Butter.—If we dispense with milk—that is, leave it to the calf, for whom nature intended it—there will, of necessity, be no butter; and, from a sanitary point of view, the absence of it would perhaps be no great loss, it being by no means as wholesome an article of diet as either milk or cream. Like other oils, it is, to a degree, indigestible; not that it gives “a pain in the stomach,” as a general thing, but it does not enter into those vital changes which are necessary to convert food into chyle proper. It mixes with the pancreatic juice in the form of an emulsion, simply, and goes into the blood in that crude condition; and being carried through the system by the capillaries, it is deposited as fat in the various tissues, and largely in the skin. From the very nature of its constituents, butter has but little nutritive value It usually contains 3 to 5 per cent. of casein (due to the presence of the milk) and about twice that amount of water; the other substances are oils, fixed and volatile. These readily decompose upon exposure to the atmosphere, and butyric and other fat acids are set free.
Persons who live largely upon butter emit a strong odour from the skin, very perceptible to those who do not use animal foods. The salt which has to be mixed with it to make it “keep” is not, to the hygienist, a desirable addition, for reasons which will be hereafter stated. Pereira says: “Fixed oil or fat is more difficult of digestion and more obnoxious to the stomach than any other alimentary principle.” Indeed, in some more or less obvious or concealed form, I believe it will be found the offending ingredient in nine-tenths of the dishes which disturb weak stomachs. Many dyspeptics, who have religiously avoided the use of fat in its obvious or ordinary state (as fat meat, marrow, butter, and oil) unwittingly employ it in some more concealed form, and, as I have frequently witnessed, have suffered therefrom. Such individuals should eschew the yolks of eggs, livers (of quadrupeds, poultry and fish) and brains, all of which abound in oily matter. Milk, and especially cream, disagree with many persons, or, as they term it, “lies heavy on the stomach,” in consequence of the butter it contains. Rich cheese, likewise, contains butter, and on that account is apt to disturb the stomach.
Schlickeysen, in speaking of the use of butter, eggs, and cheese, remarks:
“These cause an excess of fat in the system, and an offensive, slimy, condition of the mucous secretions of the mouth and nose, quite apparent to those who, contrary to their usual habit, eat them. Their effects are apparent also in eruptions upon the skin, especially upon the face.”
Eggs.—Eggs are pretty generally conceded to be a “bilious diet”; and if eaten freely at each meal for a few weeks, the whites of the eyes usually show the presence of bile. They contain an excess of sulphur. The albumen (whites of the eggs) cooked soft, would be less objectionable than the yolks, which contain about 30 per cent. of oil. If eggs are eaten they should be fresh, their use not too frequent, and confined to cool weather. The fowls should be allowed plenty of clean territory to run over, and an abundance of fresh pure water, pure air, and good grains. Unfortunately, the habits of the bird are not the cleanest; it will pick up and eat almost anything that comes in its way. This is why country eggs and country fowl (provided there are good and healthful surroundings) are always to be preferred. In towns or cities the chickens are necessarily confined to the house and yard; whereas in the country they have access to the open fields, and feed largely on grains.
Persons who are subject to torpor of the liver would do well to refrain from the use of either eggs or butter; and those who have sound livers—and desire to keep them so—can take a hint!
A great many vegetarians are strong advocates of dairy products, and particularly eggs. They claim, rightly enough, that they contain a large amount of proteid, and hence are valuable meat substitutes. But this same proteid can be obtained from nuts and vegetables, as we have seen—without the necessity of resorting to eggs in order to secure it. From the ethical point of view, there is no excuse whatever for the eating of eggs; and there are many objections to their use on purely hygienic grounds. It is remarkable, in this connection, to find so strong a belief in egg-eating, when we take into account the fact that these eggs are all intended to be chickens by nature, and we are really eating chickens in embryo—a very disagreeable thought, when we come to consider it. All other eggs—swallow’s eggs, ostrich’s eggs, robin’s eggs, etc.—we think of as existing only for the purpose of bringing into the world little swallows or ostriches or robins: but the hen’s egg we consider, for some mysterious reason or other, laid for our especial benefit—as a suitable and even necessary food! It is really remarkable that such curious ideas should have originated in the human mind. Doubtless they originated in the days of savagery, when but little else could be obtained for food, but which culture and modern ideals should have outgrown long ago.
Cheese.—“The fresh curd of milk is perfectly wholesome, and pot cheese is also a practically harmless article of diet. Green cheese is not very objectionable, but old, strong cheese, is one of the most injurious and indigestible things in existence. It is also one of the most constipating articles of food that can be found. It is a common fancy among medical men, and a common whim among the people, that old, strong, rank cheese, though itself very indigestible, stimulates the stomach to digest other things. Hence almost all the medico-dietetic works quote the old adage: