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CHAPTER XIII

DIETING

"Simple diet is best; many dishes bring many diseases,"
--Pliny.

"Alas! what things I dearly love--
puddings and preserves--
Are sure to rouse the vengeance of
All pneumogastric nerves!"
--Field.

The man who pores over a book to discover the exact number of calories
(heat units) of carbohydrates, proteins and fats his body needs, means
well, but is wasting time.

In theory it is excellent, for it should ensure maximum work-energy with
minimum use of digestive-energy, but in practice it breaks down badly, a
weakness to which theories are prone. One man divided four raw eggs, an
ounce of olive oil, and a pound of rice into three meals a day.
Theoretically, such a diet is ideal, and for a short time the experimenter
gained weight, but malnutrition and dyspepsia set in, and he had to give
up. The best diet-calculator is a normal appetite, and fancy aids digestion
more than a pair of scales.

In spite of rabid veget- and other "arians", most foods are good (making
allowances for personal idiosyncrasy) if thoroughly masticated. The