Food, and its influence on health and disease

Front matter

FOOD,

INFLUENCE

HEALTH AND DISEASE;

Preface

A great number of the diseases with which the human race is afflicted may be ascribed either to a paucity or to a superabundance of food. In the former case, the organs of the body are unable to obtain a sufficiency of materials adapted for their preservation in a state of vigour ; and in the latter, disease is produced, either because wholesome food is taken in too large quantities, or from the inconsiderate introduction into the system of many articles of diet which interfere with nutrition. The object of the following pages is not to indicate the manner in which a greater abundance of alimentary matter is to be procured, but to point out the importance of dietetic plans to those who, though fortunate enough to possess the means of obtaining everything requisite for the full development of all parts of the

VI PREFACE.

body, find themselves, either from the use of improper food or from a perseverance in habits of living calculated to depress the vital powers, surrounded with all earthly blessings except good health. No country in Eurppe contains so man}^ people in this state as our own, and it is to them particularly that the following pages are addressed, for the purpose of showing what extensive alterations can be produced in the body, merely by the adoption of different plans for its nutrition, which not only have the effect of tending to preserve the health, but also constitute some of the most effectual means that are known for preventing and eradicating disease.

Matthew Truman, M.D.

1 8, Bolton Street, Piccadilly, August, 1842.

Contents

Preface .....

Introduction ....

Proximate Principles of Animal Food