p. 237 | Health and Temperance by Helen Campbell

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 9, 1885

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 15.

Health and Temperance.

By Helen Campbell

Food and Intemperance.

WHILE it is certain that a fair proportion of meat is likely to insure better health and strength than is likely to be the case where it is rejected entirely, it is equally certain, from the researches of modern science, that its office is more that of stimulant than of absolute nourishment. Precocious development in many ways is the direct result of any surplus; and in arranging the system of food for children, this is a point always to be considered and guarded. No meat whatever up to six or seven years old is a wise rule, the coming of the second teeth being the safest indication to follow; and after this not more than once a day, and in very small quantities. The first effect of meat on any stomach is a stimulating one; of a large amount, a greatly increased secretion of gastric juice, and a resultant sense of dryness in the stomach, which calls at once for drink. Water seldom satisfies. Strong tea or coffee may meet the need for a time; but, as a fact, profuse eating of meat seems to give birth to, and include the necessity for, some form of alcoholic drink. The meat eater in a high civilization craves and takes wine—almost a necessity in the elaborate dinners of many courses—in a lower one, whisky or gin takes its place.

Dr. T. D. Crothers, a scientific observer of causes and results, now secretary of the Woman's National Hospital, at Hartford, Conn., writes:—

"The question of physical aids to resolution is comparatively new, but I send you a few practical points. Foods should always be largely of grains and fruits, wheat in all forms, corn, rice, barley, beans, and oatmeal; soups of meats, vegetables, and grains, without condiments, except salt; cook as well as possible, beans and oatmeal are the most nourishing of foods."

Air must also come under the head of food, the lungs becoming diseased and digestion impossible where it is impure; and Dr. Crothers' testimony here is in the line of that from many other workers in inebriate homes:—

"A window open at night is absolutely essential. If a man gets up in the morning with his lungs choked and his stomach fevered by breathing over and over the same air all night, he will feel that a drink of liquor is the only thing that could possibly freshen him up."

Macaroni, beans, peas, and lentils, have proved especially valuable, and should be cooked in the most savory manner, using plenty of sweet oil or butter, as preferred. "The various garden vegetables are helpful, but a diet mainly composed of them would not resist alcoholic drinking so effectually as one of macaroni and farinaceous food. Highly glutinous bread is of great use from this point of view. It should never be sour, for sour bread has the tendency to encourage alcoholic drinking. Bread that is imperfectly fermented and liable to become sour is in very common use, and, in my opinion, greatly contributes to foster intemperance, as also the use of meat of the second or third quality. The use of salted food tends to promote intemperance, while regular hearty meals of fresh, wholesome, glutinous food tend to discourage it."

At a later point he writes: "If we inquire the cause of a vegetarian being disinclined to alcoholic liquors, we find that the carbonaceous starch contained in the macaroni, beans, or oleaginous aliment appears to render unnecessary, and consequently repulsive, carbon in an alcoholic form. Liebig says that 'alcohol and fat or oil mutually impede the secretion of each other through the skin and lungs.'"

Much the same ground is taken by Dr. Edward C. Mann, in an address before the American Association for the Care of Inebriates; and the general testimony from all who have had opportunity for large observation and experiment confirms these theories in full.

It must be remembered that every reformed man, or every man attempting reform, is shattered physically. Alcoholism is a disease in itself, and means, in nine cases out of ten, some disease also, in one organ or another, requiring medical treatment. And with this must come at once a change of habits as to food. How to accomplish this when the wife is as ignorant as the husband, who can tell? The first work of every temperance reformer should be to preach this necessity, and to preach it with such intense earnestness and conviction as to pierce the crust of stupidity, ignorance, and torpor incasing them all. Many can never be convinced, and here, as everywhere, any reform must begin with the children. Give them an industrial training. Let them learn how to make savory and relishable dishes from cheap material. Teach them cleanliness and order. Teach them the laws of life. Make them understand their own bodies, their uses, their sacredness. Nothing but knowledge can be any safeguard, and till that knowledge is insured to every child of the republic we cannot hold ourselves guiltless if they grow to criminal lives and dishonored deaths.—Helen Campbell, in Christian Union.