WHERE THE FOOD FADDISTS GO WRONG

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 34, 9 February 1935, Page 25

WHERE THE FOOD FADDISTS GO WRONG

A repoit of an inquest on a naval officer who d;ecl of pneumonia and malnutrition recalls to mind several instances of a similar character, wuteb W. M. Gallichan in the "Daily Mail." Only "those who have studied the dietetic habits of a large number of persons are acquainted with tha frequency of faddism in feeding. I knew a fanatical vegetarian win de-lar«?d that he lived entirely upon raw wheat and apples. In the right-hand pocket of his coat he carried the loose grain, and in the left-hand the apples.' I was not.surprised when I heard of his death at the age of 35. Another man subsisted almost entirely upon boiled rice and salt for three months At the end of this period he died of influenza and starvation Many women at the piesent time practise slimming through adopting a starvation diet They aie anaemic and tembly under-nourished, and favour [able hosts foi any of the nullipns, of disease geims that they encounter daily Nearly, all food .cranks are neurotic. They can be easily peisuaded to abandon certain foods as "poisonous" There are people who teach that salt is "the forbidden fruit." A proportion of fruitarians try to live upon, fruit and nuts. They claim that the oil of nuts supplies the requisite amount of fat food. It is quite true that Brazil nuts and walnuts contain a nutritive oil, but the daily quantity of huts required would I

be for most persons a very severe tax upon the digestive organs:

The most nourishing fruits are dates, raisins, and; bananas; But no one can be protected .igainst disease and sufficiently nourished upon fruit alone.

In contrast to the strict vegetarians are the advocates of a high protein diet derived chiefly from meat.' These hearty meat-eaters are frequently as fanatical as the fruitarians.- Through an excessive consumption of meat they neglect to eat important vitamin foods, such as uncooked: lettuce and other green leaves, and they frequently, refuse all cooked vegetables except potatoes.

I have for many years experimented personally in diet. Experience has shown me that it is futile to lay down hard-and-fast genera} principles.

One rule is applicable to everyone. The diet should ;be mixed, and not restricted to one or two foods.'" The faddists go wrong because they try to live upon a dangerously restricted, diet. Every day we need for bodily repair and energy a certain proportion of the main essentials, protein, starcn, and fat

These can be supplied by dairy produce, and not necessarily by meat, by cereals, gaiden vegetables, and fruit. No food by itself can be described rightly as "the staff of life." A deficiency in one article of diet requires compensaton from another source of nourishment. Above all, we should avoid morbid preoccupaton with food fads as preached by persons who have never studied dietetic facts ,