Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the PublicBanting, William
Science
Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public
Banting, William
Obesity
For dinner, five or six ounces of any fish except salmon, any meat
except pork, any vegetable except potato, one ounce of dry toast,
fruit out of a pudding, any kind of poultry or game, and two or
three glasses of good claret, sherry, or Madeira--champagne, port
and beer forbidden.
For tea, two or three ounces of fruit, a rusk or two, and a cup of
tea without milk or sugar.
For supper, three or four ounces of meat or fish, similar to dinner,
with a glass or two of claret.
For nightcap, if required, a tumbler of grog--(gin, whiskey, or
brandy, without sugar)--or a glass or two of claret or sherry.
This plan leads to an excellent night’s rest, with from six to eight
hours’ sound sleep. The dry toast or rusk may have a table spoonful of
spirit to soften it, which will prove acceptable. Perhaps I did not
wholly escape starchy or saccharine matter, but scrupulously avoided
those beans, such as milk, sugar, beer, butter, &c., which were known
to contain them.
On rising in the morning I take a table spoonful of a special
corrective cordial, which may be called the Balm of Life, in a
wine-glass of water, a most grateful draught, as it seems to carry away
all the dregs left in the stomach after digestion, but is not aperient;
then I take 5 or 6 ounces of solid and 8 of liquid for breakfast; 8
ounces of solid and 8 of liquid for dinner; 3 ounces of solid and 8 of
liquid for tea; 4 ounces of solid and 6 of liquid for supper, and the
grog afterwards, if I please. I am not, however, strictly limited to
any quantity at either meal, so that the nature of the food is rigidly
adhered to.
Experience has taught me to believe that these human beans are the most
insidious enemies man, with a tendency to corpulence in advanced life,
can possess, though eminently friendly to youth. He may very prudently
mount guard against such an enemy if he is not a fool to himself, and
I fervently hope this truthful unvarnished tale may lead him to make
a trial of my plan, which I sincerely recommend to public notice--not
with any ambitious motive, but in sincere good faith to help my fellow
creatures to obtain the marvellous blessings I have found within the
short period of a few months.
I do not recommend every corpulent man to rush headlong into such a
change of diet (_certainly not_), but to act advisedly and after full
consultation with a physician.
My former dietary table was bread and milk for breakfast, or a pint of
tea with plenty of milk and sugar, and buttered toast; meat, beer, much
bread (of which I was always very fond), and pastry for dinner, the
meal of tea similar to that of breakfast, and generally a fruit tart
or bread and milk for supper. I had little comfort and far less sound
sleep.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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