You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
The author states his thesis in the opening chapter when he says: 'In the following pages will be unfolded the story of our daily diet, the part it plays in the construction of our marvelous machine and its rôle in the improvement of physical and mental fitness' (p. 10).
The first of the book deals with food factors of a well balanced diet, cell structure, vital elements in nutrition, measurement of energy, caloric determination and basal metabolism, all elucidated simply and understandably for a patient of average intelligence. There follows a discussion of the three basic foods, of vitamins and minerals. At the close there is well founded advice on how to regulate weight, together with suitable dietary instruction. It is the author's intent that diet be supervised by a medical advisor.
In Chapter X entitled How Emotions Influence Digestion, the author states 'That mental factors impair or heighten our digestive faculties has long been recognized' (p. 63). He proceeds to an historical sketch of such scientific data as given in the study of Alexis St. Martin, the rôle of fear, anger and nervousness as illustrated by Dr. Cannon's work on animals and similar instances of other observers. The importance of æsthetic values and social amenities are mentioned. That there are many unconscious fears, anxieties and fixations, preventing the normal attainment and utilization of food is not suggested, yet the clinician is constantly dealing with such manifestations.
Chapter XII, Facts and Fancies about Foods, is written from the point of view of the medical man versus the charlatan. The author berates those who 'through ignorance, eccentricity and commercialism have fostered the most mischievous, half-baked and ridiculous ideas' (p. 73). He evaluates the 'delusions' about improper food combinations and vegetarianism, the misconceptions regarding meat eating and the claims of fasting. Happily, in so doing he adds no new notions. There is, however, no intimation that