Fitness

When a good nutrition program is conscientiously followed, other problems often disappear. They are rather like happiness which comes as a by-product of unselfishness but is elusive if sought directly. No one can say what nutrients or combinations of nutrients have brought about the change. Probably the improved psychological outlook which comes with feeling better helps as much as anything.

It has been known for years, for example, that persons who drink excessively suffer from multiple nutritional deficiencies. Only recently has the work of Dr. Roger J. Williams at the University of Texas and of other scientists shown that the desire to drink, in itself, can be caused by nutritional deficiencies.

Many experiments have been conducted, the general gist of which is as follows: Large numbers of rats are given the choice of four beverages: water; 3 per cent alcohol, representing beer; 10 per cent alcohol, comparable to light wines; and 50 per cent alcohol, suggestive of hard liquors. Each rat is kept in a separate cage, its liquid consumption measured daily. All the animals are given the same “normal” diet. Under such treatment, some rats become teetotalers; others land on skid road. Then the abstainers are put on an inadequate diet, perhaps partially lacking one or more B vitamins. The excessive drinkers are given a superior diet containing far above normal amounts of certain nutrients, especially the B vitamins. Before long, the teetotaler rats start drinking, and many land on skid road. All the skid road rats drink less, and many become teetotalers. When offspring of the teetotaler rats and the skid road rats are offered their choice of drinks as were their parents, like-father-like-son, they become abstainers or drunkards.

A number of conclusions have been drawn from such experiments. First, there is no such thing as a «normal” diet. What is normal for one person may not be normal at all for another. Second, the need for greater than so-called «normal” amounts of certain nutrients is a hereditary need. When these excessively high nutritional requirements are not met, the person with such needs becomes susceptible to certain abnormalities to which Dr. Williams has given the name “genetotrophic diseases,” of which alcoholism is one. If the nutrition is adequate for each individual, however, such diseases need not appear in any generation. Another conclusion is that alcoholism might be partly prevented if our national diet were improved. The third conclusion to be drawn from the experiments is that if persons who have the compulsive urge to drink excessively are given far-above-average amounts of certain nutrients and are treated with understanding, their desire for liquor may decrease; a few may even stop drinking.

Although an undersupply of B vitamins appears to be a -major cause of alcoholism, the blood sugar level is also of extreme importance (ref. 3, P: 14) as is the amount of fat and protein in the diet. A factor N 1 believed to be in yeast, liver, meat, and wheat germ 1 has been emphasized as being another nutrient perhaps necessary in preventing the craving for alcohol. Although Alcoholics Anonymous deserves no word of criticism, its members suffer unnecessarily by being unaware of the value of good nutrition. They wash B vitamins from their bodies by drinking tremendous quantities of coffee. They lower their blood sugar levels by over-stimulating their insulin flow with quantities of sweets. They merely change crutches from alcohol to tremendous quantities of coffee, sugar, and tobacco. Ignoring as they do the simple rudiments of good nutrition, without either dietary or psychological help, it is surprising indeed that as many give up alcohol as do. Certainly nutrition is only one part of this problem. Who knows how important a part?

Mrs. Gladys Lindberg, who in my opinion is making an outstanding contribution to nutrition, has worked for some years with men whom Alcoholics Anonymous has failed to help. As usual, it started with one man, who, down and out, an alcoholic for 32 years, came to see her. Let us call him Mr. X. Mrs. Lindberg asked him if he would help her with an experiment to see if good nutrition could decrease his craving for alcohol. He agreed, and she supplied the nutrients. At the end of the first week he reported incredulously that his craving had decreased and that he felt unbelievably better. Each week improvement was greater. Soon he found employment.

In our city a man and his wife, themselves ex-alcoholics, own a large car-washing establishment. They employ about 20 men, all alcoholics whom they usually find in flophouses; they give these men food and a dormitory to sleep in and guarantee employment as long as they do not drink. Mr. X. became one of their employees. In the evenings, the men came to the dormitory, threw themselves on the beds with exhaustion which went to the marrow of their bones; they were too exhausted to seek entertainment, too afraid they would be tempted to take the drinks which could bring relief. Mr. X. worked as hard as they but felt no exhaustion and craved no drinks. He told them of Mrs. Lindberg, and they went to her and told their friends who then went to her. They found that as long as they followed her nutritional program, their exhaustion and their craving disappeared.

Mrs. Lindberg gives these men an adequate diet supplemented with yeast mix containing liver concentrate massive doses of synthetic B vitamins, large amounts of soybean oil, vitamins A, C, D, and E in capsules or tablets, and enough enzyme tablets and hydrochloric acid tablets to insure efficient digestion. Although her results will never reach the pages of a medical journal, I suspect that she will have a special feather in a wing some day. If you ever want to talk to men who have gone overboard on good nutrition, you should talk to some of her teetotalers.

A problem which is in my opinion easily corrected by sound nutrition is a low basal metabolic rate (BMR), or subnormal energy production. Probably no physician would agree with me. The reason, I believe, is that although any doctor sees hundreds of patients with low BMRs, few if any have seen patients who have improved their nutrition sufficiently to raise their BMRs to normal. “Internal laziness” could describe this condition except that it would ignore the external laziness which is far more of a problem. Physicians usually recommend thyroid tablets for subnormal energy production. Such tablets are perhaps necessary at times and do increase the BMR, often, I am afraid, at the expense of general health. To me taking thyroid is like whipping a tired horse instead of letting it rest awhile, then giving it enough oats so that it no longer wants or needs to rest.