The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-05-28
DOES NAN NEED MEAT7
Use Of Uselessnsss Of Beef Diet a
Debatabls Question.

4 e@f@<O-sA-sHNS~ .
Debstabls Question.
The food question is one that has ap
pealed to mankind from the time goot
mother Eve tried her dangerous expert
ment with the forbidden apple. Her
was the first assertion of appetit,
which craved for that variety in die
which her numerous and equally ven
turesone descendants have strenuousI,
maintained is the real spice OF life
Ever since the primitive man ate what
he could get until the present, when his
civilized brother gets ali he can cal
and looks for new viands to conquer
the cultivated instinct of selection has
been an evolutionary and progressive
one, contributing to the general gayefy
OF nations. We have perhaps gone to
the extreme Of Indulgence, like spoiled
children, but the habit is little TOO
firmly seated IN the saddle to be blclses
uncerenoniousIy in midair by some new
and fanciful theory of jerking the curb
rein
The scientists tell US we consume too
much food, and they are right, SO far
as they go; but we listen and smile
and eat on, IN spite OF their chemical
formulate, their test tube methods and
their cumulative analyses of relative
food values, So, perhaps, it viii always
be. as long as man. the willful arbiter
of his own Glestfnies, insists upon living
to eat rather than eating to live.
The real trouble, however, with all
projected reforms in feeding has been
their lack of practical application to-
actual needs. There is apparently no
middle ground for the discussion of
general principles of compromise be-
tween the actual gourmand and the
earnest and abstemious crank Theories
are arbitrary on one side and facts are
equally stubborn on the other.
When the army squad had been fed
for weeks on the accurately estimated
food equivalent of certain approved
'viands, the victims craved an ordinary
in plain o1d-fashioned corn
beef and cabbage. The limit had been
reached, and simple nature made her
own cry in her own way 1t was ap-
petite against chemical experiment and j
healthy hunger against mathematical !
estimates of abstract nutrient forces.
These manifestations of natural crav-
ing are, after all, our real safeguards |
against the purely scientific methods /
such as have been applied to the poi /
son boarders" and the army squad .
We may interpret natural laws, but |
science, with all It's learning and skill, /
cannot alter them.
In the face of such a conviction we
ire now assured by high standing au-i
shority that meat is virtually useless
Tor any of. the nutrient purposes so long I
claimed for it. How much more our
bill of fare is to be trimmed to suit the I
newer notions of the day is somewhat
difficult to imagine.
Aside from the pure theory of theI
natter, we may in the end be forced
% believe that man was never made
or mixed diet, that his stomach and
intestinal apparatus arel
merely an accidental survival of use-
ess organs, of which the insignificant
ind troublesome appendix is the type.
Experience, however,, against which
here is never much of an argument,
must prove it's value against the mere
ogic of arbitrary rules. The hungry
nan with a juicy steak before him will
continue his hurtful habit of loading
lis stomach with unnecessary fodder in
'pite. of all theories to the contrary
His instructive need for just such nour-
shment as he takes will answer alt
ther questions. He will not care howl
much more he can lift, how much fasterI
se can run, or how much more fatigue
lie can endure, but viii simply satisfy
lis want for the time.
And, in spite OF crank notions to theI
is not this the proper and RAJ
ional way of solving the law of de-
nand and supply upon which our very
eing is based? The craving for certainI
sarieties of food is as constant as its
ratification is imperative. Each tissue
makes its>o own demands in its own way
nd signals appetite to select and nutri-
ion to apportion the multiple supplies
Or bone, muscle and blood.
Nutrition, energy and heat are mere
bstract terms in themselves, and thei,l
roper Interpretation can never be
afely intrusted to laboratory tests or
hemical formulate. Therefore let us
ot be In too great a hurry to adopt
ew views that are neither sound, ra-
lonal nor practical. In spite of the
lanifesto we are led to believe that
ne average man viii still take to his
eef whenever he needs it and can get
and, pray, why not?-New York
sera1d.