THE VALUE OF DIETETICS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21473, 22 April 1933, Page 7 (Supplement)

THE VALUE OF DIETETICS

THE ROOT OF ALL ILLS A famous Swiss doctor, who has a wonderful clinic at Zurich, where worldrenowned cures are effected, went to England recently and lectured on diet. Aft€>r 35 years of intensive research and practical experiment. Dr. Bircher Benner has learnt and proved that faulty diet it at the root of all disease. He has also discovered that almost all diseases will respond to correct diet. Instead of working in terms of vitamins, calories, " balance," or any of the more recognised methods of planning a diet, Dr. Bircher-Benner bases his dietary prescriptions on the amount of light stored up in food. Just as we have recently learnt to value the sun ray's externally, so this brilliant Swiss specialist recommends us to take sunshine foods internally, believing that the nutriment of foods is gained according to their value as light accumulators. RAW FOODS Seekers after health, particularly the sick, should take the bulk of their nourishment from fresh plant organs and their products, e.g., nuts, oil, honey, milk from properly nourished mammals, and possibly fresh eggs from rightly-fed hem?. Class two contains wholemeal cereals and bread. Conservatively cooked vegetable food, cooked milk, dairy produce, and cooked eggs. Class three contains all kinds of meat dishes, canned food, preserves, white flour products, and refined sugar. The cures which have been effected by putting sick persons on a properly constituted and scientifically arranged diet, culled solely from the first group, have been the talk of Europe to such an extent that a tiny shilling book, in which some of prescribed recipes appear, has been translated into numerous European languages, and adopted semi-officially. by. the Governments of various lands. FOOD VALUES It is the duty of every woman to care for her bocly and to develop it to its most perfect form and condition, says New Health. To do this she must feed herself correctly. Not only in the bearing of children, but in their rearing and teaching, is a sound dietetic knowledge of inestimable value to a mother. Secondly, in her capacity as a wife, has a woman unlimited scope for the useful application of dietetics. Many wives appear to exercise greater discrimination in ithe feeding of their domestic animals than of their husbands, theii' families and themselves. A knowledge of dietetics enables a wife to buy, prepare and serve her family with well-balanced meals, in such a way that the outlay of money and time is reduced to a minimum. Thirdly, for all those thousands of women who have posts of various descriptions, a knowledge of food values is of great benefit. Such women, especially those who cater for themselves, have little time to plan and prel>aro meals, and, therefore, if they know how to servo a sensible meal quickly they are able to keep themselves, and often others, in pond health.

WRONG FEEDING AND EYESIGHT Dietetic errors can, undoubtedly, bo responsible for varied eye disorders, says a correspondent. Malnutrition or underfeeding of the young frequently results in defective eye development and increases the likelihood of , eye disease. In adults the dire consequences of dietetic disturbances, including, of course, vitamin deficiencies, are directly operative in tho causation of such diseases as cataract, iritis and optic nerve lesions. Furthermore, the eyes may be the first organs to show evidence of such general constitutional disturbances.