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Why Inadequate Diet May Cause That Aching Back
Published in Herald of Health, July 1963.
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More work time is lost by reason of back trouble than because of the common cold, according to employment statistics.
The reason is that certain essential amino acids are lost from protein foods by cooking. Amino acids are required for bone and ligament growth and for repair.
The intervertebral pads are made of similar protein. Too much cooked food causes them to collapse and in some cases to become ruptured. A ruptured disc is then a surgeon’s problem and, after the disc is ruptured, it is a little late to reverse the health program. But up to that point, providing the right food will rapidly create a new and more cheerful outlook for the victim of this common complaint. We should never even think about our back, just as we should never know that we have a heart. A healthy heart is never making itself known to the owner by an indication or sensation.
Turkish porters are known to tip a 1,500 pound piano onto their back and walk off with it. A contingent of Turkish soldiers taken prisoner in Korea spent 2½ years in Chinese prison camps, and came back almost without losing a man. Two thirds, only, of our boys came back. We think the most important single factor was the use of sesame seed products by the Turks. Sesame seed protein has very important values, and sesame butter is the commonest cooking fat used by the Turks and Armenians.
Raw veal bone flour is now available which provides the bone protein in its natural state, for use as a food fortifier to relieve the deficiency created by food cooking. Rare steaks are not very useful here as the amino acid pattern of muscle meat is not very effective to restore bone and ligament disability.
Manganese is a trace element that activates the enzymes which restore and repair bone and ligament tissue. Alfalfa tea is a good source of manganese. The soil in Deaf Smith county, Texas, is high in manganese. Broken bones are rare there and only one person in 70 of the native-born population had any tooth decay. So Deaf Smith county wheat is very valuable to help protect you from both tooth decay and back trouble.
Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy, by Agnes Toms (Devin-Adair, $5.95) has over 300 pages of recipes, and those I have read sound tempting and delicious, in spite of the fact that they are supposed to contribute to your wellbeing. Here are my two favorites, so far:
Chinese Fried Rice
Fry some chopped onions in oil until golden brown. Add 2 cups of cold cooked rice, some soy sauce, and salt. Then add either peanuts, or green pepper, or ham, or chicken, or bacon, or shrimp, and heat.
That sounds good to me, perhaps partly because I happen to have some cooked rice in the refrigerator, but also: how handy to have a wide choice of things to add, not even counting that you yourself can probably think up some more!
I also have some cooked Blue Hubbard squash, and a large jar of peanuts in the cupboard and maybe that’s why the following appeals to me:
Squash-Peanut Pie
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Dust a greased pie-pan with bread crumbs (I use Pepperidge stuffing instead of crumbs). Mix with the cooked mashed squash some salt, pepper, butter, onions and cream (I would add some grated nutmeg), put this in the pan and bake for 50 minutes, then, just before serving, sprinkle top with one cup of chopped peanuts and 8 strips of crisp crumbled bacon.
There are exact amounts of everything given but I figured that you can either use your judgment, or buy the book.
Although recipes take up most of the space in this book, there is some other information; for instance–the amount of food required weekly for various types of people. At the end of the book are a few pages headed: “P.S.–In Case You Didn’t Know,” which tells you all sorts of things; I will choose one at random:
Have lemons at room temperature, or warm them, before squeezing: you will get a lot more juice.
The chapter “Herbs and Spices” will be very helpful to anyone who doesn’t know which of these to use for what, and this includes me. I do have a few favorites–dill and parsley heading the list–and I am pleased that the author says about dill: “Do use it fresh whenever possible” (which I do), but here are two items which were news to me: “Strawberry leaves make a fine drink, which also has beneficial qualities,” and “Dandelion leaves can be used in teas; the root has long been known for its tonic effect and has a flavor similar to coffee, especially when served with cream.”