Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-03-12
Gardiner. Me-. March ..
What to Eat and How to Eat It.

Editor Kennebec Journal.
1t is true-dieting is a joke! But til,
efficient nourishment of life in the body
is not a farce There must be some rea
underlying principles to human nutrt
ton The recent flood of advice an(
food fads is crying evidence of our need
and of our ignorance.
Now, it seems TO me that it is the duty
of every public writer to hold up tht
serious side of the situation rather thar
the farcical aspect We are learning !,
do this in the matter of drink, and COOS
authority declares that drink and drug
habits are founded on wrong nutrition
But as long as our doctors and our edi-
tors are chasing microbes and holding
bacilli to task for our own faults of ac'
ton and ignorances OF simple facts
there can not be much help from these
sources. And while the so called healthy
person win go on digging his grave with
his appetites and his germophepias. tbs
sick and ailing. in the ever-increasins
numbers that modern civilization pro-
duces. will 20 on experimenting with the
fads of the diet crank and the fancies
of dietary unwisdom ON the part OF
those who should be our guides.
l. he Sniutoil OF TIE Hldltcf - SlHtplH-
Eat for efficiency, not for palate-tickling,
That's pretty nearly the Whole story. y
person who obeys that law of Nature
will learn to smile an intelligent and
plying smile at fadism. one-sded medi-
cal advise. and newspaper diets. Prac-
tieally all the popular advice is of the
one-sided class. from Woods Hutchn-
sons encomiums of Pie to kcllogg's no
meat aealorie' plan, and from Allen 5
monodiet to Thomas '.stuifing cure.
But The healthy individual who is really
after efficiency will, as a matter OF
course. follow moderation. simplicity,
and "insaliyation." And the one who
Is below par physically will adjust his
diet to ms individual limitations, always
on the general principles of avoidance OF
foods and DETERMINATIONS which, for
any reason easily ferment or deeem-
pose, because he should Know that $3.50
of all disease is bred upon fermentation
and decay in some part of the alimentary
tfact,-good food which has been eaten
beyond the individual powers of diges-
ton.
The rational dietary will be eclectic
founded on the best modern research
yet not discarding age-long experience.
There win be no cut-and- dried formulae,
and yet certain definite principles must
serve as foundation. Today ii looks as
though the best dietary for the modern
man is one that aims at normal ease of
digestion and avoidance of fermentation.
AS to agreements among authorities,
most real authorities do agree that thor
oHgh nsaliyation is the prime essential,
Moreover it is generally becoming to be
understood that meats once a day are
enough and that we must materially
cut down our consumption of fine fiours
and sugars or perish as a race. Practi-
cally no authority finds fault with I'M
limited eating of fruits and vegetables
of the non-starchy kinds, and all higher
authorities are realizing the necessity of
so combining foods in the stomach as to
appreciably restore the conditions of d.
gestion that obtained before modern arts
of cookery We're invented to tempt the
palate beyond the powers of the rest of
the system to accommodate
A rational dietary is more to be desired
than all the germ-theories combined.
Test up to the above principles the next
advice that appears, and see whether il
may not be the long sought correct
method" And il that one falls short, try
another,
HENRY NJ BATES.
Gardiner, Me, March II.