The morning news., 1889-03-15
THE LENTEN DIET.
Il May be Carried Too Far and Sc
GUS Injury be the Result.


GUS Injury be the Result
Or. HTRs. Il. Hammond in Philadelphia Press
1t is not often the case that devotional
fasting is fol owed by immediate death, for
the authority of parents or guardians or the
physician is brought to bear before such
result ca be reached. but extreme debility,
arrangement of the digestive organs, feeble
ness OF the hearts action, neuralgia IN va
rious parts of tho body and nervous pros
tratlon are common consequences of deprI-
vation of food during Lent.
call to mind the stance of a young
lady who had by no means attained her full
growth, who, after forty days of restriction
to an exceedingly meager diet, came out of
her religious exercise with a loss of twenty
five pounds in weight and an irritable spine,
from which she has not yet entirely re-
covered, although two years have elapsed.
Before she began her fasting she was a
healthy young woman, weighing about $50
pounds, aad accustomed to take good deal
of exercise in the open air by walking and
horseback ridin 3.
From being in the habit of eating three
hearty meals day, she restricted herself to
little tea and toast taken at about II
o'clock, repeated as to quantity and quality
just before going to bed. On Sundays,
which, according to the rules of her church,
are feast days, even though occu ring in
Lent, she ate small piece of some sort of
meat and little potato for her dinner.
During the whule period her sleep was more
or less disturbed, and she had almost con-
stant headache She was unable to walk
more than few steps without being seized
with palpitation of the heart. Her teeth,
which were without flaw, began to ache,
and her spine became painful throughout
nearly its whole extent. Although her
friends could not fail to perceive Tnat she
l., l. \ -, I'll
she had sufficient strength of mind, born of
her religious fervor. to conceal her more
painful symptoms of disorder until her
period of abstine ce had o ded, when sud
den fainting spell rendered concealment no
longer possible.
To e sure, this is an extreme case, but
there are many Others doubtless occurring
in the practice of other physicians which,
though not so bad as this, are serious
enough to require medical treatment.
A MISTAKE ABOUT FISH.
have known several persons who have
eaten, during the forty days of Lent, no
other animal food than fish, their idea
being that it was particularly nutritious to
the brain, while in abstaining from flesh
food they obeyed the rules of their church.
Now it is altogether a mistake to suppose
that fish any more conduces to building up
the brain than does any other animal
proportion of phosphorus than does beef,
for instance, but it is by no means proven
than the brain or other parts of the nervous
system require any more phosphorus than
they can get out of any other animal mate
rial, or even out of oatmeal Besides, even
if fish, on account Of its phosphorus, were
particularly nutritious to the brain, it
would only be necessary for a person to eat
a little more beef when he thought his brain
was especially weak in order TO obtain the
required pabulum.
| believe that the prohibition against
meat during Lent does not extend to the
flesh Of any animal that comes out of the
water; thus sters crabs, Holsters, shrimps,
terrapin, frog, may be indulged in accord
ing to the bent of the abstaiuer or faster,
and yet the obligations of religion be COM
piled with. knew one orthodox membe
of the church who, being something OF a
gourmand, insisted upon it that canvas
back ducks were sea food, and who there
fore did not hesitate to make two or three
dinners off them every week during Lent.
Perhaps this was really carrying the matter
little too far, but the other edibles men
toned are fully capable of nouriShing the
body as perfectly as would beef, mutton or
any other beast of the field or the air.
If the young ladies who think it proper
to abstain fro n the flesh food that is usually
found on their tables would eat freely of
the food that comes out of the sea, am
quite sure that at the end of forty days of
Lent they would weigh fully as much as
when the season began. believe that eggs
and milk. though animal foods, are allow
able during Lent. 1t would scarcely be
possible to devise a more nutritious break
fast than one composed of gla,s of milk,
two eggs and slice of bread and butter,
and yet have known people who took such
breakfast every morning during Lent,
Imposing they were mortifving t1e fl ssh.