Chapter IV (2)

It is recognized that although vitamins are undoubtedly widely distributed in food products, they occur for the most part in very minute amounts, and the various foods differ in the proportion which they contain. If the diet is made up of substances which are poor in vitamins, or rendered so by their mode of preparation, abnormal metabolic processes have been found to follow.

The study by many scientists during the past few years of the enzymes and their striking specificity; of the salts; of the insufficiency of many proteins, and of the vitamins is epoch making, and has caused a corresponding advance in dietetics. These discoveries are so important as to raise the question whether nutritive failure or success does not depend as much on the accessory bodies—the vitamins, the enzymes, and lipoids—as on the primary element of the diet.

In addition to these food principles, there exists in our food a number of compounds which, while not indispensable, act beneficially as flavorings, stimulants to digestion, etc.; these are termed food adjuncts, and comprise such bases as caffein, essential oils, organic acids, etc.

=Standard Dietaries: The Maintenance Diet.=—There is great need of _standardization_ and of knowledge regarding the maintenance diet, first among physicians and then among the people in general, or scientific dietaries based on the nutritive value of foods. These are given in terms of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, together with the aggregate energy of the nutritive value in each. This is the corner-stone of dietetics.

_Dietetics_ is the science of feeding. It has to do with the necessities of the body and the ability of the food to meet these necessities in the various circumstances and conditions of life. The ultimate scientific knowledge concerning human nutrition should be to promote the healthful and economic use of food.

The problems to be dealt with are quite complex. These are: (1) changes in the economic conditions of the population; (2) changes in food production and food supply; (3) changes in the methods of preparing food.

In regard to the influence of the economic conditions of the people on the composition of their diet, it might be expected that a considerable decrease in the earning capacity of the poorer people, or an increase in the cost of foods, would be followed by a change in their diet. Everyday experience teaches that under such conditions the more expensive foods—meat, eggs, and milk—are reduced in the diet. These same foods are also rich in vitamins, so that a reduction here would, therefore, reduce the vitamin content of the dietary unless other dietary complements rich in vitamins, such as legumes, were introduced.

The value of any food as a source of heat and energy is measured by a bomb-calorimeter. The heat given off during the combustion is a measure of the latent or potential energy of the food. The kinetic energy of the food is the amount of heat developed by the proportion which is digested. The unit commonly used is the calorie, or the amount of heat which would be required to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water 1° C., which is about equal to that required to raise the temperature of 1 pound of water 4° F.

_Heat Value and Digestibility of Foods._—One of the chief functions of food is to supply the body with heat and energy; the food must be capable of digestion and absorption. Herein lies the exact value of any food to the consumer. In science the figures that are given for the digestibility of the various foods refer to the completeness or extent to which the food is dissolved and transferred to the circulation, and an indigestible one is that of which a considerable portion passes out of the system into the feces without being disintegrated and absorbed.

_Animal food_ is more completely digested than vegetable food, as shown by the difference of nitrogen in the feces. In meats 97 per cent. of the protein and 98 per cent. of the fat are absorbed. Lean meat is more rapidly digested than fat, and the flesh of young animals than that of older ones.

The breast of chicken, fresh beef, and mutton are among the most digestible of the solid foods. Raw and rare meats are more easily digested than well-done meats; in other words, cooking lessens the digestibility of meats. Steak should be broiled and never fried; all fried foods are difficult to digest. Veal and pork are both difficult to digest.

_Eggs_ are almost as nutritious as meat; their digestibility is unsurpassed and only equalled by a few foods, such as milk and oysters. They are most easily digested when soft boiled or poached. Dry toast finely broken up and mixed with a soft-boiled egg aids in its digestion. Soft-boiled eggs are more easily digested than raw eggs, but the latter are less irritating to the stomach, probably because they are digested in the intestines. It has been found that two poached or soft-boiled eggs leave the stomach in from two to three hours; that is, in the same time as milk, oysters, white bread, and light fish.

_Milk._—Although one of the most completely digested of foods in a mixed diet, milk is not quite so completely digested as meat and eggs. When milk is the sole food (milk diet) the proportion digested depends partly on the amount consumed. With the consumption of 3½ pints of milk daily the loss of milk solids varies from 10 to 11.16 per cent. Young children digest milk more completely than adults.

The addition of aërated waters or crackers broken up in the milk prevent the formation of tough clots, and hence render it more digestible. Hot (not boiled) milk is more digestible than cold. Boiling increases the toughness of the curd, but it destroys the bacteria. Buttermilk and koumiss are more easily digested than cows’ milk.

_Wheat flour_ enters largely into the diet of every family. In producing it the outer coating of the wheat kernel is removed, thus throwing into the milling offals that part of the kernel which is most heavily charged with mineral ingredients and vitamins. The proportion of digestible proteins in white flour is not less than in whole wheat flour, as is so often claimed, but because the latter is richer in mineral ingredients its use is recommended.

Bread is readily digestible; white bread digests more rapidly than brown or black; and crackers more rapidly than either.

_Rice_ is another cereal of great economic importance. As a food for invalids it possesses a high value on account of its digestibility, especially in intestinal diseases. Ordinarily polished rice contains only 0.5 per cent. of cellulose, and almost all of the substance of the grain is absorbed.

There is a perfect analogy between the well-known relation of the polishing of rice to its nutritive value, and the milling of wheat and corn to the nutritive value of wheat, flour, and cornmeal; that is, it loses the mineral ingredients and vitamins.

_Potatoes._—In European countries potatoes rank next to bread; this arises from the ease of their digestion. From 92 to 95 per cent. of the starch is absorbed, but there is a loss of 23 per cent. of the protein.

The manner of preparation of vegetable foods determines the proportion of loss. When potatoes are baked or boiled in the skins the loss is negligible. The greatest amount of loss occurs when the skins are removed, the potatoes then allowed to soak in cold water, and placed in cold water to boil. The potatoes should be pared just before cooking, and the water should be boiling hard before they are put in. Mealy potatoes digest more rapidly than waxy ones, and mashed quicker than unmashed.

Oatmeal, barley meal, and other cereals which are not ground very fine do not digest so easily as wheat flour, but much depends on the mode of cooking. When oatmeal-gruel is consumed with a sufficient amount of milk it forms a complete diet.

Nuts are valuable as a source of protein and fat, but they are rather difficult of digestion.

_Fats._—As a rule, children do not thrive whose diet is deficient in fats, and even adults are prone to tuberculosis and nervous diseases when fat in the body is deficient.

Cheese is one of the most indigestible of foods. All fried foods are highly indigestible because the fat envelope of the foods has to be melted off before the gastric juice can act on the food substance itself. Pastry is also very indigestible. Of the vegetables, beans, while highly nutritious, are exceedingly difficult of digestion; also boiled cabbage, cauliflower, hot breads, iced drinks, ice-cream, and water-ices.

=The Relation of Diet to Various Conditions of Life.=—The chief factors influencing bodily needs are age, height, weight, occupation, idiosyncrasies, and atmospheric conditions.

All activity of the human body, whether in the maintenance of its functions or in the performance of labor, is work. These two forms of work may be classified as physiologic and mechanical. Nothing in nutrition is more important than the relation of food to work.

_Children_ are practically in constant motion during their waking hours, and their demand for food energy is from two to three times as much per unit of weight as that for adults.

_Sex._—Men and women of the same age and weight, doing the same kind and amount of work, require the same amount of food. The fact that men usually require more food than women is because, as a rule, they weigh more, are more active physically, and perform more external work.

_Temperament._—Persons of a nervous type, being more active, use more energy than the phlegmatic, and, therefore, require more food.

_Brain Workers._—A man whose work is sedentary and chiefly mental does not need so much food as a man doing muscular work. The amount of carbohydrates required is less, and the amount of fat rather more than for the man doing light muscular work.

Ranke’s diet for the brain worker is: Protein, 100 grams; fats, 100 grams; carbohydrates, 240 grams; giving an energy value of 2310 calories.

The diet should not be bulky, but light and easily digestible. Excess of food and heavy foods are especially bad for brain workers because they produce heaviness, dulness, and drowsiness. Spiced and rich foods upset the alimentary functions, whereby the circulation is flooded with the products of imperfect metabolism to the detriment of the brain.

Trained workmen will do a given amount of labor on less food than untrained, because when persons take up mechanical operations with which they are unfamiliar, or undertake work which exercises a new set of muscles, a unit of work accomplished costs more in food energy than when the muscles have been trained to do a particular thing.

Very strenuous exercise, like athletic contests and unnaturally slow movements, are both wasteful of food energy.

Again, a continuance of the same labor for hours, and a state of fatigue, whether it comes after a longer or shorter time, causes an increase in the energy expenditure per unit of work performed.

Economy in the use of energy that food supplies to the body is most fully secured when the movements of the body are at the natural rate; when periods of intense effort do not occur, and when the labor is not too long continued and is not carried to the point of fatigue.

_Standard for Daily Dietaries (American)—Atwater._

Fuel
Protein. value. Nutritive
Grams. Calories. ratio.

Woman with light muscular exercise 90 2400 5.5
Woman with moderate muscular work } 100 2700 5.6
Man without muscular work }
Man with light muscular work 112 3000 5.5
Man with moderate muscular work 125 3500 5.8
Man with hard muscular work. 150 4500 6.3

=The Relation of Food Economics to Social Welfare.=—A virile nation is one whose citizens are of a good physical type, which means that they are well nourished. A well-fed people, other conditions being favorable, is a strong people. Food is the physical basis not only of the individual activity, but also of social energy. Any causes, therefore, which limit the food supply or increase the burden of securing adequate nourishment strike a blow at the nation’s vital power.

We must constantly keep in mind that the energy output is practically the energy requirement, under given conditions, of course; and the expenditure caused by the muscular activity of a particular individual cannot be reduced without affecting the work done or causing the loss of body substance.

Investigation has shown that there is a necessary daily protein minimum use. When insufficient protein is taken in the food, the necessary balance will be supplied by drawing on the tissues of the body. The food standards which are based on the observation of practice call for not less than 100 grams of protein daily for professional men and 175 grams for men at severe labor.

It is held to be significant that communities holding leading positions in the world consume a liberal amount of protein, or, conversely, that communities with an inferior physical and mental status use a low proportion of proteins in the diet. Again, if we argue from the analogies in feeding farm animals, generous protein feeding is desirable for the growth and maintenance of vigorous organisms and a satisfactory rate of production.

On the other hand, the well-known experience of the ages has shown that the poor who live on a low protein diet are the most liable to disease. It cannot be gainsaid that the meat eater has greater stamina and energy than the one whose diet is poor in protein.

The conclusion is, that while a minimum of protein is essential to the organism, a greater proportion is advantageous by acting as a stimulant to the metabolism and as a ready source of energy; that people are better for the consumption of proteins in quantities greater than in Chittenden’s standard, and possess greater resistance to disease, probably because the body is stimulated to manufacture antibodies.

=Practical Facts for Guidance.=—The housewife who keeps the following facts in mind may combine foods in an approximate way that will fully meet the demands of the human organism.

The proper ratio is 1 part of protein to 5 parts of non-protein; and the fat should equal one-half of the weight of the protein. This gives the following normal dietary:

Energy
Weight. supplied.
Grams. Ounces. Calories.

Protein 100 3½ 410
Carbohydrates 400 14½ 1640
Fats 50 1¾ 465
————
2515

=Proportion of Proteins in Foods.=—_Foods Rich in Proteins._—Lean meat, dried peas, beans, and lentils, 18 to 25 per cent.; fat meat, 12 to 18 per cent.; eggs, 12 per cent.; oatmeal, 10 to 15 per cent.; cheese, 25 to 35 per cent.

_Foods with Moderate Amounts of Proteins._—Milk averages 3½ per cent.; fresh peas, beans, and lentils, 3 to 8 per cent.; white bread, 6 to 7 per cent.; fine wheat flour and barley, 8 to 10 or 12 per cent.

_Food with Usually Less than 3 Per Cent. of Proteins._—Green vegetables, potatoes, and roots, such as carrots, turnips, and onions, etc.

Legumes and certain nuts supply relatively more protein than other vegetable foods, so that when the cost of meat, fowl, fish, eggs, or milk is prohibitive, the freer use of beans, peas, lentils, and nuts is strongly recommended.

The unmodified foods, such as grain, vegetables, fruit, meat, eggs, and milk, may be depended upon to amply supply all the necessary elements to sustain growth, functions, and waste of the human body. On the other hand, foods which it is proper to designate as “artificial” are not only not essential to an adequate diet, but when they are used freely may render a diet very one-sided or deficient.

Foods may be so selected as to furnish an abundant supply of mineral ingredients. For instance, the dry substance of certain vegetables like asparagus, lettuce, spinach, and such animal foods as eggs, and beef extracts are relatively rich in iron compounds, and the dried substance of leguminous seeds, carrots and other vegetables, milk, and cheese are relatively rich in calcium compounds.

_Variety of foods_ is necessary, for monotony of even the best kinds leads to satiety, loss of appetite, loathing of food, and subsequent ill-health. Vegetables and fruits are absolutely essential, but raw fruits are not so easily digested as cooked. Salads, lettuce, water-cress, green onions, celery, tomatoes, etc., are so valuable for the juices contained in them that they cannot be too strongly recommended to those who can digest them. Similar juices are contained in cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, etc., but these are lost to a very great measure in the cooking.

Oranges, lemons, grapes, strawberries, and bananas contain equally valuable juices, and may be eaten raw with advantage to the consumer; but apples, pears, plums, gooseberries, and many other fruits are better cooked before being eaten.

The simpler the meals, the less work will be expended in their preparation, and there is no advantage in an elaborate meal. The main thing is that the table should furnish a sufficient variety from day to day.

The following specimen dietary has been found to be most satisfactory for women with sedentary occupations. On it women have maintained good health and other women have regained their health:

_Breakfast._—Fruit, bacon and eggs, breakfast hominy, rolls or toast and butter, a glass of milk, and one cup of coffee.

The fruit may be any raw fruit in season except apples or bananas; apples should always be cooked for breakfast because they are more easily digested; bananas are too heavy and indigestible to be served for breakfast. Stewed prunes are good and especially laxative.

Bacon is not a necessity, though it is an appetizer. Eggs may be served in any way, though they are most digestible when soft boiled or poached.

The hominy is boiled in water and served as a vegetable, with a little salt and butter, but _no_ sugar.

For women with good digestion and taking more active exercise, oatmeal and cream may be substituted for the eggs, hominy, and glass of milk.

_Luncheon_ may be served in a very appetizing way from the cold meat and vegetables which have been left from the previous day’s dinner in the form of stews, baked hash, etc. Stewed fruit should always be served, and oysters always make a nice dish for lunch.

The criticism of the ordinary lunch for women is that it is too light. The food served for lunch should furnish about 1000 calories; 90 per cent. of these should be in the form of starches and fats.

_Dinner._—The following is a balanced ration given in the Educational Lunch Room of the New York Department of Health:

Proteins.
Price. Quantity. Calories. Grams.
Vegetable soup 5 cents. ½ pint. 150 5
Roast beef 20 cents. 4 oz. lean. 140 30 or
Roast beef with 4 oz. fat. 460 27
Mashed potatoes, creamed Av. helping. 110 4.0
String beans 5 cents. 2 h. tbsp. 10 .5
Salad a la Sauté 8 cents. Av. helping. 370 2.0
Whole wheat bread 2 slices. 140 5.5
Butter ½ ounce. 120
Apple pie 5 cents. ⅙ pie. 300 4.0
Black coffee 3 cents. 1 cup.
Sugar 2 squares. 60
—————————— ———— —————
46 cents. 1760 or 50 or
1440 53

One glass of water is served with each meal; it should be taken when the meal is finished.

The mineral waters promote digestion by promoting an earlier and more abundant secretion of the gastric juice.

Lemon juice should be substituted for vinegar in all salad dressings. For a French dressing the correct proportions are 1 tablespoonful of lemon juice and water each to 2 of olive oil. Mix well, and pour over the salad just before serving.

Three meals a day has been found to be the best arrangement, and there should be an interval of five hours between the meals. If possible dinner, which is the principal meal, should be taken at the end of the day, after its work is over, so that comparative repose may be enjoyed after it. It is of extreme importance that the meals be served at the same hour every day. The perfectly healthy woman should never take anything to eat between meals.

A hearty meal should never be eaten when one is exhausted or greatly fatigued. Half an hour’s rest before dinner is a great aid to digestion. Sleep directly after a hearty meal is injurious and sometimes proves fatal because there is a depression of the circulation, and the digestive processes may stop absolutely during sleep.

_Preparation of Food._—Fresh meats are highly nutritious, but in order that the nutritive properties may not be lost in the cooking, they must be eaten “rare,” that is, beef and mutton should be at least pink.

A roast should be done in a quick oven, so that the albumin shall rapidly coagulate on the surface and prevent the escape of the nutritive juices. Or if the meat is boiled, it should for the same reason be plunged into boiling water.

On the other hand, in treating meats in order to obtain “stock” for soup, the meat after having been cut up into small pieces should be allowed to stand in cold water for twenty minutes and then be put on to simmer for six hours or more.

Plenty of bones with gristle should be gotten with the soup meat; these do not add to the cost, and add materially to the value of the stock; for, while the gelatinoids are not flesh formers, they are admirable protein sparers. The same thing holds true of gelatin and its preparations.

_Indigestible Combination of Foods._—The acid of vinegar being a fermentation acid renders the digestion of many foods with which it is taken more difficult, while vegetable acids, such as citric and tartaric, do not cause that objectionable effect. Vinegar also retards salivary and gastric digestion.

_Strong tea_ taken with any meat meal converts the albumin of the meat into a dense precipitate that is absolutely indigestible. The tannin of tea inhibits the salivary and gastric secretions and so retards digestion. Indigestion, atony, or catarrh of the stomach is frequently due to excessive tea drinking, and the artificial stimulation of the nervous system may be carried so far as to produce insomnia, palpitation, muscular tremors, and other signs of nervous irritability.

Claret and coffee both delay digestion.

Water is the best beverage to be taken with meals; but the moderate use of tea and coffee is commendable because they have an invigorating effect arising from the caffein and the essential oils, but their use should not be abused.

_The Proper Way of Making Tea._—The water should be freshly boiled; the tea-pot heated so that the water will be maintained at the boiling-point; one teaspoonful of tea is allowed to the cup. The tea is measured out, put into the tea-pot, and the requisite amount of boiling water poured over it. It is then allowed to stand on the kitchen table, _not_ the range, for from two to three minutes; it should then be strained into the tea-pot for the table.

Unless the tea is strained off the leaves the infusion continues for some time; this extracts the tannic acid and bitter principles. In addition, the prolonged infusion dissipates the volatile oil, to which much of the fragrance of a good cup of tea is due.

As it is almost impossible to have the requisite amount of care exercised in the making of tea in the kitchen, it is much better that it should be made on the table. Sugar detracts from the healthfulness of the beverage.

_Coffee._—Most that has been said about tea is true of coffee. It is aromatic and refreshing, stimulates the mental activity, invigorates the muscular system, and removes the sense of fatigue. The excessive use of coffee often leads to insomnia. Its use retards gastric digestion, but less so than tea; but strong coffee or café noir has a still greater inhibitory effect. It has a slightly aperient effect on the intestines by increasing the peristaltic action. It is also slightly diuretic.

The aromatic oils are dissipated by boiling, and the best temperature of the water is 210° F., or just below the boiling-point.

_Defective Methods in the Preparation of Breads which Reduces the Vitamin Contents, Especially of Corn Bread._—By resorting to artificial methods for procuring the lightness of breads, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is used. In order to prepare bread in this way the cornmeal is mixed with milk or water to which baking soda has been added, and put in the oven to bake. The high temperature of the oven liberates the carbon dioxid (CO_{2}) from the baking soda, causing the bread to rise, and the sodium bicarbonate is transformed into sodium carbonate, a strong alkali. Recent experiments have clearly demonstrated the destructive action of the alkalies on the vitamins, this being especially true at high temperatures.

It should be strongly emphasized that the old-fashioned way of combining baking soda with sour milk in the preparation of bread is an entirely harmless procedure, provided that sufficient sour milk is added to perfectly neutralize the alkalinity of the soda. The label on some brands of baking soda clearly states that sour milk, or tartaric acid, should be added in order to obtain the best results.

=Dietary in the Tropics.=—Sir R. Havelock Charles says, “It is impossible to form exact rules for dietary in the tropics because there are differences in climate which require modifications.” He says nothing about limiting the amount of meat, but he does say, “no _cold_ meat whatever should come on the table.” It is important that everything should come straight from the fire to the table. It cannot then cause bacillary mischief, and there should be no fear of cholera or dysentery.

Boiled water only should be drunk. No salads of any kind should be used except in the greatest moderation.

_Fruit._—Every fruit which possesses a rind that can be removed may be eaten raw with impunity by a healthy man at any time of the year. Fruits which do not possess a rind are incapable of being thoroughly cleansed; such fruit may be contaminated and dangerous to the consumer, and, at any rate, ought only to be eaten after it is cooked. Therefore oranges, grape-fruit, pears, apples, bananas, mangoes, pineapples, custard-apples, mangosteen, tomatoes, etc., may be eaten raw after peeling them. But it would be unsafe to eat grapes, currants, strawberries, and other fruits which cannot be peeled until they are cooked.

As regards proteins, some fish, fowl, or meat may be taken for breakfast; animal food ought not to be taken in the middle of the day. It is better to take dinner in the evening. Beef, mutton, pork, kid (goat-flesh), venison (deer and antelope), poultry, many kinds of birds, eggs, and fish are obtainable in one place or another. Tinned meats and fish should be avoided; indeed, the importance of fresh meat is so great that hunting, shooting, and fishing should be strongly recommended as exercise.

Fat is obtained in the form of meat, dripping, butter, ghee, nuts, and various oils used in cooking. The pure oil from peanuts, palm-nuts, and cocoanuts is salutary; but many samples are adulterated with sesamé oil, poppy-seed oil, and colza oil, which are deleterious by causing dyspepsia or other gastro-intestinal troubles. These in turn render the subject susceptible to dysentery, sprue, and other tropical disorders.

=Food Economics: Regulation of Diet with Reference to Minimum Expenditure.=—The cost of a meal for an individual or a family is made up of two factors—the money cost of the raw materials, and the time, cost of labor, and other expenses required for the preparation and serving of the food.

_The Cost of Raw Food Materials._—Meats of all kinds, poultry, and fish are the most expensive articles of diet. Then, too, the waste has to be considered—the bones and legs of a dressed fowl and the bones and skin of fish.

At the present time the dairy products supply the cheapest nutriment among animal foods, but the price of butter and eggs are apt to soar enormously during the winter months.

_Leguminous Food._—The dried pea, bean, or lentil are especially rich in protein, and are thus fit to take the place of a part of meat in the dietary. Their price is low in comparison to their value, and must be considered next to bread in importance. They are less completely digested than cereals if eaten in any quantity; and, highly nutritious as these are, it cannot be denied that in large quantities they are very indigestible for any but persons with strong constitutions and leading an active outdoor life.

Great care is needed in their preparation. Dried legumes should be soaked in cold water for eight hours, and then boiled for one hour and a half. They are then sufficiently soft to be pressed through a sieve. The skin of peas and beans that have been dried should be removed, for they pass through the intestines unchanged. Soft water should be used in preference to hard, as insoluble lime compounds are formed by the latter with the protein “legumin.”

_Outside Preparation Expensive._—From the standpoint of food value, white bread is more than twice as costly as the wheat flour from which it is made. A barrel of flour of 196 pounds will make on the average 315 5-cent loaves of bread. The bread costs the consumer $15.75, whereas the flour can be bought at the time of writing for $6.50.

Breakfast foods ready for the table, instead of the cheaper cornmeal, oatmeal, and hominy cooked at home, and bread, cake, and other pastry cost double the amount of the raw materials.

There are, however, other factors which complicate and increase the cost of living. At present the exorbitant cost of labor, cost of fuel, etc., and the amount of the housewife’s time consumed are all important factors to be taken into consideration.

The size of the family, the number of small children demanding the mother’s attention, the kind of labor in which they are engaged, whether hired help has to be depended on for all the work, etc., are all factors which must be taken into consideration as to whether the outside preparation is more expensive than when the labor is performed in the home. This is a matter for every housewife to work out in making her monthly and yearly budgets.

TABLE OF FOOD VALUES[4]
——————————————————————————————+————————————————————————————
| Percentage composition.
|
Kind of food, edible +————————+———————————+———————
portion only. | Water. | Protein. | Fat.
| | |
——————————————————————————————+————————+———————————+———————
_Meats._ | | |
Beef: | | |
Roast, average | 48.25 | 22.25 | 28.55
Roast ribs, fat | 45.20 | 19.14 | 39.04
Boiled, average | 39.10 | 26.30 | 35.00
Broiled steak | 44.25 | 23.45 | 26.50
Corned | 51.19 | 26.32 | 18.65
Veal: Cooked, average | 51.88 | 32.20 | 11.40
Mutton: | | |
Roast, average | 51.00 | 26.00 | 22.60
Boiled leg | 57.67 | 27.60 | 14.38
Lamb: | | |
Roast leg | 67.10 | 19.70 | 12.70
Various parts | 47.25 | 23.80 | 28.50
Pork: Roast, various parts | 45.00 | 32.00 | 20.00
Organs: | | |
Heart, cooked, average | 62.60 | 16.60 | 20.00
Kidney, ox, cooked, average | 76.15 | 16.50 | 4.90
Liver, ox, cooked, average | 71.00 | 20.60 | 4.60
Sweetbread, ox, cooked, | | |
average | 71.00 | 16.80 | 12.00
Tongue, ox, cooked, average | 71.00 | 19.00 | 9.00
| | |
_Soup, etc._ | | |
Beef-tea | 93.00 | 4.30 | .50
Bouillon | 96.50 | 2.30 | .10
Chicken broth | 94.00 | 3.80 | .10
Consomme | 95.50 | 2.40 | .10
Meat hash | 80.00 | 6.50 | 2.00
Meat stew | 84.50 | 4.60 | 4.30
Oxtail soup | 89.00 | 4.00 | 1.50
Pea soup | 87.00 | 4.00 | .80
Soup stock, beef | 89.10 | 5.80 | 1.50
Tomato soup | 89.00 | 2.00 | 1.50
Meat juice (natural), average | 90.00 | 5.37 | .19
| | |
_Fowl._ | | |
Domestic, average | 64.00 | 19.00 | 16.00
Chicken | 67.00 | 22.70 | 10.00
Capon | 56.00 | 21.80 | 21.00
Duck | 55.75 | 17.50 | 25.00
Goose | 52.00 | 16.50 | 35.10
Turkey | 55.50 | 21.10 | 23.00
Roast | 52.00 | 27.80 | 18.50
Roast capon | 59.00 | 27.00 | 11.50
Chicken | 66.90 | 22.00 | 8.10
Boiled fowl | 57.60 | 27.00 | 12.80
| | |
_Eggs._ | | |
Chicken eggs: | | |
Raw | 73.70 | 13.40 | 11.50
Boiled, white. | 86.30 | 12.80 | .20
Yolk | 50.00 | 14.80 | 33.70
| | |
_Fish and Shell-fish._ | | |
Bluefish | 78.50 | 19.10 | 1.20
Haddock, fresh | 81.40 | 17.20 | .30
| | |
Halibut steak | 74.80 | 18.50 | 5.30
Mackerel | 74.80 | 18.50 | 6.50
Oysters | 80.00 | 10.60 | 2.60
Perch | 75.70 | 19.00 | 4.00
Salmon, Atlantic | 63.60 | 21.60 | 13.90
Sardines | 56.30 | 24.80 | 12.70
Shad | 70.60 | 18.50 | 9.50
Roe | 71.20 | 21.00 | 3.80
Trout: | | |
Brook | 77.70 | 19.30 | 2.10
Lake | 69.30 | 18.30 | 10.60
Salmon | 70.80 | 17.80 | 10.20
Calf’s foot jelly | 77.50 | 4.50 | ....
| | |
_Milk Products._ | | |
Cows’ milk, average | 87.30 | 3.50 | 3.70
Skimmed | 90.30 | 4.00 | .20
Condensed milk, full cream, | | |
unsweetened | 62.40 | 10.60 | 10.80
Full cream, sweetened | 20.00 | 10.50 | 9.90
Skimmed and sweetened | 26.40 | 10.40 | .90
Cream, hand skimmed | 74.00 | 2.50 | 18.50
Buttermilk | 90.00 | 3.20 | 1.20
Cheese from skimmed milk. | 45.30 | 32.00 | 16.50
Butter: | | |
Best quality | 13.00 | 1.00 | 82.50
Second quality | 16.00 | 2.00 | 73.00
Margarine | 16.00 | 1.10 | 76.70
| | |
_Cereal Foods._ | | |
Wheat flour, superfine, white.| 10.50 | 11.90 | 1.60
Entire wheat | 10.80 | 12.20 | 2.20
Graham | 8.60 | 12.60 | 2.40
Maize | 10.90 | 10.20 | 4.80
Meal | 12.50 | 7.10 | 1.30
Rice | 12.40 | 6.90 | .40
Boiled | 72.50 | 2.80 | .10
Oatmeal, boiled | 84.50 | 2.80 | .50
Macaroni, cooked | 78.40 | 3.00 | 1.50
| | |
_Bread._ | | |
White, best | 44.10 | 7.70 | .90
Entire wheat | 49.10 | 7.40 | 1.10
Brown (Graham) | 47.20 | 7.70 | 1.20
Gluten bread | 38.20 | 9.30 | 1.40
Toasted bread | 24.00 | 11.50 | 1.60
Zwiebach | 5.80 | 9.80 | 9.90
| | |
_Pies and Puddings._ | | |
Apple pie | 42.50 | 3.10 | 9.80
Cornflour blanc mange | 66.00 | 2.60 | 3.10
Custard with crust | 62.40 | 4.20 | 6.30
Maize pudding (Indian meal) | 60.00 | 5.50 | 5.00
Rice pudding | 60.00 | 4.00 | 4.70
Tapioca pudding | 64.50 | 3.30 | 3.20
With apples | 70.10 | .30 | .10
| | |
_Roots and Tubers._ | | |
Carrots, boiled | 92.50 | .50 | .20
| | |
Beets, boiled | 91.70 | 1.40 | .10
Parsnips, boiled | 92.10 | 1.30 | .30
Potatoes, boiled | 75.50 | 2.50 | .10
Mashed, with cream | 75.10 | 2.60 | 3.00
Fried in fat | 2.20 | 6.80 | 39.80
| | |
_Vegetables._ | | |
Asparagus, cooked and buttered| 91.60 | 2.10 | 3.30
Brussels sprouts, boiled | 93.70 | 1.50 | .10
Cabbage | 85.50 | 2.30 | .70
Boiled | 97.00 | .60 | .10
Cauliflower, boiled | 97.30 | .60 | .10
Celery, boiled | 97.00 | .40 | .07
Green peas, boiled | 73.80 | 6.70 | 2.50
Beans, string, boiled | 89.20 | 2.30 | .30
| | |
_Salads._ | | |
Celery | 94.50 | 1.10 | .10
Cucumber | 94.90 | .70 | .20
Endive | 93.00 | 1.00 | .10
Lettuce | 93.80 | 1.80 | .60
Onions | 87.60 | 1.60 | .30
Radishes | 91.80 | 1.20 | .10
Tomatoes | 91.80 | 1.20 | .10
Watercress | 92.80 | .70 | .40
| | |
_Dried Legumes._ | | |
Peas | 9.50 | 23.80 | 1.80
Haricot beans | 12.60 | 22.50 | 1.90
Butter beans | 10.50 | 20.60 | 2.00
| | |
_Nuts._ | | |
Almonds, dried | 4.80 | 21.00 | 54.90
Brasil nuts | 5.40 | 18.00 | 66.00
Butter nuts | 4.50 | 28.00 | 61.00
Chestnuts | 4.80 | 11.60 | 15.30
Cocoanut, fresh | 19.20 | 5.40 | 51.00
Hazel and filbert nuts | 48.00 | 8.00 | 28.50
Peanuts | 9.20 | 26.00 | 38.60
Walnuts, dried | 4.90 | 15.50 | 62.70
| | |
_Fruits._ | | |
Apples: | | |
Raw | 85.20 | .40 | .50
Cooked and sweetened | 66.10 | .20 | .80
Dried | 28.10 | 1.60 | 2.20
Apricots | 85.00 | 1.10 | ....
Canned | 81.40 | .90 | ....
Bananas | 75.70 | 1.30 | .50
Blackberries | 86.30 | 1.30 | 1.00
Cherries | 82.00 | .90 | .80
Cranberries | 88.90 | .50 | .60
Dates, dried | 20.00 | 3.50 | 2.30
Figs, dried | 22.70 | 4.30 | .70
Grapes, fresh | 80.50 | .90 | .80
Dried, raisins | 18.60 | 3.00 | 2.80
Jam, or preserve, average | 30.50 | 1.50 | ....
| | |
Melon | 89.50 | .60 | .30
Oranges | 82.80 | .90 | .20
Peaches | 88.80 | .50 | .20
Canned | 88.10 | .70 | .10
Pears | 80.90 | .90 | .50
Canned | 81.10 | .30 | .30
Pineapples | 89.30 | .40 | .30
Plums | 74.50 | .90 | .20
Prunes: | | |
Dried | 22.30 | 2.10 | .20
Stewed | 76.60 | .50 | .10
Raspberries | 86.20 | .50 | ....
Strawberries | 94.00 | 1.00 | .60
——————————————————————————————+————————+———————————+———————

——————————————————————————————+—————————————————+——————————+——————————
| Percentage | Heat | Food
| composition. | value | values
Kind of food, edible +——————————+——————+ calories |comparison
portion only. | Carbo- | Ash. | per | of 1000
| hydrate. | | ounce. | grams.
——————————————————————————————+——————————+——————+——————————+——————————
_Meats._ | | | |
Beef: | | | |
Roast, average | ... | 1.25 | 160 | 1868
Roast ribs, fat | ... | .82 | 122 | 2057
Boiled, average | ... | 1.00 | 175 | 2268
Broiled steak | ... | 1.43 | 100 | 1942
Corned | ... | 4.10 | 80 | 1810
Veal: Cooked, average | ... | 1.50 | 68 | 1896
Mutton: | | | |
Roast, average | ... | 1.19 | 90 | 1805
Boiled leg | ... | 1.05 | 67 | 1738
Lamb: | | | |
Roast leg | ... | .80 | 66 | 1318
Various parts | ... | 1.25 | 100 | 1966
Pork: Roast, various parts | ... | 1.76 | 90 | 2122
Organs: | | | |
Heart, cooked, average | ... | 1.00 | 70 | 1370
Kidney, ox, cooked, average | .40 | 1.20 | 32 | 940
Liver, ox, cooked, average | 1.80 | 1.50 | 38 | 1150
Sweetbread, ox, cooked, | | | |
average | ... | 1.60 | 51 | 1157
Tongue, ox, cooked, average | ... | 1.00 | 46 | 1188
| | | |
_Soup, etc._ | | | |
Beef-tea | 1.10 | 1.10 | 8 | 234
Bouillon | .20 | .90 | 3 | 116
Chicken broth | 1.80 | 1.00 | 6 | 200
Consomme | .30 | 1.10 | 3 | 120
Meat hash | 9.00 | 2.40 | 24 | 560
Meat stew | 5.50 | 1.10 | 23 | 420
Oxtail soup | 4.30 | 1.50 | 13 | 278
Pea soup | 8.50 | 1.30 | 15 | 291
Soup stock, beef | ... | 3.60 | 11 | 324
Tomato soup | 5.50 | 1.30 | 12 | 158
Meat juice (natural), average | ... | 1.36 | 7 | 269
| | | |
_Fowl._ | | | |
Domestic, average | ... | 1.00 | 65 | 1130
Chicken | ... | 1.00 | 62 | 1395
Capon | ... | 1.30 | 91 | 1656
Duck | ... | 1.00 | 95 | 1554
Goose | ... | 1.20 | 110 | 1800
Turkey | ... | 1.00 | 85 | 1679
Roast | ... | 1.30 | 82 | 1872
Roast capon | ... | 1.30 | 60 | 1677
Chicken | ... | 1.70 | 58 | 1298
Boiled fowl | ... | 1.90 | 80 | 1708
| | | |
_Eggs._ | | | |
Chicken eggs: | | | |
Raw | ... | 1.00 | 45 | 983
Boiled, white. | ... | .70 | 16 | 633
Yolk | ... | 1.20 | 106 | 1883
| | | |
_Fish and Shell-fish._ | | | |
Bluefish | ... | 1.20 | 27 | 935
Haddock, fresh | ... | 1.10 | 21 | 922
| | | |
Halibut steak | .... | 1.40 | 35 | 850
Mackerel | .... | 1.10 | 40 | 1086
Oysters | 6.50 | 1.30 | 25 | 655
Perch | .... | 1.20 | 33 | 1049
Salmon, Atlantic | .... | 1.40 | 64 | 1445
Sardines | .... | 5.00 | 79 | 1560
Shad | .... | 1.30 | 47 | 1170
Roe | 2.50 | 1.50 | 38 | 1252
Trout: | | | |
Brook | .... | 1.20 | 28 | 995
Lake | .... | 1.20 | 48 | 1190
Salmon | .... | 1.20 | 48 | 1156
Calf’s foot jelly | 17.40 | .70 | 26 | 210
| | | |
_Milk Products._ | | | |
Cows’ milk, average | 4.60 | .73 | 20 | 320
Skimmed | 4.60 | .83 | 11 | 245
Condensed milk, full cream, | | | |
unsweetened | 14.10 | 2.00 | 52 | 973
Full cream, sweetened | 57.50 | 2.10 | 100 | 1368
Skimmed and sweetened | 60.20 | 2.10 | 40 | 1232
Cream, hand skimmed | 4.50 | .50 | 56 | 210
Buttermilk | 5.00 | .60 | 10 | 238
Cheese from skimmed milk. | 2.00 | 4.20 | 85 | 2140
Butter: | | | |
Best quality | 1.50 | 2.00 | 225 | 2371
Second quality | 4.00 | 5.00 | 203 | 2235
Margarine | .... | 6.30 | 220 | 2210
| | | |
_Cereal Foods._ | | | |
Wheat flour, superfine, white.| 75.40 | .50 | 114 | 1283
Entire wheat | 73.60 | 1.00 | 114 | 1300
Graham | 74.50 | 1.70 | 116 | 1330
Maize | 71.00 | 1.30 | .... | 1242
Meal | 78.30 | .60 | 108 | 1106
Rice | 79.40 | .50 | 102 | 1084
Boiled | 24.50 | .20 | 45 | 258
Oatmeal, boiled | 11.50 | .70 | 18 | 244
Macaroni, cooked | 15.80 | 1.30 | 26 | 558
| | | |
_Bread._ | | | |
White, best | 46.90 | .30 | 71 | 793
Entire wheat | 41.70 | .50 | 65 | 770
Brown (Graham) | 42.80 | .90 | 67 | 780
Gluten bread | 49.80 | 1.30 | 72 | 910
Toasted bread | 61.20 | 1.70 | 90 | 1126
Zwiebach | 73.50 | 1.00 | 125 | 1399
| | | |
_Pies and Puddings._ | | | |
Apple pie | 43.00 | 1.80 | 80 | 866
Cornflour blanc mange | 27.00 | 1.00 | 36 | 456
Custard with crust | 26.10 | 1.00 | 52 | 604
Maize pudding (Indian meal) | 28.00 | 1.40 | 51 | 628
Rice pudding | 32.00 | .60 | 52 | 608
Tapioca pudding | 28.50 | .80 | 45 | 505
With apples | 30.00 | .20 | 36 | 289
| | | |
_Roots and Tubers._| | | |
Carrots, boiled | 4.50 | .80 | 8 | 70
| | | |
Beets, boiled | 5.13 | 1.00 | 11 | 102
Parsnips, boiled | 6.50 | .70 | 11 | 126
Potatoes, boiled | 21.00 | 1.00 | 26 | 312
Mashed, with cream | 17.80 | 1.50 | 31 | 364
Fried in fat | 46.70 | 4.50 | 166 | 1807
| | | |
_Vegetables._ | | | |
Asparagus, cooked and buttered| 2.20 | .80 | 30 | 200
Brussels sprouts, boiled | 3.40 | .20 | 6 | 98
Cabbage | 5.10 | 1.70 | 9 | 89
Boiled | 1.40 | .20 | 3 | 41
Cauliflower, boiled | 1.40 | .50 | .... | 41
Celery, boiled | 1.00 | .50 | | 26
Green peas, boiled | 14.60 | 1.50 | 34 | 588
Beans, string, boiled | 7.40 | .80 | 12 | 176
| | | |
_Salads._ | | | |
Celery | 9.70 | 1.00 | 13 | 144
Cucumber | 3.10 | .50 | 4 | 64
Endive | 3.00 | .60 | 8 | 73
Lettuce | 4.80 | 1.20 | 9 | 138
Onions | 9.50 | 1.10 | 13 | 167
Radishes | 5.60 | .70 | 5 | 107
Tomatoes | 5.60 | .70 | 5 | 107
Watercress | 4.00 | 1.20 | 6 | 79
| | | |
_Dried Legumes._ | | | |
Peas | 60.30 | 2.60 | 104 | 1544
Haricot beans | 59.60 | 3.50 | 100 | 1654
Butter beans | 62.60 | 4.20 | 102 | 1519
| | | |
_Nuts._ | | | |
Almonds, dried | 17.30 | 2.50 | 189 | 2645
Brasil nuts | 8.00 | 2.70 | 204 | 2606
Butter nuts | 3.50 | 2.90 | 192 | 2956
Chestnuts | 65.70 | 2.60 | 117 | 1537
Cocoanut, fresh | 10.00 | 1.20 | 108 | ....
Hazel and filbert nuts | 11.50 | 1.50 | 160 | ....
Peanuts | 24.20 | 2.00 | 160 | 2071
Walnuts, dried | 7.50 | 1.90 | 190 | 2364
| | | |
_Fruits._ | | | |
Apples: | | | |
Raw | 12.60 | .30 | 18 | 149
Cooked and sweetened | 37.20 | .70 | 46 | 395
Dried | 66.10 | 2.00 | 84 | 753
Apricots | 13.40 | .50 | 18 | 176
Canned | 17.30 | .40 | 21 | 208
Bananas | 21.70 | .70 | 29 | 276
Blackberries | 8.40 | .50 | 17 | 120
Cherries | 14.30 | .60 | 23 | 197
Cranberries | 4.00 | .20 | 14 | 76
Dates, dried | 69.00 | 1.30 | 101 | 885
Figs, dried | 62.50 | 1.30 | 80 | 805
Grapes, fresh | 14.70 | .50 | 28 | 201
Dried, raisins | 70.50 | 2.70 | 100 | 870
Jam, or preserve, average | 60.00 | .50 | 70 | 744
| | | |
Melon | 7.20 | .60 | 11 | 103
Oranges | 10.60 | .70 | 15 | 146
Peaches | 9.20 | .60 | 12 | 117
Canned | 10.80 | .30 | 14 | 128
Pears | 15.70 | .40 | 18 | 203
Canned | 18.00 | .30 | 22 | 195
Pineapples | 10.00 | .90 | 13 | 112
Plums | 19.10 | .50 | 24 | 200
Prunes: | | | |
Dried | 73.30 | 2.30 | 86 | 724
Stewed | 22.30 | .50 | 27 | 243
Raspberries | 5.60 | .50 | 16 | 76
Strawberries | 8.80 | .60 | 12 | 144
——————————————————————————————+——————————+——————+——————————+——————————

=The Physiologic Action of Moderate Doses of Alcohol.=—The result of a series of experiments by Dr. Parke were as follows: “By quickening the action of the heart, it shortens the interval of rest, and, therefore, interferes with the nutrition of the heart. It also produces palpitation and breathlessness. Even small doses of alcohol, by increasing unnecessarily the action of the heart, are injurious. It acts on the nervous system by lessening the rapidity and the delicacy of the impressions, as well as by lessening the power of control of a train of thought. Further, by this same blunting of the nervous system, voluntary muscular power is impaired, and the finer combined movements are less perfectly made. It causes a lowering of the temperature of the body, and, although it is taken to overcome the effects of exposure to cold, it has been learned that persons who take it are less able to resist the exposure to cold.”

As the result of modern scientific investigation and experimentation, alcohol with its compounds has been taken out of the list of beverages, where it has heretofore been classified with tea and coffee, and out of the list of foods, to which class it had been admitted because of the known oxidation of alcohol in the body, and has been placed in that list of drugs known as narcotics, alongside of ether, chloroform, opium, and cocain—all of them, the most deadly drugs in the Pharmacopeia, yet, when used by skilled hands, the most beneficent.

The first effect of this class of drugs is a short temporary stage of exhilaration, more or less rapidly followed, according to the amount taken, by a stage of sleepiness or actual insensibility, which lasts longer than the stage of excitement, and this in turn is followed by a long period of depression.

Like other members of its class, alcohol has a cumulative action, the residual quantities habitually taken accumulate and gradually affect the efficiency and well-being of the individual.

A point that must always be borne in mind in giving any medicine is that not a few drugs have a curious tendency to induce a craving for their repetition.

The amount of alcohol contained in some of the most commonly used of the alcoholic beverages is as follows: beer, 4 to 5 per cent.; hard cider, from 5 to 10 per cent.; claret, 8 to 11 per cent.; port, 9 to 22 per cent.; champagne, 10 to 15 per cent.; rum, gin, and strong liquors, 40 to 50 per cent.; whisky, 44 to 50 per cent.; brandy, 48 to 56 per cent.

These alcoholic beverages are often made still more harmful by adulterations by ingredients in themselves harmful.

A large percentage of alcohol is also found in bitters and patent medicines.

We will consider the subject of alcohol under the following aspects: First, the question of alcohol as a food; second, the effects of alcohol on the digestive system and the metabolism; third, the effects of alcohol on the heart and the muscular system; and fourth, the effects of alcohol on the nervous system.

_First, Is Alcohol a Food?_—The substances used as foods act in providing energy for muscular work, in maintaining the heat of the body, in building up of the tissues, and in saving the waste of the tissues. Moreover, a food which does harm to any organ, or to the system as a whole, when taken in moderate repeated quantities, becomes a poison for that individual.

A food may be defined as any substance which, when absorbed into the blood, will nourish, repair waste, and furnish force and heat to the body, without causing injury to any of its parts or loss of functional activity. From any one of these four standpoints alcohol cannot be regarded as a food.

The physiologic effects of alcohol and real food-stuffs are totally different. Fats, carbohydrates, and nitrogenous foods after mastication at once begin to be digested and assimilated, and to fulfil the true functions of a food by maintaining a natural temperature, pulse-rate, and tissue repair of the body, without any disturbance of its mental and physical functions and activities.

Alcohol, on the contrary, is absorbed from the stomach unaltered by the digestive processes; circulated in the blood in its original form, it at once interferes with the ordinary activity of the brain and other organs, and, by its anesthetic action, hampers the mental and physical activities and interferes with the processes of metabolism.

_The Effects of Alcohol on the Digestive System and Metabolism._—The local action of alcoholic liquids is particularly destructive on an empty stomach; and when taken in strong solution, but it is also known that smaller doses, taken continuously, are liable to effect the digestive organs in a slower though similar way.

The injurious effects of alcohol are that it acts as a local irritant, producing dilatation of the blood-vessels of the stomach and subsequent gastritis; it leads to hyperacidity, by stimulating the secretion of hydrochloric acid; the tartrates and malates contained in wine are decomposed in the stomach, setting free organic acids, and thus producing acidity; the acetic acid and yeast in beer set up an acetic acid fermentation in the stomach-contents.