Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-07-05
FLOOD
How Much Happiness De-
ponds on Proper Eating.
A TW0-MEAL REGIME
A VARIETY OF DISHES AT ONE
TIME rs BAD.
Unwise Combinations Ruin Tasta -
Digestion and Must Be Care
fully Avoided.
Copyright, 1902, by Eustis Miles,

selecteu, tHey SnOulo De as fresh as pos
sible and as clean as possible, and they
should be cooked with their natural prop
critics preserved. We must keep that which
is usually thrown away, and we shall need
few, if any, seasonings.
Besides this, we get the full taste and
have not the same craving for variety, We
do not demand half dozen flavors in a
single dish, especially if we eat our food
carefully.
When we combine a number of foods the
chances are that at least two of them will
quarrel That Is the objection to great
variety at a single meal. AS yet we have
not studied variety. Certainly no such
study displays it's results at big dinners
The last which l had-siX years ago-cost
l think seven dollars for myself alone
Quite apart from the irritating condiments
and Venomous waste products, 1 wonder of
how many irreconcilable combinations of
food l was the victim.
the Hindus know the art of preparing
and cooking food. With them the cook is
kind of priest, and why not? AS the
clergyman Is supposed to prepare food for
our minds, so the cook actually PREPARES
food for our bodies. The Hindu, as a rule
Will not combine fruits and vegetables at
single meal, even though that meal may
be banquet of many courses He will
think out what foods should or should not
go one with another. Does any hostess
ever do this in America? 1t would be In
terestlng to give a series of dinner parties
paSed on scientific principles of food COM
blnatfons and food values and see how
much more the guests enjoyed it. Taste
would be considered even more carefully
than 1t is now, but health for the first time
would be considered also. ss
Choosing Ones Food.
1t Is easy to say that each individual
should choose his own food. We talk about
freedom. In practice we are slaves. 1t is
almost useless to urge persons who live in
families to be a law to themselves
But, fortunately, we can say something
practical. Discard whatever is indgestible
10 you. Except on very rare occasions. let
hothing induce you to take that which will
cause you discomfort 1t Is not worth
While. No one has right to make Won III.
not even your own family day after day
with the very kindliest intentions Get free
from that yoke. You can get free from IT
II only you show that you are healthier
ana more agreeable Cor less disagreeable)
without errors of diet. Realize this: When
your devoted family says to Won ..You
must take so-and-so or you will die" YOU
nave only one answer that will appeal to
theIn and that is, Il am In better health
ana IN better temper living in my own
way. To that there is no repartee worth
listening to. Directly they begin to ask
you to be unhealthy physically for their
sake, they might as well ask you to
time we realized that man has no more
right to poison himself that way than he
has to poison himself any other way.
One hint here: The food should not he
served in it's orthodox order Let the nro-
ted come early in the meal; Just at the
end or the meal 1t is a bad mistake If the
foods be wet let dry foods be<eaten at in
tervals. In German nature cure estab-
lishments of the best type this rule is in
sisted on. In English households it is con-
sidered "ungenteer' to deviate from the
regular mode Of procedure. How utterly
stupid we are to sacrifice vitality to silly
custom
The Dry Food System.
Whereas that which is watery NAV. as
1T were, flush the body as food will wash
away filth, dry dietary may absorb OBJ
1ect1onable poisons, and at the same time
nourish the system well. The dry diet has
effected innumerable cures; it must be
eaten slowly-that Is a physical necessity
No one can drink a hard biscuit, though
some people may practically drink a plate
full Of porridge or an orange
There is the story of woman who went
to a nature cure establishment in Germany.
She was taken out early on her first morn
ing there. AT the end of a long walk to
the woods she felt tired and hungry. All
that was offered to her was a piece Of
brown bread, dry and hard She refused
1t, and refused also to walk a step further.
The doctor who had ACCOMPANIED her told
her that she might stay there This, Of
course, she did not care to do, and she be-
gan to walk back and soon asked for the
bread again, and ate 1t with comparative
gusto. For long while she was confined
to this dry bread regime, with plenty of
exercise and cool water and soon she re-
covered complete health and refused to go
back to her old way of living. With suffi-
Client hunger the dry foods became de-
sirable and desired.
They need not eat solely Of bread, though
dry bread biscuit or something free
from moisture should be added to wet foods
that we take; for otherwise we do not eX-
cite our saliva, and thus we do not digest
our starch properly. The saliva also will
help to fill the stomach and satisfy the
sense of hunger. The food should be as
nourishing as possible, and should not mere
ly be white flour Whole wheat biscuits are
far better.
Such course should help to absorb what
the old writers called the evil humors Of
the body"
The less severe course Is to reduce the
number of foods which we eat.
The Few Foods Plan.
The few foods plan is not to be con-
fused with moderation, though the two may
be combined. Much food may be eaten, but
the kinds of food are few The advantage
of such a mode is that sthe juices of the |
body get into certain habit: they act reg
ularly at certain times; in many cases they
occur in increased Quantities.
Besides this, if we eat few foods the ap-
petite is satisfied more sensibly; there is
less craving for excess Let meal be
provided in which there are fifteen deli |
ciously tasting dishes, and how many have
the strength of mind or lthe knowledge or
whatever it may be to refuse most Of them?
But take an extreme case; consider a state
dinner. Then imagine yourself trying to eat
the same amount of food If IL consisted of
two kinds only, 1t would be impossible. You
would be disguised long before you had fin
ished a quarter of the meal. 1t is the va
riety which encourages you to overeat.
A high authority has said that when only
one good food be taken at a single meal
that food hardly can disagree, If there be
real hunger
Health may be preserved or restored by
many different classes of few foods; al
most any class can produce examples of