DAILY FOOD INTAKE.
It is generally believed that the more we eat the better. Physicians say
that it is necessary to eat heartily when well to retain health and
strength. When ill it is necessary to consume much food to regain lost
health and strength. "Eat all you can of nourishing food," is a common
free prescription, and it sounds very reasonable. The physicians of
today are not to blame for this belief in overeating, for they were
taught thus at college, and very few men in any line do original
thinking. It has been a racial belief for centuries and no one now
living is responsible. When a physician advocates what he honestly
believes he is doing his best, "and angels can do no more."
When a child loses its appetite, the parents worry, for they think that
it is very harmful for young people to go without food for a few meals.
A lost appetite is nature's signal to quit eating, and it should always
be heeded. If it is, it will prevent much disease and suffering and will
save many lives.
The present-day mode of preparing food leads to overeating. The sense of
taste is ruined by the stimulants put into the food. Dishes are so
numerous and so temptingly made that more is eaten than can be digested
and assimilated. Refined sugar, salt, the various spices, pickles,
sauces and preserves all lead to overeating because of stimulation. The
same is true of alcohol taken immediately before meals. If we only give
nature a chance, and are perfectly frank and honest with ourselves, she
will guard us against the overconsumption of food. Those who eat but few
varieties of plain food at a meal are not sorely tempted to overeat. But
when one savory dish is served after another it takes much will power to
be moderate.
People generally have had more than sufficient before the last course is
served. However, the various dishes have different flavors and for this
reason the palate is overwhelmed and accepts more food than is good for
us.
Men who like to call their work scientific, figure on the amount of food
we need to furnish a certain number of heat units--calories. Heat, of
course, is a form of energy. Basing the body's food requirements on heat
units expended does not solve the problem. The more food that is
ingested, the more heat units must be manufactured, and often so much
food is taken that the body is compelled to go into the heating
business. Then we have fevers.
A large part of the heat is given off by the skin. Those who overeat are
compelled to do a great deal of radiating. This excessive amount of fuel
taken into the system in the form of food, wears out the body. As
figured by the experts, it gives a result of food need that is at least
twice as great as necessary. Experience is the only correct guide to
food requirements, and each individual has to settle the matter for
himself. The human body is not exactly a chemical laboratory, nor is it
an engine which can be fed so much fuel with the resultant production of
such and such an amount of heat and energy. Some bodies are more
efficient than others. It is among human beings as among the lower
animals, some require more food than others.
We need enough food to repair the waste, to perform our work and to
furnish heat. Every muscle contraction uses up a little energy. Every
breath deprives us of heat and carries away carbon dioxide, the latter
being formed by oxidation of tissues in the body. Every minute we lose
heat by radiation from the skin. Every thought requires a small amount
of food. If we worry, the leak of nervous energy is tremendous, but at
the same time we put ourselves in position where we are unable to
replenish our stock, for worry ruins digestion. All this expenditure of
energy and loss of heat must be made up for by the food intake. Only a
small amount of surplus food can be stored in the body. Some fat can be
stored as fat. Some starch and sugar can be put aside as either
glycogen--animal sugar--or be changed into fat. This storing of excess
food is very limited, except in cases of obesity, which is a disease.
Overeating invariably causes disease. It may take two or three years,
yes even twenty or thirty years, before the overeating results in
serious illness, but the results are certain, and in the meanwhile the
individual is never up to par. He can use neither body nor mind to the
best advantage.
To emphasize and illustrate these remarks, I shall copy a few diet
lists, which their authors consider reasonable and correct for the
average person for one day, and I shall give my comments. The first is
taken from Kirke's Physiology, which has been used extensively as a
text-book in medical colleges:
340 grams lean uncooked meat,
600 " bread,
90 " butter,
28 " cheese,
225 " potatoes,
225 " carrots.
An ounce contains 28.3 grams; a pound, 453 grams. It is easy to figure
these quantities of food in ounces or pounds, which give a better idea
to the average person.
It is self-evident that this is too much food. Over twelve ounces of
lean, uncooked meat, over twenty-one ounces of bread, almost one-half of
a pound each of potatoes and carrots, about an ounce of cheese and over
three ounces of butter make enough food for two days, even for a big
eater. He who tries to live up to a diet of this kind is sure to suffer
disease and early death.
The average loaf of bread weighs about fourteen ounces. Here we are told
to devour one-half of a pound of carrots (for which other vegetables
such as turnips, parsnips, beets or cabbage may be substituted),
one-half of a pound of potatoes, three-fourths of a pound of lean raw
meat, which loses some weight in cooking, a loaf and one-half of bread,
besides butter and cheese. The vast majority of people can not eat more
than one-third of this amount and retain efficiency and health, but many
eat even more.
The next table is taken from Dr. I. Burney Yeo's book on diet, and is
given as the food required daily by a "well nourished worker":
151.3 grams meat,
48.1 " white of egg,
450.0 " bread,
500.0 " milk,
1065.9 " beer,
60.2 " suet,
30.0 " butter,
70.0 " starch,
17.0 " sugar,
4.9 " salt.
This worker is too well fed. Often those who are so well fed are poorly
nourished, for the excessive amount of food ruins the nutrition, after
which the food is poorly digested and assimilated. This worker eats so
much that he will be compelled to do manual labor all his days, for such
feeding prevents effective thinking.
The following daily average diet is taken from the book, "Diet and
Dietetics," by A. Gauthier, a well known authority on the subject of the
nutritive needs of the body. Mr. Gauthier averaged the daily food intake
of the inhabitants of Paris for the ten years from 1890 to 1899,
inclusive. He takes it for granted that this is the average daily food
requirement for a person:
420.0 grams bread and cakes,
216.0 " boned meat,
24.1 " eggs (weighed with shell),
8.1 " cheese (dry or cream),
28.0 " butter, oil, etc.,
70.0 " fresh fruit,
250.0 " green vegetables,
40.0 " dried vegetables,
100.0 " potatoes, rice,
40.0 " sugar,
20.0 " salt,
213.0 C. C. milk,
557.0 C. C. of various alcoholics, containing
9.5 C. C. of pure alcohol.
So long as the Parisians consume such quantities of food they will
continue to suffer and die before they reach one-half of the age that
should be theirs. The French eat no more than do other people, in fact,
they seem moderate in their food intake as compared with some of the
Germans, English and Americans, but they eat too much for their physical
and mental good.
The lists given above are from sources that command the respect of the
medical profession. They are the orthodox and popular opinions. It would
be an easy matter to give many more tables, but they agree so closely
that it would be a waste of time and space.
Quantitative tables from vegetarian sources are not so common. The
vegetarians say that meat eating is wrong, being contrary to nature.
Whether they are right or wrong, they make the same mistakes that the
orthodox prescribers do, that is, they advocate overeating. Medical
textbooks prescribe a too abundant supply of starch and meat in
particular. The vegetarians prescribe a superabundance of starch. Read
the magazines advocating vegetarianism and note their menus, giving
numerous cereals, tubers, peas, beans, lentils, as well as other
vegetables, for the same meal. It is as easy to overeat of nuts and
protein in leguminous vegetables as it is to overeat of meat.
Starch poisoning is as bad as meat poisoning and the results are equally
fatal.
The following are suggestions offered by a fruitarian. They give the
food intake for two days:
120 grams shelled peanuts, raw,
1000 " apples,
500 " unfermented whole wheat bread.
120 grams shelled filberts,
450 " raisins,
800 " bananas.
In the first day's menu it will be noted that over two pounds of apples
and over one pound of whole wheat bread are recommended, also over four
ounces of raw peanuts. The writer says that this food should preferably
be taken in two meals. There are very few people with enough digestive
and assimilative power to care for more than one-half of a pound of
whole wheat bread twice a day, especially when taken with raw peanuts,
which are rather hard to digest. The trouble is made worse by the
addition of more than one pound of apples to each meal, for when apples
in large quantities are eaten with liberal amounts of starch, the
tendency for the food to ferment is so strong that only a very few
escape. Gas is produced in great quantities, which is both unnatural and
unpleasant. Neither stomach nor bowels manufacture any perceptible
amount of gas if they are in good condition and a moderate amount of
food is taken.
Whole wheat bread digests easily enough when eaten in moderation, but it
is very difficult to digest when as much as eight ounces are taken at a
meal. One can accustom the body to accept this amount of food, but it is
never required under ordinary conditions and the results in the long run
are bad.
The food prescribed for the second day is more easily digested, but it
is too much. Raisins are a splendid force food, but no ordinary
individual needs a pound of raisins in one day, in addition to about one
and three-fourths pounds of bananas, which are also a force food and are
about as nourishing as the same amount of Irish potatoes.
In all my reading it has not been my good fortune to find a diet table
for healthy people, giving moderate quantities of food. Diet lists seem
scientific, so they appeal to the mind that has not learned to think of
the subject from the correct point of view. Quantitative diet tables are
worthless, for one person may need more than another. Some are short and
some are tall. Some are naturally slender and others of stocky build.
There is as much difference in people's food needs as there is in their
appearance. To try to fit the same quantity and even kind of food to all
is as senseless as it would be to dress all in garments of identical
size and cut.
If we eat in moderation it does not make much difference what we eat,
provided our diet contains either raw fruits or raw vegetables enough to
furnish the various mineral salts and the food is fairly well prepared.
There are combinations that are not ideal, but they do very little harm
if there is no overeating. People who are moderate in their eating
generally relish simple foods. Unfortunately, there is but little
moderation in eating. From childhood on the suggestion that it is
necessary to eat liberally is ever before us. Medical men, grandparents,
parents and neighbors think and talk alike. If the parents believe in
moderation, the neighbors kindly give lunches to the children. It is
really difficult to raise children right, especially in towns and
cities.
After such training we learn to believe in overeating and we pass the
belief on to the next generation, as it has in the past been handed down
from generation to generation. Finally we die, many of us martyrs to
overconsumption of food. Ask any healer of intelligence who has thrown
off the blinders put on at college and who has allowed himself to think
without fear, and he will tell you that at least nine-tenths of our ills
come from improper eating habits. It is not difficult to make up menus
of compatible foods. No one knows how much another should eat, and he
who prepares quantitative diet tables for the multitude must fail.
However, every individual of ordinary intelligence can quickly learn his
own food requirements and the key thereto is given by nature. It is not
well to think of one's self much or often. It is not well to be
introspective, but everyone should get acquainted with himself, learning
to know himself well enough to treat himself with due consideration. We
are taught kindness to others. We need to be taught kindness to
ourselves. The average person ought to be able to learn his normal food
requirements within three or four months, and a shorter time will often
suffice.
The following observations will prove helpful to the careful reader:
Food should have a pleasant taste while it is being eaten, but should
not taste afterwards. If it does it is a sign of indigestion following
overeating, or else it indicates improper combinations or very poor
cooking. Perhaps food was taken when there was no desire for it, which
is always a mistake. Perhaps too many foods were combined in the meal.
Or it may be that there was not enough mouth preparation. It is
generally due to overeating. Cabbage, onions, cucumbers and various
other foods which often repeat, will not do so when properly prepared
and eaten in moderation, if other conditions are right.
Eructation of gas and gas in the bowels are indications of overeating.
More food is taken than can be digested. A part of it ferments and gas
is a product of fermentation. A very small amount of gas in the
alimentary tract is natural, but when there is belching or rumbling of
gas in the intestines it is a sign of indigestion, which may be so mild
that the individual is not aware of it, or it may be so bad that he can
think of little else. When there is formation of much gas it is always
necessary to reduce the food intake, and to give special attention to
the mastication of all starch-containing aliments. Also, if starches and
sour fruits have been combined habitually, this combination should be
given up. Starch digests in an alkaline medium, and if it is taken with
much acid by those whose digestive powers are weak, the result is
fermentation instead of digestion.
People should never eat enough to experience a feeling of languor. They
should quit eating before they feel full. If there is a desire to sleep
after meals, too much food has been ingested. When drowsiness possesses
us after meals we have eaten so much that the digestive organs require
so much blood that there is not enough left for the brain. This is a
hint that if we have work or study that requires exceptional clearness
of mind, we should eat very moderately or not at all immediately before.
The digestive organs appropriate the needed amount of blood and the
brain refuses to do its best when deprived of its normal supply of
oxygen and nourishment.
Serpents, some beasts of prey and savages devour such large quantities
of food at times that they go into a stupor. There is no excuse for our
patterning after them now that a supply of food is easily obtained at
all times.
A bad taste in the mouth is usually a sign of overeating. It comes from
the decomposition following a too liberal food intake. If water has a
bad taste in the morning or at any other time, it indicates overeating.
It may be due to a filthy mouth or the use of alcohol.
Heartburn is also due to overeating, and so is hiccough; both come from
fermentation of food in the alimentary tract.
A heavily coated tongue in the morning indicates excessive food intake.
If the tongue is what is known as a dirty gray color it shows that the
owner has been overeating for years. The normal mucous membrane is clean
and pink. The mucous membrane of the mouth, stomach and the first part
of the bowels should not be compelled to act as an organ of excretion,
for the normal function is secretory and absorptive. However, when so
much food is eaten that the skin, lungs, kidneys and lower bowel can not
throw off all the waste and excess, the mucous membrane in the upper
part of the alimentary tract must assist. The result is a coated tongue,
but the tongue is in no worse condition than the mucous membrane of the
stomach. A coated tongue indicates overcrowded nutrition and is nature's
request to reduce the food intake. How much? Enough to clean the tongue.
If the coating is chronic it may take several months before the tongue
becomes clean.
A muddy skin, perhaps pimply, is another sign of overeating. It shows
that the food intake is so great that the body tries to eliminate too
many of the solids through the skin, which becomes irritated from this
cause and the too acid state of the system and then there is
inflammation. Many forms of eczema and a great many other skin diseases
are caused by stomach disorders and an overcrowded nutrition. There is a
limit to the skin's excretory ability, and when this is exceeded skin
diseases ensue. Some of the so-called incurable skin diseases get well
in a short time on a proper diet without any local treatment.
Dull eyes and a greenish tinge of the whites of the eyes point toward
digestive disturbances due to an oversupply of food. The green color
comes from bile thrown into the blood when the liver is overworked. The
liver is never overtaxed unless the consumption of food is excessive.
Another very common sign of too generous feeding is catarrh, and it does
not matter where the catarrh is located. It is true that there are other
causes of catarrh, in fact, anything that irritates the mucous membrane
any length of time will cause it, but an overcrowded nutrition causes
the ordinary cases. It is the same old story: The mucous membrane is
forced to take on the function of eliminating superfluous matter, which
has been taken into the system in the form of food. Many people dedicate
their lives to the act of turning a superabundance of food into waste,
and as a result they overwork their bodies so that they are never well
physically and seldom efficient mentally.
Many people, especially women, say that if they miss a meal or get it
later than usual, they suffer from headache. This indicates that the
feeding is wrong, generally too generous and often too stimulating. A
normal person can miss a dozen meals without a sign of a headache.
To repeat: No one can tell how much another should eat, but everyone can
learn for himself what the proper amount of food is. Enough is given
above to help solve the problem. The interpretations presented are not
the popular ones, but they are true for they give good results when
acted upon.
If bad results follow a meal there has been overeating, either at the
last meal or previously. Undermasticating usually accompanies overeating
and causes further trouble. Those who masticate thoroughly are generally
quite moderate in their food intake.
Many say that they eat so much because they enjoy their food so. He who
eats too rapidly or in excess does not know what true enjoyment of food
is. Excessive eating causes food poisoning, and food poisoning blunts
all the special senses. To have normal smell, taste, hearing and vision
one must be clean through and through, and those who are surfeited with
food are not clean internally.
The average individual does not know the natural taste of most foods. He
seasons them so highly that the normal taste is hidden or destroyed.
Those who wish to know the exquisite flavor of such common foods as
onions, carrots, cabbage, apples and oranges must eat them without
seasoning or dressing for a while. To get real enjoyment from food it is
necessary to eat slowly and in moderation.
I know both from personal experience and from the experience of others
that seasoning is not necessary. Instead of giving the foods better
flavor, they taste inferior. A little salt will harm no one, but the
constant use of much seasoning leads to irritation of the digestive
organs and to overeating. Salt taken in excess also helps to bring on
premature aging. It is splendid for pickling and preserving, but health
and life in abundance are the only preservatives needed for the body.
Refined sugar should be classed among the condiments. People who live
normally lose the desire for it. Grapefruit, for instance, tastes better
when eaten plain than when sugar is added.
People who sleep seven or eight hours and wake up feeling unrefreshed
are suffering from the ingestion of too much food. A food poisoned
individual can not be properly rested. To get sweet sleep and feel
restored it is necessary to have clean blood and a sweet alimentary
tract.
Much has been said about overeating. Once in a while a person will
habitually undereat, but such cases are exceedingly rare. To undereat is
foolish. At all times we must use good sense. It is a subject upon which
no fixed rules can be promulgated. Be guided by the feelings, for
perfect health is impossible to those who lack balance.
Those who think they need scientific direction may take one of the
orthodox diet tables. If it contains alcoholics, remove them from the
list. Then partake of about one-third of the starch recommended, and
about one-third of the protein. Use more fresh fruit and fresh
vegetables than listed. Instead of eating bread made from white flour,
use whole wheat bread. Do not try to eat everything given on the
scientific diet list each day. For instance, rice, potatoes and bread
are given in many of these tables. Select one of these starches one day,
another the next day, etc. If one-third of the amount recommended is too
much, and it sometimes is, reduce still further.
Please bear in mind that the orthodox way, the so-called scientific way,
has been tried over a long period of time and it has given very poor
results. Moderation has always given good results and always will.