Diet and Dietetics

1906

Truby King Collection WB 400 G851 1906

London: Archibald Constable

Herbert Spencer’s phrase: ‘Success in life depends more on energy than information’, was added to by King with: ‘no system which sacrifices energy for information is good.’ With diet and good food an integral component of his recovery plans, King consulted an English edition of Armand Gautier’s Diet and Dietetics. Gautier, Professor at the Sorbonne, divided food of mankind into two sorts: meat and vegetables. Aiming towards national regeneration, Gautier maintained a balance was required, with the former (meat) fostering the aggressive pursuit of self-interest; the latter (vegetables) acting as a restraining, moralising force. Here King uses Gautier’s data for his own ‘energy’ calculations.