THE SCIENCE OF NUTRITION 133should not be eaten at the same meal with the heavy
legumes. There are others who, after leaving the meat
diet, start to live on bread, potatoes, and similar
starchy foods, with the result that they become
undernourished and anemic. A satisfactory diet must
be properly balanced in every respect, and only insofar
as we study the system of diet required to keep our
body in good health can we expect to obtain the proper
results.
Diet, like health, is determined individually, and
no general standard can be set up. At the same time, it
may be safely said that the less meat we can get along
with, the better our general health will be. But if we
wish to do without it altogether, it is absolutely
essential that we should study a table of food values so
that we get the necessary proteins from the vegetables
we eat. No man can go to the ordinary table and get
sufficient nourishment if he eats only the vegetables
provided as accessories to the meat; he must have
beans, peas, nuts, and like foods which are rich in
protein to take the place of the discarded flesh, or he
will starve.
The Role of Stimulants in Evolution
The spirit alcohol, which is fermentedoutside the
system, is being superseded by sugar, which ferments
within. In the past a stimulant was indispensable in
rousing the human Spirit from the lethargy attendant
upon a meat diet; the bacchanalian orgies in ancient
temples, which properly fill us with horror nowadays,
were then of immense value in human development.
As consumption of sugar increases, use of alcohol
diminishes and, concurrently, the moral standard is