Alcohol, especially if taken in the form of whisky, brandy, or strong
spirits of any kind, stimulates the nervous system of the body and
produces a temporary feeling of well-being. This ultimately lapses into
a variable degree of intoxication, drowsiness, and sleep, according to
the quantity taken. Alcoholic indulgence exacts an enormous toll in
the form of paralysing influences upon the whole human system. Surely,
then, it is sheer lunacy for anyone acquainted with the real facts to
talk of alcohol as being serviceable and useful to mankind.
There is not the slightest necessity for anyone, whether in health or
ill-health, to partake of alcoholic beverages, and no enlightened Food
Reformer would dream of touching them in any shape or form.
If one must indulge in alcoholic beverages, then the light wines and
beers, such as are used universally on the Continent, should be chosen
in preference to the stronger wines and spirits resorted to in this
country.
Wine.
Wine contains albumen, sugar, dextrin, with an abundant supply of
organic mineral salts. The light native wines of France and Italy,
etc., contain relatively little alcohol, and thus do not bring on those
destructive changes in the tissues which occur as a result of imbibing
spirits or the stronger wines and beers. The organic salts in the
light wines, although verging on the inorganic, may play an important
part, since they are asserted to be highly anti-scorbutic. The Food
Reformer will, however, infinitely prefer to obtain these same salts by
eating the grapes themselves, or similarly constituted fresh fruits or
vegetables, before they have been allowed to get into the despoiling
hands of the brewers and wine-makers.
Beer.
Beer, like wine, in addition to the alcohol present, contains sugar,
dextrin, and organic mineral salts, combined with the yeast extract
derived from the yeast fermentation. Its distinctive taste is due to
the added hops and bitter aromatics.
When beer is freely drunk, the alcohol, sugar, and dextrin will
greedily appropriate the oxygen supply of the body. In this way it
saves the fatty and muscular tissues of the body from combustion and
equally retards the destruction of uric acid and other partially
burnt-up forms of tissue waste. Heavy beer-drinkers either become fat,
some of them abnormally so, or they develop rheumatism or gout.
Furthermore, the free acids present and the bitter principles from the
hops act as a stomachic and tonic. They stimulate appetite, thereby
inducing people to eat more food than they need.
The mineral salts of beer, especially the phosphates of potassium
and magnesium, are often present in relatively large amounts, and,
as in the case of wine, are said to be anti-scorbutic. Beer has,
unquestionably, a decided effect upon the blood in some cases of
scurvy, acne, and skin troubles of a pustular kind. This may be due to
its inorganic salts, or it may equally be caused by the yeast extract
which beer contains (see under Yeast).
Taken in any excess, beer, especially the modern bottled gaseous
varieties, will excite attacks of gout and rheumatism even more readily
than wine. For such reasons alone it should be rigorously avoided by
those who are in any way predisposed towards the rheumatic diseases.
From a nutriment point of view, beer or stout are supposed to give us
a supply of soluble carbohydrates, important organic mineral salts,
and bitter tonic principles. This may be so, but the whole effect is
marred by the alcohol and vinegar present. A better way would be to
give these items in the form of “Sweetwort,” the beer liquid before
it has undergone the fermentative, destructive alcoholic process, or
by the use of malt extracts suitably diluted and flavoured with tonic
aromatics. A still better way is to eat the grains first-hand, as some
form of wholesome cereal food, and drink with it plain water, to which
fruit or vegetable juice has been added.
The following information culled from the _Vegetarian Messenger_ of
August 1909 may interest readers:--
“_Reprinted from the ‘Hospital’_:--‘A glass of beer is 89 to 94 per
cent. water, 2 to 6 alcohol, 1 to 5 malt sugar, 2 to 3 the nutriment
in bread crust, and half that in meat. A glass of good ale is as
nourishing as one of milk. A quart of good beer equals nearly ¼ lb.
bread. It contains one-sixth of the energy a working man needs daily.’
“A correspondent writes:--‘_This is rather disturbing_--what is the
truth? Surely some comment is needed in the _Messenger_.’
“I am astonished that a medical journal of such standing as the
_Hospital_ should print such a statement. The writer, if a medical
man, must be strangely ignorant of simple food analyses. Here is
Professor Church’s analysis of a pint of pale ale, _i.e._, 20
ounces:--
oz. grains grains grains
18 409 water 17 acetic acid 10 mineral matter
1 12 alcohol 372 extractive matter
“Here is Church’s analysis of a pint of milk:--
oz. grains oz. grains grains
17 330 water 0 333 milk fat 72 mineral matter
370 protein 1 22 milk sugar
“The comparison speaks for itself; apart from water, the chief
ingredient of beer is alcohol, described by some dictionaries as a
powerful narcotic poison.”