This section is from the book "Encyclopedia Of Diet. A Treatise on the Food Question", by Eugene Christian. Also available from Amazon: Encyclopedia of Diet.
A very sharp distinction should be drawn between appetite and hunger. Appetite is a cultivated desire expressed through a sense of Craving. Hunger is the normal demand for food, expressed through the salivary glands. Appetite is the desire for liquor, coffee, tobacco, morphin, etc., and for food when one habitually overeats. It is expressed by an empty feeling or craving in the stomach, while hunger is felt only in the salivary glands, and in the region of the throat and the mouth. Appetite weakens the body; hunger stimulates thought and action.
Normal hunger can be produced by limiting the quantity of food below the actual needs of the body, for three or four days, or perhaps a week.
When normal hunger returns, the quantity may be increased, but the combinations should be observed for a week or two.
The following are limited menus composed of foods that will produce hunger after the third or fourth day:
On rising, devote at least five minutes to vigorous deep breathing exercise before an open window, or in the open air. Take a bit of juicy fruit and a glass of water.
Cherries or berries (very ripe); neither cream nor sugar
A banana, very ripe, eaten with two egg whites, thoroughly whipped, and a very little thin cream
A green salad
One fresh vegetable; peas or asparagus preferred
A new potato
A green salad, with nuts
Two fresh vegetables
A whipped egg or a cup of junket
It may be well to omit the noon meal for the first three or four days.
If there is the slightest tendency toward constipation, a tablespoonful or two of wheat bran, cooked, should be taken at both the morning and the evening meal.
A glass of water should be drunk just before retiring, and at least ten minutes devoted to exercise and deep breathing.
As appetite returns, the quantity of food may be increased, and a few heavier articles added, such as coarse cereal for breakfast, and a bit of fish or an omelet for dinner.
A cup of water and a very ripe peach or plum followed by vigorous deep breathing exercises, immediately after rising.
Melon or peaches, with a very little cream Tender ear of boiled corn, scraped from the cob, and served with butter or a spoonful of cream
Lettuce and tomato salad, with grated nuts and dressing
Corn or beans
Cucumber and lettuce salad, with dressing Summer squash Lima beans Melon
A cup of hot water
A bunch of grapes or a baked apple, without sugar
One extremely ripe banana, eaten with cream, figs, and nuts
A large Spanish onion, boiled A baked potato (The potato should be made very hot with red pepper)
Anything green, in the way of a salad, or a bit of spinach, cooked
A bran meal gem - fresh butter; or a baked potato
One extremely ripe banana, with cream and nuts
A bunch of grapes an hour after eating.
On rising, take the juice of an orange, a glass of water, and such exercises as have been already prescribed in the Spring Menu.
A teaspoonful of olive-oil A pint of clabbered milk or junket Half a cup of wheat bran, cooked, served with cream
One egg, either whipped or coddled
Soup, either vegetable or cream of tomato A small piece of a crisp cracker A tablespoonful of olive-oil
Two or three bananas, peeled, and baked in a hot oven; eat with one whipped egg, to which might be added a very little whipped cream
A glass of rich milk
Half a cup of wheat bran
A glass of cool water or a cup of hot water should be drunk at each of these meals, and, as the appetite becomes normal, the egg and the milk products may be increased, and the heavier vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, baked beans, corn hominy, and plain boiled wheat may be added.
 
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