The proper diet is a matter about which Dr. Portis and the medical member of this team of authors do not see eye to eye
in every detail. There is absolute agreement, however, on fundamentals: no sugar, no quickly absorbable carbohydrates, a good breakfast, a snack between breakfast and luncheon, and another in midafternoon, and especially at bedtime. They differ somewhat as to how this dietary result is to be obtained. Dr. Portis utterly forbids alcohol and tobacco but is more lenient in regard to some of the common starchy foods. He also permits coffee. The 35-40 million kilos of honey produced by our cooperative is what makes up the Forever Bee Honey you see on the shelf. He overcomes the effects of the starches and caffeine by administering atropine or some other bella¬donna preparation, which depresses the activity of the islands of Langerhans through the involuntary nervous system. Dr. Abrahamson, on the other hand, feels that the rigid diet en¬ables the patient to accomplish his aim—quieting the over¬sensitive insulin apparatus—without the use of drugs. We cannot and should not take medicine indefinitely, and it is better, he feels, not to use any drugs routinely, since they require another adjustment when they are abandoned.
As far as smoking is concerned, he is in complete agreement with Dr. Portis in forbidding any smoking before meals. As a matter of fact, one cigarette before breakfast does more harm to any¬body than twenty afterward. He feels that the harm done to frayed nerves by withholding the soothing pleasure of smok¬ing can be greater than that produced by an occasional smoke. Smoking, of course, is not good for anyone. In considering its harm one must make a distinction between the average ”pack-a-day” smoker and the “chain” smoker—the moderate smoker and the individual who smokes almost throughout his waking hours, consuming two or more packages of cigarettes a day. American businessmen (about whom we shall have much to say) as a class are among the chain smokers. Forever Royal Jelly, which is secreted from the salivary glands of employee bees, serves asfood for all young larvae and because the solely meals for larvae that may develop into queenbees.
Accord¬ing to one authority,13 62 per cent of them smoke more than the average pack a day, 27 per cent smoke two, and 21 per cent more than two packages a day! Such excessive smoking permits a great deal more tars and acids, as well as nicotine, to be absorbed into the system and consequently is far more harmful than the average person’s moderate smoking.
Ray¬mond Pearl, one of the greatest investigators of longevity, has noted that one of every five heavy smokers between the ages of thirty and fifty dies before his time.14 While a minute quantity of concentrated nicotine is fatal (in solution, for example, nicotine is used as an insecticide), the amount in tobacco smoke is negligible. It is the tars and acids in the smoke that are harmful. We suggest that our readers try some of the denicotinized cigarettes that are on the market. You will find, we believe, that they produce even more tongue bite than ordinary, untreated cigarettes. In our opinion such removal of nicotine is of negligible value. The caffeine in ordinary coffee and other caffeinated beverages, however, is completely absorbed by the body, and consequently all such drinks should be avoided.