148 BIOLOGY AND HUMAN LIFE 



Uninformed people are in danger of taking food entirely on 

 the basis of their taste or the temptations of the market. They 

 are likely to suffer from malnutrition through an excess of 

 sweets or from digestive disturbances through an excess of pro- 

 teins. People who are both ignorant and poor are in danger of 

 getting their food altogether on the basis of its cost, and suffer 

 from malnutrition through an excess of starchy food, which is 

 usually the cheapest. 



127. Food fads and notions. That the race has not yet learned 

 what is best for it in the way of eating is shown by the wide- 

 spread interest in new food fads, and the great variety of no- 

 tions about food. There is frequent discussion about flesh food 

 versus vegetable food, with all sorts of arguments that have 

 little to do with real facts. For example, one hears that it is 

 ^Svrong to kill living beings to maintain our own lives" or that 

 ''we become what we eat." If we understand the basic facts of 

 nutrition, we realize that all our food must come from "living 

 beings," and that, with the exception of green plants, all living 

 beings, including ourselves, must depend upon other living be- 

 ings for their food. In his ignorance the savage may believe 

 that eating the heart of his enemy will give him the courage of 

 his enemy, or eating the flesh of an ox will give him the strength 

 of an ox. But we have learned that all the food we eat, no 

 matter what its source, must first be converted into amino acids 

 and simple sugars before it is taken into the protoplasm of our 

 own cells. And we have learned that these sugars and amino 

 acids are built up into human protoplasm. 



A well-balanced diet, obtained by means of a variety of food 

 articles, is likely to supply the needed minerals (see page loi), 

 as well as the necessary vitamins (see page 102), and it is 

 likely also to be of sufficient pleasure to the palate to insure 

 suitable activity of the digestive glands. The best arguments 

 in the matter of eating are based on facts, and the most reliable 

 facts that we have at present are derived from systematic scien- 

 tific experimentation. Everybody who takes a little trouble 

 can get the full benefit of the results for his own practical use. 



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