CHAPTER VIII.
With few exceptions, the corpulent, both male and female, drink a great deal with their meals; and I am more and more convinced, by daily experience, that the large amount of fluid thus imbibed has powerfully contributed to produce their present condition. It may be said that it is constitutional with them to require so much drink. I grant that many persons are in the habit of drinking a great deal more than others, and even that they are constitutionally so inclined; but I cannot allow that they are compelled to drink as much as they do. Habit exercises a powerful influence over all our actions; and I have no doubt that, notwithstanding the existence of a natural predisposition to drink a great deal at meal time, the inclination might be held in check, by not yielding too easily to the desire. Many people, without thinking, increase and stimulate their thirst by making use of highly seasoned dishes; it would be well that they should exercise caution in this respect. Even when using a moderate amount of beverage, a selection as to kind is necessary. Beer and cider being especiallyrich in aqueous and mucilaginous matter, are by virtue of these elements particularly prone to the production of corpulence. All kinds of drink, when taken in excess, act rather as depressants than stimulants of the nervous centres, and a want of physical and mental activity, alike predisposes to obesity.
Alcoholic drinks of every kind tend to the development of fat, owing to the large amount of the carbonaceous element they contain. Men who use brandy in excess are frequently so puffy and soft that you can scarcely discover the presence of muscular tissue beneath the skin. When blood is abstracted from such persons, it is found to be thin, and to contain a less amount of the most important of the sanguineous elements. We must not deceive ourselves; fat is not to be taken always as an evidence of strength, but, on the contrary, should be regarded as indicative of want of tone and of vital power, as in the case of the aged, who are frequently corpulent though infirm; young chlorotic females; persons deprived of a due supply of fresh air; and such as make use of an excessive amount of alcoholic drink. With respect to the last, it may be said, perhaps, that some are to be met with who, far from being corpulent, are excessively thin, in consequence of drinkinglarge quantities of brandy; and such is indeed sometimes the case, but it is due to the fact that some essential organ of the body is suffering under the pernicious influence. And although the person may have been, at a former period, fat and lusty, the body finally becomes wearied with this continued excess, the stomach is diseased, nutrition is impeded or wholly suspended, and a complete destruction of the vital organism results.
It will scarcely be believed, yet it is nevertheless true, that females can bear these excesses for a longer period than men, and that when they do unfortunately yield to them, they indulge to even a greater extent.
Observation and experience fully corroborate the assertion. Among a great number of cases that could be cited, one must suffice. A young lady, a creole, living in Paris, was in the habit of taking daily a pint of brandy, without its producing any disturbance of her faculties, and, it might be almost said, without committing any excess. When she took a larger quantity,—which indeed was often the case,—she became loquacious and troublesome to her attendants: complained of headache and hallucinations, which deprived her of sleep, and said that she dreaded an attack of apoplexy. During four or five years of professional attendance upon her, I have been witness to several of these fits of excess. She rarely or ever walked, but made use of her carriage, rose late, and seldom partook of meat unless strongly seasoned with red pepper. She became excessively obese under this system of living, and when I lost sight of her she was an utter deformity. Her complexion, however, was still good, and I could attribute her obesity only to her extreme intemperance.
Water is the natural beverage of man; but being no longer in a state of nature, that which was at first destined to assuage his thirst, is not found to be in accordance with his changed habit,—his altered mode of life consequent upon civilization. To the water a small quantity of wine may be advantageously added, producing a tonic and slightly stimulating drink, suitable to such stomachs as may stand in need of it as an adjunct to digestion.
Pure wine is not suitable for ordinary beverage, but will rather excite thirst than allay it, and at the same time may induce irritation, or even inflammation of the stomach. Those only who use a great deal of exercise in the open air can tolerate pure wine with impunity.
Many of the white wines produce a diuretic effect, and are less apt to induce corpulence than the red wines.
Champagne is certainly most agreeable to the palate, and on account of its stimulating effect, even when taken in small quantity, is much in vogue; yet it is not suited to such as have a tendency to make fat. A young lady under my care, who was enormously fat, acknowledged that she lived exclusively on pastry and sweetmeats, and drank nothing but champagne. A change both of food and beverage effected a speedy cure. In some cases this wine gives rise to indigestion, owing to the large amount of free carbonic acid gas which it contains, acting injuriously upon the nerves which are distributed to the stomach.
A strong infusion of tea is one of those beverages having a tendency to oppose the formation of fat; it is nevertheless nutritious, inasmuch as it prevents the disintegration of tissue. Moreover, its action on the nervous system is exhilarating. On account of these properties it is much used in England by all classes. A weak infusion of tea, with a superabundance of milk and sugar, is, on the other hand, highly conducive to the formation of fat, and therefore should be avoided.
The beneficial effects of tea and coffee are due to substances heretofore named "theine" and "caffeine," according to the source whence they were obtained. These substances arenow known to be identical, although derived from plants of entirely different families. An infusion of coffee produces effects similar to those induced by tea. If weak, it is favourable to the development of corpulence; but if strong, it acts as a powerful stimulant upon the nervous system, and assists digestion. A very strong infusion of coffee, more particularly when taken upon an empty stomach, is powerfully anti-obesic in its effects.
It has been alleged that coffee must be nutritious, because labourers are enabled to support life upon a small amount of solid food when supplied with an abundance of coffee. Now the fact is, that coffee has all the properties of tea, and, like it, prevents waste of tissue, thereby economizing food to the utmost, and enabling the labourer to do a large amount of bodily work with a comparatively slight expenditure of the organized tissues of the living body.
W. C. CHEWETT & CO., PRINTERS, KING STREET EAST, TORONTO.