The Dominion. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1907. THE DIET PROBLEM.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 21, 19 October 1907, Page 6

The Dominion. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1907. THE DIET PROBLEM.

-»— — ■ The interesting and possibly valuable, account which'we gave on Thursday of a Wanganui man's experiment in prolonged abstention from food will noi doubt set many people thinking anew upon the diet problem. Perhaps it will do little more, at the most, than convince people of the value of occasional fasting, and the butchers and bakers need not fear any wholesale public adoption of Mr. Clark s Spartan method of toning up his system. For medical men the record of that long fast has some interesting bearings upon the relation of the digestive processes to the nervous system, but we cannot hope that it will assist in the search for sane methods of eating. The great army of vegetarianism, through the enthusiastic recruits who fill up the gaps caused by the backsliders,, has made the diet problem a perennial subject - of controversy, and no long intervals elapse between the appearances,of those important books or manifestoes on diet which appeal so effectively to an age that is never satisfied unless it is given a scientific "reason wiry" for everything. Once there was no such thing as a diet prcblem: men ate what_ they chose, and were as healthy as their descendants of to-day, who cannot eat the simplest meal without thinking of the chemical effects of its ingredients. This curiosity and inquisitivencss is only one phase of the general intrusion of the scientific spirit into every sphere of life and'every section of society. It is useless to>itake a stand for the old simplicity, and, if diet is, to be treated seriously, we may as well make the best of it, and treat it sanely. .There has, as; a.matter of fact, been a recent revolution in scientific opinion upon diet. Until lately the great chemist Liebig was considered to have said the last word when he taught that muscular energy is .derived. from the assimilation of proteid foods, ; and .his teaching was not shaken even when Pick and Wislicenus ascended the Eaulhorn in 1865 on a diet that was free from nitrogen. '.'A few months ago, however, an American authority on diet, Dr. Russell H. Chittenden, published a book which capsized the proteid theory, and created a profound stir in scientific'-circles. Dr. Chittenden's conclusions were derived from long and careful experiment-on human subjects. He took a body of men from an army corps, and subjected them to a rigid dietetic discipline. Each rnaii was given plenty to eat, but the proportion of proteid was gradually reduced. According to Liebig's theory, the men should have lost weight and suffered in muscular tone and strength. But the actual results showed no decrease in weight, and an enormous increase in physical well-being, and the investigator summed up his conclusions thus: ''Animal foods, with their higher nitrogen values, must be greatly subordinate if the nitrogen or proteid assimilation is to be maintained at a level commensurate with true physiological requirements.'' Yet .Dr. Chittenden does not advocate rigid vegetarianism; he is content to leave the question at the establishment of the principle that a solid meat basis, is entirely unnecessary to the diet of anybody. There is comfort here for the meat-eater as well ,as for the .vegetarian, but neither Dr Chittenden's book, nor a- recent'" vegetarian" manifesto by Londoi doctors, has overcome the prejudices o: | the people who Resent, dictation in sc personal a matter as their food. Ii the London "Daily Express" a livelj controversy was proceeding when tin last English mail left, arising out o: the manifesto referred to, and the meat eaters were having the best of it. Oni day's correspondence, for instance consisted of " pro-meat" letters from i bunch of prominent people, .includinj Lord Avebury, Mrs. E. A. Steel, Mis Winifred Emery, Mr. John Ward M.P., Mr. D. J. Shabkleton, M.P. Mr. Walter Crane, and -Professo M'Hardy. The vegetarians and tin meat-eaters may safely be left to figh out the battle without interference, fo the real question to the ordinary mai should be, not "Should I give u] meat? " but " Should I eat less? " The scientific spirit which has bee; declared the distinguishing char acteristic of modern unrest is not likel; to disappear, but rather to become in tensified. It has, in the matter of food .already found expression in the Sta tutc Books of most civilised countrio in the shape of laws directed at th bacteriological processes which ou grandfathers never suspected—and, t say the truth, did not suffer from eve; so severely as their grandsons. In th most delightful of his books, Mr. 6. E Chesterton forecasted the movement c dietetic progress. Vegetarianism drov out meat-eating, but one day somebod discovered that plants were , livin things, and should therefore be sparec Obediently enough, the public gave u vegetable-eating and took to salt. A last a scientist arose and asked "Whf

las salt done? " That is not anything nore than a burlesque of the actual movement in progress at the present ime, and people will doubtless career hrough a cycle of dietetic systems'with>ut finding "the ideal diet. It is of far uore practical importance to consider vhother mere habit does not makepeo)le eat too much. The Wanganuiex)erimenter showed that a man can live, md improve his health, by a fourveeks' fast. He lost weight, but he lost lothing in energy or physical health. [s it not possible that what was suited ;o him is suitable also, .though perhaps n a more lenient application, to every ither healthy person whose pursuits ire sedentary, or which do not involve miscular labour? Vegetarians always ind their gieatest difficulty in the attempt to persuade infidels that a diet :an be sound which involves the denial hat animals have any raison 'd'etre. Che normal man recoils from a wanon contempt for .the good things;of sart-li., This difficulty does not percent itself in the task of persuading nan that he eats too much. The difficulty there is man's indolent reluctmce to change his habits, and as that s a smaller obstacle than the other, rhich is rooted in human reason, the [ietist of the future is the counsellor if moderation, and of a 50 per cent. :ut in the cost of living. ■{ ■,