Part 24

DINNER

About four tablespoonfuls of boiled wheat; also one of bran

A baked potato

One fresh vegetable

Drink copiously of water at all meals.

Just before retiring, eat half a pound of grapes, when in season.

After the first or second day this bill of fare may be increased in quantity, and heavier fruits added, such as pears, prunes, and very ripe bananas. After the fourth or fifth day, a salad and a few of the lighter vegetables, such as onions, romaine or cabbage, celery, carrots, or other fibrous vegetables may be included.

After the first week the diet should be composed of fresh vegetables, coarse cereals, eggs, bananas, nuts, salads, and wheat bran.

Those who are emaciated should drink an abundance of water immediately on rising and at meals. They should also take a sufficient quantity of plain wheat bran, or grapes if in season (Concord preferred), eating skins, seeds, and pulp, in order to keep the bowels in normal condition.

In cases of extreme emaciation, loss of appetite, or fermentation, the patient should, for a time, adopt a diet of milk and eggs, alternating as follows:

The first, second, and third days, drink from two and a half to four quarts of milk, in small quantities--one glass at a time. For the next three days, reduce the quantity of milk, and begin taking six eggs a day, increasing the number, until twelve eggs are taken. Alternate between the milk and the eggs, for a month or more, unless the patient responds in weight in a shorter time. When there is a perceptible gain in weight, and normal hunger has been restored, reduce the milk and the eggs, and add the solid foods already suggested.

In cases of Emaciation:

OMIT EAT

Acid fruits Bananas Coffee Cheese Condiments Coarse cereals Tea Eggs Tobacco Fruits Wines and liquors Dates, figs, raisins Milk Sweet milk or buttermilk Nuts Vegetables, such as-- Beets Lettuce Cabbage Parsnips Carrots Potatoes Celery Spinach Cauliflower Turnips Green beans Green peas

The proteid and the carbohydrate foods should predominate in the diet.

OBESITY OR OVERWEIGHT

It is generally supposed that obesity is a natural result of modern civilization. This theory has no foundation in fact or physiology. Man can be genuinely modern without being obese. The law that governs the growth and graceful symmetry of the human body is based upon dietetics, and the indispensable adjuncts of diet are exercise, oxidation and elimination. A body that is filled with vitality by a perfectly balanced diet will experience the same appetite for motion or exercise that it does for food or drink. Exercise forces more blood to the lungs, and more thorough oxidation is the result. The properly fed young animal, whether brute or human, plays and exercises involuntarily, and the older animal, adequately nourished without being overfed, does not lose its youthful instincts. An observance of the above laws will prevent the accumulation of an excess of fatty tissue.

The following table gives the normal weight of natural healthy adults according to height, also the weights considered thin and obese:

-----------+-------------------+------------------- | MALES | FEMALES -----------+-------------------+------------------- Height | Weight | Weight -----------+-----+------+------+-----+------+------ Feet Inches| Thin| Fat |Normal| Thin| Fat |Normal -----------+-----+-----+-------+-----+------+------ 5-- -- | 95 | 126 | 110 | 93 | 122 | 111 5-- 1 | 98 | 132 | 115 | 94 | 128 | 116 5-- 2 | 100 | 138 | 120 | 96 | 134 | 118 5-- 3 | 106 | 144 | 125 | 102 | 140 | 121 5-- 4 | 110 | 149 | 130 | 105 | 145 | 126 5-- 5 | 114 | 155 | 135 | 109 | 151 | 131 5-- 6 | 116 | 158 | 138 | 112 | 154 | 134 5-- 7 | 118 | 161 | 140 | 114 | 157 | 136 5-- 8 | 121 | 164 | 143 | 117 | 160 | 140 5-- 9 | 126 | 173 | 150 | 123 | 169 | 145 5-- 10 | 131 | 178 | 155 | 126 | 173 | 150 5-- 11 | 133 | 184 | 160 | 128 | 179 | 155 6-- -- | 136 | 190 | 165 | 131 | 185 | 160 6-- 1 | 140 | 192 | 170 | 135 | 187 | 165 6-- 2 | 148 | 201 | 175 | 143 | 196 | 170 6-- 3 | 152 | 207 | 180 | 147 | 200 | 175 -----------+-----+------+------+-----+------+------

OBESITY--THE CAUSE

A very exhausting treatise could be written upon the cause of obesity, but, summing it all up briefly, corpulency is invariably induced through a direct or indirect violation of the laws of nutrition, as exemplified in their wonderful processes of transforming material called food into pulsating life.

A combination of commissions and omissions generally conspire to produce the obese body. They may be mentioned in the order of their importance:

1 Overingestion of fat-producing foods

2 Omission of the proper amount of motion or exercise

3 Imperfect oxidation (breathing)

4 The overconsumption of fluids

In every case of obesity, one or more of these causes are present. If one is blessed with good digestion and good assimilation, or, in other words, if all the nutriment taken into the body is absorbed into the tissues, then the quantity must be regulated by one's work or labor, otherwise any excess of fat-producing food is stored up by provident Nature, contemplating future use; and if it is not used, by actual work, the result is a gradual accumulation of fatty tissue. Again, if a quantity of food commensurate only with the requirements of mental labor be consumed, and only ordinary body-activity indulged in, there is likely to be a gradual decrease in weight, because a considerable percentage of energy is consumed by the mere carrying on of the vital processes.

The worst form of obesity, however, is that caused by overconsumption of fermented wines or malted liquors. This form of enlarged tissue contributes no strength whatever to its own support. It is as much of a dead weight as a hod of mortar, and much more useless; in fact, all forms of obesity are not only useless weight, but dangerous to life. The obese body is much more liable to contagious and infectious dis-eases, and when once affected, less able to defend itself than the normal body.