The Daily News. MONDAY, MAY 26, 1911. SHATTERING AN IDOL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 1, 26 June 1911, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, MAY 26, 1911. SHATTERING AN IDOL.

At no time in history has the problem of bread been so fully discussed as of late. White bread, wo have been told, is the cause of the practically new disease of appendicitis. It produces unhealthy fat, indigestion, omits most of the chemicals required for building up the bones, teeth, hair and nerves, and ig responsible for much of the palor and anaemic condition so prevalent since its introduction, some thirty or forty years ago. But in a recent number of the London Magazine, there is given quit# another view of the bread problem, and one which is rather startling. It ia written by Mr. Leslie Willson, one of the most advanced of modern dietists. His theory that wheat was the Forbidden Fruit, of the Bible is novel, and is ingeniously worked out after much historical research. The writer states his belief that all forms of disease, however varied, have a common origin" in errors of diet, quoting the authority of Herodotus in support of the antiquity of the theory. About the middle of lasi century, Mr. Rowbotham, a surgeon of Stockport, formed the opinion thai wheaten bread, cereals and pulses were the cause of illness, and published a I treatise in which he propounded his theory. . His objection to them was based on the quantity of earthy; matter which he believed thorn to contain and introduce into the body. ITe considered that such deposits in the body were a cause of disease, premature old age and death. There is a process of consolidation which goes on in the hitman body from childhood to old age. The body of an old person is characterised by a great rigidity, and the large amount of calcareous earthy matter which enters into its composition. Knowing that all the solids of the body are built up from the blood, and that the blood itself is renewed from the chyle, and the chyle from the chyme, and the chyme from the food and drink, he was able to trace to its origin the earthy matter which he had found in the joints and tissues. The accumulations were greatest in those people who fed chiefly upon wheaten bread, cereals and pulses. Bread, the commonest of these foods, was the main source of deposits. He called it "The Staff of Death." He found minor causes for the accumulations in hard drinking water, salt and some of the vegetables. He pointed out that the skins of old people are encrusted with a plaster-like . substance which can sometimes be rubbed off them in the form of dust. It . is part of the ossification and decay ot the body which proceeds as life advances and ends in death. This symptom, Mr. " Willson says, develops earlier in great bread eaters than in others. Rowbotham also maintained that the hardening oi the arteries, which is another symptom f of old age, is caused by the deposit in ' tliem of mineral substances, such as : exist in grain foods. This hardening > is postponed in those who eat little, oi such foods. He made the further interesting discovery that the pains of ma ternity from which women suffer, nrf mostly avoidable. He saw that no othei , creature, except the human being, i: afflicted in this way. Remembering thai the other animals live on a natural in stead of an artificial diet, he was led to suspect that the farinaceous food; were also the cause of this suffering The experiments he made to ascertair if his suspicions were well founded, serv ed only to confirm them, and he endec by announcing that those women whe were not eaters of the starchy foods, ol which the principal one is wheat, di(i not "bring forth their children in sorrow.' The next notable attack on bread, as n food for man, was made about twenty years ago by Dr. Emmet Densmoro, a Xew Lork practitioner and a formo-i vegetarian. Knowing nothing of Mr Rowbotham's pamphlet, but as a result of his own observation, lie came to the conclusion that the cereals and pulses are the principal cause of all diseases, on account of their excess of starch. lie pointed out that in the process of digestion, starch is converted into grape sugar, passing intermediately through the stages of dextrine and glucose. He regarded this as a long and nerve-wast-ing process, and stated that all such digestive strain could he avoided by the substitution of sweet fruits for the bread and other starchy foods. These fruits contain glucose and grape-sugar in a 1 natural form, and are readily digested. Acting upon his theory he treated n number of different diseases in a uniform way, with the result thath many illnesses which are commonly supposed to have no origin in a wrong diet were qiirod bv the simple means of proper ' food, fresh air. exercise and bathing. He wrote so clearly and forcibly upon his subject, that he impressed a great t number of people, and the fruitarian I movement which he initiated still con- ' tiaues - ... 3--

"THE STAFF OP LIFE." The reputation of bread as being the "StalT of Life" lias never quite recovered from his vigorous assault up- t on it. Since his time, criticism of the starchy foods has never ceased. The late Dr. Lahmann of Dresden also thought that they were the principal cause of disease. 110 ivas influenced by reasons distinct from those of his predecessors. He objected to wheat and all farinaceous foods mainly on aocount of their excess of potash and phosphoric acid and their deficiency* of lim« and soda, -which are necessary to the pr«per: 1 composition of the blood. It w®s his opinion that the blood becomes disorder|ed mainly by their use. To this condition he traced the whole of the uric acid diseases, including gout, rheumatism, heart disease and apoplexy, as well as tuberculosis, nerve diseases, diabetes, and the sufferings of women in childbirth. His practice confirmed his theory in every particular. He made many cures of illnesses which would yield to no other treatment. He allowed his patient to .take very little bread. It will be noted that the objections of these modern dietitians have been taken against the same group of foods which the Egyptians and. the Ethiopian of Herodotus thought to be the cause of illness, and do not conflict with the views of those Mahommcdans who bo. Jieve the Forbidden Fruit to have been wheat. The writer continues:—

"An idea so ancient and so persistent was sure to have some truth in it, a»4 modern investigation has shown some of the facts which underlie it. The grains and pukes as foods for man are the source of most of the diseases which afflict him. In their hardoned form, ae mature seeds, they could not be his natural food, for Nature did not presuppose the mill. The first nian, with all his leisure, would not have eaten them willingly. None of them may be the fruit which tempted him to his Fall, but thev seem to be Ilia punishment, producing "in him effects that are reminiscent of the primal curse. The primary I causes of ill-health have been made J clear. The foods are responsible, and) mainly wheat. The over-consumption of | wheat in its familiar forms of bread, cakes, puddings and pastry, is the commonest cause of disease. It furnishes the system with most of that morbid matter which is the basis of all illness. It may develop different maladies in different people, according to their various predispositions, or accidental infection. Gout, gastritis, liver disorders, eczema, obesity, dyspepsia, sciatica, consumption, influenza, hemorrhoids, nerve and kidney diseases, adenoids, rheumatic. fever, appendicitis and colds may all arise from this common cause. The list might be extended indefinitely. Any patient observer of the dietetic habits of invalids will soon be able to extend it for himself. It will not be found difficult to connect the result with the cause. Many temperate and careful people who do not think themselves to be ill, are aware of not being positively well. They are often despondent, irritable or discontented, without any apparent reason. Their spirits are greatly affected by changes in the weather, varying with the barometer. They may form the opinion that they are suffering from mental overstrain. Such people get little enjoyment out of life. It will generally be found that they have a preference for bread and other farinaceous foods, and are indulging their liking to the exclusion of the more easily digestible fruits arid vegetables. . The slow process of digesting the starchy foods causes their meals to overlap. It is their stomachs and not their brains that arc being overworked, for their digestions are never at rest except for a short period during the night. Other common results of the over-consumption of bread and farinaceous foods are mental stagnation and laziness. The digestive strain in this case has produced a kind of sleeping sickness. The business careers of many young men have been ruined by this cause, and continue daily to be, Their latent disease renders them incapable of work, and they may go to swell the ranks of the unemployed. | ; An increase in 'the number of invalids I of this type is disastrous for a nation.' It is important that the origin of their malady should be understood in England. The terrible infant mortality noticeable, in the civilised nations which depend greatly upon cereal foods has no parallel in eountries where these foods are little used. Errors in the diet of the mother or the baby are generally responsible. The same cause which inflicts suffering upon the mother in childbirth may also iilduse prenatal disease in the child. The criticisms which food reformers have directed against wheat and cereals generally, have been concentrated recently upon white bread, and very properly so. Whatever is to be said in favor of wheat as a food, applies to the whole wheat and not to a part of it. It is now well known that such valuable salts as the grain possesses nre mostly contained in the husk and the germ. When these arc removed, as in the preparation of white flour, the rest is not merely valueless, but injurious, but lead to over-eating. The appetite continues to demand them until enough of the deficient .salts is eon-

sumed. Everybody who lias tried the substitution of wholemeal for white bread will have noticed that lie cannot eat so much of the former as of the latter. White bread is a constipating food, and to its use wo may trace much of the general need for aperient medicines. Bread is not 'the 'staff of life,' but one of the secondary foods which has been given a position of importance in our diet to which it is not entitled. Nobody ought to take very much of it, and maily invalids are better-with none at all."

This, then, is the indictment against bread, the mainstay 'of our existence. The case is a strong one, but that it will diminish the consumption of the "staff of life" is unlikely. Conceive a meal without articles made from flour —the thought is most terrifying! One thing, however, is clear, and that is in the present system of milling the most nutritious portions are wasted, and that, the new standard kid down in England by medical experts, as a result of the campaign against white bread, could be copied with advantage in this country. According to that standard, the bread should conta-in at least SO per cent, of the entire wheat berry, including the germ and semolina, which by the present system ate wasted.