The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-05-20

able. most nutritious and easily digested
food as we have of the conditions as to
time, place and circumstances necessary
to partaking of our food BEAUTIFULLY and
enjoyably Iu-cooked, Unsolicited and has
thy disposed of, the food Of the average
busy American is usually chosen and par
taken of in such manner as to invite the
diseases which spring from mal-nutrition
and mal-assimiIation
1t Is common faHacy, INDUCED In per-
haps to no greater extent by US than the
rest of the world, that flesh meat Is
necessary part of any Giet which is ex-
pected to furnish the necessary aliment
for the nutriment of physical strength
and health. 1t is supposed to be more
Strengthening food than any other in
common use To the man who does hard
physical toll it is looked upon as essen
tial to his sustainment, just as alcohol
was. until recent years regarded as neces-
sary to human 7sustainment in cases Of
exposure or continued physical toll.
So utterly fallacfous is this view of the
value of flesh meat as an article of diet
essential to physical and mental vtgor
that all well-informed persons now recog-
nize the truth that it is not even to be
placed in the category of Strengthening
foods, but is, as a matter of fact, very
weak food, and that, in proportion to its
bulk, it imparts very little true energy
1t is not even natural food for the hu-
animal His natural food consists
really, according to Cuvier and other Of
the highest authorities, of fruit, roots
and the esculent parts OF vegetables.
The simplest food is, of course. the
best There is no need to take the risk
of absorbing into the system, through the
consumption of flesh meat. the diseases
to which the animal whose meat is thus
eaten may have been subject at the time
of its death. With the system of cold
storage preservation of food in such gem
eraI use, there is the further risk In flesh
eating of consuming food which possesses
no nutritive value whatever. since animal
food rapidly deteriorates after death. In
deed, a man trying to live on meats kept
a long time in cold storage is bound to
die of starvation
What Americans need above all 9TH
er considerations in this direction IS to
learn the value OF simple foods. The most
elaborate dinner made up of soups, diff
ferent kinds of flesh meat, every variety
of vegetables, fish, and the other items
which one may see on every menu card
which Is at all, elaborate, is usually the
tious. A meal composed Of such simple
articles as peas and beans, or either of
these, fresh fruits and nuts, contains more
of the essentiais elements to health and
DEMONSTRATING food than any other. Peas,
beans and 1entils contain the largest pro-
portion of the sustaining elements Of
food. They are easily digested, and, when
partaken Of In connection with fruit and
nuts, represent the ideal food. "A pound
of prime beef contains far less nutritious
food properties than a, pound of nuts, or,
indeed, pound of any other Of the chief
constituents of human food
1t may be regarded as in the nature of
q fad that nuts are coming into general
vogue as an article of food. But it is a
fad which. VIII bring blessings to those
who pursue itsaINoty until most of the
current notions Regarding what is NOT
healthful and nouristfng. food are dissi-
pated can webe healthful people, or can
we expect to see the evils begotten Of
over7feeding, rapid eating and the other
uncivfIized practices which prevail with
us at the table put an end to-, and the
American people become thoroughly pre-
pared to bear the fatigues of mind and
body which are incident to their exhaust
Ing modes of life. s.