Vegetables
Though I am inclined to favor a vegetable diet I am not one of the rabid kind. I usually eat whatever my appetite calls for, and sometimes do not touch meat of any kind for months. I firmly believe that if one can secure a sufficient variety of fruits, grains, vegetables and nuts that there is not only no actual need for meat, and that one would be far better off without it. Meat unquestionably tends to fill the blood with elements that cannot be readily eliminated by the depurating organs. If meat was included in my diet when attacked by illness, as a first step towards a cure, it was always immediately avoided, and often this has been all that was necessary in order to bring about the desired results. But the most startling evidence in favor of vegetarianism is the fact proven in my own athletic experience, and in the experience of many others, that the vegetarian diet gives one far greater endurance than the meat diet. It makes a better quality of muscle. The theory is maintained that the food in meat has already been used by the animal from which it was secured, and, in eating his flesh you really secure nourishment second hand. The life principle in the vegetable matter, that the animal converted into flesh, has been partly consumed by him, and in eating his flesh you are simply able to extract what remains.
There is no doubt that a better quality of blood is made from a vegetarian than from a meat diet. There is less danger of overeating. Many say that the average vegetarian does not seem as vigorous as the meat eater, and there is a certain degree of truth in this claim, but it must be remembered that vegetarians are not stimulated up to the highest point as meat eaters usually are. Furthermore, meat eaters are more often addicted to the use of alcohol than are vegetarians. This naturally adds more flesh, and gives them a more vigorous appearance in the eyes of those who are unfamiliar with the natural signs of health. Fat is not health. Bloated red cheeks are not by any means a sign of health. They are a sign of disease and such a person is just “ripe” for the first microbe that happens to come his way.
Then again, many vegetarians are poorly nourished. They do not eat the proper foods. They eat too much white bread and other foods that do not contain the necessary elements to feed the body in proper proportion. Many vegetarians also eat too frequently, do not fast when nature commands, and they suffer from overcrowding their digestive organs, just as does the meat eater.
