This action is destroyed when coarse wholemeal flour is used, owing to the larger particles of bran present tending to soak up the fat when heated. The fat is thus drained from one layer to another and the flaky effect is thus not secured. The VITALAND new process wholemeal pastry flour, owing to the bran being much more finely ground, overcomes this difficulty, and a flaky pie-crust is obtained.
If it could be proved that the finer grinding of the starch in the wholemeal flour was beneficial this could be done by sifting out the starch, regrinding, and replacing. By experiments recently made the writer and all others in the known are of the opinion that the finer grinding of the bran, etc., is very unwise for the following reasons:-.
It is claimed that by a special process the Bran is reduced to a fine grist, whereby 22 per cent. of mineral salts, 34 per cent. of malt sugar and 6 per cent. of wheat oil are liberated and spread over the meal. No proof, however, is forthcoming that if this is done that the system will obtain any extra benefit when digested on that account. Further, there is no doubt that the sweet nutty flavour the new process flour possesses is entirely lost by the special process described, while a pronounced strange unattractive flavour remains, both in the flour and bread made therefrom.
It is useless persuading the public to eat even the “Staff of Life” that possesses a flavour they do not like, and it will certainly not tend to be an aid to digestion or prove to be beneficial to them. There are other foods besides bran that are not improved in flavour by very fine grinding. Figs provide a good example. To get over the seed difficulty for those with false teeth the seeds are ground, but this cannot be done without some change of flavour and value as a laxative.
In fact, I am not at all sure that the broad bran that our esteemed Editor is so enthusiastic in recommending, is not of much more service as a curative agent for constipation or other forms of indigestion than finely ground bran. Judging by the reports received from sufferers it certainly is If, through eating white bread it is considered wise to eat Bran or Germ, it is much more likely to prove beneficial if partaken in a palatable form, obtainable from Health Food Stores.
Such as Pitman Washed Bran, Wheaten Bran Breakfast Food, specially prepared at our Editors request,or ready to eat foods such as Crumbled Bran, Vitanut Bran Flakes or Vitanut Germ Flakes. There may, however, be two sides to all that has been written above regarding the best method to produce wholemeal flour.
The subject being a very important one, not only for “Self Healing” but to render “Self Healing” unnecessary, I shall be pleased accordingly for any of my readers, who would like to give me their opinion, or to pass on any useful experience to write to me at Vitaland, Four Oaks, Warwickshire. If their views are of sufficient interest I will endeavour to deal with same in a future issue. So much having been written regarding the methods of the manufacture of Wholemeal Flour, the importance of Wholemeal Flour should not be overlooked but rather given prominence to :-.
WHITE BREAD AN APOLOGY FOR A MEAL.
Some years ago, during the severe weather, a case was reported in the daily press of a poor girl, who one morning died of exhaustion, in a Midland factory. It was brought out in evidence that all this victim of modern civilization had been in the habit of having for breakfast was the usual tea with white bread and butter. The Coroners remarks were to the effect that this was not sufficient; being an apology for a meal, and the cause of the tragedy.
Wholemeal flour, the ground whole wheat berry, the staff of life, on which a great part of the worlds best work has been accomplished, such wheat flour “an apology for a meal ?” no, never. Any more than oatmeal has proved to be “an apology for a meal” to the hardly Scot, but the Coroner was right; a change and robbery had taken place during the process of milling. I hope to deal further with this aspect of the subject in the August issue.
WHOLEMEAL BREAD.
THE TRUE STAFF OF LIFE.
THAT it is quite possible to enjoy perfect health while living on brown bread alone, made from pure wholemeal flour (the ground wheat berry), the following experiments conclusively demonstrate. If Nut Butter, Olive Oil, or other such pure fat is added a plain but perfect and sufficient diet is ensured. On the other hand, living on white bread alone proved to be a slow process of starvation, white bread being very deficient in the all-essential mineral salts, without which the digestive processes seem unable to function normally.
The present-day scientific gentlemen inform us that wholemeal bread cannot be so completely assimilated as white ; to admit this we appear to be driven to the conclusion that the fault is either with the modern digestive organs, or must be placed to the account of Him who first fashioned the golden grain and formed the human digestive tract.
If, however, the wheat is reasonably finely ground it will still be found that the outer covering of the wheat acts as an aid to digestion, rather than otherwise, in as much as its presence separates the particles of food so that the various digestive juices may penetrate the mass and dissolve out all the nutritive matter. Thus the digestive canal is not clogged, but the bowels are constipation, stiffening of the joints, and many other troubles connected with a diet of white bread being prevented thereby.
LIFE ON BREAD ALONE.
“One cannot live on bread alone,” rightly interpreted means that the body can live on bread alone. But that bread must be wholemeal bread ; in other words, the whole of the grain, if their is to be nothing but bread. The impossibility of living any length of time on white bread only and proof of the complete diet that wholemeal bread only and proof of the complete diet that wholemeal bread provides, has been clearly demonstrated by Doctors and Scientists in experiments on white mice, dogs, and other animals, but it is not wise to pin ones faith on any such experiments carried, out by the writer some years ago.
As a food reformer, and one spending his life in the study of finding the best possible foods for all conditions of life, he began the following experiments with a considerable amount of interest. Without any deviation from his usual habits the experiments were made, and the tests should be all the more reliable owing to the fact that they were carried out by one not used to a stimulating diet, but by an abstainer from fish, flesh fowl, drugs tea, coffee, alcoholic stimulants and tobacco and a “no-breakfast” man. He commenced with the white bread, and lived or rather existed entirely on it for a fortnight, losing two and a quarter pounds in weight the first day.
This loss had increased to six and a half pounds on the fifth day, in spite of the fact that all the white bread possible had been eaten during the time. It seemed impossible to satisfy his hunger ; although usually he never experienced any of the “twelve oclock craving for something to eat”, so well known to our flesh-eating friends. Another thing happened that he had never experienced since boyhood, he became constipated. To remedy this, new bread was eaten which had the opposite effect, so care had to be exercised during the remainder of the time to steer between the two extremes, with the satisfaction of knowing that it was only for fourteen days.
But these were not the only troubles encountered. He became weaker each day, noticeably indicated when cycling up steep hills, by a pain in the small of the back, the same being appeared to have taken nothing to provide the heat necessary to keep the body warm. This was bad enough in the day time but at night it was much worse, being kept awake for hours with pains in the joints, caused by the cold. During this fortnight he spent more time in bed awake, than he usually did in twelve months. Instead of waking in the morning refreshed, and with the “up-and- at-it” feeling so noticeable when fasting, the opposite was the case.
Although when fasting for some days together the same feeling of weakness and and coldness had been experienced, but not so acutely, there had been no stomach troubles. With care he kept just at the afore-mentioned weight during including Christmas he commenced a fortnight on wholemeal bread. Having been previously weighted very carefully, and feeling quite fit the first day he was very curious to know what he would scale in the evening, and was certainly surprised to find that instead of having lost two and a quarter pounds, he had gained one half pound, and at about this weight he kept during the remainder of the time.
He felt no indication of weakness and although the weather was quite as severe as that experienced during the previous test, there was no more feeling of coldness than when partaking of his ordinary diet. Doubtless in time, the small amount of fat contained in a diet of brown bread only would have been found insufficient but there were no ill effects whatsoever experienced during the fortnight in question.
Henry followed in his father's footsteps, obtaining his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from Durham in 1891. At the age of 27 he arrived in Melbourne in April 1894 aboard the Port Albert. He was registered as a medical practitioner in Victoria on 4 May 1894.
It appears that Dr Cook already believed in homœopathy, possibly because of his father's influence, as in 1895 Dr Cook took the position of Resident Surgeon of the Melbourne Homœopathic Hospital . (This position was previously held by Dr James Cook, unrelated, who resigned in March 1895). He was listed in the 1896 & 1897 editions of the Melbourne Post Office Directory as being Resident Medical Officer at the Melbourne Homœopathic Hospital, but not in the 1898 edition.
In 1901 he moved to Sale in Eastern Victoria, where he ran a practice in York Street. By 1909 his practice was at Wyndham Street, Shepparton.
By 1919 he had moved to 2 Studley Park Road, Kew, where he died on 7 May, 1923.