Flesh

Flesh, by which I here mean the red meat, or muscular tissue, of beef, mutton, and pork - the white meat of poultry and game - and the red and white meat of fish - provides the muscle-builder almost alone, with its insufficient proportion of minerals. Man, therefore, could not live a normal life upon meat without additional food, nor is his organism constructed to deal with it. Apart from this fact, the quantity of flesh which he would be compelled to consume to exist at all would be so large and so expensive that he would ultimately fail in his task.

The foods of the vegetable kingdom furnish all the materials which are required for nutrition - muscle-builders, heat and energy producers, fat and oil, and the minerals in abundance - these being of the highest importance, although they are consumed in quantities which are very minute.

The Protein In Vegetables

The Protein In Vegetables is assumed to be less well absorbed by the blood than the protein of flesh, and to provide us with a less concentrated muscle-building diet. It is also assumed that as this form of protein exists in such small quantities, except in the pulses, man is compelled to eat a greater bulk of food in order to obtain ail he requires. Lastly, the meat-eater insists that the quantity of this muscle-builder which man does require is much greater than the vegetable-eater has proved it to be, if we may judge by results, and on this point I am able to support the vegetable-feeder from actual experience.

Animal Protein

Animal Protein is a greater producer of uric acid than vegetable protein, and a known cause of disease - a fact which cannot be charged to the account of the latter. If vegetarians, and others like myself who have passed through the ordeal of long experiment, can maintain high condition upon the small amount of protein which vegetables eaten in moderate quantities provide, with the assistance of milk and its products, it is apparent that in spite of its less perfect absorption the claims of the rneat-eater are in opposition to facts.

Although there is still much to learn on the subject of the nutrition of man, it is essential to refer to another claim that is made as between the two schools. It has been pointed out that the large proportion of fibre in vegetable foods - always excepting those from which it has been removed, such as rice, white flour, and macaroni - interferes with perfect digestion by inciting the intestines, stimulating peristalsis, and hurrying their contents so rapidly through the system that opportunity is not given for perfect absorption. It is also suggested that owing to the larger mass of food consumed by vegetarians it is not mixed with the digestive juices with sufficient freedom to ensure perfect digestion. These statements, which are not entirely without foundation, undoubtedly apply to those who are too careless to masticate their food thoroughly, or who, owing to bad teeth, are unable to do so; but they cannot and do not apply to the rational man.

It has been said, too, that the teeth of man are adapted to the mastication of meat rather than the mastication of vegetables, and that it is necessary in consequence to cook most of the foods we consume. This raises a question of the highest importance. If in His goodness the Creator has provided vegetable foods for our sustenance, He has not done so on the assumption that we should reject what in our wisdom we regard as unnecessary. The fibrous matter, or husk, of the wheat grain is more essential to health than the fibre of flesh. Its action on the organs of digestion is one of the most important in the maintenance of health, while the mineral matter it contains is more or less vital to life. White flour is a product of ultra-civilisation and extravagant living, and until recent years it was not only unknown to our own working people, but to the inhabitants of all European countries, most of whom up to this day consume bread made from the whole grain. In cooking food made from finely ground flour, which has been deprived of its husk with the object of rendering it more digestible, we sometimes lose sight of the fact that we are ignoring the use of our teeth, with the result that assimilation is impeded rather than improved. This is essentially noticeable in the case of oatmeal porridge and other semi-liquid dishes, soft pulse, and cereal foods. As there is nothing to chew, the food is not retained in the mouth for admixture with the saliva, but swallowed at once. The saliva plays an important part in the work of digestion - preparing the food for the stomach, and thus causing less irritation to its walls, and at the same time assisting in the conversion of starch into sugar. If the teeth were employed more freely, and for a greater length of time, in the process of mastication, we should hear very few complaints of the imperfect absorption of the muscle-building constituents of vegetable foods.