The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-07-31
ARE YOU SCARED
OF SOME FOODc

" y . = ' = - = = y = '
(New York WORLDLY
Do YOU hate garlic" Have You an
diversion for eggs" Do ang make
you sick? Don't CLAIMS agree with
with vouo
Forget it. You are suffering from
a mild and quite durable form of in
sanity. to which doctors have given the
name sitophobia.
DR.. George NJ. Niles. professor of
observation-disclosures and therapeutics in
the Atlanta School of Medicine, in an
article describes this phobia as "a di-
gestive phantom" and SAYS 1t is in
the same class as the fear of high
places. or of open places. or of closed
rooms-agoraphohia and claus tro-
Iphohia. as they have been called.
Il have in mind" writes DIR. Niles.
l"a neurotir travclins salesman. who is
morbidlv afraid of butter or of any
dish prepared from it. The sight of
butter on the table before him fills
his mind with fearful forchodings.
while much of the pocket money is
spent in tips to walters and cooks that
nothing nay he served to him con-
taining this evil agent.
AN eminent neurologist Of Nor Or
leans related to me the experience of
"a citizen of Louisiana. who developed
a phobia for garlic. a flavoring agent
of high repute in some sections of the
state. AS nearly all Of the savorN
French and Spanish dishes there con-
tain Il touch of this somewhat pung-
ent condiment. the patient, who lived
in a hotel. found his protein diet OK
tremelv restricted. One day, however.
I'm desperation, and at the earnest
solicitation of his physician, he par
took of a dish containing a little gar
lie. but he required his medical at
itendant to stay by his side for six
hours TO save him from the disastrous
consequences anticipated by his hnor
NAL imagination. Finding hat he
was not injured or ever distressed his
phohia Fortunately disappeared. and he
has since relished TIL" toothsome fla
lvor impaired by this bulb of ancient
use, the same that comforted the la
horers as they built the Pyramid of
the"ps. and for which the children of
Israel yearned on their dreamy jour
ney in quest of TIL" promised land"
Or. Niles goes on to explain the
processes of digestion in which Cer-
ltain of the fluids secreted by the stom-
ach and intestines are started flowing
by the sensations of eating. taste and
smell. Some foods. sue as meat juic-
es and soups, contain matter called
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES" which start the flow
of tha gastric juice that is necessary
to their digestion. Other foods, such
as bread and the white of eggs lack
the s~ecretagagues and must depend
for their digestion upon the psychic
|seCretions. so called because they are
produced by the general idea OF food
and eating.
There are secretions called hor-
nones. from a Greek word meaning
10 arouse or excite. which regulate
the quantity and quality of the diges-
tive juices according To the mechanic
|al and chemical needs. These needs"
says DR.. Niles. "are previously inter-
Ipreted by the psychic sensations
~IeTolved. So that il can readily be
seen how the menta impress OF the
food as it is eaten may regulate the
Esupplv and character of the necessary
Juices for its Digestion: how A placid
land cheerful frame of mind may aid
the riga concerned in the bodily up
keep. or how a distaste or antipathy
may. as il does. dry ur the fountains
for certain articles. converting them TO
all intents and purposes into foreign
bodies. Thus II is apparent that a vi
client dislike or fear amounting to a
phohia for any particular foods will.
Through the influence of these hor-
mones. exert a real and tangible in
hihitory effect on the special agencies
Required for their digestion, and that
TO force a fearful patient to eat them
might result in serious damage
Such phobias may generally be trac-
cd hack TO some definite initial cause.
as the following examples cited by DR..
Niles show.
"A gentleman Of intelligence relates
ITO me that when a lad on his fathers
farm there grew an apple tree right
at tn" stable. This tree bore immense
quantities of luscious red apples, but.
knowing the immediate cause of this
~bountiful fruitage. he could never eat
lany of the apples from that tree. nor
has ne to this day been able 10 eat
any june apples. The sight o. thought
LOT them sets up a strain Of disgusting
associations which would disturb his
whole digestive apparatus were he to
attempt TO partake of them.
Some Years ago a disciple Of Izaak
Walton hetook himself to the Flint
river. a Georgia tream, at a time
when it vas high from a recent fresh
ct. Finding a promising eddy. where
the swirling waters circled under an
overhaneing willow, he began fishing.
land, to his qualification. soon caught
an amazingly large number of line cat
fish. Two DAYS later he decided to
again seek that spot but when he ar
rived the fallen river disclosed the
putrid carcass Of a COW %entangled in
n debris collected by the eddy, and
he quickly understood his phenomenal
catch. From that day to this he has
never been able to eat catfish. nor
lean he enjoy a meal when any Of this
fish is on the table.
"A lady Of mature years Informed
me that. when a little girl, she was
Unfortunately fon of apple dumplings,
thinking she could never get enough.
On one occasion, however. the cook
made a special baking OF the coveted
d~elicacy, so as to permit this youth
full ~epicurean to have her fill. The re-
suit was a severe attack Of indiges-
Ition, leaving in its wake a phobia for
|apple dumplings that time has not
|erased.
"one Of the most fruitful causes of
the various si%tophobias in the half
baked writings OF self-appointed
health teachers, who with lurid philr
|ippics hurled at some Of our most
Wholesome articles Of food, couched as
they are in attractive language, and
lbolstered up by specious arguments,
create Injurious dietetic fads. I have
In mind M religious sect who con-
lstantly inveigh against meat. so that
some Of its members possess a real
I~sitophobia for this most economical
protein. Thus W. find the cults and
lisms, h schools Of new thought,
the vegetarians and fruitarians, and
others. who. with a cheerful ignorance,
favored with more zeal than discre-
|tion, are constantly sowing the seeds
of fear for the very classes Of food
most necessary for the well-being of
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