With the individual himself rests the selection of a healthful and properly distributed food supply. In order to maintain a normal body in perfect equilibrium, the amount and the selection of food require careful consideration. Quantity depends upon physical characteristics and the kind of labor at which the subject is employed. A working man destroys more tissue in shorter time than does the banker or the clerk; yet, usually, the latter eat no fewer meals nor less at a sitting than does their burly brother. What is needed for the one is far more than sufficient for the others. Should the brain worker devote spare time to outdoor recreation or to manual labor a mean might be established; but, in general, equilibrium is seldom reached, and the supply of food is far in excess of requirement. The laboring man, too, is at fault in this respect, for, unless his be an exceptional case, the basis of his diet is starch, which, in addition to the unbalance produced, carries its nutritive principle in a bulky vehicle, demanding extra labor from the digestive tract in order to separate waste from nutriment and to eliminate the former.

To reduce the supply of food to the basis of demand, the plan that suggests the omission of the midday meal is perhaps the easiest to follow, and, once the habit is acquired, this repast is scarcely missed. Hunger should determine the hours for the ingestion of food each day. Regularity of habit as to the times for serving meals is an outgrowth of economic convenience, and, more often than not, the participant is imposing a burden upon a system in no need, therefore with no desire of sustenance. In health, dependent upon occupation, hunger makes demand not more than twice daily, if previous desire has been satisfied. Hunger, like the reproductive instinct, is stimulated by the changing chemistry of the body and can be satisfied only by achieving its primary purpose, the taking of food for constructive metabolism.

The late war taught us many things connected with dietetic habit. The Danes, for instance, kept healthy upon a most restricted diet. Their death rate was exceptionally low in spite of many privations. They lived on a ration that consisted very largely of vegetables and whole wheat or grain breads. And they ate very little milk and meat.

The Germans proved that it is possible to live on a diet that contains a great deal of fiber. So far as their adults were concerned, health was improved by the very low diet--at least it was not impaired. The lean German was healthier than was the pot-bellied German of pre-war days. These experiences prove that man can stand a serious cut in his food over long periods of time without permanent damage. :But the text carries out this thought in its entirety, and all that is offered from sources apart merely serves in corroboration of the truths presented.

In much that has been written concerning the matter of diet there are so many sweeping statements, so many conflicting processes of proof, impossible rules, and foolish conclusions, that no wonder is felt that the whole subject is usually ignored as too intricate. There are many who try to enforce personal ideas upon others in this connection; very persistent people these, to whom the term, "crank," may well be applied, and a "crank," who has picked up some scientific jargon and who thinks himself cured of his ailments, works more harm than good in the world. This class may be extended to include those who really have been benefited by a diet that happens to suit personal requirement, and it comprises also the one-food people who are in continual search of what not to devour, with the idea of reducing the universe to whole wheat and pecans. These people at each encounter with their fellow-men discover in the latter disease symptoms identical with their own, and insist that the remedy to which they have had recourse shall be applied. It is absurd for any who are not familiar with the chemistry of foods to endeavor to talk learnedly of their action in human physiological economy, and it may be taken as an axiom that, within the individual capability, which can be known only by individual experiment, a diet limited to not more than three proportioned items at each meal is more conducive to health than is one where unlimited choice or a single dish is the rule. A list that is limited strictly to few things trains the stomach to adapt itself accordingly, and trouble ensues when change is attempted. It is also to be remarked that when the organism has been accustomed to the digestion of animal protein, change to vegetable compounds may discover organic resistance this because of habit, for actually no essential difference exists between these two muscle building combinations excepting in origin.

After all, the amount of food and the kind of food are of secondary importance to the organic ability or inability of the individual to function. It must continually be borne in mind that in the condition of the digestive organs lies the crux of the situation. Hence the aim of both physician and patient should constantly be directed at the restoration of the system to health, after which its maintenance in this condition requires proper attention to selection and to quantity of food.

NOTE: Tomato Soup.

Strain one quart can of tomatoes through a coarse kitchen sieve, assisting the process by using the back of a heavy spoon. This serves to separate seeds and skin from juice and pulp. Add to the latter a dessert-spoon of butter or corn oil, and heat but do not boil. If desired, a small quantity of honey may be used. F`or breaking a fast this broth is excellent food, and one coffee-cup taken four times at regular intervals should suffice for the first day succeeding abstinence. The quantity taken may be increased on the second day to one pint eaten morning and evening with other food material gradually added as previously described.

If ripe tomatoes from the garden are used instead of the canned variety, simmer the fruit until tender, but at no point in cooking allow to boil, since high temperature tends to destroy the vitamins with which this fruit is so richly furnished. After cooking, strain and gauge proportions as with the canned fruit.