Before entering the special domain of the neurotic and discussing his proper diet, it will be necessary to devote a few minutes to the general subject of diet and the value of foods. The value of foods may be considered as three-fold: 1, the production of energy; 2, the repair of tissue; 3, the increase of adipose tissue to serve as a protection and covering in the body.
There are at least thirteen chemical elements which enter into the composition of the body, but only four which are found so abundantly as to indicate that they are indispensable to life, viz., carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen. Now, foods which contain these elements are necessary for the three-fold use above mentioned. We are taught that nutrition of the body involves several distinct processes:
1, the secretion of digestive fluids and their action upon food in the alimentary canal