The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1884-06-08
Fat as a Cure Of Obesity.

~
10 and kindred institutions.
Fat ~ Cure Of Obesity.
fLondcn Standard
10 many people corpulence Is so seriou.
an inconvenience that the appearance In
an English dress OF DR.. Ebstein's much.
taIked-of treatise on the cause and cure OF
obesity may revive hopes which the prac.
ticai failure OF other systems had almost
quenched. He knows be Is right, and
Is not AFRAID to say so. Mr. Banting's d.
etary. though irksome, was not ascetic,
hut TO many patients Il was so weakening
that for one who has been relieved by il
q dozen have experienced actual in
Jury. III Il easy to become thin by not
taking sufficient food to supply the waste
which Is continually going on, though In
THIS case the cure is worse than the dis
ease. Professor Ebstein scorns all such
treatment. He will have nothing I'm the
shape OF starvation remedies, because
while we are starving we sacrifice abumen
as well Ms fat. and the loss OF fat during
famine causes anamia, which demands
compensation In the shape OF more
plentiful diet, In itself likely to lead to a
still greater accumulation OF the very sub
stance OF which it is desired to get rid.
Equally useless and inadequate in his opin-
ion are the various drink cures. be they
hot or cold. Professor Ebstein agrees
with Mr.. Bantlng IN advocating regimen
alone as the only safe cure for an inconve-
nience which most frequently results from
too much food. But he adopts dietary
widely different from that prescribed by
Mr.. Banting, or rather by DR.. Harvey, the
practitioner whose maxims that gentleman
enlarged and made his own.
The crucial difference Is on the question
OF eating fat. Fat is the sheet-anchor Of
DIR. Ebstein. So far from making one
fatier II is able, by combining with the
albuminous materials and the carbo-
hydrates." each in due proportion. to
operate effectively against obesity, the
removal OF which resolves itself rather
into q question OF permanent change OF
habits based on physiological principles
than OF mere cure in the ordinary accepta-
ton of the term. No one need ex-
pect to become thin in a few weeks, nor
will permanent improvement in
figure be guaranteed il the regimen
is not adhered to for the remain
der Of the patients life. hamilton
must be avoided, and the fat taken TO sat-
isfy the cravings OF appetite must be
Of uneXceptionabe quality. No dyspep-
tic, we are assured, need fear fat so long as
he does not take too much, and, indeed,
so admirable is that substance, long dread
ed by delicate stomachs, that, by checking
heterogeneous waste, IL appesses thirst as
well as hunger-a fact, in part at least,
known even by Hippocrates. Mr.. Banting
permitted any fish, except salmon; but
DR.. Ebsteln encourages his patients to
enjoy, Sin moderation Of course" not
only this dish, but pate de .foie grdS and
similar delicacies. which go far to recon-
cile the corpuIent gourmet to the ex-
clusior OF carbohydrates. "Carbo-hy-
drates" are indeed his sole detesta-
ton. Sugar is tabooed, as we'll as sweets
Of all kinds, and potatoes in every
form he forbids Internationally. Three
to three and a half ounces Of bread per
day are permitted, and OF vegetables, as
paragus, spinach, cabbage, and the various
legumes rich in albumen are allowed. OF
meats he excludes none, and, 1t is needless
to add, that so far from wishing the fat
people to avoid the fat in the flesh, he begs
them to pick out all that they can get. 81
permit" writes this libera-minded oppo-
nent OF the &" starving DOCTORS" "bacOn
fat, fat roast pork and mutton, kidney fat.
and when no other fat IL ut hand / recon-
mend marrow TO be added 10 the soups.
allow the sauces as well as the
vegetables to be made juicy, as did
Hippocrates, only for his sesam oil /
substitute butter" Fat is his stronghold.
On this he depends, not as a medlcament,
but as a food; it has, In his opinion, been
much-maligned article OF diet, and
though he by no means recommends the
men Of full body to consume third OF
what the German soldier is allowed in war
time. he is convinced that even with two
TO three and half ounces the patient need
not eat more than three fifths OF the meat
which is requisite under Mr.. Banting's
system. His dietary, it may be remem-
bered. is calculated for the meridian or
Hanover, and hence three meals-breakfast,
dinner, and supper-are allowed. These
answer fairly to our breakfast, lunch, and
late dinner. On no condition must there
be an " afternoon tea," or other "snacks
between drinks" Alcoholic drinks are per-
mitted TO the extent OF two or three glasses
OF light wine at dinner, but beer is barred,
unless, indeed, "the permitted carbo-by-
drates be correspondingly restricted"
though even then the ale accepted as an
equivalent must be extremely moderate in
amount. The diet OF a cured patient was
something like the following: For break
fast large cup of black tea, without milk
or sugar, and two ounces Of bread, with
plenty Of butter, at 1880 in winter, or at 6
,r $3.50 in summer. For dinner. between
2 and 8 O'Clock, soup, "often with
marrow" four to six and a-half ounces
OF roast or boiled meat, vegetables
in moderation, but no potatoes, and almost
no saccharine turnips. After dinner lit
tie fresh fruit, or salad, or stewed fruit
without sugar, with two or three glasses
OF light wine, followed by large cup OF
black tea. without milk or sugar. supper
of black tea. fat roast meat, or eggs, or
some ham with fat bologna sausage.
smoked or fresh fish, and little bread
well buttered, with cheese and fresh fruit,
formed the concluding meal at the hour OF
7 or 8.