What to eat and when

Susanna Cocroft.
Susanna Cocroft
Author of “Let’s Be Healthy,” “The Woman Worth While” “Growth in Silence,” etc.
Fourth Edition
With Additions and Revisions to Date
Illustrated
G. P. Putnam’s Sons New York and London The Knickerbocker Press 1916
Copyright, 1916 BY SUSANNA COCROFT The Knickerbocker Press, New York
THE subject of dietetics has only of late years begun to come into its own. For centuries it was thought that the body was a thing to be neglected and despised; that it was a clog to the soul. The teachings of dogma and the life of the hermit and the ascetic glorified the mortification of the body and the elevation of the soul.
The study of the functions of life and the manner in which those functions are upheld and vivified—the development of the sciences of Biology and Physiology—have placed the relations of the body and its inhabitant the soul on a more consistent and rational basis. It is coming to be recognized that the mind cannot function to its highest efficiency in a body below par; that in order to work harmoniously and to accomplish the most for humanity, the sound mind must dwell in a sound body, with all of its functions active, its organs in vigorous condition, kept so by a thorough assimilation and a forceful circulation. These are to be secured by means of daily exercise, abundance of fresh air, and healthful, happy, constructive thoughts.
It has been well said that the distinguishing feature between man and other animals is the fact that he is a cooking animal. Until he discovered fire man’s subsistence was little more than that of the brute. Out of his discovery of the varied uses of this element came modern civilization. Much of this advance was made possible through the added strength of mind that was given man by a more varied diet. His limited raw diet gave little scope to his inventive faculties. From the discovery of the possibilities in cooked food his mind was stimulated to research in other directions. With the lessened need for vigorous mastication, however, the degeneration of man’s teeth began and we are slowly learning now that exercise for the teeth and gums is as necessary for their health as it is for the rest of the body.