VEGETARINISM AND PHYSIQUE.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 20, Issue 68, 27 August 1909, Page 5

VEGETARINISM AND PHYSIQUE.

Physiological considerations have long disposed of the view that a purely vegetarian diet ministers best to the needs of the human *body ; and although objection has been raised against physiological reasoning on the ground that it was largenly theoretical, a good deal °* practical evidence has been forthcoming which has justified all speexample, that \)Jie individual who subsists upon an exclusively vegetable diet is far more susceptible to the attacks of disease than is the consumer of animal food. In short, as the * Lancet,’ from which we have quoted, points out, the former’s power of resistance to disease is decidedly weakened, for the reason that, after all, he is underfed. or in chemico-physiological terms, he fails to realise a sufficient intake, of protein substance which makes for bodily energy, not to mention intellectual capacity. Every day, as knowledge advances and powers to add to,that knowledge are increased, is the" view strengthened that vegetarianism is a fallacy. The vegetarian school has pointed with triumph in it.s own mind to the oriental peoples as examples of physical strength and endurance supported alone by a vegetarian diet.

These examples in the light of an exceedingly interesting practical inquiry on the subject can no longer servo the arguments of the vegetarian* advocate. We refer to a study of the problems of nutrition connected particularly with the well-being ami physique of the teeming natives of Bengal in relation to their diet, which consists principally .of rice, The invest igation was undertaken by Captain D, McCay, 1 IS., the professor ot physiology at the Medical College. Calcutta, and the results fully justify the conclusions arriveo at. Anyone, we are told, who has seen the ordinary Bengali coolie at work will not, require much statistical evidence to convince him of the marked superiority of the European ; men have often to be employed in jndia for work that women will do in plngland. Again, from an insurance pqint of view the life of the Bengali is very inferior to that of the European,

.In -spite of the fact that the Bengali exists on a protein metabolism, very close in amount to that stated by Chittenden to be sufficient, his powers of resistance to disease are* impoverished owing to an ,unreplenished condition of the blood accompanying a low protein (the albuminoid or nitrogenous principle ol meat) intake.- Nor is the function of the kidneys the better for a low protein intake, for kidney disease is more common among natives than among Europeans, while among the upper iniddle classes the extreme presence of glycosuria (diabetes mellil.us) would prove conclusively “ that the danger of an excess of carbohydrate (starch, as that found in grain foods) intake is even a more »real and present one than that of protein excess.” From this it would appear that the human machine in health is able to eliminate more completely the toxic (poison) products elaborated from a generous diet of protein than from a diet overstocked with carbohydrate.

At all events, in the latter case the resisting power of the tissues to disease is decidedly lowered, so that diabetes, pneumonia, toberculosis, spreading gangrene, and so forth are very prevalent amongst the Bengalis who subsist on a beggarly protein diet (protein is also found, but in less quantity in vegetables). It follows that vegetable food, unless consumed in large quantities, does not yield a sufficiency of protein, and therefore, in order to obtain this sufficiency, a quantity of carbohydrates has to be consumed simultaneously, which places a . strain upon the resources of the body ultimately leading to a reduced vitality, which is favourable to microbial (germ) invasion and its results —"Popular Science Siftings.”