Proper Diet for Man

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Jul 11, 1878

Proper Diet for Man.

OBJECTIONS TO THE USE OF ANIMAL FOOD.

ONE of the greatest objections to animal food is the fact that in partaking of it a person is in constant danger of unwittingly taking into his system the germs of some foul, perhaps fatal, disease. He knows not but the animal whose flesh he is eating was upon the very verge of dissolution when killed and brought to market. And we are well aware that our domestic animals, and indeed wild ones also, are subject to diseases of various kinds, just as are human beings. The cattle plague, hog cholera, measly pork, trichinosis, epizootic diseases, etc., are familiar names to all. Many a poor sufferer has been obliged to lead a life of wretchedness and misery as the result of diseases of a scrofulous character contracted by eating the flesh of animals affected with those diseases.

Only a few years ago, at the great cattle show in England, a large number of cattle were suddenly seized with violent symptoms of disease. In order to avoid pecuniary loss, their owners killed them, and sold their diseased carcasses for food, an occurrence which is by no means infrequent. Even at the time of this writing quite a number of individuals in various sections of the country are dying the most horrible of deaths as the result of eating pork infested with trichinæ. This disease has occurred frequently within the last few years, and is liable to break out in any locality at any moment, thus placing in imminent peril the lives of all who allow themselves to partake of the flesh of hogs, no matter how infrequently.

The animals which are slaughtered and eaten in cities are in most instances previously confined for some time in close stalls, breathing again and again the putrid emanations from their own excretions, thus becoming totally unfit to be used as food. So frightfully detrimental to health is such a course that a rat, even when constantly supplied with fresh air to breathe, will die in a short time if confined in its own exhalations. We might describe at length the horrible condition in which animals are often received and slaughtered at the slaughter-houses of our cities; but doubtless it is unnecessary, as all are familiar with the facts which have so often been made public.

The process of fattening is itself one of disease, since it is occasioned by obstruction of the various excretory organs of the body, so that the broken-down, diseased, and worn-out material of the body cannot be carried out of the system, and so accumulates. Indeed, fat, in such cases, is but another name for diseased matter.

An animal apparently in perfect health may still be full of disease, resulting from derangement of some internal organ. A well-known and reliable butcher of this place recently remarked that not one in ten of the livers of slaughtered animals was in a condition of health. The Jews are very careful to take every possible precaution to avoid contamination by disease from animals. They carefully examine all of the internal organs of the slaughtered animals, and if any evidence of disease is found, none of the flesh is considered fit to be eaten by them.

But even though the animals killed may be in the best condition possible in regard to health, there is still abundant reason for serious objection. In every animal, even when in perfect health, there is a constant breaking down or decomposition of the tissues. The products of this action are termed debris or effete matters. They are the ashes of the tissues, and are among the most virulent poisons known. The quantity of this matter in the body may be estimated by the well-received fact that decomposition of tissues goes on more rapidly during life than after death. Were it not for the incessant action of the various depurating organs, these poisonous products would quickly accumulate in such quantities as to cause immediate death. It is for this reason that death occurs so quickly from suffocation or drowning, the action of those great excretory organs, the lungs, being suspended.

These matters are principally contained in the veins of the body, and it is owing to their presence that blood so quickly becomes putrescent when taken from the body. When an animal is killed, only the arterial blood is removed, which is comparatively pure while the dark, impure venous blood remains in the flesh. This is what gives it its red color. By continued washing, this poisonous blood may be removed, and the flesh will then appear nearly white in color. If all flesh food were prepared in this way, it would be comparatively harmless. Few would be willing to eat it, however, as, in removing the poisonous blood, it has been almost entirely deprived of its savory and stimulating qualities.

The Jews were commanded not to eat the blood of animals, and in obedience to this command, they use great care to remove the blood from all flesh which they use as food. Before cooking, it is placed in salt water for a few hours, by which means the blood is almost wholly removed.

Again, meat is almost always allowed to reach a certain stage of putrefaction before it is considered fit to be eaten. This is thought necessary to render it tender. Especially is this the case in England, where meat is never considered good until it becomes tainted. It is no uncommon thing for butchers to cut from a piece of meat the decayed exterior and send the remainder to their customers.