Somebody (who is now buried in the notes) found the book this came from, and it explains the "logic." Here's the part that explains (or perhaps more accurately, tries to justify) the food stuff.
HOW TO ELIMINATE HEREDITARY TENDENCIES
While the child may or may not have the hereditary desire for drink, he may yet have the desire created in him by cultivation - through improper diet or injudicious habits of eating and drinking. Inasmuch as the mother has this part of the child's training under her supervision, and knowing that such condiments as peppers and spices, also rich pastries, highly spiced and seasoned foods, pickles and Mexicanized dishes, appeal only to perverted taste and appetite and possess no real food value, but irritate the delicate lining of the stomach and alimentary canal, thereby creating a feverish thirst which water soon fails to satisfy, and for which many times lay the foundation of thirst for stronger drink, therefore we encourage all mothers to avoid placing before their children and family the articles mentioned. We also recommend they discard from the bill of fare such narcotics as tea and coffee, which are not at all essential or beneficial, but highly injurious and may lead to a desire from stronger stimulants.
On this subject, Dr. D. H. Kress says, in The Youth’s Instructor: “The question naturally arises, why does this craving for narcotics, especially tobacco, exist? So universal is the craving that ninety-five per cent of the men are already addicted to its use, while a constantly increasing number of boys and women are resorting to it.
“This craving is not natural in man. It is a cultivated one. I went to the home of a mother who was a drunkard, to talk and pray with her. As I saw what she ate and drank at her table, I concluded that prayer alone would not help the woman. Her foods were highly spiced and very irritating, and her table drinks stimulating. The excessive use of salt, pepper, mustard, vinegar, and the free use of meats, coffee, and tea, all create an unnatural craving or thirst which water fails to quench. They stimulate the system, or, in other words, produce an irritable or feverish condition, and narcotics are resorted to in order to obtain relief.”
Then another important fact which all who have the training of children should observe, is this: It has been fully demonstrated that flesh food has a stimulating effect upon the appetites and passions. Therefore the more nearly our children are brought up on a vegetarian diet, living on fruits, grains, vegetables and nuts, the more easily controlled they will be, and the better fortified to withstand temptation to drink.
So basically, they claim that rich, salty, and well-seasoned food can create a thirst that only alcohol can satisfy, and that tea and alcohol are gateway drinks that lead to alcohol. The ideal solution? A bland vegetarian diet. Don't like it? Well, something's wrong with you because other foods "appeal only to perverted taste and appetite."
After this, the book goes on to say that mothers shouldn't allow their children to play Bad Games (like "dice, cards, pool, etc."), and that the home library should be “made up of good clean works written by such men and women as we would like to have our children associate with, and written upon such themes as will be elevating and ennobling”.
amandla
turnnoffyourmind
kianamaiart
theartofmadeline
gracieabrams
vaporwave
2087
