Man is less uniform in his diet, and suffers more in consequence
of it, than any other animal. All other animals are directed by
instinct to select only those substances which are best adapted
to their wants. Man is endowed with reason to enable him, by the
exercise of thought and reflection, to make his choice of food. He
should, therefore, select his daily food with as much forethought
and care as he would select the materials for his dwelling. He should
consider, not what will gratify his taste, but what will build up
and strengthen his bodily structure, and secure most perfectly the
highest and most permanent enjoyment of all his faculties.
The kind of food which each individual should select is by no means
uniform; the climate, the season of the year, the occupation,
the temperament, the age, the habits of life, and various other
circumstances which might be mentioned, demand modifications of diet.