National Vice

The excessive use of meat is almost a national vice, and as such meat is charged up, rightly or wrongly, with the majority of the diseases resulting from uric-acid formation; a condition resulting from the use of meat in excess, rather than from the use of meat itself in moderation.

Excess of food, or overeating, in its general aspects, undoubtedly contributes to produce the same results as does the excessive use of meat or other nitrogenous foods. Meat, clean meat, if there be such a thing, used in moderation, is no more likely to produce harmful effects, as an article of food, than any other nitrogenous element, but in this connection, while trying to make the best out of a bad case, for meat, it will be borne in mind that few persons rarely use meat in moderation, the tendency being to increase from moderation to excess. Not only this, such a thing as clean meat is a rarity, and we are allowing for a condition of things which rarely exists. Washed meats are certainly more wholesome than meat as it ordinarily exists. It must be remembered in this connection, however, that nitrogenous food of every description, animal or vegetable, must be used in great moderation, otherwise uric-acid poisoning results.

There are some factors in the discussion of flesh-eating to which we cannot shut our eyes, and they are as follows : -

Flesh foods unless washed always contain poisons, not only this -we cannot always be certain of their being wholesome, because meats may be putrescent and yet give no odor or other sign whereby we might be warned of such danger. These two facts of them-selves should make us seriously consider the risks we run in eating meats. We have no means of knowing whether animals are diseased, or otherwise, before being put on the market for sale. We do know that tuberculosis, trichinae, hog cholera, tapeworm, and a great many other diseases are prevalent amongst animals all the time, and that these diseases cannot help but escape inspection, and must be a source of danger to those who eat meat.

Meat Unclean

In my opinion, the objections to meat are not to be founded upon its being an uric acid producer, but rather to the fact that even the best of meat is unclean, held only in abeyance from putrescence by refrigeratory methods, and liable at any time to become a nidus or focus for ptomaines and their toxins. An unclean thing cannot be said to be fit to eat. Secondly meat, from a dietetic standpoint, is much inferior in food value to many other food stuffs (reference to some of the food tables indicating the exact proportions). Lastly there is a feature to meat eating which should commend itself to every right thinking individual and that is - the humanitarian view of it.

As already pointed out, Socrates traced the origin of both war and disease, and all the human ills growing out of these gigantic evils to the use of flesh food. The slaughter of animals is certainly something awful to contemplate, unworthy of any nation which calls itself Christian. When one considers the question of Meat Dietetics it should be along the lines, not "Shall We Eat Meat?" but rather "Why Do We Eat Meat?"

In view of these and other facts I cannot recommend meat as an article of diet under any circumstances, notwithstanding that I feel quite free to state that, theoretically, clean meats in moderation might be eaten for a lifetime without producing any harmful effects, yet I believe this to be an impossibility, practically. Everyone should be able to judge for himself, with the facts before him, as to the advisability of using meat as an article of diet, or otherwise. Whether an individual does, or does not, eat meat is a matter which concerns himself, and each one has to work out his own salvation in this as in other matters. It seems that, only, when a man gets sick almost unto death can any impression be made upon him in his . habits of living. Even when the arguments are unanswerable as to why an individual should or should not follow a certain plan calculated for his own benefit, yet either from force of habit or unwillingness, he will still obstinately and persistently hang on to his "flesh-pots," whether it be meat eating, overeating, or dietetic errors of any other sort; a corroboration of

"A man confirmed against his will, Is of the same opinion still."

Undoubtedly overeating is the greatest factor in the causation of disease with which we have to do.

In practically every instance of overeating, it usually means the excessive use of meat. My own opinion, judging from personal experience and observation, is that overeating, far and away, overshadows all other factors in the cause and production of disease - the overeating of meat - it so happens to be in America.

There are many phases of the use of flesh foods as a diet which have purposely been omitted, a consideration of which should lead anyone to the legitimate conclusion that meat is wholly unfit for the human body as an article of food.

The relative merits of a meat or non-meat diet never had a more powerful illustration than in the great Russo-Japanese War in the early part of the 20th century - 1903 to 1905 - the history of which shows that the meat-eating and vodkha-drinking Russians were defeated by the rice-eating, vegetarian, abstemious Japanese, in a series of the most sanguinary battles which the world has ever witnessed. Whether by land or sea, the Japanese, literally, wiped the Russian armies and navy off the face of the earth.

Unquestionably the habits of living of the Japs had much to do with their success. What is true of a race is true of its individuals. There is a moral in this, and that is the cultivation of good habits of livin should be the pride of every individual who would be successful in life.