EATING RIGHT FOR HEALTH AND STRENGTH
by
Charles Atlas
From the old 1950s lessons sold in Great Britain
Dear student:
In these times this lesson should be of particular interest
to you. It gives information regarding food values and classifies
them under various headings so that you can easily arrange a well
balanced diet. I appreciate that some of the foods may not be
obtainable: but you will always be able to get something from
each group. It may not be possible for you to follow my
suggestion, regarding milk, just now, but please bear it in mind
for some future occasion.
WE NOW LEARN THE TYPES OF FOODS AND WHICH
ONES GIVE HEALTH, POWER AND GREAT NERVE ENERGY
The huge new streamlined express aeroplanes, which hurl
themselves from London to Capetown, shrieking through the air
with enormous power and terrific speed, depend upon the proper
kind of fuel for their energy. What would you think of the
aviator who put any old junk into the tanks and expected this
fuel to create the power and energy to get his plane to its
destination on time? You would say, "That man's a fool." Yet that
is exactly what millions of people are doing today with regard to
their eating habits.
Proper food furnishes the power with which to run the human
engine. Our modern railways take special care in selecting the
best grades of fuel, and watch that no slag or other inferior
materials enters into the burning furnace. If only human beings
were more careful in selecting these foods, which give them brain
speed and power, as are the railways, they would be immeasurably
better off.
Energy is largely derived from the foods you eat and the way
in which you eat them. It is of vital importance, then, that you
use great care in eating only those foods which will build health
and increase your strength and energy, thus giving you more and
more POWER.
So that you may intelligently understand the underlying
principles of dietetics, I am furnishing you with a little
non-technical information regarding the science of nutrition.
First of all you must know WHY you eat, then you will be
better able to avoid things that you know to be injurious. Foods
eaten under proper conditions repair the waste and worn-out
tissue, build up brain and nervous energy, supply the cells with
the elements of life, and also store fat.
(Modern science now underlines what Atlas wrote so many year ago
- our body is atoms and cells that must be renewed and duplicated
correctly and healthily. This can only be done through living
the laws of health, which in a large part means correct foods as
God designed for our continued rebuilding of healthy cells -
Keith Hunt)
The six principal classes of foods are:
1. NITROGENOUS or PROTEIN, muscle forming foods.
2. CARBOHYDRATES Or STARCHES, heat and energy creating foods.
3. ORGANIC SALTS and VITAMINS, which supply the body with life.
4. FATS, for warmth and protection.
5. SUGARS, for stamina and endurance.
6. ROUGHAGE, which aids in elimination of body waste matter.
(The 7th would be pure water and air - Keith Hunt)
All foods containing the above constituents of any degree
are valuable for the perfect nourishment and maintenance of the
body in a state of normal health. In other words, health cannot
exist unless all the SIX classes of food are eaten DAILY. If ONE
or more are omitted, you will suffer in consequence.
There are other important factors to be taken into
consideration, such as the right proportion of foods in each of
the six classes. They must also be combined in such a way that on
entering the stomach they can be acted upon by the various
digestive juices with the minimum expenditure of energy. They
must be eaten at regular intervals; under wholesome conditions;
presented in an attractive and appetizing manner and thoroughly
chewed before swallowing.
NUTRITION
Here is a list of those foods containing a large percentage
of nitrogen or protein, that is, muscle forming food:
Nuts (all kinds) Milk and Cheese. Lean Meats. Eggs. Poultry. Fish
Beans, peas etc.
(Of course there is much today that is polluted in these foods
and such should be studied with all the other studies in this
section of FOODS and HEALTH on this Website - Keith Hunt)
Carbohydrates, foods containing starch are included in these
foods:
Bread. Cakes and Puddings. Biscuits. Macaroni, Spaghetti.
Meals and Flours. Potatoes. Cereals, Breakfast foods.
(Again, careful study must be given to natural good carbohydrates
and the subject of refined white flour - a scourge of which is
now finally being recognized by the western world - white flour
products being one of the main ingredients of our diet over the
last 50 years that has led to our health problems, and
contributed to why we have been getting fatter and fatter as a
people - Keith Hunt)
Those foods very rich in Organic Salts embrace the following:
Green Vegetables. Tomatoes. Herbs. Celery and Lettuce.
Pumpkins. Root Vegetables. Oranges and Lemons. Strawberries.
Apples and Pears. Bananas. Raspberries. Melons. Other fruits.
The foods given here are predominant in fat, and are:
Cream. Butter. Cooking fats (olive oil one of the best)
Fat Meats. Nuts. Table and Salad oils.
Another group that cannot be overlooked are sugars, including:
Sugar. Honey. Syrup. Chocolate. Wheat Cake. Desserts.
Preserved fruits. Jellies. Jams. Dried Fruits. Raisins. Dates
and Figs.
(White sugar is like white flour - basically garbage and very
unhealthy - Keith Hunt)
The foods giving the essential roughage are:
Bran. Whole Wheat. Cereals. Leafy Vegetables. Root Vegetables
Fruit Pulp.
Note, that the selection of foods is derived from fruits,
vegetables, dairy products, meats, oils, cereals - and their
products, fish, poultry, preserves.
This includes a large selection in each respective food
group, but you MUST EXERCISE CARE and choose only those that are
called Undenatured foods. That is, those foods from which the
life-principle has not been extracted by commercial processes.
Before going further I will describe those particular foods
which are hardly worth eating, because of their lack of
nourishing qualities. Undoubtedly, the greatest food products
condemned as lacking in the vital elements of nutrition is WHITE
bread and ALL WHITE flour products.
In the refining process of white flour, the millers have
unwisely extracted an important food constituent. The strength of
the wheat has been rejected and is given as feed to pigs. This is
a CRIME. Together with white bread, is to be included such things
as pies, puddings, pastry, cakes, doughnuts, rolls, muffins,
sweets, biscuits and similar preparations made from WHITE flour.
This, the white flour, is the real part the millers should
throw away. There is little nourishment in it.
You cannot become HEALTHY and STRONG by eating this product.
Many recent food tests and experiments have conclusively proven
beyond all possible doubt that animals fed exclusively on a diet
of white bread and water, have lived only a very short period.
The body soon became emaciated and extremely weak, while those
fed on whole wheat bread and water have been healthy and robust,
full of energy and vim, and are well nourished. The WHOLE wheat
kernel contains ALL the essential food qualities in ALMOST
PERFECT proportions. There is vitality concealed within its germ.
You are far better off by eating nothing at all than by
loading the stomach with white flour products.
In truth, you are actually starving the body while eating to
excess, on a diet of this kind. You clog the alimentary treat.
The use of white bread and similar products made entirely of
white flour is the main cause of constipation which is Britain's
predominating complaint (I was receiving these Charles Atlas
lessons in the 50s while being raised in Britain - Keith Hunt).
If you are eager to be free from this annoying condition,
refrain at all times from using any foods where the base is white
flour. As already mentioned, this includes biscuits, pastry,
cake, pudding, pie crusts, rolls, and muffins, etc.
Another class of food stuffs you are urged to avoid is all
fatty meats.
If you eat meat, see that it is very fresh, lean and tender,
well-cooked. The undesirable feature about the fat meat is this:
There are several qualities of fat, but a large percentage
is known as stearin, sometimes called tri-stearin, which is
pearly white crystalline compound, and is ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO
DIGEST - the various digestive juices have very great difficulty
in trying to absorb it and digest it. Refrain from eating it if
you value your health.
Also to be avoided are sharp spices such as: pickles,
pepper, mustard, sauces, vinegar and all similar "foods". These I
strongly condemn because they retard the normal action of
digestion, hardening the lining of the stomach and intestines,
preventing the natural secretion of the gastric fluids, which mix
with the food in the process of digestion. Perhaps the least
harmful of spices is salt. You may use a small quantity, but if
the foods are properly prepared they need no addition to bring
out their true flavour. The excessive use of salt, mustard,
pepper, and vinegar dulls the taste sensibilities, so that the
real flavours of the foods are not known.
Together with the foregoing articles to be condemned in your
dietary, should be included the too frequent use of chocolates
and all commercial sweet products - even the use of white sugar.
These manufactured products are composed largely of a cheap
glucose and other inferior sweetening mixtures, including various
injurious chemicals, compounds, and similar ingredients. If you
must eat sweets at times, be sure it is of the very HIGHEST
quality, and wherever possible, substitute regular maple or brown
sugar for the white commercial kind.
There are still a few more food products which are to be
avoided if possible and embrace such articles as ordinary WHITE
RICE.
The Chinese live almost entirely on rice, but NOT the rice
we get. Genuine rice is unpolished or undressed, and you should
insist upon getting this kind only. It is of a brown appearance,
and, like the whole-wheat flour, has not been robbed of its vital
elements. This also applies to SPAGHETTI and MACARONI, that are
products of white flour. There are conscientious manufacturers
who make these foods from pure WHOLE-wheat.
Their new delicious flavour and nourishing qualities make it
worth your while to procure them....
(Atlas went on to condemn tea and coffee, and while coffee has
little food value but for a quick boost, that's while people
drink it in the mornings right away, to give them a boost - tea
had now been proven a healthy drink, with cancer fighting
ingredients - Keith Hunt)
I have mentioned a great many ordinary articles of diet I
want you to refrain from eating and drinking. From my past
experience, long study and careful observation, I have found that
the large majority of people are sick today because of dietetic
errors. They do not know what to eat and what not to eat to
insure the maximum of health and efficiency. Now that I have told
you what to avoid, you will, I hope, switch from those articles
to others which will supply the body with its needed elements.
You want increased health, muscular power and strength,
magnetism personality, courage and confidence - you cannot get
them from eating products that will not give you a strong
perfect body. It is essential that you grasp this idea and at all
times refrain from eating anything which has no real dietetic
value. If you do, you simply hinder the building-up process.
You sow the seeds of disease, and you MUST reap the penalty of
poor health as the result of your disobedience of Nature's
unalterable laws.
Again I must repeat; as the mighty engines derive their
power from carefully selected fuels, so do you derive your power
from carefully selected foods.
Because of the tremendous importance diet plays in the
actual promotion of your health, I feel it my imperative duty to
inform you fully and freely of my latest investigations and
experiments along this line. I warn you to treat your stomach
with respect, and supply it with only those foods which will aid
in the building of a more perfect and beautiful body.
It is a well established fact that a great number of
diseases may be overcome merely by the selection of proper foods
suited to the individual's requirements. Thus, if you are
overweight, by cutting out the fat forming foods, you will, other
things being equal, become normal. On the other hand, if
underweight, you can make considerable gains by following out a
well-planned dietetic regime. It is, of course, impossible to
give menu lists for you to observe all through life, so I am
devoting a little space to give you more information concerning
foods, thereby enabling you to select your own wisely and
carefully.
As many diseases originate from impurities in the blood, and
the blood is manufactured from the food eaten, it stands to
reason if you select healthful foods, you will have pure blood
and the disease will gradually disappear. Therefore, in building
up a perfect, and reasonably muscular body, you must henceforth
confine your diet to those particular foods which contain all the
elements to thoroughly nourish the body, making sure you get a
very generous supply or organic salts and vitamins.
Special care must be exercised in having the right food
combinations at each meal. The various foods should blend when
mixed in the stomach. No matter how nourishing the foods are, if
you display ignorance in not combining them appropriately you
will suffer in consequence. If you wish to determine beforehand
as to whether the foods of any meal are a satisfactory
combination, imagine all these foods mixed up in a large bowl,
and consider what possibilities there are of making good, rich
blood from the mixture. Do not eat all nitrogenous (muscle
forming) foods at one meal. Nor should you eat all starch or
carbohydrates foods at any one meal. You can easily consult the
food groups given on an earlier page and see that at each meal
you combine proteins with starches and organic salts, and so
forth. This will be a fair guide in helping you decide just how
to balance your diet for maximum health and strength.
CHEWING IT ALL
Do not forget the first process or digestion commences in
the mouth. All your food must be carefully and THOROUGHLY chewed
before you swallow it. So many people are in the habit of
hurrying their meals and then help wash it down with a cup of
coffee. This undigested mass lies in the stomach a very long
time, requiring considerable energy to cope with it. You cannot
afford to waste this energy. You need it - every ounce. Conserve
it as much as possible by giving your teeth the work they are
meant to do. Do not impose on your stomach by sending down
unmasticated foods. All food, including fluids, must be well
mixed with the saliva is the mouth before swallowing. Then, on
its arrival in the stomach it is ready for the next process in
the act of digestion.
You should be really hungry when you eat, and you cannot
enjoy your food when constantly eating snacks between meals.
Allow at least five or six hours to elapse between your meals.
The digestive system needs a rest just the same as you do.
Many foods take from three to five hours or more to be
digested, so you see the poor stomach does not get much rest
anyhow. Treat it with respect! Never exercise for at least two or
three hours after a meal. The stomach demands an extra supply of
blood when digesting food; if you exercise just after a meal the
stomach is denied the blood it needs for its work, and the
process of digestion is considerably delayed, therefore you
derive no benefit from the exercise. Have a care. If you are in a
great hurry, do not eat until you have time to really sit down
quietly and enjoy your meal. If you MUST eat at this time eat
only a very small quantity. Realize, it is not how MUCH you eat,
but what you ASSIMILATE that counts. Therefore, a little,
properly eaten is of far more value than a lot of food gulped
down any way.
You are especially urged to beware of the common practice of
getting a 'light lunch' or tea and a 'slice of cake'. What
nourishment is in these? Very little. Yet millions of men and
women are doing this every mid-day. If you have only the time for
a light lunch get some wholewheat or digestive biscuits and a
glass of milk, eating them very slowly. The price is the same but
the amount of nutrition cannot be compared. You may vary the milk
by using malted milk with an egg beaten up in it....
Restaurant foods should be selected with care. Demand whole
wheat or brown broad in place of the white flour rolls. Finish
your meal with a fruit salad or fruit of some kind. This insures
your getting some organic salts, at the same time leaving a clean
taste in your mouth.
TRANQUIL MIND
See that all your meals are eaten under wholesome
conditions, amid pleasant surroundings. Of the utmost consequence
in securing the maximum benefit from your eating, is the
assumption of cheerfulness. Do you realize your food cannot be
digested if the mind is disturbed by worry, anxiety, fear, and
other mental troubles? Such is actually the case. Refuse
absolutely to be mentally disturbed during mealtimes. You should
enjoy light, sociable conversation on pleasant topics during
meals.
OVEREATING!
With regard to your eating see that you get sufficient
nourishment without overeating. You may be eating far beyond your
bodily requirements and still be undernourished. This is because
you are not selecting the proper kinds of foods. In seeking
health and strength, you should select muscle-forming foods
instead of fat-forming. Most thin people are so because they do
not eat enough. If you feel tired, heavy and the mind
clogged, you can depend upon it - you have been overeating.
This condition is far worse than undereating, and must be guarded
against.
VALUE OF WATER
A very important but simple method in Health and Strength
Building is the frequent drinking of PURE WATER. I want you to
get the water-drinking habit. Water is the universal solvent. Its
great value is that it flushes out the impurities from the body -
washing away all poisonous waste matter from the stomach,
thoroughly cleansing the kidneys. In addition to sweeping the
debris from the system it is also a vitalizing element, because
among its constituents are oxygen, and valuable minerals.
I suggest that you drink from six to eight glasses of pure
water each day. As in all other things, there is a correct method
of drinking water and the following rules you are kindly asked to
observe:
Drink at least six or eight glasses of clean water daily.
Do not drink at meal times to "wash down" your food. It is
preferable to avoid drinking half an hour before and half an hour
after meals. If, however, you are very thirsty drink sufficient
to quench actual thirst. Avoid gulping down water. Sip it slowly,
mixing it with the saliva, endeavouring to "chew" it as you would
a solid. Refrain from drinking too cold a water. By thus freezing
your stomach you retard the natural action of the gastric juices
and work havoc with the digestive system. Likewise avoid very hot
drinks. Why scald the stomach with fluids sizzling hot? If you
are hot and very thirsty, refresh the mouth by rinsing, but do
not swallow for a time. Water should be cool as normally comes
from the tap. If the water has been standing any length of time,
it is well to aerate it by pouring from one vessel to another, or
sipping through a straw which has been pierced with several
pin-holes. Drink a glass of warm water immediately on arising.
If it has a flat taste, sweeten with a spoonful of pure honey, or
add the juice of half a lemon. Do not drink too much water prior
to going to bed. Satisfy normal thirst to be sure. If you drink
late at night it may mean you will wake at an unduly early hour
to relieve the bladder. Whenever this desire is experienced,
by all means eliminate the waste matter. Never retain it or you
may do yourself considerable harm. Have a glass of pure water
always on hand on your desk or table and drink freely and often
between meals, because it washes away toxic matter and gives new
tissue an opportunity to grow.
DRINK WATER FREQUENTLY EVERY DAY. MAKE IT A REGULAR HABIT.
SPECIAL SECRETS FOR RAPIDLY BUILDING ENORMOUS POWER
I realize you are anxious to build up great strength and
power as soon as possible. Here is a simple secret which will
give you the results you hope for. It is a special food which you
should take regularly. It is more easily assimilated than any
other food, it is very quickly digested, requiring little energy
to convert it into muscle and blood. It is more like blood in its
component parts than any other food of which I know. It is filled
with all the elements necessary to sustain life for an indefinite
period. It is a natural food product, and, taken under the simple
directions I am advocating, will produce results nothing short of
marvellous. This unique food is MILK!
Yes, milk is this secret health builder. By its use in large
quantities you can build a NEW PERFECT BODY of SOUND FLESH and
muscle. Have you ever noticed a baby's beautiful skin? It's easy!
Drink pure milk, and drink lots of it. That's the secret of the
baby's marvellous skin -- just plain, good, rich, nourishing
MILK.
(Taking this Atlas course at age 13 I wanted to escape the bad
complexion many teens have during their teen years. In England in
the 50s we had free milk at school - the milk where the cream
came to the top - much more pure than today's refined "store"
milk. I started to watch my "sweet" intake and I drank at least a
quart of milk a day. I had through my teen years a facial
complexion that the girls in school even envied. In following
Atlas' guide I still today at age 61 as this is entered here,
have a complexion that is 30 years younger than my biological age
- Keith Hunt)
After you have made yourself drink milk for the first three
or four days you'll so enjoy it, you won't want to give it up. At
the end of a week you will be able to notice an increase in your
entire development that will astonish and please you. I am so
enthusiastic over the value of milk as a health and strength
builder, that I want you to drink lots of it -- yes, every day.
Will you? I say "drink" it; I should have said "eat" - it. Milk
is more than a drink; it is food. It must be masticated in the
mouth, and not just poured down the throat as is the usual
practice. It must be carefully "chewed" as you would a solid. In
fact, it contains a number of solids among which in a little
stearin, which I discussed under the question of fate. This must
be well mixed with the saliva before it is allowed to pass down
the throat. Always remember to SIP MILK SLOWLY. I tell you this
because I want you to get the utmost benefit from the milk, so
kindly heed this advice.
Of course, it seems hardly necessary to refer to the quality
and purity of the milk. It must be PERFECTLY PURE, of SUPERIOR
QUALITY. If at all possible, secure the new sweet milk direct
from healthy cows...
(Yes, Atlas was NOT talking about today's refined pasteurized
"store" milk. There is a full study on "milk" on this Website -
Keith Hunt)
Regarding the quantity of milk to be taken daily, that
depends upon how convenient it is for you. If you can, without
any trouble, go on what I call the "exclusive milk diet" for a
week, so much the better.
When on this diet, eat nothing else, except, perhaps, a
little light fruit occasionally. The milk diet consists of
drinking a glass of pure milk each hour for the first few days.
After that period drink and "chew" a glass every three-quarters
of an hour, and by the end of one week of this diet, you can
consume a glass every half hour. Start about 8:00 in the morning
and have a glass promptly each half hour. You can do this by
taking two quart bottles in the morning, drinking a quart at
noon, enjoying two more quarts during the afternoon, and another
at night. Naturally, with the large amount of fluid entering the
body, you will be compelled to empty the bladder by frequent
urinations during the day. But you should understand that this
cleansing process is sweeping away all dead poisonous matter,
waste products, and thoroughly flushing out the entire body as
nothing else can. Your body will then be pure and sweet and
clean, actually made over by the life giving elements of the
milk.
OVERVIEW
At dinner see that you get a properly balanced meal, with
the proteins, fate, carbohydrates, mineral or organic salts.
This can be assured if you have a non-greasy soup, lean meat or
cheese omelet, etc., nutloaf, green vegetables, potatoes, fruit
salad or fruit of some kind. If you have potatoes, you do not
need macaroni, spaghetti, rise, tapioca or sago because they are
all carbohydrates. If you have peas you do not require beans or
nuts at the same meal otherwise you get too much protein. It is
hardly likely that you mill get too great a quantity of organic
salts from fruits or raw green vegetables. It is the better plan
if possible to have your dinner - the heaviest meal - at mid-day,
and a supper consisting of something not quite so substantial as
at noon.
Please do not make the mistake of eating MORE than you
can enjoy. Do not FORCE food on the stomach.
(A now recognized huge problem for people in North America, who
have been not only eating wrong refined and wrong "fats" foods
for 30 years or more, BUT have been eating FAR TOO MUCH of it -
hence our obesity has sky-rocketed and our children are fatter
than ever in our history - Keith Hunt)
If you are not eating very much then increase the quantity a
little at each meal. Remember, you cannot increase muscles and
round out the body to perfection on a split pea and a glass of
water. You've GOT to eat.
Each meal should thoroughly satisfy you and you ought to
experience a feeling of contentment after eating.
If you will practice diligently the exercises being sent to
you, you will not suffer from muscular inactivity....
In addition to the above suggestions take care that you do
nothing that will in any way lower the vitality and tear the body
down. Conserve your energies as much as possible.. Strive to
perfect your body for your particular type of build.
Concentrate on gaining strength and within a few weeks you
will be astonished at your progress.
Yours for Perfect Manhood, Charles Atlas
................
Wow, just good basic teachings, all in a BALANCE of wholesome
foods that God designed for our health and enjoyment.
GOOD NATURAL foods in BALANCE, BALANCE ... eating slowly, chewing
thoroughly, staying away from the many refined carbo junk stuff,
and NOT over-eating. Now America is finally getting it and making
a way BACK to the way Charles Atlas taught so many years ago, way
before the Atkins diet came along. Atkins has written some great
things but his personal diet he lived was way off balance - not
at all the balance Mr.Atlas built his massive health and strength
on, some of his feats of strength were truly amazing. You may
not live to be 120 (Atlas lived to be 80) but it is the way God
wants you to eat, remember it is written, our physical body is
His Temple. We need to take care of it!
Keith Hunt
Entered on this Website February 2004
|
