132 OCCULT PRINCIPLES OF HEALTH & HEALING
as palatable, for we eat usually to please our palate
rather than to nourish our bodies.
On the other hand, there is no denying that some
people who profess to cook along scientific lines and
with common sense, who profess to be vegetarians and
are very strict in their notions of how food should be
prepared, seem to lack all appreciation of the fact that
food may be made palatable as well as wholesome and
nutritious, that there is no incompatibility between the
requirements of proper cooking and the pleasure
afforded to the palate. Indeed it may be said that unless
food is so cooked that it is pleasing to the palate as
well as wholesome and nutritious, it falls far short of
its full purpose. The palate has been given to us so that
we may enjoy our food, that we may, as it were,
receive it with gladness and welcome it into our body,
for this furthers assimilation and nutrition, whereas
unpalatable food is obnoxious to the recipient and
therefore not so easily assimilated. This fact should be
kept before the mind: It is not how much we eat that
counts, but how much we assimilate.
Some who have been improperly instructed in this
most important subject of nutrition may have been told
that the legumes, peas, beans, etc., will take the place
of meat, and they then commenced to devour these
vegetables in great quantities after discarding meat. It
is perfectly true that beans contain more protein than
beefsteak, but the protein contained in the bean is not
so readily assimilated. There is heavy waste and also
uric acid in such foods that should be reckoned with,
for unless counteracted by plenty of green vegetables,
disastrous results are bound to follow. It is important
to remember, however, that the green vegetables