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VEGETARIANISAL AND HEALTH
197 grasses, herbs, leaves and blossoms. Not only the 96 per cent. of energy consumption in the maintenance of life but also the per cent., the requirement for building up the bodysubstance, is entirely provided by these plant food-units. There is no reason to fear that their proteid-content will be insufficient. They are a complete food.
"It is true that in the animal economy also the wisdom or life knows how to deal carefully with these nutritive valur and to store them up in the aniinal body, so that the ani food substances and organs contain them and can serve all as food ; but man does not consume the animal in 1 state with skin, bones and blood like the beast of ry. consumes parts of the animal after it is dead and te novo or less elaboration by heat. Thus the original nritive valu suffer a not inconsiderable change. That e European attributes such a high value to proteid-richiesh food is one of the fatal, fundamental errors, on the cause of which I shall speak agaiu later 01.
ggs and cheese among other apilal foods, cause overacidity, and milk often loses its valu through cooking and becomes even dangerous through the wrong feeding of the cows or the disease of their mammiferous glands."
No doubt, vegetable foods aso suffer deterioration in the processes of cooking, roasti:g and baking ; but not to the same extent. Fruits and juts and salads are actually eaten un cooked.
At one time when the elements known as vitamins were unknown it was the popular belief, encouraged by the leading medical practitioners, that one needed a large quantity of flesh-forming foods. The formula for a man of 70 Kilograms in weight doing medium type of work, was as follows :Albumen
120 grams. Fats Carbohydrates
... 500
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