Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1932-10-14
DIET DOWN TO R A TACKS

He is a health crank. He has made
a fortune publishing magazines
telling people how to stay strong.
He is known as the physical cul-
ture man. He has kept his own
fine physical condition into old age
and at the same time made a for
tune on his fad.
But his fad is now helping at
least a large number of people in
some of the large cities. He has es-
tablished restaurants where a man
can get a meal for one cent. He
claims that this is enough for a
man to subsist on and in order to
prove his case and vindicate his be-
liefs, he is helping a lot of people.
Many people who have fads do not
do so much with them. He come
forward with the demand that the
poor be fed in a way that will not
be wasteful-fed On a nutritious
diet, but one down to brass tacks
in the way of costs. Whole wheat
is his recommendation. His ideas
are at least very interesting. Here
is what he says:
The writer has been criticised for
recommending that the unemploy-
ed be asked to subsist wholly upon
hat most perfect of all foods
whole wheat.
"You are asking us to subsist
upon whole wheat alone. We will
wager you never tried that expert
ment YOURSELF say a number of
critics.
Well, the writer has lived on
wholewheat products for an extern
ded period and was satisfactorily
nourished in every way, and he has
known a number of people who
have had a similar experience. In
a recent experiment a number of
people lived on whole-wheat pro-
ducts and water for a month and
all of them were stronger and
healthier at the end of this test
than they were at the beginning.
Nearly everybody eats far be-
yond his needs, and the idea that
you have to have a variety of foods
at one meal is due to a tendency to
guide the selection of foods by
taste, which in many cases is made
abnormal by condiments and un-
wholesome combinations.
A great many so-called dietetie
experts become lost in a maze of
intricate theories. The food upon
which wild animals subsist is usu-
ally in the nature of a mono-diet-
that is, they eat only one food at a
time-and no M can question
their vital status.
At the Penny restaurants for the
unemployed that are being conduc-
ted in New York at the present
time whole cracked wheat is being
served for a penny a bowl, includ-
ing a small spoonful of brown SUI
gar. The average person could
easily subsist upon three bowls of
this nourishing food a day if such
drastic economy were required.
Where the unemployed are being
fed without including such cheap
vital foods it is wa~stefulness of a
criminal character.
When people are on the border
of starvation and money is used
upon devitalized fancy food in
stead of staple, dependable ele-
ments, for nourishment, such reck-
less waste should not be condoned.
When money that has been donat-
ed to help the unemployed is US
ed, every cent should be %prohtably
invested, and that mean the x
elusive use of cheap foods that are
rich in vital elements.
1t has been definitely proved by
innhmerable experiments that
whole wheat will nourish the
body completely. If ones diet is
to be controlled by a perverted
taste one may be able to afford it
with a full pocket-bool;, but it
will usually mean lowered vitality.
And it is a notable fact that the
most vital people of the world
subsist on the coarsest kind OF
cheap food.
As stated in a previous editorial,
a bushel of wheat will supply a
small family with all the necessary
nourishment for a month where
such drastic economy is necessary.
This grain can be served as crack
ed wheat and if required can be
ground in an ordinary corn mill.
If Aavoring in the form of sweet
fruit, honey, or brown sugar is
added the food is more palatable
and will be more readily consum-