Los Angeles herald., 1892-04-27
BEST FOOD FOR MEN.
WHAT SOME BRAIN WORKERS EAT
IN ORDER TO DO GOOD WORK.


Whether the old saying that q mans
heart is reached through his stomach is
or is not q true one, it is scientific fact
that the stomach is highway to the
brain. The exhilarating influence of
good dinner is sometimes shown in
brilliant impromptu speeches, without
doubt The cook is responsible for
many of the accidents, the failures and
successes of life. Not long ago a well
known lawyer i'll summing up case
acquitted himself so wretchedly that the
jury promptly brought in verdict
against his client. The lawyer after
ward acknowledged that hot mullins at
breakfast were responsible for his hav-
ing lost the case. They made him ir-
ritable apd insolent.
Curious to know upon what sort of
food men of note do their best work, l
recently interviewed some of the lights
of the medical profession, law, COM
merce, theology and society.
Genial DR.. George f. Shrady, Presi-
dent Grants stanch friend, declares
that he must vary his food in order to
develop and nourish, separately and col
lectively, the organs of his body
81 have an excellent digestion and can
take all kinds of food without feeling
any discomfort" said he, "but believe
that the brain is most nurtured by sleep
and rest. If we crafty our intellectual
tastes we are feeding the brain vastly
better than by any sort of material food,
and consequently obtain better results.
ga friend once had as a patient
young author, who had been recon-
mended to follow strict diet Of pump
kins. On this sort of fare he wrote a
novel. Well, the offspring Of pumpkins
roasted, boiled and stewed-is still
looking for publisher to launch it on
an unsuspecting public!
''No one kind Of food exclusively is
good for the ordinary man. To be
healthy, wealthy and wise,' as the old
maxim goes, study the likes and dislikes
of your stomach and regulate your diet
accordingly Gas do and all will go we'll"
Judge Roger A. Pryor laughed heart
lily when told that every briehess lawyer
in town was anxious to know whether
his spirited speeches might be attributed
to squad, lobster or partridge.
"Tell them from me-" said Judge
Pryor, "that l am extremely fond of
birds and dainties generally and that
lobster a la Newburg is toothsome dish
don't despise and that my brain works
best when I'm free from Indigestion
Tell these young men to follow the old
Roman maxim and secure for them
selves "a sound mind in sound body.
"Hot breads, salads, ices and sweets
form part of my daily menu, and as they
give my body strength l am able to do
my allotted share of mental labor. The
body must first be ministered to by food
and exercise, and then the mind will
soon be ripe for cultivation. The rea-
be nourished with the food it requires
logic, law, mathematics, poetry or art.
Upon the idiosyncracies and constitu-
tional peculiarities of each man depend
the kind of food he assimilates."
DR.. Ell. P. Loomis thinks men pay too
much attention to the specific uses of
certain foods.
"Look at the enormous sale of phos-
pilates and so called brain foods" said
he. "There is nothing in them. If in
stead of wondering whether this, that or
the other is good for him man would
simply follow the dictates of his own
appetite we would be much better off.
Nature places safeguard upon excess
BY creating the sensation of safety.
"When l have eaten some rich food
that causes me some annoyance take a
horseback ride or other pleasant exercise
and rid myself of tho i'll feeling, and in
the future avetd, that Welsh rarebit or
venison that caused the trouble. Rest
is really the best tonic for the brain. In
two words would give this prescription
for happiness-'Avoid worry"
A prominent member Of Sorosis,
really brainy woman, declares that the
amount of food people require or think
they require is largely a matter of
habit. Said she: "It is possible to train
the stomach to do with very little OF to
make its requirements border on the
margin of gluttony. When the hunger
is satisfied, brain achievements depend
upon heredity and environment, and to
them must be attributed all success or
failure. The gardener who only cares
for the blossom of his plant instead of
directing his efforts to the root, will
have but sorry fruit as reward. Let
mankind look to their physical perfec-
tion, and the mental and moral are sure
to follow"
The Rev. DR.. Henry Van Dyke, the
author and clergyman, believes the
brain to be touchingly appreciative of
all kindness shown to the stomach, and
sullen and unmanageable when the lat
ter is oppressed. At the same time al
lowance must be made for individual
tastes.
"My food," he said, "must be taken
at regular intervals and be largely Of
tthe farinaceous kind, while yours, pos
sibay, may be taken when and as you
chose. A single sandwich Of caviar
would incapacitate me for several hours.
So, say, be kind to the machinery Of
the body. After all, the best diet for
the brain is constant variety in the
quality and quantity Of our intellectual
food"
There seems to be no particular edible
which holds a magic power over the
realm of thought but by selecting food
with a view to digestibility. In indi-
yidual cases the body is aided in per-
forming its various functions, and the
brain, with its other organs. is thus en-