The Washington herald., 1915-01-11
WHAT WE EAT WE ARE.
BY ORIsON SWEET MARDEN.


Author of Pushing to the Front Etc.
Tell me what thy food is and will
tell thee what thou art"
Your ability, your accomplishment, your
position in life, your happiness, are man.
ufactured out of your blood. What your
brain, what your ability, what your ef-
ficiency will be depends largely upon the
quality of the blood, and this in turn de-
pends upon the quality of the material
the blood is made of-the food. First
class blood cannot be made out OF second
class food. nor can first-class ability be
made out of poor blood.
One reason why so many naturally
strong men do such poor, ineffective.
weak work is because Of their ignorance
of the brain and its needs and of the laws
of eating. digesting, exercising, and rec
reation. They try to force good work
out of mental faculties which are ex-
hauted from lack of proper and sufficient
nourishment-
Multitudes in this country are filling
very ordinary positions and doing very
ordinary work because they are not prop
erI nourished and do not know what kind
of food they require to produce their
maximum Of results.
Most of us go through life victims Of
our ignorance. We are not half developed
We are unable to utilize much of our
ability, because we have not been taught
the laws OF health or trained in their
practice.
Inasmuch as we are largely products Of
what We eat, We cannot afford not to
take pains with that which recreates our
very life, that which makes the quality
of our brain, the quantity and quality Of
our energy, the quality Of our courage.
Science is beginning to discover that
thinking is not confined to the brain
alone. There is more or less intelligence
in all Of the cells of the body, which are
so intimately tied together, their affinity
so interviewer, that man is a thinking
machine, and thinks all over. Each of the
billions of cells in his body Is affected
by every thought that passes through his
brain. for his intelligence Is a product OF
the action OF the entire system, especially
the nervous system; and the condition Of
the whole nervous system is governed by
the quantity and quality Of the blood
with which Il is supplied.
In view Of these facts, isn't II strange
that shrewd. long-headed business men
who figure everything down to the
minutest fraction, in order to increase
their own and their employees efficiency
in the production and handling of mer-
chandise, should think so little about the
quality Of the food which Is to generate
their own force, in our brain power which
Is to run their entire establishments?
What would you think Of a shipbuilder
who should build the finest ship that was
ever made and equip 1t with the best
engines that were ever produced, and
plan everything for speed and safety, and
then try to economic by using poor.
cheap coal in making a speed test across
the ocean? In reality, this Is just about
what many business men do.
How often we see them ON the street.
both business and professional men, in
middle life and later. who have developed
paresis. or some other mental affiiction.
When they ought to be In the very prime
Of life, they go about dragging their feet
along, walking with an unsteady gait, be-
cause theig brain has lost Its co-ordtnat-
ing power through oyerWork. overstiInu-
lation, overstrain in their mad race for