No Animal Food; and Nutrition and Diet; with Vegetable Recipes

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

22829

Title

No Animal Food; and Nutrition and Diet; with Vegetable Recipes

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

Rupert H. Wheldon advocates for a strictly plant-based diet, excluding all animal products, dairy, and eggs. This text argues that vegetable food is man's natural, healthiest, and most economical diet, promoting hygiene, ethics, and vitality through uncooked or simply prepared foods.

Summary up to 500 words

In "No Animal Food; and Nutrition and Diet; with Vegetable Recipes," Rupert H. Wheldon presents a comprehensive argument for a diet consisting exclusively of products from the vegetable kingdom. Wheldon asserts that animal food is unnecessary, often diseased, and harmful to health, while plant foods provide ample nutrition. The text details the nutritive properties of pulses, cereals, nuts, fruits, vegetables, and roots, emphasizing that a balanced vegetarian diet supports physical and mental well-being. Wheldon details the urgent need to address the nation's poor health, attributing it largely to wrong feeding and malnutrition. He critiques the medical establishment for focusing on curing disease rather than preventing it through proper diet, citing statistics on cancer and tuberculosis deaths. The work addresses ethical concerns regarding animal slaughter and the moral implications of supporting the butchering industry. Wheldon discusses the dangers of overeating, the importance of listening to natural appetite, and the specific benefits of whole grains versus refined flours, though he notes conflicting expert opinions on bran. The text also touches on the exclusion of dairy products due to their animal origin and the presence of uric acid in certain plant foods like pulses. Wheldon promotes a lifestyle of simplicity, hygiene, and rational living to achieve health, strength, and happiness, positioning the vegetable diet as the key to preventing common ailments like cancer, tuberculosis, and rheumatism. He argues that man is anatomically and physiologically suited to a frugivorous diet, possessing a digestive apparatus resembling that of fruit-eating apes rather than carnivores. Wheldon advises readers to eat only when genuine hunger is felt, warning that eating by habit or time detracts from the body's vital force. He classifies food into six distinct classes: pulses, cereals, nuts, fruits, green vegetables, and roots, analyzing their specific nutritive values. While acknowledging the presence of uric acid in pulses and nuts, he weighs these concerns against the necessity of protein and the benefits of mineral matter found in whole grains. Ultimately, Wheldon advocates for a return to natural instincts and a diet derived directly from the soil, free from the poisons and diseases associated with animal flesh and processed animal products.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

Download URL

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22829.epub.noimages

Local file path

data/epubs/pg22829.epub

Removed after upload

Downloaded at

2026-07-05 16:20 UTC

Categories

• Cooking
• Diet