The Common Sense Diet by A. B. Olsen

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 27, 1913

The Common Sense Diet

By A. B. Olsen

A. B. OLSEN, M. D., D. P. H.

The modern man uniformly abuses his stomach. He eats and drinks as appetite dictates, paying little or no attention to the laws of nutrition or the requirements of the living machine which he controls. It is true, as Walker tells us, that “anybody can dine, but few know how to dine so as to insure the greatest quantity of health and enjoyment.”

The Orthodox Diet

The diet that prevails almost universally in our country, as well as in some other civilized lands, includes both animal flesh and plant foods, and is usually spoken of as a mixed diet. Animal foods, whether flesh, fowl, or fish, are usually taken once, twice, or even three times a day. There is no doubt that people readily become fond of the savory flavors of flesh foods in much the same way that they become addicted to such habit-drugs as coffee or tea, and greatly miss the beefsteak, mutton chop, or bacon when it has been dispensed with. Owing to the constant presence of various poisonous waste matters, the flesh of animals when eaten, however tasty and appetizing it may be to the perverted appetite, produces a distinct stimulating and narcotizing effect, which is anything but wholesome and beneficial. There is a great deal of ignorance with regard to the supposed preeminent value of animal foods, and, as a consequence, many think it quite impossible to get a square meal without including one or more varieties of flesh. But why eat the flesh of dead animals?

The Scientific Ideal (I)

It is usually claimed for flesh foods that they are more readily utilized by the body than similar elements obtained from the vegetable kingdom. Some recent experiments upon dogs would seem to confirm this belief. Dogs were fed upon various diets, and it was found that those animals had developed and thriven best which were fed not on a diet of beef or mutton, but on the flesh of other dogs. It appears that dog flesh is more readily digested and assimilated by dogs than other flesh-meats, because its physical structure and chemical composition are identical with those of the animal consuming it. From this fact of similarity of composition and from the results of the above experiment, they conclude that the diet of dead dog flesh is more easily and speedily changed into living dog flesh. If this contention is true, then the ideal diet for man is healthy human flesh, and the savage cannibal of Africa or the farmyard hog that eats her young, are the best dietitians.

Semicannibal Diet

Of course these scientists do not advocate man-eating, but they do claim that animal flesh furnishes a better supply of tissue food, that is, protein, than can be obtained from the vegetable kingdom. They reason that animal flesh is more readily and also more perfectly and more completely digested, assimilated, and converted into human tissue than is the flesh of plants. Many scientists and doctors go so far as to contend that although a few, a small minority, might be able for a time to subsist reasonably well on a non-flesh diet, the vast majority, indeed the great bulk of our population, require a mixed diet.

While from the scientific standpoint there is a modicum of truth in this contention about the advantage of animal flesh, we contend that the associated disadvantages of the flesh diet, with which we shall deal in our next article, more than neutralize this small apparent advantage;

and we also contend that the eating of dead animals is but one small step removed from out-and-out cannibalism. A flesh eater is in reality a semicannibal; for the structure and chemical composition of the flesh of a sheep, for example, is almost identical with that of human flesh; and when placed under the microscope, it would be difficult and oftentimes impossible to differentiate the one from the other.

The Source of Our Food

All men recognize that the vegetable kingdom is the final and ultimate source of the food of all animals, including man. It is in the plants and their fruit that we find food material in its cleanest and purest state. And there is no doubt that plant foods contain all the elements, including sugar, starch, oil, and proteins, and all the various salts, required for the building and nourishment of the human body. There can be no question with regard to carbonaceous foods, such as sugar, starch, and oils; so the crux of the problem rests with the nitrogenous element, that is, the protein or albumen, which is the chief and by far the most important ingredient of animal flesh; but we have already shown by various tables that this important food element is found equally abundant, and in some cases more abundant, in nuts and pulses, and it is never entirely absent from any plant foods.

The Fruitarian Diet

The strict fruitarian diet would naturally consist of fruits and nuts only, which many might regard as a limited diet, and more or less difficult to obtain, as well as expensive. There seems to be no reason why a person in average health ought not to be able to obtain the necessary nutrition, and also maintain sound health, strength, and vitality on a diet of nuts and fruits, for they contain all the elements required for the sustenance of the human body. There seems good reason to believe that such was the original diet of man, and it is certainly quite in harmony with his physical development and anatomical structure. There are those who follow the strict fruitarian diet very closely, and with most excellent results.

When we add to the fruits and nuts the numerous cereals, pulses, vegetables, and greens of almost endless description, we have a much larger variety to select from. Although pleasant and wholesome salads can be prepared from a number of greens and vegetables, still, most of these additional foods require cooking in order to make them wholly digestible. By careful selection and combination, on such a diet it is possible to obtain wholesome and palatable, as well as nutritious, food for the small cost of eight to ten cents a day, and there are those who have been able to maintain both health and strength perfectly on a slightly less expensive diet. We are therefore entitled to claim that the liberal fruitarian diet, including grains and vegetables, is the most economical diet obtainable.

The Milk-Vegetarian Diet

What is sometimes called the milk- or lac-vegetarian diet is one that includes all the dairy products, such as milk, cream, butter, cheese, and eggs. Milk and eggs are both animal products, and in many ways partake of the character of animal flesh itself. When they are obtained pure and clean from healthy animals, it is only fair to say that they do not possess all the disadvantages of flesh, fowl, and fish; and most people who adopt food reform find it an advantage to use these animal products moderately. That they are essential to the maintenance of the health of the average man and woman is very doubtful, but that they add both nutrition and pleasing flavors to the diet must be granted. Eggs are generally rightly regarded as ‘bilious’ foods, and many can take them only very sparingly. Pure milk from a healthy animal is preferable to eggs, although it is prone to undergo fermentation and produce acidity and flatulence.

Table Worries

After adopting the natural diet of pure, wholesome, and nourishing food, after making the food digestible by proper cooking, and after giving the food thorough mastication, the next step is to forget all about the meal. Many food reformers are liable to make the fatal mistake of analyzing the food they eat, and worrying about nearly every mouthful they swallow. Will this suit? Will that cause trouble? Is this the right combination? Am I eating enough? These, and a thousand and one other questions are rapidly passing through their minds, and it is small wonder that they are conscious of a stomach, and perhaps also of a liver, most of their waking hours. In most cases it would be both safer and better to eat an ordinary diet, chewing the food well, and then think no more of it, than to set up a state of worry about each meal, and anticipate what effect it is going to have upon the digestive organs. The counsel of the apostle to ‘let your moderation be known unto all men,’ applies most emphatically to our daily food. It is a safe rule in most cases to arise from the table with an appetite, for there is little doubt that the majority of persons are more inclined to eat too much than too little.