DIET LESSON XII

THAT diet plays a large part in the acquirement of Personal Magnetism my readers will readily understand. I have laid down such stringent rules as to the necessity for perfect health, and diet has so much to answer for in the acquirement of perfect health, that too much consideration cannot be give to it.

Naturally I do not advocate flesh food in any form; neither do I advise the so-called vegetarian diet.

For perfect health and strength and the “staying” power boasted of by meat eaters nothing can beat a fruitarian diet.

To prove this we need only consider the results of the great International walking race, held at Whitsuntide, in Germany (1902), when the competitors walked from Dresden to Berlin, a distance of 124 ½ miles.

Thirty-two competitors started from Dresden at 7:30 a.m. on May 18th (1902), in bad weather. Of these men part were fruitarians and vegetarians (including the great Karl Mann, the world’s champion walker, of Berlin) part meat eaters.

THE FIRST SIX TO ARRIVE IN BERLIN WERE FRUITARIANS AND VEGETARIANS, the third man, Martin Rehann, being only twenty years old.

Of course Karl Mann was first, having done the distance in twenty-six hours fifty-eight minutes, and fresh as a daisy at the finish, whilst the meat eaters, well known and tried athletes, arrived utterly exhausted.

George Allen, the English (Leicester) hundred-mile walker, is also a vegetarian, and we all know Eustace Miles.

These cases are officially attested, and anybody who likes can verify the statements for themselves.

Karl Mann only takes two meals a day, and he partakes of neither flesh, fowl, alcohol, coffee, tea, chocolate, etc., and when training, neither eggs, milk, cheese, butter, nor pulse.

We personally, have two meals daily, the first at 12:30 p.m., the second at 6:30, working on the no breakfast plan, which I find splendid for health and a clear brain.

The fruitarian diet is fine, and, to my mind, more satisfying than vegetarianism, to say nothing of what it save in household work. However, to the point – it’s no use preaching a fruitarian diet if I don’t give you practical teaching as to rules, quantities, etc.

I read so much about the beauties of the diet, etc., in some fifteen or twenty American magazines, and not one practical hit, that I used to get quite made, and I firmly believe any number of people would turn from a flesh diet if they only knew hot to begin.

The ordinary individual has a tendency to over-eat himself six days out of seven, and to prevent this tendency I advise that a pair of kitchen scales be requisitioned and the proper quantities duly weighed out – indeed this is imperative.

I am allowing the same amount of nutriment for a woman as for a man, but at the same time the fair sex can from the day’s allowance knock of a quarter pound of dried fruit and half a pound of fresh fruit if necessary.

Personally I think the idea that women eat less than men has arisen because they too often eat between meals and men haven’t the chance as a rule.

Every adult requires from twelve to sixteen ounces of DRY food, free from water, daily. To supply this a quarter of a pound of shelled nuts and three-quarters of a pound of any dried fruit must be used.

In addition to this from two to three pounds of any fresh fruit in season goes to compete the days allowance.

These quantities should be weighed out and divide in half for the two meals, and will sustain a full-grown man in perfect health and vitality. The quantity of ripe fresh fruit may be slightly increased in summer, with a corresponding decrease in the dried fruit.

When beginning this diet it is as well to use a little bread (whole meal) and plenty of eggs, milk, cream cheese, and cream, until gradually weaned from cereals. Occasionally Quaker Oats and such nut foods as Bromose may be used.

Strawberries, raspberries, cherries, plums, apples, pineapples, grapes, melons, currants, etc., can all be used in summer, and grapes pears, apples, oranges, bananas, etc., in winter.

For the dried fruit raisins, sultanas, prunes, dates, figs, and plums, and for a change and stewing purposes we have splendid variety in Californian prunes, apricots, peaches, Bartlett pears, dried apples, bananas and plums.

The nut foods are almonds, walnuts, hazels, cashews, pine kernels, peanuts (these can be bought ready shelled), sapricia, pecan, butternuts, hickory, brazils, (excellent for constipation), Japan peanuts, chestnuts, and Coker nuts.

All these should be bought in large quantities – by FAR the cheapest way – and the diet will be found to pan out at from sixpence, one shilling to two shillings per head daily, according to the quality of fruit bought – surely not only a healthier, purer method of living, but infinitely more economical to those who consider such matters!

To cook dried fruit, wash it thoroughly in clean water, place it in a dish with enough water to cover it, and soak ten or fifteen hours; then, leaving it in the water it has been soaked in, put it on the stove and let it simmer gently until cooked. When nearly done add sufficient sugar for individual taste. The fruit cooked in this manner very nearly resembles fresh fruit, with the full flavor and taste.

English women don’t know how to cook dried fruit, and it enters comparatively little into their menus. The above is an American recipe and may be adopted for all the dried fruits, though the dried bananas may be eaten raw or steamed in an ordinary potato steamer and eaten with fresh or whipped cream.

Some people advise regularity of meals. I advise only two daily, but it is best to eat when your are hungry. All the same you WILL be hungry if you follow the “no breakfast” plan, and able to relish your natural food with a natural appetite.

Alcohol kills magnetism.

You will find your magnetic and vital power doubled – nay trebled – by the simple pure food. You will enjoy health such as you never had before, double working capacity, and be able to look God’s creatures in the face without a blush.