Dietary advice circa 1861

Public health nutritional advocate Marion Nestle shared this information she learned at a recent conference.

David Schnackenberg, who runs a website on the history of military nutrition, gave these dietary guidelines from 1861. They are from a monograph by Dr. John Ordonaux, "Hints on the Preservation of Health in the Armies: for the Use of Volunteer Officers and Soldiers."

• Soldiers should be fed a mixed diet of animal and vegetable substances.

• A variety of foods are needed to avoid monotony and increase assimilation.

• A healthy diet must conform to the physiological requirements of the season with less animal fats in the summer, and more starch, vegetables, and fruits.

• Fresh fruits are always preferable to dry or preserved ones.

• Farinaceous (cruciferous) vegetables are more nourishing than roots or grasses.

• French army dietaries provide nutritious soups made with meat or vegetables.

• The woody fiber of the vegetable provides bulk as well as nourishment.

• Each company should have at least one educated cook.

• Beans, unless thoroughly cooked, are only fit for horses. When half-cooked, they will provoke indigestion and diarrhea.

• Ardent spirits are not necessary for health and the soldier is better off without them.

• Soldiers must be well fed to bear the fatigues of marching, to encounter unaffected the changes of climate, and to develop a high muscular tone.

Bonnie - wow...we could have learned something from our fighting men.