WAR UPON THE FLESH

Taranaki Daily News, 5 December 1930, Page 13

WAR UPON THE FLESH

THE VOGUE OF DIETING A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE. ’ HUMOURS OF THE CRAZE, ■Seeing that it is a natural thing to eat and, in health, eat heartily, it is an unnatural thing to fast or diet to the extent of eschewing those things the appetite demands. But this is what thousands of people are doing to-day. Some of the efforts may lack scientific sanction —an amateur diet may be badly ‘ proportioned —but the power to control instincts and tastes must be regarded as a virtue and evidence of the rise of man. The aim is not always better health. especially among women, the incentive is, personal pride and the object to fit clothing built upon the •'slim vogue.' -SOmetinies, and more than .women are concerned, the incentive has a commercial basis.; One reads of stern dieting being practised by male actors iiiS Hollywood,!- One of them received a bopus of £lOOO from his directors for reducing- a given amount because a slim waist in a hero has a‘ monetary value in the shadow-show industry. NEVER A GALLANT LOVER. The idea of the film manufacturers and merchants appears to be that no, one laves a fat man—not on the screen, at all events —and that the only role in which an expanded figure has any value is one of comedy,in which excessive avoirdupois heightens the humour. They even go so far as to say that the effect of continually making ' fat men take ridiculous roles in films has caused people to feel a contempt for them.in everyday life. There is nothing Hollywood will not claim for the power of the films. However, a fat man cannot be a hero, because a hero must make love and attract it, and a fat ■ man does not qualify. All this aside, the fact remains that dieting for, one reason or another is a craze. An Auckland, doctor, says the New Zealand Herald, once said 25 per cent, of the people who consult doctors Grave nothing wrong with them. Doubtless this statement still holds good, hut part of the 25 per cent, as well as the 75 per-cent, would 'be just as satisfied to diet as formerly they would have been with a prescription for a bottle of pink liquid. Much of the dieting is done without medical advice, and seeing that authorities agree that most people eat several times more food than they need, probably no great harm will be done and possibly some good. ‘THE BRAVE' BRITISH BREAKFAST.’ There is not the slightest doubt, however, that British people are gradually losing their old faith in large and heavy meals. Not long ago A.P.H. had verses in Punch extolling the “brave British breakfast of bacon and eggs” and pouring contempt upon coffee and rolls of ' the Continent, but he sjngs to a lessen- ; . ing following. Change has come gradually.. It is not entirely due to science arid •’the manner in which home-science people ‘talk about calories. Here is a menu granted Iby Henry VIII. to Lady Lucy,'one.of the maids of honour in,his court:— Breakfast.— A. chine of beef, a loaf and a gallon of a'le. Lunch. —Bread and a gallon of ale. Dinner.—-A piece'of boiled beef, a slice

of 'roast .meat and a gallon of ale.■ . Supper; —Porridge, mutton, a loaf and a gallon of ale. History does not record whether Lady Lucy had anyone to help her with this food, hut it is quite certain she would have, turned a cold eye upon a nibble .of toast and a spoonful of salad as a lunch. An Aucklander mentions that he dropped- potatoes and . sugar from his diet on account of rheumatic pains in his knees and that in addition to losing the -pains, he also lost eight pounds in 14 days. As an afterthought he mentioned that he had also cut out butter and ah occasional pint of ale, which he read is the most fattening of all foods, and that he also had .. practised with some regularity physicalexercises chiefly arranged for the control of the most prominent part of. a -fat man. Unfortunately he became an enthusiast for reducing. (‘Why reduce?” said a tail* lean friend to him. “To be like you,” said he. “Bless my soul,” said the lean man, “I’ve been trying all my life to get fat.” “Ah,” said the other, “but think how well you can wear, clothes how lightsome must 'be your step.” Perhaps some personal vanity is. at work.

WHEN HE BECOMES A PEST. The worst of dieting people' is that they become a pest at home. They must not have fried fish because a- certain amount of fat gets into the 'flesh. They must not eat root vegetable. There must be no oil or cream in a salad dressing. There must be no sugar in the fruit —as if rhubarb could be- countenanced without sugar. They desire wholemeal scones instead of bread and toast at unseemly hours. The enthusiast who probably is 'becoming a crank and is so pleased with

the new folds in his waistcoat that he imagines that he is resembling an Adonis, being unaware that his double chin is now an unsightly 'bag of hanging skin, a flabby, unbeautiful thing, quotes specimen meals from authorities who, as a matter of fact, are really ing folk who have been in the habit of eating five course meals. This, for instance, “sole au vin blanc, fillet of beef with horse radish, French beans, grilled tomatoes and stewed plums,” or “prawns (curried), roast . partridge, green salad, and compote of fruit.” Another pleasant-sounding meal is “boiled fresh haddock and anchovy sauce, roast grouse, spinach puree) pineapple . and lettuce salad and stuffed ’ tomatoes on toast.” He lays down the law that after'a night’s rest no one needs breakfast, but compromises to the extent of a couple of poached eggs and toast. Worst of all he wants everyone else to know about the affair arid to try it. Drive him into a corner and make hjm own up and he will admit that he-feels no lighter in his step after he has lost 141 b. He knows perfectly well that that light feeling comes not through dieting, but through pxereise. But he, does not want to be crossexamined. He imagines that his role gives him licence to' direct'the rnterria! economy of his kind and he declares from the depths of scientific ignorance' that “if 1290 calories are supplied each, day in food and the remaining' SOO calories are borrowed from the consumption of stored-up fats in the body, the resultant loss of weight will be nearly one pound a day.”

However, for those who wish to reduce painlessly without inconvenience to others, there is the cheering news that the omission of potatoes, sugar, butter and ale from one man’s daily ration, combined with some Swedish jerks morning and night, resulted in a loss of 81b. in 14 days—though the loss was only 6Jlb. on the 16th,day. j. Someone else recently complained about the weighing machines.