Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1905-06-03

Home Health
II Club /
~ By DAVID u. REEDER. Ph. D.. n. D.
La Porte, Ind.
~

have been asked number OF
times TO tell the Home Health Club
readers about raw foods. have hesi-
tated to do this for several reasons,
Health Club avoids, as far as possible.
any kind Of fad or fancy and tries to
keep to its regular work of helping
the sick and suffering by teaching the
natural laws of health.
The raw food idea has found many
disciples, and one young man has even
gone so far as to confine himself, like
certain king of which the Bible tells
us. to an exclusive diet of grass. Now
! like the idea of the simple life, but
this call silly. | recently heard of
tramp who wished to excite the sym
pathy of a farmers wife by appearing
almost famished. He ran into the
yard and began % eat ravenously or
the blue grass which grew there. The
wise little wife was equal 10 the oc-
casiOn and said: Poor man. come
around to the back door, the grass is
much better there. b"
There are men to he found In many
communities who would be benefited
by hcing turned out to grass" for a
few months. They are the kind that
weigh over 2j0 pounds and are usually
| found near saloon Their di" is
mostly meat and their drink is coffee
and beer.
While man is so constituted that it
Is possible for him to live upon raw
| food for a considerable length of time,
it is proven by thousands of years ex-
perience that the larger portion of his
food is better adapted TO his needs by
cooking. There are many articles of
good and wholesome food that cannot
be used for am length of time without
being cooked Moreover, there are
many dangerous diseases that are
avoided by cooking There are no
savage ia es known who do OF prac-
tca the arr of cooking to some extent.
All progress in th} scale OF develop
menc and civilization is always accom-
panied By development in tie art of
cooking
Nearly all fruits are both palatable
and easily digested in the raw state
| This is also true of nuts, but ii is not
| true of cereals, nor of roots and vege-
tables. Neither is it true Of meats
( nj l. nI
COOS ing that the dietary of humanity
is 80 greatly enlarged. because by
cooking there are many articles OF
wholesome, nutritious and palatable
food which in their raw state are not
only unpalatable but wholly ndigestl-
bic.
Generally speaking, all foods, ex-
ceptng fruits, having organized struc-
ture, require cooking. Some vegetables
are eaten raw by preference, such as
lettuce, celery, radish young onions,
etc, and but little, If any, advantage
is to be gained by cooking them. Raw
meat soon becomes wearisome, and il
eaten exclusively will even excite dis
gust Milk, eggs and some shelliish
are an exception to this rule.
The starches found in cereals are
very difficult to digest unless ground
very fine or cooked until changed into
dexterine and grape sugar by the heat.
Tho use of raw wheat may for a time
appear to be very beneficial, as the
organs of digestion are aroused into
greater activity and the mucous lining
of the intestines are irritated by the
hard, woody fiber Of the husks and in
thai way peristalic action is increased
and constipation is for the time re-
ievcd, but the continued use of these
irritating particles will either set up
an Inflammation in the intestines or
they will become toughcned and hab
ituated to it and the effect is no longer
beneficial.
Cooking develops certain fayors
especially in meats. Most food is al
tered and made softer and Is there
fore more easily masticated and mixed
ing, many varieties of parasites and
disease germs are destroyed and some
articles of food which might otherwise
be highly injurious are rendered not
only harmless but nutritious. The APP
pearance Of food and its ability to af
ford gustatory enjoyment is an impor
tant factor developed by cooking, and
while | advocate the plant Get Back
to Nature" yet believe that Nature
intended that man should so develop
his mental powers as to take adval
tage of all of the forces which she so
bountifully supplied, and by the use Of
fire in the preparation of his food,
comply with the laws of Nature and
live long and well