The Meeker herald., 1911-12-16
cuRIoSIT|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 It.
The Fruits Of the Burning Trepie,
snd the Fats q the Frozen Arctic.
Modern science has shown that MI
turs provides food for mankind with
marvellous care and foresight. The hn-
man system requires a certain amount
Of proteid daily to replace wornout
muscle and tissue. Fish aud meat sup
ply this in large quantities. In no,
climates. however. these spoil SO quick
~ that their use Is limited Nature.
as II to compensate for this. has given
to certain tropical fruits much larger
quantity OF proteid than northern fruits
contain. Thus government analysis
shows that ngs have 1--WE units or Gallo
ries to the ounce. dates two and five
tenths and bananas one and tive-tenths.
Apples have fve-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 lila
vIgor on a diet chiefly plucked from
trees. Henry NJ. Stanley and his white
companions subsisted almost entirely
On banana hour 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 proteid,
-Ar hot Of yu,hn
hour.
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 II.
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.
II nature has been thus kind In
adapting food to mans uses. she has
been equally 30 In adapting man to his
food. You may have wondered why
people can eat bread at every meal
without firing Of 1t. The difficulty of
eating one quail day for thirty days
Ia well known. Even such deiicacies as
asparagus and strawberries cause an
aversion when served too frequently.
Nature sends men never falling ap-
petite for cereals because they are alto
gether the most valuable OF foods.
Thor contain q considerable amount Of
prcteid, their salts are Of importance
to the organism, they are readily d.
gested when properly cooked. and they
furnish q 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 327 units. cabbage has 0.2, spin
ach Z. asparagus 6-5. apples 1874, straw
berries ia. spring chicken 1876 and
tenderloin Of beef brolled SO. II man
tried to get even half of bis nutrition
from the coarse vegetables. which have
q considerable indigestible residue, lie
would have to eat pounds of them
daily, and his stomach would be sadly
overburdened. Nature gives us the de-
sire for a varied diet. and science
shows that this is altogether the best
for ~.
In the arctic regions there is little
vegetation. Man must live almost
wholly on animal foods. Fish and
meat would not suffice, because they
contain only proteids. These would re-
place WORKOUT muscle and tissue, but
could not be burned In the body TO
generate heat and energy. Fats. bows
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. The po-
lar animals have fat In abundance. but
residents Of the temperate and torrid
zones can eat 1t only in limited guam
titles. To them the mere thought of
chewing chunks of grease is nause-
ating.
The children Of the frozen north
however, are endowed not only with
the ability to eat and to digest large
quantities of fat, but with a keen mp
petite for It. One who is sensitive to
such Impressions must turn away
when he sees the natives of southern
ALASKA, the Thlinkits. swallowing seal
oil Favored by salmon berries with the
gusto Of boy over ice cream. The
Eskimos. farther north. will eat blub
Der, slightly cooked In the flames. to
an indefinite number Of pounds.-New
York Tribune.
IL. 0h;.cA A4A.inad