Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1871-02-02
Cheese as a Wholesome Food.

CHEEsE, Wnen properly manufactured,
contains, in condensed form, nearly all
the solid nutritive portions of milk, and of
course in about the same proportion as
they exist in that fluid, and we would be
fully warranted in expecting that it is
highly nutricious, had we no other know
ledge of that fact except thus reasoning
from analogy.
Some one at my elbow asks the ques-
ton, will cheese, like milk, sustain the an
imal economy without any other foods
Whether it would sustain the life, health,
and strength of human being, for an un-
limited period, like milk, / do not know
from experience, but do know from ex-
perience that it viii sustain the animal
economy in mice and rats for months,
without any other food, and, 1 have no
doubt, would sustain human being just
as we'll
Our best American cheese contains
about one-fourth part of its weight in
water, the balance consisting almost en-
tirely of the elements of nutrition in a pc
culiarly concentrated form, and precisely
adapted to the process of digestion, be-
cause, in the manufacture of cheese, the
process and agencies are precisely the same
as those employed by nature, to prepare
milk for digestion when taken into the
stomach, and is when chemically consid-
cred, nothing more or less than the solid
portions of the milk completely prepared
for digestion, and that organ is saved so
much labor as is ordinarily bestowed on
the coagulation, preparation for diges-
ton of milk, in its natural or unmanufac-
tured state.
Compared with almost all other kinds
of food, the superiority of cheese is mani
fest; for instance, meat or bread not only
require mastication, but after reaching the
stomach, they require to be further broken
down and manipulated by the action of
the stomach and the gastric Juice before
they are ready for dige stion and assimila-
ton; hence it is, that cheese is health
ful and proper article of. food for persons
of weak and debilitated constitutions, such
as are suffering from any arrangement of
the organs of digestion; thousands can
testify to its efficacy in diarrhea and sum-
mer complaint, and the reason, l think,
must be obvious; the stomach is saved one
half the usual amount of labor and rest
is always better than medicine to the in
valid, and thus from merely being allowed
to rest, apd at the same time aSsimilate
sufficient nutriment, and that of the best
character, for the support of the physical
system, return to health is matter of
course
Cheese then must be wholesome article
of food and highly nutrious, and of the
most suitable kind of nutriment, contain
Jig as it does the same, and nearly all the
nutritive elements of the milk of which it
was manufactured, and it now remains to
consider the economy of its use as an
article of daily food
The daily food of a majority of our peo-
pie consists of meat, vegetables, bread and
fruits; in other words, meat and vege-
tables, and milk, ard has been so from
almost time immemorial cheese, it is true,
has to limited extent comprised one of
the articles of daily food of portion of
our people, but has been used more as
luxury than staple article of every day
food.
Americans are very much in the habit of
consuming large amount of meat, espe-
cially the flesh of swine, anda great many
tables are rarely set at all for meal with
out one or more kinds of meat-meat for
breakfast, and meat for dinner always, and
frequently for supper; in vain are we told
by our medidal advisers that we consume
too much meat as people we never heed
the warning until dyspepsia, rheumatism,
and gout, compel us to listen to the dictates
of reason and common sense.
From an examination of market reports
some years past, find the average price of
choicest cuts of fresh meat more especially
Deel, HAS Deeu luIIy equtl W TIC piiCc "a
cheese per pound at retail, and in many in
stances ordinary good beef has ranged from
one to three, and even asmuch as five cents,
above the price of good factory cheese, and
furthermore that this period of high priced
meat and low priced cheese, usually occurs
every season during the hot weather, just
when fresh meats are considered most un-
healthy, and when cheese would be more
suitable article ofdiet, on the score Of health.
Here we have the conclusion ofthe whole
matter: cheese is more conducive to health
than meat, being more natural as wellas
more perfect food, and for an equal amount
of nutrition, costing but half as much as
meat, and as meat in some form or other con-
stitutes part of nearly every meal of the
people of this country, l think the PROPOSE
tion that " cheese is wholesome, nutri-
tious, and Economical article offood, is fully
and clearly established Correspondence