one yolk whipped, eaten with baked bananas and thin cream Bran meal gems Salted almonds LUNCHEON
Boiled Spanish onions A baked potato DINNER
Cream of pea soup or corn soup Celery or slaw Carrots or parsnips Spinach, with egg Baked dried beans or a sweet potato
Drink an abundance of cool water at each meal.
If the patient is suffering, or recovering from a severe attack of stomach irritation, the quantity of solid food should be reduced, and the quantity of water increased. ”

“ This condition frequently occurs in cases of superacidity. On account of the excess of acid, the food digests or passes from the stomach prematurely; that is, before it has been dissolved by the action of the hydrochloric acid. The food, thus super-charged with acid, passes from the stomach into the lower intestines, and sets up a condition of irritation. ”

“ Fats are not changed chemically by moist heat; that is, by being boiled in water, but the globules are melted and the hot fat spreads in a film over other material which may be present. In dry heat, fats are chemically decomposed, forming irritating vapors. ”

“ The cooking experiments in the majority of cases proved injurious, and the general decision of the Government investigators was that cooking food for animals was useless and detrimental to the great live stock industry. Stock food cookery has now become entirely obsolete. ”

“ Eggs, buttermilk, or cheese are preferable to fish or chicken, but the latter may be used to bring up the proteid balance, when the former articles cannot be procured.
[C] Some one of these vegetables should be made very hot with red pepper for the purpose of exciting stomach and intestinal peristalsis.
A glass of water should be drunk at each of these meals.
Second Day: The same as the first, increasing or decreasing the quantity of food according to normal hunger. Do not overeat. ”