The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1876-01-13
WHAT shall We Eat?

Diverse theories respecting the laws
of health have been hOtly advocated
since the days of EsenlaDius. Eat
and drink as you please, is the reput-
ell teaching Of Epieurua. Repress
sensuOus pleasures, say Zsno and
Buddha- Use no animal food, en-
Joined the school of Orpheus. Eat
meat or let il alone as conscientious
exPedieney may require, wrote Paul
CT Iarsus. Life is q fraud, whatever
We eat, drink, or do, substantially
snarls the cynic DiOgenes. Such are
some of the confused lights shed on
this subject in ancient times. But
the dietesic 5peculatIons OF the pres
ent age are scarcely more eoneordant
or satisfactory. Old theories are re-
tanned, while more new ones have
been evolved than were produced by
all the schools prior to the Christian
era
IsIaelite, Papist, MOhammedan and
TransmigratiOnist regulate their diet
by religious seruples but aside from
these, there is an abstemiOusness on
an assumed bygienie basis alone
which exceeds the stringeney i'm
posed by heather superstitiOns. Most
OF the so-ealled health journals lean
towards restrictive and vegetarian
diet and one quasi medical school
in the State of New York, banishes
from its table all kinds of NESTS and
enimai products, as butter, ETC., tea,
coffee, and all narcotics, pies, cakes,
salt and sugar, leaving a narrow fare,
of coarse, unseasOned food, which, ta-
ken alone, would pail on the tongue
OF any unstarved American or Eu-
ropean- A large community in Penn
sylvania is nearly as restrictive. It's
prohibitions include ali animal flesh.
The medical schools proper take lit
tie part in this controversy. They
generally recommend to those not in
peculiar pathologic conditions, a lib
eral regimen composed of both ami
NAL and vegetable food.
Prof. 0. s. Fowler and DR.. DiO
Lewis advise this, but the former
says "Never swallow a mouthful of
food which does not have a good
smack to it," and the latter MAIN
tains thst one should leave of eating
before he arrives at the point Of
safety. Both favor but one or two
meals per day. The Journal of Health
ACA - OPEu6 It's D6klCAlCo Oh Tic
use or meat, in two labored articles.
One of their strongest points is based
on the concession that ''fiesh tends TO
make men bold, enterprising and
courageous" which it is urged, should
give place to "mCre peaceful qualities" ;"
But aside from sentimeEtalism, in
part arising from reluctance to the
taking OF animal life, vegetarians rest
their system largely on the negative
doctrine that farinaeeous edibles con-
tain all the elements essential to life
ergo animal food is unnecessary.
1t may be true that they contain these
elements, but certainly not in the
right proportion to the carbon and
other ingre dients.
Nitrogen may exist i'm most vege-
tables, bnt one must eat to surfeit in
order to obtain from them so much of
it as the system requires.
Good medical authority attributes
the large fatality among children, who !
eat little animal food, to the excess of |
carbon taken. into their ,stOmachs, |
which the oxygen they inhale is not |
sufficient to consume. Vegetar- |
ians cit. lOng-lived, dried I'D
examples Of longevity among their
adherents but alcoholic tipplers do
the same. The father OF John |
b. Cough lived nearly a CEN
tury aud took his pint of malt
liquor nearly every day OF his life.
These examples prove nothing except |
the fact that every person inherits
certain degree of positive vitality, |
which nothing short of excessive |
abuse is sufficient to destroy
With no pretentions to medi-
cal eruditiOn, We venture the /
opinion that they who eat all they
want of what they relish best,
a day, without worrying
much over dietetic theories, will live |
more nearly in harmony with the
laws of health, than the half famish-
ed mummies whose l)ngevity, il true, |
is the least consOling feature of their |
system.