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.
It may take months, or even years to educate the cells of the stomach to
act upon nuts, legumes, and other heavy protein foods, so as to be
properly nourished. An individual with great adaptability may make this
change without much discomfort, but many people who desire to leave off
meat, do so because they are already sick from wrong eating. If they
feel benefited by the change for a while it is generally because their
system is eliminating the toxins which are the result of excessive meat
eating. After this has taken place, the body requires food, properly
combined and proportioned, or else nerve starvation and obesity are the
result.
To those who for various reasons desire to adopt a vegetarian diet I
would say, do not substitute bread and vegetables for meat. Do not spend
your energy making new and complex dishes as advocated in fashionable
vegetarian cook books. Compounds containing several soft proteins such
as beans, nuts, eggs and cream, besides starches, are a burden to the
liver and alimentary canal and lay the foundation for new diseases.
If cooked foods are required, study carefully the preparation of
nutritious soups, well boiled cereals, salads, and add as many raw foods
as possible.
Exercise more in the open air, live and work in sunny well ventilated
rooms, retire early and live as close to nature as you can.
I hope that the following pages may serve as a stepping stone for all
who desire to eat less meat, as well as for those who wish to become
vegetarians.
In adopting a raw food diet, or in reducing heat-giving
elements, such as artificial sugars and hot drinks, it is
important to apply more external heat to the body for a
while, or else have the morning meal served in a sunny room.
Plenty of outdoor exercise is necessary to properly utilize a
vegetarian diet.