No Animal Food Part 6

III

WHEN TO EAT

The question of when to eat is of some importance. The Orientals eat fewer meals than we do, and in their abstemiousness they set us an example we should do well to follow. Sufficient has already been said to show that it is a mistake to imagine a great deal of food gives great strength. When we eat frequently, and especially when we 'live well,'

that is, are accustomed to a large variety of food, we are tempted to eat far more than is good for us. Little and often may work satisfactorily so long as it does not develop into much and often, which, needless to say, it is very likely to do. Most people on this account would probably be much better in their health if they ate but twice daily, at noon, and five or six hours before going to bed. Then there is less chance of over-feeding. If, however, we experimentally determine the quant.i.ty of food that our particular system requires in order to be maintained in good health, and can trust our self-command in controlling the indulgence of sense, probably the best method is to eat anyway three times daily, and four, five, or even six times, or doing away with set meals altogether, would be a procedure which, judging from a.n.a.logy of the anthropoids, ought to be a better method than eating a whole day's supply at once, or at two or three meals.

It is not wise to sit down to a meal when the body is thoroughly fatigued. A gla.s.s of hot or cold water will be found reviving, and then, after a short rest, the system will be far better able to a.s.similate food. When the body is 'tired out,' it stands to reason it cannot perform digestion as easily and as well as when in fit condition.

Also it is unwise to eat immediately before undertaking vigorous muscular work. Strenuous exercise after meals is often the cause of digestive disorders. Starting on exercise after a hearty meal may suspend the gastric digestion, and so prevent the a.s.similation of protein as to produce a sensation of exhaustion. If, however, rest is taken, the digestive organs proceed with their work, and after a short time recuperation follows, and the exercise can be continued. It is unwise to allow such a suspension of digestion because of the danger of setting up fermentation, or putrefaction, in the food ma.s.s awaiting digestion, for this may result in various disorders.

For the same reason it is a bad plan to eat late at night. It is unwise to take a meal just before going to bed, for the digestive organs cannot do their work properly, if at all, while the body is asleep, and the food not being digested is liable to ferment and result in dyspepsia.

The 'sinking feeling' sometimes complained of if a meal is not eaten late at night and described as a kind of hunger is probably due to an abnormal secretion of acid in the stomach. A gla.s.s of hot water will often relieve this discomfort. This feeling is seldom experienced by vegetarians of long standing. The natives of India, it is said, do not experience it at all, which fact leads us to surmise the cause to be in some way connected with flesh-eating. Farinaceous foods, however, prepared as soup, porridge, gruel, pultaceous puddings, etc., when eaten, as is customary, without proper insalivation, are liable to be improperly digested and to ferment, giving rise to the sensation described as a 'sinking feeling' and erroneously thought to be hunger.

It is an excellent rule that prescribes fasting when without hunger.

When there is no appet.i.te do not eat. It is an example of conventional stupidity that we eat because it is 'meal time,' even though there be not the slightest feeling of genuine hunger. Leaving out of consideration the necessitous poor and those who for their living engage themselves in hard physical toil, it is safe to say that hardly one person in a thousand has ever felt real hunger. Yet no one was ever the worse for waiting upon appet.i.te. No one was ever starved by not eating because of having no appet.i.te. Loss of appet.i.te is a sign that the digestive organs require a rest. It is better to go without food for a time than to force oneself to eat against inclination. The forcing of oneself to eat to 'keep up one's strength,' is perhaps the quickest way to bring down one's strength by overworking the system and burdening it with material it does not need. Eat by appet.i.te, not by time. Eat frequently when the appet.i.te demands frequent satisfaction, and seldom when seldom hungry. These rules hold good at all times and for everyone.

Loss of appet.i.te during sickness should not be looked upon as anything serious in itself, but as a sign that the system does not require food.

A sick man like a well man will feel hunger as soon as food is needed, and the practice of tempting the appet.i.te with rich and costly foods is not only a waste of money but is injurious physiologically. Possibly there may be pathological conditions under which hunger cannot make itself felt, but it would seem contrary to Nature as far as the writer, a layman, understands the matter. At least, leaving abnormal conditions of health out of consideration, we can say this much affirmatively: if a man is hungry enough to relish dry bread, then, and then only, does he really require nourishment.

Hunger is always experienced when nutriment is needed, and will be felt a dozen times a day if the food eaten at each of a dozen meals has supplied only sufficient nutriment to produce the force expended between each meal. If the meal is large and supplies sufficient nutriment to produce the force expended in a whole day, then the one meal is all that is required. Never eat to be sociable, or conventional, or sensual; eat when hungry.

Professor Pavlov says: 'Appet.i.te is juice'; that is to say, the physiological condition existing when the body has run short of food-fuel, produces a psychological effect, the mind thinking of food, thereby causing through reaction a profuse secretion of saliva, and we say 'the mouth waters.' It is true the appet.i.te is amenable to suggestion. Thus, though feeling hunger, the smell of, or even thought of, decayed food may completely take away appet.i.te and all inclination to eat. This phenomenon is a provision of Nature to protect us from eating impure food. The appet.i.te having thus been taken away will soon return again when the cause of its loss has been removed. Therefore the appet.i.te should be an infallible guide when to eat.

There is one further point to be noted. Food should not be eaten when under the influence of strong emotion. It is true that under such conditions there probably would be no appet.i.te, but when we are so accustomed to consulting the clock that there is danger of cozening ourselves into the belief that we have an appet.i.te when we have not, and so force ourselves to eat when it may be unwise to do so. Strong emotions, as anger, fear, worry, grief, judging by a.n.a.logy, doubtless inhibit digestive activity. W. B. Cannon, M.D., speaking of experiments on cats, says: 'The stomach movements are inhibited whenever the cat shows signs of anxiety, rage, or distress.' To thoroughly enjoy one's food, it is necessary to have hunger for it, and if we only eat when we feel hungry, there is little likelihood of ever suffering from dyspepsia.

In pa.s.sing, it is appropriate to point out that as when food is better enjoyed it is better digested, therefore art, environment, mental disposition, indirectly affect the digestive processes. We should, therefore, remembering that simplicity, not complexity, is the essence of beauty, ornament our food and table, and be as cheerful, sociable, and even as merry as possible.

IV

HOW TO EAT

The importance of thorough mastication and insalivation cannot be overestimated. The mouth is a part of the digestive apparatus, and in it food is not only broken down, but is chemically changed by the action of the saliva. If buccal (mouth) digestion be neglected, the consequence is that the food pa.s.ses into the stomach in a condition that renders it difficult for that organ to digest it and any of a great number of disturbances may result.

Mastication means a thorough breaking up of the food into the smallest particles, and insalivation means the mixing of the small particles with the saliva. The mechanical work is done with the jaws and tongue, and the chemical work is performed by the saliva. When the mechanical work is done thoroughly the chemical work is also thorough, and the test for thoroughness is loss of taste. Masticate the food until all taste has disappeared, and then it will be found that the swallowing reflex unconsciously absorbs the food, conscious swallowing, or at least, an effort to swallow, not being called for.

It may take some while to get into the habit of thorough mastication after having been accustomed to bolting food, but with a conscious effort at the first, the habit is formed, and then the effort is no longer a laborious exercise, but becomes perfectly natural and is performed unconsciously.

This ought to be common knowledge. That such a subject is not considered a necessary part of education is indeed lamentable, for the cra.s.s ignorance that everywhere abounds upon the subject of nutrition and diet is largely the cause of the frightful disease and debility so widespread throughout the land, and, as a secondary evil of an enormous waste of labour in the production and distribution of unneeded food. Were everyone to live according to Nature, hygienically and modestly, health, and all the happiness that comes with it, would become a national a.s.set, and as a result of the decreased consumption of food, more time would be available for education, and the pursuit of all those arts which make for the enlightenment and progress of humanity.

To become a convert to this new order, adopting non-animal food and hygienic living, is not synonymous with monastical asceticism, as some imagine. Meat eaters when first confronted with vegetarianism often imagine their dietary is going to be restricted to a monotonous round of carrots, turnips, cabbages, and the like; and if their ignorance prevents them from arguing that it is impossible to maintain health and strength on such foods, then it is very often objected that carrots and cabbages are not liked, or would not be cared for _all_ the time. The best way to answer this objection is to cite a few plain facts. From a catalogue of a firm supplying vegetarian specialties, (and there are now quite a number of such firms), most of the following information is derived:

Of nuts there are twelve varieties, sold either sh.e.l.led, ground, or in sh.e.l.l. Many of these nuts are also mechanically prepared, and in some cases combined, and made into b.u.t.ters, nut-meats, lard, suet, oil, etc.

The varieties of nut-b.u.t.ters are many, and the various combinations of nuts and vegetables making potted savouries, add to a long list of highly nutritious and palatable nut-foods. There are the pulses dried and entire, or ground into flour, such as pea-, bean-, and lentil-flour.

There are the cereals, barley, corn, oats, rice, rye, wheat, etc., from which the number of preparations made such as breakfast foods, bread, biscuits, cakes, pastries, etc., is legion. (One firm advertises twenty-three varieties of prepared breakfast foods made from cereals.) Then there are the fruits, fresh, canned, and preserved, about twenty-five varieties; green vegetables, fresh and canned, about twenty-one varieties; and roots, about eleven varieties.

The difficulty is not that there is insufficient variety, but that the variety is so large that there is danger of being tempted beyond the limits dictated by the needs of the body. When, having had sufficient to eat, there yet remain many highly palatable dishes untasted, one is sometimes apt to gratify sense at the expense of health and good-breeding, to say nothing of economy. Simplicity and purity in food are essential to physical health as simplicity and purity in art are essential to moral and intellectual progress. 'I may say,' says Dr.

Haig, 'that simple food of not more than two or three kinds at one meal is another secret of health; and if this seems harsh to those whose day is at present divided between antic.i.p.ating their food and eating, I must ask them to consider whether such a life is not the acme of selfish shortsightedness. In case they should ever be at a loss what to do with the time and money thus saved from feasting, I would point on the one hand to the ma.s.s of unrelieved ignorance, sorrow, and suffering, and on the other to the doors of literature and art, which stand open to those fortunate enough to have time to enter them; and from none of these need any turn aside for want of new Kingdoms to conquer.'

This question of feeding may, by superficial thinkers, be looked upon as unimportant; yet it should not be forgotten that diet has much more to do with health than is commonly realized, and health is intimately connected with mental att.i.tude, and oftentimes is at the foundation of religious and moral development. 'Hypochondriacal crotchets' are often the product of dyspepsia, and valetudinarianism and pessimism are not unrarely found together. 'Alas,' says Carlyle, 'what is the loftiest flight of genius, the finest frenzy that ever for moments united Heaven with Earth, to the perennial never-failing joys of a digestive apparatus thoroughly eupeptic?'

Our first duty is to learn to keep our body healthy. Naturally, we sooner expect to see a n.o.ble character possess a beautiful form than one disfigured by abuse and polluted by disease. We do not say that every sick man is a villain, but we do say that men and women of high character regard the body as an instrument for some high purpose, and believe that it should be cared for and nourished according to its natural requirements. In vegetarianism, _scientifically practised_, is a cure, and better, a preventative, for many physical, mental, and moral obliquities that trouble mankind, and if only a knowledge of this fact were to grow and distil itself into the public mind and conscience, there would be halcyon days in store for future generations, and much that now envelops man in darkness and in sorrow, would be regarded as a nightmare of the past.

FOOD TABLE

The following table exhibits the percentage chemical composition of the princ.i.p.al vegetable food materials; also of dairy produce and common flesh-foods for comparison.

FOOD MATERIAL Protein Fat Carbo- Salts Water Fuel hydrates Value cals.

Vegetable Foods p. ct. p. ct. p. ct. p. ct. p. ct. p. lb.

Wheat Flour (entire) 18.8 1.9 71.9 1.0 11.4 1,675 Oatmeal 16.1 7.2 67.5 1.9 7.3 1,860 Rice 8.0 .3 79.0 .4 12.3 1,630 Barley 8.5 1.1 77.8 1.1 11.5 1,650 Corn Meal 9.2 1.9 75.4 1.0 12.5 1,655 Rye 0.8 .9 78.7 .7 12.9 1,630 Lentils (dried) 25.7 1.0 59.2 5.7 8.4 1,620 Beans (dried) 22.5 1.8 59.6 3.5 12.6 1,605 Peas (dried) 24.6 1.0 62.0 2.9 9.5 1,655 Nuts, various (_aver._) 16.0 52.0 20.0 2.0 10.0 2,640 Dates 2.1 2.8 78.4 1.3 15.4 1,615 Figs 4.3 .3 74.2 2.4 18.8 1,475 Potatoes 2.2 .1 18.4 1.0 78.3 385 Apples .4 .5 14.2 .3 84.6 290 Bananas 1.3 .6 22.0 .8 75.3 460

Dairy Foods

Milk, whole (not skim) 3.3 4.0 5.0 .7 87.0 325 Cheese, various (_aver._) 24.5 28.4 2.1 4.0 41.0 1,779 Hens' Eggs (_boiled_) 14.0 12.0 0.0 .8 73.2 765

Flesh Foods

Beef 18.6 19.1 0.0 1.0 61.3 1,155 Mutton (_medium fat_) 18.2 18.0 0.0 1.0 62.8 1,105 Ham (_fresh_) 15.6 33.4 0.0 .9 50.1 1,700 Fowl 19.0 16.3 0.0 1.0 63.7 1,045 White Fish (_as purchased_) 22.1 6.5 0.0 1.6 69.8 700

[The amount of heat that will raise one kilogram of water 1 deg. C. is termed a _calorie_. Fuel value, or food units, means the number of calories of heat equivalent to the energy it is a.s.sumed the body obtains from food when the nutrients thereof are completely digested.]

ONE HUNDRED RECIPES

RECIPES

The following recipes are given as they appear in the English edition of this book and were prepared for English readers. While some of these will be difficult for American readers to follow, we give them as in the original edition, and many of the unusual ingredients called for can be obtained from the large grocers and dealers, and if not in stock will be obtained to order. 'Nutter' is a name given a nut b.u.t.ter used for cooking. It is, so far as we know, the only collection of strictly vegetarian recipes published.

Readers interested in the foreign products referred to, should write to Pitman's Health Food Company, Aston Brook St., Birmingham, England, and to Mapleton's Nut Food Company, Ltd., Garston, Liverpool, England, for price list and literature.

THE PUBLISHERS.