HOW TO BECOME A VEGETARIAN
Adopting a vegetarian diet should be done with great care, and not in a hurry, especially when the person is not in perfect health.
The best time to begin is the Spring. People who have lived on excessive meat should cut it down to two and three times per week, substituting cured meat and fish part of the time.
It may take months, or even years to educate the cells of the stomach to act upon nuts, legumes, and other heavy protein foods, so as to be properly nourished. An individual with great adaptability may make this change without much discomfort, but many people who desire to leave off meat, do so because they are already sick from wrong eating. If they feel benefited by the change for a while it is generally because their system is eliminating the toxins which are the result of excessive meat eating. After this has taken place, the body requires food, properly combined and proportioned, or else nerve starvation and obesity are the result.
To those who for various reasons desire to adopt a vegetarian diet I would say, do not substitute bread and vegetables for meat. Do not spend your energy making new and complex dishes as advocated in fashionable vegetarian cook books. Compounds containing several soft proteins such as beans, nuts, eggs and cream, besides starches, are a burden to the liver and alimentary canal and lay the foundation for new diseases.
If cooked foods are required, study carefully the preparation of nutritious soups, well boiled cereals, salads, and add as many raw foods as possible. Exercise more in the open air, live and work in sunny well ventilated rooms, retire early and live as close to nature as you can. I hope that the following pages may serve as a stepping stone for all who desire to eat less meat, as well as for those who wish to become vegetarians.
In adopting a raw food diet, or in reducing heat-giving elements, such as artificial sugars and hot drinks, it is important to apply more external heat to the body for a while, or else have the morning meal served in a sunny room. Plenty of outdoor exercise is necessary to properly utilize a vegetarian diet.
Next: Food Requirements and Food for the Aged
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