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Show jp Eat What Intelligent Regard r kT for Body's Needs I Oil Want thc Proper Guide iu ini:s cRiciiTON.nitowNn. m. ., i.l. n.. f. r. s. Fmmmms TIIK lust century it wan redundancy in nutrition Unit wis in Miotic, mid it was feeding up that wan on nil hands rccom- mended, but now it is frugality in nutrition that is in the RJSvSJ ascTidnnt and a nparo diet that is insisted on. An dtliis is no fflMw mere fashionable crotehet or jiopulnr croze. Physiologists and KgWfer inedical men of high authority arc preaching not merely sini-JTaS9U sini-JTaS9U phcily of diet, hut a degree of alnlcmiou3nc33 tliat would fK e5) hitherto have been regarded as dangerous. Sonic of thorn gjj. tell us roundly thot inlcniperanec in eating has become universal univer-sal in civilied races, and that wc aro all habitually consuming just double the amount of food wo require, nnd others who do not go to this extreme aro still inclined to believe that as regards certain kinds of food we have accustomed ourselves to more than is good for us, nnd might beneficially restrict our indulgence in them. The trend is unquestionably I toward reduced dietary. I Tho enmpnign against overfeeding is nil very well, hut wo need not substitute underfeeding for it, or rashly accept thc new and startling standards that are prescribed for us. Tlint there is a vast aiiiountof overfeeding over-feeding in most civilized countries is unquestionable. With us extreme obesity is not perhaps as common as it was ftl) years ago, before thc I'ant- ing em. There is a general recognition of its incoim'iiiences nnd risks. Precautions arc taken against it nnd cures of many kinds and of varying efficacy are reported to. Acute overfeeding, as it is called, does not require -consideration. People rarely die of surfeit, in theso days, and death attributed to that cauFe is generally due to interference- by u distended stomach with tho action of an enfeebled heart ; but chronic overfeeding or thu habitual indigestion in-digestion of nn excessive amount of nutriment is one of thc burning questions ques-tions of the hour, and has assumed an entirely new aspect in recent years. Overfeeding no longer means overfeeding in the old sense, of something in excess of the necoplcd physiological standard, for an entirely new and much lowered physiological standard has been presented to U3 according to which it would seem, as I luive said, that the whole population of all civilized countries, with the exception of n few individuals who have found Balvntion, is addicted to overfeeding, ami is thereby incurring divers pains and penalties. It is not on prior physiological data not yet on laboratory experimentselucidative experi-mentselucidative nnd educational though these may be that the eci-enco eci-enco of dietetics is based, but on common observation and on tho hereditary customs nnd habits of mankind. The lower animals select with unerring precision, so long ns they are in n natural environment, from tho materials around thorn thoso best fitted to their wants, and they do this by instinc-tivo instinc-tivo discernment inherited from a long lino of naturally selected ancestors, while- they arc checked in the consumption by n senso of repletion of co-oval co-oval origin. Wc unhesitatingly infer that tht; articles they choose arc, of all nutrient material accessible to them, thoso best adapted to tho special needs of their economy, and that their consumption of them is proportioned propor-tioned to their needs for tho time being. But man is, ns regards hisjtyjdily functions, subject to tho same laws as thoso which govern thc lower animals, ani-mals, and wo cannot doubt that in tho formation of his dietetic habits ho has been guided by tho samo kind of influences which have been operative opera-tive throughout tho unimal creation in thu choice nnd consumption of food. |
