Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1909-07-01
CUR|OS|T|ES OF DIET,
How Nature Adapts Food to Man
and Man to Food.
GREAT VALUE OF CEREALS,
Why People Can Eat Bread at Every
Meal Without Getting Tired Of Il.
The Fruits Of the Burning Tropics
and the Fats of tho Frozen Arctic.

Modern science has shown that ma
ture provides food for mankind with
marvellous care and foresight. The bu.
man system requires certain amount
of proteld daily to replace WORKOUT
muscle and tissue. Fish ard meat sup.
ply this In large quantities. In hot
climates, however, these spoil 50 quick
" that their use is limited Nature.
as il to compensate for this. has given
to certain tropical fruits a much larger
quantity of proteid than northern fruits
contain. Thus government analysis
shows that figs have Ave units or Gallo
ries to the ounce dates two and five
tenths and bananas one and five-tenths.
Apples have five-tenths, peaches nine
tenths and pears seven-tenths. Prob
ably the figs and dates tested had lost
part of their moisture, and some allow
ance should be made for this.
The Arab can. therefore maintain his
vlgor on diet chiefly pluckcd from
trees. Henry NJ. Stanley and his white
companions subsisted almost entirely
on banana -four for two years In the
African jungle. Their freedom from
disease was In part attributed to the
wholesomeness of this diet. The dried
banana contains 20 per cent of proted.
about double that of ordinary wheat
-four.
At the opening Of the mango season
In Jamaica many of the natives prac-
tically live on this fruit for two or
three weeks They fairly revel In it.
An Englishman who was familiar with
the science of diet could not under
stand how they could not only main
tain their health on this fare, but
actually grow sleek and fat. He knew
that an effort to live on the fruits of
his native country would result In
weakness. sickness and eventual death.
Chemical analysis showed, however,
that the mango contained enough pro-
teid to supply the bodily needs.
If nature has been thus kind in
adapting food to mans uses, she has
been equally so in adapting man TO his
food You may have wondered why
people can eat bread at every meal
without firing of It, The difficulty of
eating one quail day for thirty days
IS well known. Even such deIicacies az
asparagus and strawberries cause an
aversion when served too frequently.
Nature sends men Il never failing APP
petite for cereals because they are alto
gether the most ,'aluable of foods.
They contain considerable amount Of
proteid their salts are of Importance
to the organism, they are readily di-
gested when properly cooked, and they
furnish a great deal of nourishment in
small bulk
Thus wheat -four, cornmeal, oatmeal
dry and rice dry have more than
100 units TO the ounce. Baked potatoes
have 32.7 units, cabbage has o., spin
ach Z, aspara gus 60, apples 1874, straw
berries Ill. spring chicken 1913 and
tenderloln Of beef broiled 80. If a man
tried 10 get even half of his nutrition
from the coarse vegetables, which have
a considerable indigestible residue, he
would have to eat pounds of them
daily, and his stomach would be sadly
overburdened. Nature gives us the de-
sire for varied diet. and science
shows that this is altogether the best
for US.
In the arctic regions there is little
vegetation. Man must live almost
wholly ON animal foods Fish ana
meat would not suffice, because they
coutain only protocols These would re-
place wornout muscle and tissue, but
could not be burned in the body to
generate heat and energy Fats. how
ever, consist Of carbon and hydrogen.
which are the chief components OF the
foods of vegetable origin and supply
the fuel needed by the body. Tho po-
lar animals have fat Ia abundance, but
residents Of The temperate and torrid
zones con eat & only n limited guam
titles. To them the mere thought OF
chewing chunks Of grease Is nause
atlng.
The children Of the frozen north.
however, are endowed not only with
the ability to eat ana TO digest large
quantities of fat but with a keen nj
petite for it. one who H. sensitive to|
such Impressions must turn away
when he secs the natives Of southern
Alaska, the ThlinGits, swallowing seal
oil Favored by salmon berries with theI
gusto Of boy over ice cream Ihe|
Eskimos, farther north will ear blub
Der. slightly cooked In The DANES, col
an indefinite number OF pounds.-NeW
York Tribune