The natural food of man : being an attempt to prove from comparative anatomy, physiology, chemistry and hygiene, that the original, best and natural diet of man is fruit and nuts / by Hereward Carrington.

  • Carrington, Hereward, 1880-1959.
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The natural food of man : being an attempt to prove from comparative anatomy, physiology, chemistry and hygiene, that the original, best and natural diet of man is fruit and nuts / by Hereward Carrington. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    but in man and the frugivora such is not the case, and the result is that if meat be eaten by man, the liver is called upon to do an extra amount of work, and this may ultimately result in its premature breakdown. The kidneys also are greatly affected by the diet. It is now well known that uric acid is created in large quantities by a flesh diet—^the measured excretions showing that from three to ten times as much uric acid is secreted when flesh is eaten as when no meat is in- gested ; and when we bear in mind the exceedingly dis- astrous effects of uric acid upon the system, and what a powerful disease-producing agency it is, I think that we must conclude that this symptom is strongly suggestive, and strongly indicative of the fact that man cannot eat meat without running grave chances of diseasing and ruining his organism. The Excretions.—There is also a marked difference in the excretory products of the various animals. While, in the carnivora, the action of the urine is acid, it is alkaline in the herbivora (or should be). In man it is frequently acid—^though this varies with the nature of the food. Thus, if the diet be largely one of flesh, the urine will become far more acid, and will also become very offen- sive ; the perspiration will also be tainted, and very noticeable to those with a keen sense of smell, and who do not eat meat themselves ! This has frequently been observed, and may account for the fact that flesh-eating animals will always eat a horse or a sheep in preference to man, if it be possible. Doubtless, their keen sense of smell detects the fact that man is (usually) largely carnivorous in his habits, and their instinct teaches them that the flesh of the purely herbivorous animal is for this reason superior to that of man. Has anyone thought why it is that a cat will kill a mouse, and eat it, while a dog will kill a cat, but will not eat it ? It is