Meat diet

“ LESSON XV: MEATS Composition and food value. How to make tough cuts of meat palatable. Pork chops with fried apples. Beef or mutton stew with vegetables and dumplings. Rabbit stew. Bacon.
SUBJECT MATTER
Meats are rich in protein and usually in fats, but are lacking in the carbohydrates. They build up the muscular tissue, furnish heat and energy, are more stimulating and strengthening than any other food, and satisfy hunger for a greater length of time. For the most part, meats are a very expensive food. One cannot perform more labour by the use of a meat diet than on a diet of vegetable foods. ”

“ It would lead us beyond the limits of this book if we attempted to point out in an exhaustive manner various other dangerous consequences of a too abundant meat diet. All we desire is to discuss the question whether, in view of the various dangers to which a meat diet may lead, to which we have referred, we should or should not give up meat. ”

“ That per cent of animal fats contained in the ordinary meat diet is quite as wholesome as any other element of nutrition secured from animal sources. However, with the splendid supply of vegetable fats civilized people have to draw upon, the use of animal fats cannot be recommended in any form except that of cream and butter, and when we consider the expense of these by comparison with many pure vegetable fats, our sense of ordinary economy would bid us discard them. ”

“ When we study the nature of the diet enjoyed by persons who have lived to and over 100, we find, indeed, exceedingly few who are great meat eaters; very many are persons who eat no meat at all; and in many cases, also, the original meat diet was subsequently abandoned in advanced age. According to the report of the Collective Investigation Committee of the British Medical Association, the 55 centenarians whose cases they examined were, for the most part, small meat eaters. [289]
325 CHAPTER XXXIX.
On the Great Advantages of Much Milk in the Diet for the Prevention and Treatment of Old Age. ”

“ It is this juice which is extracted from beef in the process of making beef tea; and it is the lack of it in salted meats that makes them such an injurious diet when eaten for any length of time to the exclusion of other food.
The flesh of young animals is less nutritious, and less easily masticated than that of full grown animals, on account of its looser texture. Beef, which has firmer and larger fibres than mutton, is harder to digest on that account, but it contains an excess of strengthening elements that is not approached by any meat, save that of the leg of pork. ”

“ We all eat too much, and meat seems to act as an appetiser, making us eat more than is good for us. I have read a learned argument written by the editor of a leading medical review, in which he admits that a meatless diet will furnish all the necessary proteids, but holds that in order to obtain them we must eat a vastly larger quantity of food, containing an excess of starch, which is harmful and produces obesity. ”

“ While it is true that the vegetable albumens furnish all that is really needed for the bodily health, animal food of some kind is an economical and useful addition to the diet. Races of men who endure prolonged physical exertion have discovered for themselves, without the teaching of science, the great value of meat. Hence the common custom of eating meat with bread and vegetables is a sound one. It is undoubtedly true that the people of this country, as a rule, eat meat too often and too much at a time. The judicious admixture of different classes of foods greatly aids their digestibility. ”

“ I have seen it stated that vegetarian diet did not call into action all the natural powers of the digestive organs, and, this being so, the tendency was for them to become weakened so that the food reformer eventually found himself unable to digest meat. I believe some health culturists make practice of taking meat twice a week. I have been about seven or eight weeks on reform diet, and though better in some ways have to confess to a feeling of deficient energy and nerve power. ”

“ A diet exclusively of animal food is too highly stimulant for such a climate as ours; and an exclusively vegetable diet is far less injurious in its effects. No meat is so digestible as tender mutton. It has just that degree of consistency which the stomach requires. Beef is not less nutritious, but it is rather less easy of digestion, than mutton: much, however, depends upon the cooking, which process may, [Pg 158] really not inaptly, be called the first stage of digestion. The comparative indigestibility of lamb and veal arises from the meat being of a more stringy and indivisible nature. ”

“ In spite of the fact that meat is a common article of diet it should not be used in excess. Other forms of protein, as those in eggs and milk, are usually digested as easily, and most people can digest vegetable proteins if the vegetables are carefully prepared. Very little children should not have216 meat, for it has stimulating properties which are undesirable for them, and it takes away the taste for foods more important for growth (see Food for Growth, Chapter XVIII) . When used largely in the diet, meat tends to cause intestinal putrefaction and to form excess of acid in the body. ”

“ In this country, meat constitutes an important part of the diet of almost every family. As a general rule, animal food is more easily digested, contains a greater amount of nutriment, and is more stimulating than any of the varieties of vegetable food.
As minuteness of division and tenderness of fibre facilitate digestion, young meats are more tender than old; thus, roasted pig is more speedily digested than broiled pork ”

“ Meat is used as an article of food by most of the civilized races. It, however, as a universal diet, is of quite recent origin. Since the modern, efficient refrigerating processes, canning, and improved facilities of transportation, the use of meat as an article of diet has become very popular and economic. ”

“ Consequently the gouty subject ought to restrict himself to the consumption of red meat, beef and mutton, and leave out of his dietary all white meat and internal organs. He should take little hydrocarbons and sugars, and be moderate in fats. Vegetarian diet he regards as a mistake, likewise milk diet, as they tend to weaken the patient. ”

“ But is meat desirable? The Italian experimenters believed that the addition of four or eight ounces of meat to the dietaries of some of their subjects increased their physical and also their mental powers. The increase in mental power due to change in diet has always seemed to me to be a figment of the imagination and not susceptible of demonstration. Thomas lived for twenty-four days on a diet of starch and cream, during four days of which time the very small quantity of three ounces of meat was taken daily, and he found his mental and muscular power unchanged. ”

“ Probably the next diet that can be recommended in many cases would be a meatless or vegetarian diet. There is absolutely no question as to the superiority of this plan over a regimen that includes meat, provided again that you can be fully nourished and that you feel energetic and capable. A vegetarian diet will usually make a better quality of tissue; you will have more endurance, and there is but little doubt that a healthy vegetarian will outlive a meat-eater, since his vital organs remain in a healthier condition for a longer period than those of one accustomed to a free use of meat. ”

“ Beef is better than veal; pork is difficult to digest under any condition; and meat stewed until tender in a milk or cream sauce is more easily digested than fried meat. Smoked meat is not particularly nourishing to mother or child, but crisp ham and bacon are useful in whetting a failing appetite. Fish, oysters, and eggs may be used to vary the diet, but they do not replace meat. ”

“ It is not necessary to be a vegetarian to desire a change from a meat diet. There are health reasons often demanding abstention from meats; or economy may be an impelling motive; or a desire for change and variety in the daily bill of fare may be warrant enough. ”

“ In cases of anæmia, as shown by skin trouble, bareness round the eyes, poor or capricious appetite, languor, unpleasant breath, thinness, and a general look of unthriftiness, a liberal meat diet is the first essential, and plenty of fresh air—not necessarily hard exercise, for which the patient is generally unfit—the next. A tonic is always desirable, and iron the most suitable. ”

“ Lean beef contains four times as much flesh-substance, weight for weight, as the most nutritious bread, and it is entirely destitute of the store-fuel, starch, of which bread has such a superabundance. Meat therefore is manifestly the natural ally of bread in the formation of a very nutritious diet. All wild animals have very little fat mixed with their flesh. It is, however, the great object of the grazing farmer to make his mutton and beef as fat as he can. Meat, as it is sent to market, commonly has one-third of its substance fat alone. ”

“ Doubtless many people would find themselves much benefited by using less meat. If the quantity of meat eaten is greatly lessened, care should be taken that protein is supplied by other foods, such as eggs, legumes, cheese, and the various meat-substitute dishes. Care should also be taken to see that complete proteins are included in diet. If foods containing incomplete protein such as some of the legumes and cereals are used for body-building, they should be supplemented by foods rich in complete protein such as milk and eggs. ”

“ Combe, [O] are of opinion, that animal food "contains a greater quantity of nutriment in a given bulk, than either herbaceous or farinaceous food." In some diseases, too, meat is better for the stomach than vegetables.
The largest proportion of those, who have been remarkable for having lived to the greatest age, were persons, whose diet was almost exclusively vegetables; and it is a well-known fact, that the pulse of a hardy and robust man, who lives on simple vegetable diet, is from [Pg 222] ten to twenty beats less in a minute, than that of men who live on a mixed diet. ”

“ Aside from fat, protein is the only nutritive element meat contains. With the variety of vegetable and butter-fats, and vegetable proteids available in this age, supplemented by our knowledge of chemistry as a guide in their use, the consumption of flesh as an article of human food is entirely unscientific and wholly without reason.
Life MAY BE maintained by meat
A diet composed exclusively of flesh contains fat and nitrogenous compounds only. ”

“ In the mixed diet universally practised meat plays but a small part.
In meat the waste in preparation and consecutive waste at table is considerable. To really introduce 200 grammes of meat into the stomach, nearly 400 grammes must be purchased, and expensively put into use. What do these 200 grammes really bring in nutritive elements?
These 46 grs. constitute barely the 8 per cent. of the total weight of a ration, averaged in nutritive elements, calculated as follows:—
This is a very feeble proportion. ”

“ Adopting a vegetarian diet should be done with great care, and not in a hurry, especially when the person is not in perfect health.
The best time to begin is the Spring. People who have lived on excessive meat should cut it down to two and three times per week, substituting cured meat and fish part of the time. ”

“ Those who use large quantities of meat suffer from many 095disturbances of the system. Hence it should form a very small part of the diet. The cuts of meat that come from those portions of the animal's body that are much exercised are tough, owing to the development of the connective tissues, but they contain a high percentage of nutrition. For the same reason, the meat from older animals is apt to be tough. The flesh of chickens, turkeys, and other fowls is very nutritious and is easily digested if not too fat.
The flavour of meats is developed by cooking. ”

“ But meat is one of our best-liked foods. We want to keep the savory meat flavor in main dishes and provide enough protein in the family diet, too. Fortunately, both economy and sturdy meat servings can be achieved by wise use of meat-extending main dishes, using cooked and canned meats.
Least expensive of the meat extenders are the cereal foods—breadcrumbs in meat loaf, biscuit topping on a chicken pie, macaroni with meat in Italian-style dishes, rice cooked in chicken stock as in chicken risotto. The meat protein supplements the protein in the cereals and the result is a nutritious main dish. ”

“ Because a food is good is no reason for unlimited quantities; an ounce of sugar a day is wholesome—a pound is likely to result in both indigestion and a badly balanced diet. A quarter of a pound of meat a day is not undesirable for an adult, but a pound a day may result in general overeating or in the special ills which are related directly to a large quantity of meat. One of these is an upsetting of a proper balance of food elements in the diet. Diets high in meat are apt to be low in milk and consequently low in calcium. ”

“ The other pamphlet is on the food of children, and in it we read: "There is more so-called nervousness, anaemia, rheumatism, valvular disease of the heart, and chorea at the present time in children from an excess of meat and its preparations in the diet than from all other causes combined." The author seems to regard meat simply as a stimulant of the brain and an appetiser. Surely that is a narrow function for the product of such an immense industry as the production of meat, and other stimulants and appetisers might be found, if we need them. ”