Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1908-12-10


aud liver are relatively much larger
and the intcstines much shorter than
I'm man. The we'll known tests OF on.
durance recently made at Yale uni
ycrsity proved that nonfesh eaters
had much greater sustaining power
In all the great walking contests in
Germany and America the winners
have been abstaincrs from flesh meat
The best sources Of albumcn. aside
from meat, are nuts, beans eggs and
whole wheat or graham bread.
But the character of the albumen is
important. Albumen coagulates at
temperature Of 100 F., and is then
assimilated with difficulty It Is for
this reason, partly that the egg is
found to be more nutritious uncooked
than cooked. And 1t is for this reason,
chiefly, that such apparently wonderful
results have been obtained from the
use of raw cereal foods despite the
indigestibility of raw cereal starch.
Understanding, then, that the essen.
tial element of food is albumcn, in its
natural state, the question arises:
What is its best and most economical
source? Considering economic con
ditiOns, which exclude the pecan, wal
nut, ana other expensive nuts, the
answer is: The peanut, which fur
nishes an abundant supply VI easily
assimilable albumen together with fat,
which vies in nutritive value with
olive oil. This, with a small amount
Of graham bread, gives the ideal pro.
toid and fat ration The state Of
Texas alone can furnish the staple
food of our people. The rapidly in.
creasins consumption of the peanut
with the corresponding rise in price
should induce the planting Of a still
larger crop the coming season. The
incoming crop is the largest ever pro
duced in this country.
Not less than so per cent of the
solid part of our food should be that
which supports combustion. maintain
ing heat and muscular energy This
is taken as fat or oil, starch or sugar.
certain percentage of fat is neces-
sary for the best nutrition. If it be
true, as many careful students of diet
believe, that nuts and fruits are the
most natural food of man, this per
centage of fat should be large. Animal
fats, even milk fat when separated,
are assimilated with difficulty and
they, particularly lard, are open to 9th
er objections. The consumption of
olive oil has increased rapidly during
the past few years. 1t is not general
ly known that peanut fat, as in the un-
ut in -,
which fatty acid has not been de-
veloped by excessive dry roasting, is
equal, if not superior, in nutritiye quail
tiles to olive oil, being assimilated
with wonderful facility, as the ex-
treme degree of its solubility in water
would Indicate
There are serious objections to
cereal starch as the major element of
food, which it now Is in the dietary of
the American people. The potato, es-
pecially if baked, is much to be pre-
ferred TO fine white bread. Rice is
far superior to the ordinary cereals as
a source of carbon, as the example of
the Japanese would indicate.
Sugars are the most easily assimilat-
I fruit sugar should be substituted for
large part of our cereal food cane
sugar being inferior. And the best
sources of fruit sugar are the ripe
banana (almost unknown in this coun-
try) figs, dates and prunes.
Fruits are better eaten separately
from other foods. Nuts and meat
digest in the stomach, chiefly, requir-
ing about three hours there; fruits
digest in about one hour, in the in
testine chiefly. There Is as much OBJ
| lection to mixing them as there is to
eating and drinking at the same mo-
ment.
Now without here considering fur
ther the requirements of an ideal diet
| does 1t not seem evident that we have
| already knowledge of facts that
would enable us to make wonderful
| gain in good feeling and efficiency by
| improving the nutritive supply and
p, saving large part of the vital energy
| daily wasted in digesting and eliminat-
ing improper and unnecessary food, If
! not for the average person who is
slow to realize the benefit to be OBJ
tanned, at least for the athlete who can
| quickly demonstrate a gain in efficien-
cy by right diet, for the invalid who
needs to conserve his vitality and for
| the aged whose stock is low (but who
| has alas, lost to a great degree the
! power of adaptation)? Hundreds of
! inyaids who have gradually changed
| their diet have found new life. Many
who have had only the desire for
| greater efficiency and immunity from
! disease have made the change. 4
well-knOwn merchant of Aurora, H.,
for example, who has for nearly year
followed an exclusive Diet of juicy