Stephens City star. (Stephens City, Va.) 1881-1883, 1881-11-05
One Meal a Day,

| Of Chemistry an account of experiments
made to show that one meal O day is
enough for man:
"S. N. S., twenty-eight years old,
resolved to adopt the one-meal system,
and did so. leaving off meat and all
condiments, as salt and pepper, and
eating chiefly wheat-meal bread and
fruit, the bread made from unsifted
meal and mixed with water only, no
salt or bread-raising devices-unleave
ed bread. Within seven months his
weight increased from one hundred and
forty-five pounds to one hundred and
seventy pounds, and his strength of both
body and mind had increased in pro-
portion. His labor had been severe
he is a machinist and an inventor,
working ten hours every day, and do
ing good deal of practical and profit
able thinking at the same time. 1t is
now full year since he came to one
meal, and the weight gained has been
maintained, and his health is perfect.
During the last winter, for the purpose
of testing the sutficiency of one meal'of
pure food for the most trying labor, he
worked in an iron foundry for three
months, and Notwithstanding the ex-
treme and frequent changes of temper
ature incident to the work, on cold
mornings, with the mercury below zero,
and in the afternoon at 100 degrees
above, and all hands sweating like rain,
he had not a cold for the winter, and
was the only employe thus exempt. He
had formerly been subject to frequent
attacks of the above disease. His
daily ration consists of six ounces to
nine ounces according to labor of
Graham -four, beside fruit sufficient to
supply all the liquids necessary-half a
dozen apples OF their equivalent in
other fruit. He is rarely thirsty, but
sometimes, if too little fruit is taken at
meal time, he takes a small draft of
water in the course of the day. This
meal is taken at night, after entire re-
covery from fatigue, usually at about
seven o'clock. During the month of
May, 1881, just passed, he gained sixty
hours, or six full days, working extra
hours at his bench, some times working
right through to midnight, and taking
his breakfast after short rest, before
retiring. No man in his employ had
gained so much time. He has occa-
sionally made trial of boltedsfour
bread, but has invariably experienced
loss Of weight and strength.
"My own experience goes far to prove
the efficiency of the above regimen for
either the brain or muscle worker. I
am now taking but one meal day, and
find myself perfectly nourished, weight
and strength maintained, on about
fourteen oun ces of unleavened wheat.
meal bread, to the mastication of which
I devote an hour or more. I find that
six cold gems, weighing about fourteen
ounces, without either butter or milk,
chewed deliberately and thoroughly
dissolved by the juices of the mouth,
will sustain me much better than when
eaten warm with butter or milk, or both
together added, and eaten as fast as one
naturally eats hot rolls and butter or
bread and milk. Considering the man.
ner in which people in general bolt
their food, it is not strange that large
proportion of it fails of digestion.
Starchy food cannot be transformed in
to pure blood entire, except as far as
the change is begun in the mouth.
"Until few months ago + took my
food in the morning, but I find the
evenings better time. During the day
the brain and muscles can have every
thing their own way, without interfer-
ing or hindering digestion, and at even
ing, after sufficient rest, there is per-
feet tranquility of body and mind and
leisure to digest had never been a
good sleeper until adopted this sys-
tenn of diet. People who eat several
meals day do we'll to take the last one
early, and the lighter they make it the
better, but dyspeptics may rest assured
that, of itself considered, the evening
meal is not the cause of their wakeful-
ness or troubled dreams. When 1 ate
three meals OF mixed diet, I could
not make the last one simple enough to
give me complete rest at night, but
now, when rested from my days labor,
l can eat my full vegetarian meal and
sleep like well-fed babe. I could give
quite number of examples like the
foregoing, of one-mealers, did space
permit, all tending to prove the superb
ority of vegetable over animal diet, and
of the entire wheat over the most sci
entifcally impoverished article"