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Title: Foods; nutrition and digestion

Author: Susanna Cocroft

Release date: October 30, 2023 [eBook #71988]

Language: English

Original publication: Chicago: Physical culture extension society

Credits: Bob Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOODS; NUTRITION AND DIGESTION ***





  Transcriber’s Note
  Italic text displayed as: _italic_
  Bold text displayed as: =bold=




  FOODS

  Nutrition and Digestion

  KNOW THYSELF SERIES

  SECOND EDITION


The author, in giving remedial exercises and diet prescribed to suit
the individual need, has for ten years realized the necessity of a
book which shall give to the homemaker a clear idea of the uses of
foods, that she may be able to compile her own diets for various blood
conditions. Since the blood is made from food elements, its conditions
can be largely controlled by a knowledge and regulation of these
elements.

Acknowledgment is here made of the valuable assistance of Winfield S.
Hall, Ph. D., M. D., Professor of Physiology of Northwestern Medical
School, Lecturer and Author of Nutrition and Dietetics; of Alida
Frances Pattee, late instructor of Dietetics Bellevue Training School
for Nurses, Bellevue Hospital, New York City, author of “Practical
Dietetics with reference to Diet in Disease,” and of D. Appleton & Co.,
for their kindness in allowing the use of Dr. Hall’s tables of food
values, in the preparation of this book.

The tables of Food Values and the classifications of foods are kindly
furnished by Dr. Hall and used by the courtesy of his publishers, while
a few of the receipts are generously furnished by Miss Pattee.

Recognition is also made of the good work of Miss Helen Hammel, former
dietitian in Wesley Hospital, Chicago, in the preparation of some of
the receipts in the Appendix.




  FOODS

  Nutrition and Digestion

  BY

  SUSANNA COCROFT

  AUTHOR OF

  GROWTH IN SILENCE
  SELF SUFFICIENCY
  THE VITAL ORGANS
  HABITS: THE NERVES
  POISE AND SYMMETRY OF FIGURE
  CHARACTER AS EXPRESSED IN THE BODY
  IDEALS AND PRIVILEGES OF WOMAN
  ETC., ETC.

  ORIGINATOR OF THE
  PHYSICAL CULTURE EXTENSION SOCIETY

  FIRST EDITION 1906
  SECOND EDITION 1912

  PUBLISHED BY THE
  PHYSICAL CULTURE EXTENSION SOCIETY
  624 S. MICHIGAN AVE., CHICAGO, ILL.




  COPYRIGHT, 1906-1912
  BY SUSANNA COCROFT




FOODS

Nutrition and Digestion

BY

SUSANNA COCROFT


The problem of proper nutrition for the body is as vital as any study
affecting the morals, health, and consequent power of a nation,
since upon the quality and quantity of food assimilated, depend the
sustenance, health, and strength of its citizens.

The study of life is the most vital interest in nature. The human race
spends more time in providing nourishment for the body than in any
other line of activity. Next to nourishment comes self-preservation. It
is intuitive, the infant’s first instinct is the preservation of life;
almost at once he seeks for nourishment. His body is ever an awakening
wonder to him. He begins his education by a study of his hands, his
legs, and his flesh.

“The physical satisfactions of life, the joys of mental development,
the inspiration of soul, the sense of growth, of expansion, and of
largest happiness, the self-satisfaction of greatest usefulness, and
the glorifying results of this usefulness, come in largest measure
only to the person whose nutriment is proper in quantity, quality,
and form and is taken properly, as to time, mastication, swallowing,
and digestion, with sufficient exercise to give the body activity to
convert it into use. This enjoyment of vibrant life is far beyond the
joys of the intemperate or the æsthetic.” That ones energies of thought
may not be constantly engaged in deciding what is best, it is important
that proper _habits_ be formed. Habit calls for no conscious energy.

Scientific research along the lines of electricity, psychology,
metaphysics, medicine, and art has been tenaciously pursued for
centuries; yet scientific study of the natural means of keeping the
body in health, that the individual may be in physical, mental, and
moral condition to enjoy and to profit by researches made in other
lines, has been neglected. The result is, that man does not enjoy life
to the full, nor make his physical nor mental efforts yield the best
returns.

It is necessary to know the comparative values of foods as nutrient
agents, in order to maintain our bodies in health and strength, and
with economy of digestive effort, as well as efficiency. The entire
body,—bone, muscle, blood, brain, nerve, heat and energy,—is formed
from the food and drink taken into the stomach and from the oxygen
breathed into the lungs; the mental and physical activity also depends
upon the food. There is no study, therefore, more important than that
of bodily nutrition and the preparation of food and drink in right
proportions to yield the best returns under varying conditions,—age,
employment, health, and sickness.

Nutrition is a broad subject. It means not only that the foods be
supplied which contain elements required to rebuild body substance and
to create heat and energy, but it embraces, also, the ability of the
body to appropriate the foods to its needs. The study of nutrition in
its full sense, therefore, must embrace foods, anatomy and physiology
(particularly of the digestive system), and chemistry, in order to
know the changes foods must undergo in being converted into tissue,
heat and energy[1]. This study, reduced to a science, is known as
Dietetics. There is no more important study for public schools, or for
woman’s clubs.

Nutrition must be solved largely through chemistry. The health and
efficiency of the individual and of the Nation depend upon careful
study of the chemical components of foods and the control of the foods
placed upon the market. The “pound of cure” in the study of materia
medica has been given much thought,—the “ounce of prevention,” little.

The former custom of employing a physician as a retainer had its
distinct advantage, his duty being to instruct in right living so as to
_avoid_ disease rather than to _cure_ it. To-day scientific instruction
in food and hygiene is within the reach of all, and every mother and
teacher is a retainer, or guard of the health of those in her charge.

Happily, the United States Government, realizing that its power as
a nation depends upon the strength and health of its citizens, has
established experimental and analytical food departments. As a result
of the findings of the governmental chemists, there was enacted in
1906, the Food and Drug Act, which aims to raise the standard of
food purity, by prescribing the conditions under which foods may be
manufactured and sold. The law compels the maker of artificially
colored or preserved food products to correctly label his goods. The
national law was the instigation of state laws, which have further
helped to insure a supply of pure food products.

Every particle of body substance is constantly changing. The new
material for cells and tissues, the substance to supply the energy
needed in the metabolic work of tearing down and rebuilding, the energy
used in the digestive process of converting the food into condition
to be assimilated, and the energy used in muscular, brain, and nerve
movement, must all be supplied by food. Every brain effort in the
process of thinking, every motion, and every muscular movement requires
energy which the food must supply.

Brain workers, or habitual worriers, use up force and become thin quite
as quickly as those whose work is muscular. The term “brain workers”
is commonly applied to professional men or women,—to authors, editors,
teachers, or to those engaged in business, but the woman who manages
her household judiciously, or the woman who spends her life fretting
over existing conditions, or worrying over things which never happen,
uses quite as much brain force. The difference is that the former
accomplish results outside of themselves, while the latter simply stirs
up disagreeable conditions within, resulting in physical ills.

 _The whole problem of perfect health and efficient activity is in
 keeping the supply assimilated food equal to the demand, in keeping
 a forceful circulation that the nourishment may freely reach all
 tissues and the waste be eliminated, and in full breathing habits
 that sufficient oxygen be supplied to put the waste in condition for
 elimination._

The body is certainly a marvelous machine! It is self-building,
self-repairing, and, to a degree, self-regulating.

It appropriates to its use foodstuffs for growth and for repair.

It eliminates its waste.

It supplies the energy for rebuilding, and eliminating this waste.

It directs its own emotions.

It supplies the energy for these emotions.

It discriminates in the selection of food and casts out refuse and food
not needed.

It forms brain cells and creates mental force with which to control the
organism.

It keeps in repair the nerves, which are the telegraph wires connecting
the brain with all parts of the body.

It converts the potential energy in the food into heat with which to
keep itself warm.

Withal it is not left free to do its work automatically. It has within
it a higher intelligence, a spiritual force, which may definitely
hamper its workings by getting a wrong control of the telegraph wires,
thus interfering with the digestion, the heart action, the lungs and
all metabolic changes. The right exercise of this higher intelligence,
in turn, depends upon the condition of the body, because when the
mechanism of the body is out of repair it hampers mental and spiritual
control. Surely man is marvelously made!

The intelligent care of the body,—the temple through which the soul
communicates with material conditions,—is a Christian duty. “The
priest with liver trouble and the parishioner with indigestion, do not
evidence that skilled Christian living so essential to the higher life.”

Certain it is that improper foods affect the disposition, retard the
spiritual growth and change the drift of one’s life and of the lives
about one.

Man has become so engrossed and hedged about with the complex demands
of social, civic, and domestic life, all of which call for undue energy
and annoyance and lead him into careless or extravagant habits of
eating and living, that he forgets to apply the intelligence which he
puts into his business to the care of the machine which does the work.
Yet the simple laws of nature in the care of the body, are plainer and
easier to follow than the complex habits which he forms. The “simple
life” embraces the habits of eating as well as the habits of doing and
of thinking.


FOOTNOTES:

[1] It is impossible in this book to go into the anatomy and physiology
of digestion exhaustively.—The reader is respectfully referred to Miss
Cocroft’s book upon “The Vital Organs: their Use and Abuse.” This
traces the food through the digestive canal, indicating the juices
which act upon it, putting it into a necessary state to be absorbed by
the body and appropriated to its various uses.




PURPOSES OF FOOD


The purposes of food are:

 To supply the material of which the body is made.

 To rebuild tissue, which is constantly being torn down and eliminated.

 To produce heat, and to supply muscular and mental energy.

Let us discuss these purposes in above order.


[Sidenote: Food Supply]

By food supply is meant not only that the proper foods in kind and
quantity be eaten, but that the body be in condition to digest, absorb,
and assimilate the foods, and to eliminate the waste, otherwise the
foods fail to supply the body needs. It is the nourishment which the
body assimilates and appropriates to its needs which counts in food
economy.

Of the fifteen to twenty substances contained in foods and comprising
the body, the most abundant are oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen,
chlorin, sodium, potassium, magnesium, iron, calcium, phosphorus, and
sulphur. All living matter, plant or animal, contains oxygen, hydrogen,
carbon and nitrogen; the difference in the form and use of the matter
is in the proportions of these elements.

Carbon combined with oxygen forms carbon dioxid. Hydrogen, nitrogen,
and carbon dioxid form the air. Oxygen and hydrogen form water.
Calcium, iron, magnesium, sodium, and potassium form the majority of
rocks.

The substances contained in living organisms are the same as those in
inorganic matter, only in different complexities as appropriated to
each need. This difference in complexity of combinations of the same
elements in a body is the physical difference between a living and a
non-living plant or animal.

By far the most important change which the food must undergo to convert
it from raw material into a state for conversion into body needs is
the chemical change. While the body needs carbon, it cannot use coal;
it needs nitrogen, yet it cannot appropriate it to rebuilding bone
and muscle until, by chemical action with other elements within, it
has been converted into complex substances called proteins; again, the
chemical action of oxygen breaks down the proteins.

The muscles, ligaments, and labor-performing structures contain the
largest amount of proteins; the fats and the carbohydrates contain
the largest amount of carbonaceous compounds; the brain, the nerves,
and the bones contain the largest portion of phosphorous compounds;
yet, while the brain contains phosphorus, and the muscles nitrogen,
the brain cannot be built up by eating elementary phosphorus, nor the
muscles by pure nitrogen, but compounds rich in phosphorus or nitrogen
may be utilized. It has been demonstrated by scientific investigation
that no unorganized element is assimilated by the system and converted
into its various structures.

The gluten of wheat is built up by the chemical union of nitrogen in
the air and nitrogen in the soil with other substances. Plants are able
to use the simple compounds of the earth, air, and soil, and, within
their own cells, build them up into such complex substances as starch,
sugar, protein, fat, and salt, which are appropriated by the animal
kingdom for further growth and change.

In its conversion into tissue, heat, energy, and waste, the importance
of the chemical exceeds the mechanical action, such as digestion,
absorption, assimilation, and elimination; yet the chemical changes are
aided by the mechanical.

Each individual should know, approximately, the chemical constituents
and the proportion of these constituents in normal blood, because from
the elements in the blood, the tissues are constructed. If certain
elements be lacking, the foods containing these elements in largest
proportions should be supplied until the blood no longer shows the
deficiency. This is Nature’s method of correction.

Each meal, or each day’s food, may not contain just the amounts of
protein or of fuel ingredients necessary for that day’s work and
re-supply, but the body is continually storing material, and this
reserve is constantly being drawn upon to provide any element which may
be lacking in that day’s supply. Thus, an excess or a deficiency one
day may be adjusted the next. Healthful nourishment requires that the
balance, as a whole, be kept, and that a deficiency or over-supply be
not continued for too long.

Many domestic animals take their food elements from air and water, as
well as from the compounds which the plants have formed; while others
make use of meat, a compound formed by another animal. The digestive
forces of the animal has converted these elements into flesh, a
compound easily assimilated by another.

The greater part of the muscles, nerves, and glands of the animal
kingdom is _protein_. The skeleton is composed largely of deposited
salts, while the elements which supply heat and keep up muscular
activity are _starches, fats, and sugars_.

The _proteins_ are appropriated by man from plants, but they are
furnished to him in more easily digested form in lean meat and eggs,
the lower animals having done much of the work of digestion, converting
the proteins from plant life into more condensed form. On the other
hand, by access to this concentrated form of easily digested protein,
man is in danger of taking in too much of this condensed food, if he
eats a large quantity of meat and eggs.

It must be apparent to every thoughtful person, since the nerves,
muscles, and glands are composed largely of protein and the skeleton
largely of salt, that, in order to furnish the body with the elements
necessary for growth and repair, these elements must be provided, as
also the substances producing the energy for the working body. _Each
individual should make a self-study to know how much re-supply is
required to renew the daily waste._

About one-third of the food eaten goes to maintain the life of the body
in doing its incessant work of repairing and rebuilding, the remaining
two-thirds is the reserve for usefulness outside of itself.

One of the most remarkable, and the least understood of any of the
assimilative and absorptive functions, is that any one part of the body
has the power to appropriate from the foods the elements necessary for
its own rebuilding, while these same elements pass through other organs
untouched. The body has the power, also, to not only make use of the
foods, but to use up the blood tissue itself. Just how this is done is
also a mystery.

There is surely a great lesson in industry here, and one of the most
profound studies in economics, physics, and chemistry.

[Sidenote: Heat and Energy]

The second use of foods, as mentioned before, is to create heat and
energy for the work of the body. This includes the action of the heart;
the movement of the lungs in breathing; the digestion, absorption, and
assimilation of food elements; the tearing down and elimination of
waste; and the muscular activity of body movements.

Just as any engine requires fuel, water, and air to create the force
necessary to run the machinery, so does the human engine require fuel,
air, and water. The fuel for the engine consists of coal, wood, or oil.
As these are rapidly brought in combination with oxygen, combustion,
or oxidation, takes place, liberating heat and setting the engine in
motion. The amount of energy or force given off by an engine exactly
equals the amount of latent energy provided in the fuel. Much of this
energy is commercially lost, since much of the latent force in fuel is
not fully liberated, some, not liberated, going off in the smoke, while
some may remain in the cinders.

Just so in the body,—the amount of heat and energy given off from the
body exactly equals the amount of latent energy released by material
burned during oxidation. It is estimated that about one-sixth of the
heat liberated evaporates through the skin, the lungs, and through the
excreta, while five-sixths is required to maintain the body heat.

If the digestive forces are not working perfectly and if the food is
not properly cooked, some of the food is not made perfectly soluble
for absorption. But in normal conditions, if the food is supplied in
proportion to the energy required, the heat and energy given off should
exactly equal the latent heat and energy consumed in food.

It is to be noted, also, that no force within the body is lost. In the
very process of the removal of waste, heat and energy are created, so
that the parts no longer needed are utilized by the system, while they
are being removed from it. Here is a lesson in economy of force.

As mentioned before, the fuel for the body consists of _fats, starches,
and sugar_, which, in combination with oxygen, create force. The
combination of oxygen with other elements in the body is known as
oxidation. This oxidation liberates heat and at the same instant
produces energy, either in muscle, gland or nerve. The muscular energy
expresses itself in muscular motion, the glandular in chemical action,
and the nervous in nervous energy. The nervous energy is closely allied
to electrical force.

The _starches_ come largely from cereals and root vegetables; the
_sugars_ largely from cane, from certain trees, and from vegetables,
fruit, and milk; the _fats_ come from vegetable oils, from animal fat,
as fat, and some from milk and butter. Some fats are also formed from
proteins.

From the above, it follows that the fuel value of food depends upon the
amount of fats, starches, and sugars contained.

The exact process of the conversion of the potential energy latent
in food into heat and energy is not known. It is partly released
during the digestive process, as the elements of the food come into
contact with the oxygen swallowed and with the digestive juices. This
combustion gives to the digestive organs the necessary warmth for their
effective work. Digestive juices will not flow freely when the body is
cold. The heat liberated during the digestive process is necessary,
also, to put the elements of the food into condition for absorption, a
certain amount of heat being required for the chemical changes. This
liberated energy is expressed, not alone in the chemical formation
of the compounds, but in the peristaltic movements of the digestive
organs.

A small portion of the heat of the body is gained from the sun or
from artificial heat, but by far the greater part is generated within
the body. If one is cold, the quickest way to get warm is to generate
more heat within by “turning on the draught”, or, in other words, by
breathing in more oxygen. So many people cover up the body with more
clothing to reserve the body heat and forget to generate more heat by
arousing the fires within. This is like covering up a dying fire to
reserve the heat, instead of turning on the draught to create more
combustion.

Nature provides for a reserve of heat and energy, above the immediate
needs, by storing up a supply which is called into use whenever
the daily supply is inadequate. Many hibernating animals store up
sufficient fat in summer to provide heat for the entire winter. This
fat would not last the winter, however, were the animal active. Many
individuals store up excess of fat sufficient to last them for months,
even though all fat building elements be omitted from the diet.

It must be remembered that anything which creates a greater activity of
the tissues, such as muscular exercise, liberates a greater amount of
heat. The reverse is also true;—a decrease in the amount of muscular
movement means a decrease of heat liberated. During exercise, a large
amount of fat, protein, and dextrose (sugar) are released by the
movements and oxidized; the liberated heat is carried to all parts of
the system and the temperature is raised. Mental work, for the same
reason, tends to raise the body temperature, though to a much less
degree. Food in the alimentary canal causes an activity in the glands
of the digestive organs and also increases the temperature.

Of course, while digestion and mental and muscular activity are at
their height, the body temperature is highest. These activities usually
reach a maximum in the afternoon and the temperature is then highest,
while, as a rule, it decreases from about six at night until four or
five in the morning, when it is usually at its lowest ebb. This is a
point of importance to physicians. Even five degrees above the average
human temperature, if recorded about six at night, is not considered
abnormal.

Anything which causes an increase in heat radiation, as perspiration,
lowers the temperature, and the open pores of the skin are valuable
aids in equalizing the body heat. A person who perspires freely does
not suffer with heat, during excessive exercise, as does one whose
pores are closed.

One ready means of regulating the body heat is the _bath_. If one takes
a hot bath, the temperature is materially raised by the artificial
heat, but there is a recompense in the increase of heat radiation from
the skin. If one takes a cold bath, the immediate effect is cooling,
but the activity set up within, to create a reaction, soon heats the
body to a greater degree than before the bath. The best way to increase
the evaporation and thus decrease the temperature of the body is with
a tepid shower or a tepid sponge. The tepid water is not so extreme
as to create a strong reaction and it will cause a marked decrease in
temperature. Thus, for fever patients or for a warm day, the tepid
shower or sponge is commended; for a cold day, or for the individual
whose circulation is sluggish, the cold bath is desirable. Where the
vitality is low, so that there is not sufficient reaction, the bath
must be tempered.

Heat generation is also increased by solid foods that require more than
normal activity on the part of the glands for digestion. For this
reason the food for fever patients should be that most easily digested
and should be reduced to the minimum to keep up the strength.

Diuretic foods and beverages, which increase the activity of the skin
and the kidneys, also tend to lower the body temperature.

While the elements of the food are being oxidized, the latent
(potential) energy released by the oxygen creates mental and physical
force and keeps active the metabolic changing of food into tissues and
cells, also the changing of cells and tissues into waste.

The young child’s blood circulates freely, his breathing is
unrestricted, the waste of the system is fully burned up, potential
energy is released, and the result is, he must be active. The effort of
the teacher, or of those having the care of children should be, not to
restrain the child, but rather to direct his activity in advantageous
and effective use of his energy.

Scientists have a means of measuring the energy latent in food
material, also the amount of heat given off in the oxidation of a
given quantity of waste. The unit of measurement is the calorie,—the
amount of heat which will raise one pound of water to four degrees
Fahrenheit, or will lift one ton one and fifty-four hundredths.

Truly the body is a busy work-shop. Think of the billions upon billions
of cells being formed and destroyed every instant in the liberation of
heat and force! Think, also, of the necessity of perfect circulation to
bring sufficient blood to the lungs, that it may gather the oxygen and
carry it, without pausing for rest, to every tissue of the body! Even
in sleep this stream continues incessantly.

There is also a great lesson here in the law of supply and demand;—when
the body is at mental or muscular work, the potential energy liberated
leaves through muscle or brain, as energy, and is expressed in
the result of the work; when the body is at rest, it leaves it as
heat (excepting such part as is necessary to carry on metabolism,
circulation, etc.) If much muscular energy is called for, a deep, full
breath is instinctively drawn to supply the oxygen necessary for the
added force required.

If strong mental work is required, attention should be given to
exercise and deep breathing the while, that the blood may carry off
the waste liberated by brain activity. The difficulty is that in
doing close mental work, the body is too frequently bent over a desk
in such a manner as to restrict the action of the lungs; thus, the
brain worker, in order to continue strong, mental work, must often go
into the open air,—as he says, “to rest his brain”, but in reality to
re-supply the oxygen required to carry on his work and to carry away
the waste liberated by brain energy. The supply for the body work has
been called upon for the undue brain work, and this lack of oxygen has
produced a state of body designated as “tired.” Until the necessary
oxygen has been supplied, the brain and body are not balanced, not
“rested.”

_Nothing is lost in Nature’s distribution of force and energy.
Everything accomplished in life, either in the physical handling
of material, the brain work in planning the constructions, the
mental movements of thought in art, literature, or science, are all
representatives of the heat and energy released from the body, and it
is the effort of every man and woman to make the body yield as large an
income as possible in the expression of this energy. In order that it
may do so, it must be used with intelligence, just as any other great
machine must be used intelligently; it must be fed, exercised, and
rested judiciously._

[Sidenote: Repair and Elimination of Waste (Metabolism)]

Every part of the body is constantly changing. Its work never stops. If
kept in thorough repair it must be torn down and rebuilt incessantly.
These chemical changes are called collectively _metabolism_. They
are divided into two groups: the chemical process of building up
complex substances from simple ones is known as _anabolism_; the
chemical process of oxidizing and breaking down the complex substances
into simple ones, so that they are in a state to be excreted, is
_catabolism_. While the process of oxidation in catabolism is going on,
heat and energy are set free. Most of the chemical changes in the body
are catabolic in character. This work of tearing down and rebuilding
body tissues never ceases—even in sleep.

It is not enough that the proper foods be furnished the body in
kind and quantity. The essential thing is that the system be kept
in condition to _assimilate_ the foods to its needs and to promptly
eliminate the waste. Few people assimilate all of the foods eaten;
nearly every one eats more than necessary for the body needs.

By _assimilation_ is meant the digestive process by which foodstuffs
are made soluble and diffusible, so that they can pass into the blood;
also, the metabolic activity by which the food is converted into cells
and tissues.

Nature provides for an incomplete knowledge of the amount of re-supply
necessary, by enabling the system to carry off a limited amount of
surplus food above the bodily requirements.

The distinct steps in anabolism are discussed in the following chapter
describing the work of different organs and the chemical changes of
foods as they come in contact with the elements in the digestive
juices.




CLASSIFICATION OF FOOD ELEMENTS


By _foodstuff_ is meant the chemical elements, appropriated by the
animal for the use of the body, as described above. By _foods_ is meant
those articles of diet found in the market which contain the chemical
elements used by the body in various combinations. Bread, for example,
contains all of the foodstuffs and has been called the staff of life,
because it sustains life. Foods may contain elements, not foodstuffs,
and not used by the body, but cast out as waste, while certain foods,
such as sugar, cornstarch, olive oil, and egg albumen, contain only one
foodstuff, as will be noted in the following classification of foods
and foodstuffs—grouped according to the body uses.

There are many classifications but the following tables, as compiled by
a leading dietitian[2] for his practical work in classes, are clear
and concise.


  Carbonaceous foods:

  Sugars
  Starches
  Root and tuberous vegetables
  Green vegetables
  Fruits
  Fats


  Nitrogenous foods:

  Lean meat
  Eggs
  Gluten


  Carbo-nitrogenous foods:

  Cereals
  Legumes
  Nuts
  Milk

The above classifications are made because of the preponderance of
certain elements in them, not because they do not contain other
substances; e.g. vegetables are mixtures of sugars and starches; fruits
are mixtures of sugars, vegetable acids, and salts; milk, legumes,
cereals, and nuts contain a more equal division of sugars, fats and
proteins and are therefore represented as carbo-nitrogenous; lean
meats, with the exception of shell fish, contain no starch, but all
meats contain fat, protein, and water, and all, except liver, contain
ash.

In the table below, examples are given of foodstuffs in which the
chemical elements are almost pure representatives of their classes.
Cornstarch, sago, and tapioca are almost pure starch, containing very
little of any other element; glucose, cane sugar, syrups, and honey are
almost pure sugar; butter, lard, and olive oil are nearly all pure fat;
egg albumen, gluten, and lean meat are almost pure protein.

             {           { Water                    { Corn Starch
             { Inorganic { Salts         { Starches { Sago
             {                           {          { Tapioca
             {                           {
             {           { Carbonaceous  {          { Glucose
             {           { (producing    { Sugars   { Cane Sugar
             {           { heat & energy){          { Syrups
  Foodstuffs {           {               {          { Honey
             {           {               {
             {           {               {          { Lard
             { Organic   {               { Fats     { Olive Oil
             {           {                          { Butter
             {           {
             {           {                          { Egg Albumen
             {           { Nitrogenous—Proteins    { Gluten
             {           { (growth and              { Lean Meat
             {           { repair)

The _proteins_ contain nitrogen, sulphur, and phosphates. The
predominance of nitrogen has given the proteins the name nitrogenous.
The carbonaceous foods contain none of these elements, but are rich in
carbon, hence the name carbonaceous.

As previously stated, no food contains but one element of foodstuffs
and all elements are formed into compounds of plant life from the
elements in the soil, air and water by the action of the sun’s rays.
The rays of heat and light seem to store something of their power in
latent heat and energy within the combinations of these compounds.
The end of plant life is the completion of its compounds,—it first
generates the compounds, then matures them, and then dies.

All _organic_ matter is thus formed by the action of the sun’s rays
upon _inorganic_ matter. All meats are first in the form of plant life
and are converted into other compounds by the chemical processes of the
animal. This chemical action of the animal converts the energy latent
in the foods into more concentrated form. The animal thus performs a
part of the chemical work for man.

The classification of foods, as previously stated, is based upon the
principal organic foodstuffs contained. Proteins contain carbon and
salts, and carbonaceous foods contain salts and nitrogen, but these
are not in appreciable quantity. The preponderance of these elements
determines the use of the foodstuffs in the body. It will be remembered
that the chief uses are the production of heat and energy, the building
of new tissue of the growing child, and the repair of the waste in the
child and the adult.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Water]

No one element of food is more important for the needs of the body
than water. It comprises about two-thirds of the body weight and is a
component part of all foods. It is composed of oxygen and hydrogen.

In order that the body may do efficient work in digestion and in the
distribution of the nutrient elements of the foods, and that the
evaporations from the body may be re-supplied, the water in the foods,
together with the beverages drunk, should consist of about seventy-five
per cent liquid to twenty-five per cent nutrient elements, or about
three times as much in weight as proteins, fats, and carbohydrates
combined. If undue evaporation or perspiration is occasioned, a larger
proportion is required.

Water passes directly into the circulation without chemical change. It
is being constantly evaporated through the lungs and the skin, and
every forty-five seconds it passes from the kidneys into the bladder.

The average individual at normal exercise, requires about seventy-one
and one-half ounces of water daily, which equals about nine glasses
(one glass of water weighs one-half pound); a part of this is consumed
in the food. By reference to the following tables it will be noted
that water forms a large percentage of all food, particularly of green
vegetables and fruits.

The importance of water for children must not be overlooked. It is the
heat regulator of the body, and the more energy used, either in work or
in play, which results in more heat and evaporation, the more water is
required. An animal, if warm, immediately seeks water.

The body will subsist for weeks upon the food stored about its tissues;
it will even consume the tissues themselves, but it would burn itself
up without water, and the thirst after a few days without water almost
drives one insane. It should be furnished freely, in small quantities
at a time, to fever patients.

Few people, give much thought to its re-supply; yet they suffer from
the loss of it, in imperfect digestion and assimilation, and with
kidney and intestinal difficulties, ignorant of the cause.

Water softens and dissolves the food and aids in its absorption;
it is one chief agent in increasing the peristaltic action of both
the stomach and intestines, thus aiding in mixing the food with the
digestive juices and aiding the movement along the alimentary canal;
it increases the flow of saliva and of digestive juices and aids these
juices in reaching every particle of food more promptly; it aids in the
distribution of food materials throughout the body, carrying them in
the blood and the lymph from the digestive organs to the tissues, where
they are assimilated; it forms a large part of blood and lymph.

The theory has long been held that water drinking at meals is
injurious, the objection being that the food is not so thoroughly
masticated if washed down with water, and that it dilutes the digestive
juices. But this theory is not so strongly held as formerly—in fact, it
is now rightly disputed by the best authorities.

_When water drinking at meals is allowed to interfere with mastication
and is used to wash down the food, the objection is well taken_, but
one rarely drinks while food is in the mouth, the water being taken at
rest periods between mouthfuls. _Thorough mastication and a consequent
free mixing of the food with saliva is one of the most essential steps
in digestion_, and the flow of gastric juice, as the flow of saliva, is
stimulated by the water.

If, on the other hand, the food is not thoroughly masticated, water is
most essential to furnish that which the saliva would otherwise supply
to soak up and dissolve the food, in order that the gastric juice may
more readily reach all parts of it.

It is singular that the use of water at meals has long been considered
unwise when the free use of milk, which is about seven-eighths water
has been recommended.

The copious drinking of cool water from a half hour to an hour before
a meal will cleanse the stomach and incite the flow of saliva and
gastric juice. Moreover, the digestive cells secrete their juices more
freely and the sucking villi absorb more readily when the stomach and
intestines are moderately full, either of food or water, and to fill
the stomach with food requires too much digestion. The water passes
through the stomach before the food.

In building up about seven thousand thin women, results show that
the free drinking of liquid at meals has a tendency to put on flesh.
Probably one reason for this is because of the cleanliness and greater
freedom given to the absorbing and secreting cells of the mucous lining
of the digestive tract, as well as to the stronger peristalsis.

_It will be noted that water drinking at meals has many more arguments
in its favor than against it._

One important use to which water is put is to cleanse the digestive
tract and the kidneys. This cleansing within is more necessary than the
cleansing of the surface of the body. One cannot form a better habit
than that of drinking two to three glasses of water upon first arising
and then working the stomach and intestines by a series of exercises
which alternately relax and contract their walls, causing a thorough
cleansing of these organs.

In case of gastritis, or a catarrhal condition of the stomach, often
a pint of slimy mucus will collect in the stomach over night and the
cleansing of the mucous lining of the digestive tract is then most
important.

The drinking of warm (not too hot) or cold water in the morning depends
upon the condition of the individual. If in good condition, two to
three glasses of cold water, the vigorous exercises for the vital
organs, and deep breathing of _pure_ air, followed by a cold bath,
will do more to _keep_ the health, vigor, clear skin, and sparkling
eye than fortunes spent upon seeking new climates, mineral waters, or
tonics. There is no tonic like water, exercise, and fresh air, as above
prescribed.

Soft water, that is water containing no lime or other mineral matter,
is best for cooking purposes; hard water, which causes any degree of
curdling of soap, or a lime crust in the bottom of a tea kettle, is
hard on digestion. Bacterial germs are killed and much of the mineral
matter deposited by boiling the water. For drinking purposes it should
be aerated that it may regain its original, fresh taste, otherwise
boiled water tastes flat or insipid. It may be aerated by filling a jar
half full of water, leaving the other half for air, and then shaking
the water in the jar so that the air passes through it.

Many claim that one’s thirst, as in the desire for food, is the only
safe guide, as to the amount and time of drinking, but these desires
are largely matters of habit, and tastes are often perverted. Unless
the condition is abnormal or the mind becomes so intensely active that
one fails to listen to the call of nature, the system calls for what
_it has been in the habit of receiving_ and at the stated times it has
been in the habit of receiving it. The safe method is to form the habit
of eating and drinking a stipulated amount at regular periods and not
allowing this regular habit to be broken, unless, for some cause, the
system be out of order, and then the habit should only be broken for a
time.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Salt]

Milk furnishes salt in proper proportion for the baby, and later, when
the child is through nursing, eggs should be added to the diet of cow’s
milk. It is especially essential that growing children be furnished
milk and eggs that they may be assured of the proper proportion and
quantity of calcium salts, as these form the substances of bones and
teeth, which constitute about one-sixth of the body weight.

All vegetables, fruits, cereals, legumes, and nuts furnish both calcium
salts and sodium, potassium, and magnesium, which are the salts used
in the blood and lymph. Minerals are abundant in dried legumes, (beans
and peas). A diet consisting largely of vegetables needs the addition
of sodium chlorid (common table salt) to supply sufficient salts
for foods; likewise more salt than is contained in grass and fodder
is needed for animals, particularly for those producing milk. The
scientific farmer salts his cattle regularly, while wild animals travel
miles and form beaten paths to springs containing salt.

In rectal feeding, it is known that food absorbs more readily through
the large intestine if salted. It is probable that salt, in normal
proportions, also aids absorption in the stomach and small intestine.

Salt should not, however, be used immoderately.

The minerals of the food, or of the body, form the ashes in burning.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Iron]

Iron is an inorganic substance and is necessary in making red blood
corpuscles.

If, by some disturbance in the digestion, absorption, or assimilation
of food, more iron is excreted from the body than is made use of from
the food, the blood making organs do not receive sufficient iron and
the blood is lacking in red corpuscles. It becomes poor in hemoglobin
and the individual becomes pale. This condition is known as _Anaemia_.

Where there are not sufficient red blood corpuscles, it is of
vital importance that one keep up a good circulation; the stomach,
intestines, liver, and spleen must be strengthened through exercise and
one must breathe deeply of pure air, for the red blood corpuscles are
oxygen carriers, and the insufficient supply must do double duty or the
waste of the system will not be oxidized and eliminated.

A diet rich in iron must be supplied. It will most often be found that
one whose blood is lacking in hemoglobin and in the proper proportion
of red blood corpuscles, has had a dislike for the foods rich in iron,
or, perhaps, has not been able to get the right kind of food.

The yolks of eggs, the red meats (such as steak, mutton or the breast
of wild game), and the deep colored greens, (such as spinach, chard,
dandelions, etc.) contain a goodly proportion of iron. The dark color
of greens and of the dark meats is given to them by the iron which
they contain. The dark leaves of lettuce, celery, and cabbage contain
iron, but these vegetables are apt to be bleached before being put upon
the market.

The yolks of two eggs are better than one whole egg, as the iron is in
the yolk. A good way to take the yolk of eggs is in egg lemonade or in
eggnog, with a little nutmeg for spice.


FOOTNOTES:

[2] Winfield S. Hall, Ph. D., M. D., Prof. of Physiology, Northwestern
University Medical School, Chicago.




Carbonaceous Foodstuffs


The carbonaceous foods are those used by the body for heat and
energy and are so named because they contain a large proportion of
carbon,—heat producing element. It is the carbon in wood, which,
uniting with oxygen, produces heat and light.

The carbonaceous foods are all composed of carbon, hydrogen, and
oxygen, the difference being in the different proportions in which
these elements are combined.

They are divided into two classes, Fats and Carbohydrates. The
carbohydrates embrace the sugars and starches and include such
substances as the starches of vegetables and grains (notably corn,
rice, wheat, and the root vegetables), and the sugar of milk, of
fruits, vegetables, and the sap of trees. Their chief office is to
create energy. They are almost entirely absent from meat and eggs, the
animal having converted them into fats.

Carbohydrates are easily digested.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Fat]

Fat is the most concentrated form of fuel and is readily oxidized. It
is almost pure carbon, hence less chemical work is required to convert
it into fuel, but more oxygen is needed. A pound of fat has about three
times as much fuel value as a pound of wheat flour, which consists
largely of starch.

Fat forms about fifteen per cent of the weight of the normal body, and
it has about twice the fuel value of carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates and fats are each composed of carbon, hydrogen, and
oxygen, the difference being that there is less oxygen in fat, hence,
more oxygen from the air is required for combustion of fat than for
carbohydrates. One pound of starch requires one and one-fifth pounds of
oxygen for perfect combustion, while one pound of suet requires three
pounds of oxygen. For this reason the Eskimo, who depends largely upon
the fats for body heat and energy, must have plenty of fresh air. One
ounce of fat yields two and one-half times as much energy as an ounce
of sugar or starch.

If sufficient fat is not consumed, or is not formed from the
carbohydrates (starches and sugars), a certain portion of the protein
of the body is converted into fat and used in energy. When the food
supply is short, or much energy is called for, the surplus supply
of carbohydrates is first used, and, if the carbohydrates are not
sufficient, the proteins are used. Of the proteins, the gelatinoids
are used first, and next the albuminoids, or tissue builders. If the
demand, either in mental or physical energy, exceeds the daily supply
for a length of time, the body becomes lean.

In warm weather little fat is needed for fuel and nature provides
fresh, green vegetables to replace the root vegetables of the winter,
which, consisting largely of starches and sugars, are readily converted
into heat. In cold weather, especially in high altitudes or latitudes,
more fuel foods are required to keep the body warm and more fat is
eaten in winter.

Those who store up an abundance of fat suffer most from a rise in
temperature, because combustion not only creates heat, but heat also
aids combustion.

Fats are not digested in the stomach. The connective tissue about
the fat is digested here, and the fat is passed on into the small
intestine, where it is acted upon by the carbonates and by lipase, one
of the enzymes of the intestinal juices. These first change the fat
into an emulsion and then into a form of soap and glycerine. In this
saponified form, it is in condition to be absorbed into the circulation
and carried out to the tissues, where it is assimilated and used in
energy; a similar chemical change is produced in the conversion of oil
into soap.

Common examples of fats are butter, cream, the fat of meats and of
nuts, and the oil of grains and seeds,—notably the cocoanut, olive,
and, of the grains, oatmeal.

The fact that more oxygen is required for combustion of fat than of
starches and sugars is an important item for those who wish to call
upon the fats stored within the body for daily heat and energy and
thus reduce in weight. If sufficient starches, sugars, and fats are
not consumed in the food to supply the daily heat and energy released
by exercise, the body calls upon the sugars and starches temporarily
stored up and, when these have been consumed, upon the reserve of
fat. If much fat is consumed in the daily food this fat in the blood
will be oxidized before the fat stored about the muscular tissue. The
scientific reduction of weight, therefore, lies in the regulation of
the supply of starches, sugars, and fats consumed, and, the oxidation
of more of these substances through an increase in the daily exercise.
Deep breathing of pure air should accompany all exercises, to supply
sufficient oxygen for combustion, or oxidation.

Manual laborers require more fat for energy than do people whose habits
are sedentary. School children, or children who play hard, should have
sufficient fat, and where fats are withheld, sugar should be freely
supplied.

The supply of fat stored in the body depends upon the quantity
consumed with the food, upon the quantity used up in heat and energy,
in muscular exercise, or in mental force. The quantity thus consumed
depends somewhat upon the condition of the nerves. If the nerves are
weak, they do not properly direct digestion and assimilation and less
fat is consumed in the digestive and assimilative processes.

=Butter and Cream.= The fat present in milk depends, of course, upon
the quality of the milk. There is as much butter fat in a glass of
fresh Jersey milk as in a glass of cream, which has been separated, by
machinery, from the milk of some other cows. The cream from some Jersey
cows is almost all butter. Skimmed milk contains very little fat. If
milk is drunk by the adult, as a means of storing up more fat within
the body, the cream should be stirred into it.

=The Fat of Meat= should be thoroughly cooked and cooked with moisture.
All meats in the process of baking or frying should be covered, in
order to retain the moisture. To make fat easily digestible it should
be well masticated.

Bacon, if fully immersed in its own grease, in the process of frying,
is a common source of fat and is easily digested.

=Cod Liver Oil= from the liver of the codfish, is more easily absorbed
and assimilated than any other fat. The odor is not pleasant and a
little lemon juice, salt, baking soda, or any substance for pungency
and flavor, may be added to make it palatable. The pure oil taken in
this way is perhaps preferable to the prepared emulsions. One has the
advantage, at least, of knowing what he is taking.

=Olive Oil= is crushed from ripe olives. It is often used where cod
liver oil is prescribed, because more palatable. Cotton seed oil is
often substituted or mixed with the cheaper grades of olive oil. It is
wholesome, if fresh, but has not the pleasing flavor of the olive.

Many take olive oil for the purpose of rounding out the figure with
fat. If the system will assimilate fat, taken in quantities, the fat
may be stored up, but, as a rule, one is underweight because of a
failure to assimilate the regular diet and the overloading with fat
would not cause a better assimilation.

Olive oil in moderation is a good food where much heat and energy are
expended, but if ones occupation is sedentary, much fat is not required.

=Nut Oils= are good, but, with the exception of peanut butter, are not
often used.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Sugar]

The sugars are cane and beet sugar, maple sugar, and glucose.

All sugars are carbohydrates,—carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen,—the oxygen
and hydrogen being in the same proportions as in water, (two atoms
of hydrogen and one of oxygen), the difference is that the carbon is
missing from the water.

Sugar is said to consist of about ninety-five per cent nutritive value.

=Glucose= is made by converting the starch in corn into sugar. It is
pure, wholesome, and cheap, and, for this reason, it is often used
to dilute other sugars. It is not as sweet as other sugars, and it
ferments more readily. Many of the syrups on the market are made from
it.

The common, granulated sugars are made from sugar cane or beets; beet
sugar is becoming more generally used.

Brown sugar is granulated sugar in the early stages of refinement.

Maple sugar is obtained by boiling down the sap of the maple tree. It
is often adulterated with other sugars or with glucose, because they
are cheaper. This adulteration does not make it unwholesome, but when
mixed with these it loses its distinct, maple taste and is more mild.

Before sugar can be used by the human system, it is changed into grape
sugar, or dextrose, (another form of sugar) by a ferment in the small
intestine called lactose. Milk sugar needs less chemical change than
other sugars and is taken almost at once into the circulation.

When an excess of sugar is consumed, it is stored within the body as
glycogen, until required.

Sugar is perhaps a better food than starch, because less force is
required for its digestion and it is easily assimilated, being more
readily converted into dextrose than are starches. Moreover it
furnishes the needed heat and energy to organisms that have no power to
digest starch. Milk sugar is a part of the natural food for the infant,
because the infant has not developed the ferment necessary for starch
digestion.

Sugar may be oxidized within a few minutes after eating, and, for
this reason, it is eaten by those who require to use an undue amount
of muscular strength. It yields heat and energy within thirty minutes
after eating and, in times of great exertion or exhausting labor,
the rapidity with which it is assimilated gives it advantage over
starch. Used in limited quantities, therefore, according to the
muscular or brain power exercised, sugar is one of the best foods for
the production of energy. Where much sugar is eaten less starch is
required.

It is also said to prevent fatigue, a man being able to do seventy-five
per cent more muscular work with less fatigue after consuming about
seventeen and one-half ounces of sugar dissolved in pure water.

It might be inferred from the above, that starches could be discarded
and replaced by sugars, but a small quantity of sugar soon surfeits
the appetite and if the foods were confined to those with a surplus of
sugars, sufficient food would not be eaten for the needs of the body.
This lack of appetite, occasioned by an excess of sugars, is due,
partly, to the fact that the gastric juice is not secreted as freely
when there is much sugar in the stomach.

Because of the slower secretion of gastric juice and the surfeit of
the appetite, sweetened foods are not used at the beginning of a meal,
and, while a moderate amount of sugar is desirable, a surfeit is to be
deplored.

While sugar is not converted into fat, it is so readily oxidized and
thus supplies heat and energy so promptly that the starches and fats
are not called upon until the latent energy in the sugar is used. Those
who wish to reduce in flesh should eat it sparingly that the starches
and fats may be called upon to furnish energy, but sugar should be as
freely used as the system can handle it, by those who wish to build up
in flesh.

Broadly speaking, about one-fourth of a pound of sugar, daily, in
connection with other foods, is well utilized by the system, the
quantity depending upon whether one leads an active or a sedentary life.

Candy is often made from glucose instead of molasses or cane sugar, and
while glucose is wholesome, it undergoes fermentation readily. Much
candy, unless one is actively exercising, tends to indigestion.

The desire of the child for sweets is a natural one, because it uses
so much energy, and sugar supplies this energy with less effort of the
digestive system. When the child begins to eat more solid foods, if
sugar is used in abundance for sweetening, it is no longer attracted
by the mild sweetness of fresh milk, and it is well to cut down the
allowance of sugar, when the child turns against milk, in the hope
of restoring the taste for this valuable food. Many of the best
authorities state that the child, up to its third year, should never
be allowed to taste sweets, in order that the appetite may not be
perverted from the natural sweets of milk.

Sugar is better supplied the child in a lump or in home-made candy,
rather than in the sweetening of porridge, oatmeal, or bread and milk,
etc.

Sweet fruits, fully ripened, contain much sugar and should be freely
given to the child. The natural flavor of fruits and grains is very
largely destroyed by sugar, which is used too freely on many articles
of diet.

Most vegetables and fruits contain sugar,—indeed sugar is the only
nutriment in many fruits. The sweet taste in all fruits and vegetables
is due to its presence. Sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, parsnips,
turnips, grapes, figs, and dates are especially rich in sugar and when
these are furnished with a meal, in any appreciable quantity, the
starches should be restricted—notably bread, potatoes and rice.

Harvesters, road-makers and others, who do hard work in the open air,
can consume large quantities of sugar in pie, pastry, etc., which are
difficult to digest, while one who lives an indoor life, should refrain
from an undue indulgence in these.

For one who is undernourished, sugar is a desirable food, if the starch
be diminished in proportion as the amount of sugar is increased; but
the inclination in sweetening foods is to take more starch than
the system requires, since it is the carbohydrate foods which are
ordinarily sweetened,—not the proteins.

On account of the latent heat and energy, sugars are more desirable
in cold weather than in warm. Nature supplies them more abundantly in
root vegetables for this season. More puddings and heavier desserts are
eaten in winter.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Starch]

Starch is one of the most important carbohydrates used for nutrition.
It is formed by the chemical action produced by the sun’s rays upon the
cells of living plants, from the carbon-dioxid and water in the air and
in the soil.

Corn starch, sago, tapioca, and arrowroot are practically pure starch.
Cornstarch is from young maturing corn; tapioca is from the meal of
a tropical plant, cassava; sago is from the pith of the sago palm;
arrowroot is from a plant of the same name, a native of the West
Indies. Rice is almost pure starch, while wheat and other cereals
contain from sixty to seventy per cent.

Starch lacks flavor and for this reason all starchy foods are seasoned.

All starches must undergo much chemical change by action of the saliva,
the intestinal juice and by the liver, before they can be used by the
body. They are first converted into dextrine and then into maltose
(animal sugar). The digestion is begun by the saliva in the mouth and
continued in the stomach by the saliva swallowed with the food. If the
saliva fails to digest all of the starch, either in the mouth or the
stomach, it passes unchanged into the intestines, where it is converted
by the amylase of the intestinal juice, first into dextrine and then
into maltose, or sugar. It is absorbed into the blood as sugar. After
the digested starch (maltose) passes into the blood it is spoken of as
sugar. Before it is converted into energy it is again changed in the
liver into animal starch (glycogen) and stored for a time in the liver.
When the system is ready for it, it is again broken down into sugar,
because in the form of glycogen it cannot be absorbed into the blood.

The chemical process used in the formation of glucose, from the starch
in corn, is allied to the change in the liver, from starch into sugar.

The starches and sugars are really the “reserves” or “go-betweens” of
the body, being stored until needed.

If starches are consumed in unduly large quantities, without sufficient
exercise to burn them up, they overload the liver and clog the system.

Starchy foods should not be given to children before the starch
converting ferments are formed, nor to one in disease where these
ferments are interrupted.




Nitrogenous Foodstuffs or Proteins


The proteins form heat and energy when the supply of sugars, starches,
and fat are exhausted, but proteins, alone form muscle, bone and sinew.
They are, in this sense, the most important of foods,—they are, also,
the most costly.

The foods most rich in proteins are meat and eggs. These have undergone
chemical changes from the vegetable kingdom being built up into more
complex compounds in the animal kingdom.

Meat and eggs are the tissue builders. In this connection it may be
well to state that blood is tissue; thus meat and eggs build the blood,
as well as muscle and sinew.

Nitrogenous foods, or proteins, are so called because of the large
proportion of nitrogen which they contain. All nitrogenous foods
contain considerable carbon—mostly in the form of fat in the meat
elements—but the carbonaceous foods contain so little of the proteins
that they do not appreciably enter into the nutrition,—the carbon and
nitrogen in the carbo-nitrogenous foods are more equally divided.

The nitrogenous or protein elements in the body constitute about
one-fifth of its weight. They make the framework, forming the basis of
blood, lymph, muscle, sinew, bone, skin, cartilage, and other tissues.

Worn out body tissues is constantly being torn down and eliminated and
the protein in the foods must daily furnish material for repair, as
well as for building new tissue in the growing child.

A young animal’s first need is for growth, not having learned to
exercise sufficiently to use much energy, and the first food given is
an animal product—milk to babes and other mammals, while the young of
other animals are first fed upon eggs.

The nitrogenous foods are required in smaller bulk than vegetables and
fruits; they are more concentrated and contain less waste. According
to recent experiments, the average adult requires from two to four
ounces a day of nitrogenous foods, to repair the waste, according to
the proportion of nitrogen contained. Happily, where more is consumed,
the system has the power, up to a certain limit (depending upon the
physical condition and the daily activity), to eliminate an excess.
It is needless to say that if the daily waste is not re-supplied, the
digestion and bodily nutrition suffer. The system _must_ have the two
to four ounces to supply the nitrogen daily excreted, or the tissues
themselves will be consumed.

The proteins, of which meat is the principal one, are classified as

Albuminoids:—albumin (white of eggs), casein (curd of milk), myosin
(the basis of lean meat and gluten of wheat),

Gelatinoids, (connective tissue of meat),

Extractives (appetizing and flavoring elements).




DIGESTION


Any discussion in regard to the digestibility of foods must be general,
because food which agrees with one may disagree with another, and a
food which disagrees with one at a particular time may entirely agree
with him at some other time; therefore, before one passes upon the
adaptability of a food to the individual, it should be known that this
food agrees or disagrees with him under varying conditions.

The digestibility of food depends largely upon the physical condition
of the individual, because the amount of digestive juices poured into
the alimentary canal is influenced by this condition, particularly
by the condition of the nerves. If sufficient juices, in proper
proportions, are not poured into the digestive tract, the foodstuffs
are not made soluble for absorption into the blood. Digestion is
practically synonymous with solution,—all solid foods must be reduced
to a liquid state, through digestive juices and water, before they can
pass through the walls of the stomach and intestines.

Each individual should _learn to like_ the foods containing the
nutrient elements which experience and blood tests have shown to be
lacking in his case. The question of likes and of dislikes in regard to
foods, is largely habit, and one can learn to like almost any food one
wishes.

Where one forms the habit of discriminating too much in the food, or
discarding this food or that, because at some time it has disagreed,
due to the particular condition at the time, the mind approaches the
table as a more or less pessimistic censor and the saliva and the
gastric juices are retarded in their flow.

When one is exercising freely, so that the muscular and mucous coats
of the digestive system are strong, the body will handle foods which,
during sedentary habits, it would not digest. There are kinds of foods,
however, which, to certain individuals, according to the chemical
composition of the body, act as actual poisons, e. g., strawberries,
cheese, or coffee.

It may be well to here trace, briefly, the progress of the food through
the digestive tract and the action of the juices and the ferments upon
it.[3]

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Salivary Digestion]

The food in the mouth is mixed with saliva, which dissolves the
starches, converting them into sugar. The starches are the only foods
whose chemical digestion is begun in the mouth. They are first broken
up into dextrin and then into the more simple sugar, known as animal
starch, or _maltose_. Hereafter, in speaking of sugar, after it has
been absorbed into the blood, the reader will bear in mind that the
term refers not only to digested sugar, consumed as such, but also to
digested starches (maltose), as shown on page 63.

It is important that sufficient saliva be mixed with the food, through
mastication, that it may enter the stomach and there continue the
chemical process of digestion of starch. If starches are not thoroughly
masticated, sufficient saliva will not enter the stomach to convert the
starch into sugar; the food will pass into the small intestine, which
must then do more than its normal work of digestion.

The saliva consists of about ninety-nine and one-half per cent water
and one-half per cent solids. The solids consist of ptyalin, sodium
chlorid, sodium carbonate (baking soda), mucus, and epithelium.
Ptyalin, the most important of these, is an active digestive agent; the
mucus lubricates the masticated food; the sodium carbonate insures the
alkalinity of the food; the salt is present in all secretions; and the
water dissolves the food that the juices may more readily reach and act
upon each particle.

The saliva flows into the mouth, more or less, at all times, but more
copiously during mastication. Its evident purpose, when food is not
present, is to keep the lining of the mouth moist.

The flow of saliva is controlled, to a great degree, by nerves which
have their centers in the medulla oblongata. The sight of food,
pleasingly served, or even the thought of food which one likes, will
increase the salivary flow. This is one instance of the control of
thought materially affecting digestion, and the importance of _forming
the habit of cultivating a taste for all kinds of food_, is apparent.
The stronger the relish for the food, and the more thoroughly it is
masticated, and mixed with the saliva, the more perfect will be the
first step in digestion. This first step of thorough mastication is
all important, not only because the chemical action upon the starch
molecules is facilitated by the thorough softening and mixing with the
saliva, but thorough mastication also tends to prevent overeating.

Water encourages the flow of saliva and for this reason should be drunk
copiously before meals, particularly where digestion is weak. It may
also be taken at rest periods during the meal. (See page 44).

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Stomach Digestion]

As the food enters the stomach, the gastric juice pours out from
the mucous lining, very much as the saliva pours into the mouth. It
consists of ninety-nine and one-half per cent water and one-half per
cent solids, as does the saliva. The solids of the gastric juice are
composed of pepsin, rennin, hydrochloric acid, and mucus. The mucus
serves to lubricate the food as in the saliva. It also prevents the
digestion of the mucous lining of the stomach itself.

The hydrochloric acid and the pepsin cause the principal chemical
changes in the food while in the stomach, acting alone upon the
proteins. The only digestion of starches in the stomach is that
continued by the saliva. The salivary digestion proceeds until the
gastric juice is secreted in sufficient quantity to cause a marked
acidity of the stomach contents, when the starches are passed into the
intestines.

Gastric juice begins to flow into the stomach soon after eating, but it
is not secreted in sufficient quantity to supersede salivary digestion
for from twenty to forty-five minutes.

The result of gastric digestion of proteins is their conversion, first,
into albumin, then into proteosis and, lastly, into peptone, which is
protein in a more simple, soluble, and diffusible form. In the form of
peptone, the proteins are in condition to be absorbed.

If the food has been properly cooked and masticated the gastric
digestion will be completed in one and one-half to three hours. If not
properly cooked and masticated, the stomach digestion may continue one
to two hours longer. It should, however, be completed in three hours.

The most readily digested animal foods remain less time in the stomach.
Meat, as a rule, is easily digested, because the action of the
digestive juices of the animal has converted the starches and sugars.
The white meat of chicken, being soft, is digested in a shorter time
than the red or the dark meat.

Fluids leave the stomach more rapidly than solids. Seven ounces of
water leave the stomach in one and one-half hours, seven ounces of
boiled milk in about two hours.

The flow of gastric juice, as the flow of saliva, is governed by the
nerves;—the sight, taste, and smell of food, and the attitude of mind
toward it, to a certain extent, regulates its flow.

After the food has extensively accumulated, during the progress of
a meal, the stomach begins a series of wave-like movements called
peristaltic waves.[4] These waves work downward through the length of
the stomach towards its lower opening, known as the pyloric orifice. As
the food is moved down the stomach by these motions, it is thoroughly
mixed with the gastric juice.

During the early stages of digestion, the sphincter muscles of the
pylorus keep the lower end of the stomach closed, but, as digestion
progresses, the pylorus gradually relaxes to let the digested, soluble
portion of the food pass into the intestine. If the food still remains
in a solid form, by reason of being improperly cooked or poorly
masticated, as it touches the pylorus, these sphincter muscles, almost
as if they were endowed with reasoning faculties, close, forcing the
undigested mass back to be further acted upon by the gastric juice,—the
solid mass is not allowed to pass until dissolved.

If the individual continues to abuse the stomach and to cause it to
work overtime, it becomes exhausted and demands rest; it refuses to
discharge the gastric juice in proper proportion; the peristaltic
movements are weak; and food is not promptly or forcefully moved along
the stomach and mixed with the gastric juice. This demand for a rest is
termed _Indigestion_.

To sum up,—digested sugar is dextrose; digested starch is first
dextrin, then maltose (animal, sugar); digested protein is peptone;
and, digested fat is saponified fat.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Intestinal Digestion]

The food passes from the stomach, through the pylorus into the small
intestine. The first twelve inches of the small intestine is known as
the duodenum. In the duodenum it is acted upon by the pancreatic juice
from the pancreas, the bile from the liver, and the intestinal juices.
These juices act upon proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. The bile acts
upon the fats, while the pancreatic and intestinal juices act chiefly
upon the carbohydrates.

As the food enters the intestine, it is changed, by the sodium
carbonate, from the acid condition produced in the stomach, to alkaline
reaction.

The bile exercises an important influence upon digestion, any
disturbance in the flow of this greenish-brown secretion being very
quickly shown both in stomach and intestinal digestion. It emulsonizes
and saponifies the fats, it aids in their absorption, and it lubricates
the intestinal mass, facilitating its passage through the entire length
of the intestines. Thus, it is a very potent agent in regulating the
bowel movements. A diminution in the flow of bile quickly expresses
itself in constipation.

Fats are almost entirely digested in the small intestine. The presence
of fat stimulates the flow of pancreatic juice, which, in turn,
stimulates the flow of bile from the liver. For this reason, if the
liver is sluggish, fatty foods are desirable. Olive oil is prescribed
for gall stones to stimulate the action of the bile ducts.

Before the fat molecules can be absorbed, they must first be broken up
into glycerin and fatty acids and further changed to a fine emulsion,
which gives the contents of the small intestine a milky appearance.
After they are broken up into these fatty acids and thus brought to
the finest state of emulsion, they are readily saponified, being
then soluble in water and in a state to be absorbed by the walls of
the intestines. The fats are absorbed almost entirely in the small
intestine,—mostly in the duodenum.

As a rule, the starches, or dextrin, will not be fully digested by the
saliva and those which have failed of salivary digestion are acted upon
by amylase (one of the solids of the intestinal juice) and changed
to maltose, while the trypsin from the pancreas, together with the
intestinal juice, acts upon any protein which has failed to be fully
digested in the stomach, changing it into peptone. In the form or
peptone it is absorbed through the “sucking” villi of the intestinal
walls.

The food is forced along the intestinal tract by peristaltic or
muscular relaxation and contraction waves, as in the stomach. As it is
so forced, the nutrient elements, after being put into condition for
absorption, are taken up through the villi of the intestinal walls by
the portal veins and the lacteals of the sub-mucous lining. (See page
78).

It is now believed that a larger proportion of food is digested and
absorbed than was heretofore realized, and that the excretions from the
intestines are, in many cases, made up almost entirely of refuse, and
of the catabolic waste of the system. In an ordinary, mixed diet, it is
stated that about ninety-two per cent of the proteins, ninety-five per
cent of the fats, and ninety-seven per cent of the carbohydrates are
retained by the body.

 _In digestion, it is of the utmost importance that the muscular,
 mucous, and the sub-mucous coats, and the secreting glands of the
 stomach and intestines be kept thoroughly strong and active, that
 the digestive juices may be freely poured out, the nutriment be
 freely absorbed, and the food be moved along the digestive tract. The
 strength of any organ is gained through the nutriment in the blood;
 therefore, daily exercise, which calls the blood freely to these
 organs, is imperative._


[Sidenote: Absorption of Food]

The greater part of the food is absorbed through the intestines, yet
some proteins, which have been fully digested by the gastric juice, and
certain fats, particularly the fats in milk, which are in a natural
state of emulsion, may be absorbed through the walls of the stomach.
However, the absorption through the stomach is small compared to that
through the intestines.

The small intestine is particularly fitted for absorption. Every inch
or so along its course the mucous lining is thrown up into folds, as
if to catch the food as it passes toward the large intestine, and
to hold it there until the villi have the opportunity to absorb it.
These transverse folds of the intestinal walls are called valvulæ
conniventes. The villi are fingerlike projections of the mucous lining
of the intestines, which stand out upon the lining somewhat as the nap
on plush. They have been called “sucking” villi, because during the
movements of the intestines they seem to suck in the liquid food. As
soon as the foodstuffs,—proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, are put in a
dissoluble state ready for absorption, they are very promptly absorbed
by the villi. If, for any reason, they remain unabsorbed, they are
liable to ferment by the action of the trypsin, or to be attacked by
the bacteria always present in the intestines.

The peptones, sugars, and saponified fats are rapidly absorbed, while
the undigested portion, together with the unabsorbed water, the bile,
mucus and bacterial products, are passed through the ileo-cecal valve
into the large intestine.

That the large intestine is also adapted to the absorption of fats is
shown by clinical experiments with patients who cannot retain food
in the stomach, the food in such cases being given through rectal
injections.

In the large intestine, the mass passes up the ascending colon, across
the transverse colon, and down the descending colon, losing, by
absorption, foodstuffs not absorbed in the stomach and small intestine.

While water and salt are absorbed both in the stomach and in the small
intestine, the evident purpose in leaving the larger part of the
water to be absorbed in the large intestine is that it may assist the
intestinal contents in passing along. The water also stimulates the
peristaltic movement.

As the food is absorbed through the walls of the alimentary canal, it
is picked up by the rootlets of the mesenteric veins[5] and by the
lymph channels,—the latter, through the abdominal cavity, are called
lacteals. Nearly all of the fats are absorbed through the lacteals. The
whitish color given to the contents of the lacteals, by the saponified
fats, gives rise to the term lacteal, meaning “whitish.”

Nearly all of the proteins and sugars pass through the mesenteric
veins and the portal veins into the liver. Here the sugars are at once
attacked by the liver cells and built up into glycogen as described on
page 81 and the proteins are passed through the liver into the arterial
blood stream. A small portion of the proteins, however, do not go to
the liver, but are passed directly into the lymphatics and thus into
the blood stream, where they are again carried to the liver.

To sum up,—the larger part of the absorption of sugars, starches,
proteins, and fats is through the small intestine, though some are
absorbed in the stomach and a very little through the large intestine;
while some water and salts are absorbed in the stomach and small
intestine, these are largely absorbed in the large intestine.


FOOTNOTES:

[3] A knowledge of the mucous lining of the stomach and intestines, and
of the tributary glands, such as the liver and pancreas, is important
to a thorough understanding of digestion, and the reader is referred to
“The Vital Organs: Their Use and Abuse” of this series. This takes up
the study of the secretion of digestive juices, the conditions favoring
normal secretions, etc.

[4] See “The Vital Organs; Their Use and Abuse” by Susanna Cocroft.

[5] For illustration see the frontispiece of “The Circulation, Lungs,
Heart,” of this series.




The Work of Various Organs Affecting Digestion


The purpose of this chapter is to show the work of other organs than
the digestive organs in converting the digested food to use in the
body, in tearing down waste, and in eliminating waste and an excess of
material above the body needs.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Work of the Liver]

The liver is commonly called the chemical work-shop of the body. The
proteins and sugars are carried through the blood (portal veins) to
the liver directly they are absorbed from the alimentary canal. As the
food materials filter through the blood capillaries, between the liver
cells, several substances are absorbed, particularly sugar, which is
here changed into animal starch called _glycogen_. It is held in the
liver for a few hours in the form of glycogen and then redigested by
the action of an amylolitic ferment and again gradually given out
into the blood in the form of sugar; hence sugar is subject first to
the anabolic change of being built up into glycogen, and then to the
catabolic change of oxidation and breaking down.

While the conversion of the sugar is one chief office of the liver,
it also acts upon the proteins,—not as they are first passed through
the liver in the blood, but as they are returned to the liver from the
muscle tissue, partly oxidized and broken up into simpler products.
The liver cells absorb and further oxidize and combine them into
nitrogenous waste, which the kidneys throw off in urea.

The liver and the spleen also break up the pigment or coloring matter
of the red blood corpuscles. As they become worn out, they are retired
in the liver and the spleen from the circulation. The iron is retained
by the liver cells and the remainder is thrown off from the liver, in
the bile.

The liver is often called the watch dog of the body, because it
is on guard for all poisons which pass through it in the blood.
The large part of these toxic substances are absorbed through the
alimentary canal with other foodstuffs. Many of them are the result
of the fermentation of foods which are not digested as promptly as
they should be, on account of an insufficient secretion of digestive
juices, or a failure to secrete them in normal proportions, or due to
inactivity of the stomach and intestines.

It surely is a wise provision of nature to supply a guard to oxidize,
or break down these poisons and make them harmless, so that they do not
pass to all parts of the body as poisons, thus affecting the nerves and
the blood stream, and, through these, the entire system.

The necessity of correct habits of deep breathing will be readily seen,
because oxygen is required to break down the poisons as well as to
oxidize the waste of the system.

One example of the action of the liver in rendering substances
harmless, is its oxidation of alcohol. From one to three ounces of
alcohol a day are oxidized and made harmless in the liver, varying
according to the individual and to the condition, at different times,
in the same person. If the limit of one to three ounces is exceeded,
the excess is not oxidized and intoxication results. These evidences of
intoxication are in the nature of narcosis; _alcohol is now regarded as
a narcotic along with ether and chloroform_.

It was formerly held by physiologists that alcohol was a food, because
its oxidation liberates body heat and it was assumed that this
liberation of heat, was the same as that freed by the combustion of
fats, starches, and sugar uniting with oxygen. More recent knowledge,
however, has unquestionably determined that heat, resulting from
oxidation of alcohol, does not keep up body temperature; the pores of
the skin are opened and there is a greater loss of heat through the
skin. This really makes the system less able to resist cold. Large
doses of alcohol actually cause a fall in body temperature and every
force of the body is decreased in efficiency, while if alcohol were
an actual food the efficiency would be increased. We are forced to
the conclusion, therefore, that alcohol is a _pseudo-food_ as it is a
_pseudo-stimulant_.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Work of the Muscles]

The muscles play an important part in the use of foods. Most of the
heat is generated in them, by the sugar and fats coming in contact
with the oxygen in the blood. This heat is liberated during every
moment of the twenty-four hours, asleep or awake. Of course, more is
liberated during exercise, since the movement of the muscles sets
all tissues into activity and the blood circulates more strongly,
bringing a greater supply of oxygen to them. It is always well during
active exercise to stop frequently and fully inflate the lungs. The
effort should always be made to breathe fully and deeply—otherwise
the pressure of the liberated carbon dioxid will cause a pressure
throughout the blood stream, particularly about the heart and in the
head. This pressure is relieved when the excess of carbonic acid gas
liberated has been thrown off by the lungs. Nature makes the effort to
throw off the excess of carbonic acid gas by forcing one to breathe
more rapidly while running or taking unusual exercise.

The oxidation changes are simply a combustion of sugars and fats,
liberating latent heat as they are brought into contact with the
oxygen. Exercise and a regulation of the amount of carbohydrates and
fats consumed in the foods is the natural, scientific method for the
reduction of an excess of fat.

A certain amount of protein is constantly oxidized in the muscles,
also, being broken down into carbon dioxid, water and a number of
nitrogenous mid-products. The carbonic acid gas and water are thrown
off by the lungs and the partially oxidized, nitrogenous waste is
carried to the liver, where it is further oxidized and prepared for
excretion, through the kidneys, lungs, skin and intestines.

When sugar is carried to the muscles in larger quantities than can be
utilized by them, it is often built up into animal starch and stored in
the form of glycogen, similar to its chemical change and storage in the
liver.

This storage of glycogen in the muscles and in the liver is a wise
provision of Nature. It is a reserve to be called upon whenever the
expenditure of heat and energy exceeds the amount supplied in any day’s
rations.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Work of the Nerves]

The nerves oxidize food materials, but not to any great extent,
excepting during nervous activity. During periods of rest, food
materials are stored in the nerve cells in grandular form. They
represent concentrated nerve foods and are the result of anabolic
processes. During nervous activity they are oxidized and carried away
through the blood and the lymph. This oxidation of the food, stored in
the nerves, creates nervous energy and heat.

The energy liberated by the nerves resembles electrical energy.

Where one subjects himself continuously to an excess of nervous
activity, all reserve food material, stored in the nerve cells, is used
and the result is a trying nerve tension. Such individuals need plenty
of easily digested food.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Work of the Lungs]

The lungs absorb oxygen and eliminate carbon dioxid. They occasionally
throw off a very little organic material.

The carbon dioxid is carried to the lungs from the tissues through the
venous stream and diffused through the capillary walls of the lungs.
The oxygen is absorbed into the capillaries through the thin air sacs
in the walls of the lungs.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Work of the Kidneys]

The kidneys do not absorb as do the lungs, neither do they perform any
anabolic work as does the liver, nor catabolic work as the muscles,
nerves and the liver. They simply throw off waste matter.

The blood passes through them in a transverse branch from the
abdominal aorta. In its circuit urea, uric acid, urates, sulphuric
acid, sulphates and sodium phosphates pass from the blood with the
water and are thrown from the system; hence the kidneys are purifying
organs, as are the lungs. The blood returning from the kidneys through
the veins is pure, just as the blood in the pulmonary vein is pure,
while that in the arteries to the kidneys and the lungs is impure.

The above substances cannot be thrown off from the lungs. They are the
products of oxidation of proteins, partly of the living tissues and
partly those broken down direct as they are supplied in the foods, in
excess of the needs of the system.

Interference in the action of the kidneys results in a hoarding of
these substances in the blood, and may produce an intoxicated condition
known as uremic poisoning.

Water in abundance and diuretic fruits and vegetables, which increase
the activity of the kidneys, should be taken where uremia is indicated.
(Foods which cause a free flow of urine are called diuretic foods.)


[Sidenote: Work of the Skin]

The sweat glands also throw off an excess of water and salts. The
kidneys and the skin are interdependent; if the kidneys are inactive
the skin throws off a larger quantity and if the skin is inactive, or
if for any reason the pores of the skin are closed, the kidneys are
more active. This is evidenced by the sudden immersion of the body in
cold water; the pores of the skin being closed the kidneys immediately
act.

During the summer, or at any time when the skin throws off more water
than usual, the kidneys are less active and the urine, being more
concentrated, is darker.

The skin also throws off carbon dioxid and, to a slight extent, it
absorbs oxygen.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Work of the Intestines]

The intestines, in their work of elimination, pass off all undigested
matter. They also carry off bile pigment, bile salts, mucus, amino
acids, and other decomposition of proteins,—also a little unabsorbed
fats and bacterial decomposition taking place in the intestines. Coarse
articles of food containing fibres which do not digest, such as the
bran of grains and the coarser fruits and vegetables (though much of
their substances are not food in the strictest sense) are valuable to
increase the peristaltic movements of the intestines and to act as a
carrying body to move the waste excretions along their course.

The combustion, or burning of fuel in any form, (oxidation for the
release of latent heat and energy) always leaves some parts which
are not used as heat or energy, and it is the work of the intestines
to eliminate much of this refuse. When coal is burned, gas, smoke
and cinders or clinkers, constitute the waste and if these were not
allowed to escape from a stove the fire would soon go out—the smoke and
gas would smother it and the clinkers would prevent the circulation
of oxygen and soon clog and fill the stove. The same is true in the
body—the carbonic acid gas not being allowed to pass off would soon put
out the fires of life; it would poison the body and stunt the action of
the nerves. If the nitrogenous waste (like ashes and cinders) is not
eliminated by the kidneys, one will die in convulsions in one or two
days.

The absolute necessity of a free elimination of waste will be readily
seen.—If the engine is to do its best work, the engineer sees that it
is kept perfectly clean—otherwise it becomes clogged, does inefficient
work and the clogging soon wears out some parts. The same is true in
the body,—clogging in any part overworks and wears out other parts
dependent upon the work of the one.


Summary

Let us sum up the processes which the food undergoes in its conversion
into condition to be absorbed by the body; in its absorption through
the walls of the intestines and stomach; and the metabolic processes
which it undergoes in being converted into heat and energy and again
broken down and eliminated as waste.

_The Saliva_ begins the digestion of starches and sugars in the mouth.
This digestion is continued by the saliva in the stomach.

_The Stomach_, when in normal condition, thoroughly digests the
proteins. If any proteins fail of digestion in the stomach the process
is completed in the intestines.

The _Intestines_, aside from their work of digestion and absorption,
excrete bile pigment, bile salts, animal acids, mucus and other
decomposition of proteins, with bacterial fermentation and
putrefactions; also such food materials as are not digested.

The small intestine digests and absorbs the fats and continues the
digestion of starches, sugars and fats when this digestion is not
completed in the stomach.

The large part of the food is absorbed through the small intestine,
though a small part is absorbed through the walls of the stomach and
through the large intestine.

Fats are almost entirely absorbed in the small intestine. They are
absorbed through the lacteals and are carried into the blood stream.

_The Liver._ The proteins and the starches (converted into maltose)
and sugars pass into the liver. The sugar (including the sugar in
vegetables, milk, fruits and that used for sweetening, as well as the
carbohydrates which have been changed into maltose), is converted into
glycogen in the liver, stored here for a time and again broken down
into sugar that it may be in condition to be absorbed into the blood.

The proteins pass through the liver but are not acted upon by this
organ until they again return to the liver through the blood stream,
after they have been partly oxidized in the tissues. The liver further
oxidizes them putting them into condition to be excreted by the kidneys
and intestines.

The liver also breaks up the worn out red corpuscles, putting them into
condition to be eliminated in the bile.

It oxidizes and renders harmless poisonous substances absorbed in the
food, such as fermented food products and alcohol.

The _Muscles_ oxidize the fats and sugars liberating the latent heat
and energy.

They partly oxidize proteins which are further broken up in the liver.

The _Nerves_ oxidize food materials stored in the nerve cells,
providing nervous energy.

The _Lungs_ absorb oxygen and throw off carbon dioxid, watery vapor and
some organic substances.

The _Kidneys_ and The _Skin_ purify the blood by excreting water,
carbon dioxid and nitrogenous waste.




FACTORS INFLUENCING DIGESTION


As before stated, it is not the food eaten, but that which the body
digests and assimilates, or appropriates to its needs, which counts;
many factors influence such nourishment. The principal ones are the
forceful circulation, the breathing of plenty of oxygen, and the
resultant free elimination of waste.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: The Appetite]

If one has no appetite, by far the safest method is to abstain from
food until the system calls for it, or to eat but a very little of the
lightest food at regular meal times; be careful not to mince between
meals nor to eat candy nor pickles. Be sure that the lack of appetite
is not due to mental preoccupation which does not let the brain relax
long enough for the physical needs to assert themselves. One should
relax the brain in pleasant thoughts during a meal.

If the appetite is lacking, because of physical exhaustion, it is
unwise to eat, because the digestive organs are tired, and to load
a tired stomach with food, still further weakens it and results in
indigestion. The better plan is to drink two glasses of cold water
and lie down for an hour; if there is still no desire for food, drink
freely of water, but abstain from food until hungry.

This should not lead one into forming the habit of irregular eating,
however. The stomach forms habits and the supply of food must be
regular, just as the nursing child must be fed regularly, or digestive
disturbance is sure to result.

A wise provision of Nature makes the system, in a normal condition, its
own regulator, protesting against food when it has not assimilated or
eliminated that consumed. One should learn to obey such protests and
cut down the quantity when Nature calls “enough.”

There are exceptions, however. Some phases of indigestion result in a
gnawing sensation in the stomach, which is often mistaken for a desire
for food. This is not a normal appetite. Water will usually relieve it.

Often loss of appetite is the result of a clogging of intestines
or liver, or to an excess of bile, which, not having been properly
discharged into the intestines, has entered the blood stream. An excess
of bile and poisons, indicating a torpid liver, often expresses itself
in a dull mental force, the toxins deadening the nerve cells. Nature
does not call for more food until she has eliminated the excess of
waste.

It is commonly stated that the body will call for what the system
requires. This may have been true of the aborigines, who ate their food
in its natural state, and, to a certain extent, it is true to-day, but
condiments and stimulants, to make the food “appetizing,” have unduly
stimulated the nerves and perverted the natural taste; foods containing
their natural amount of spices or extractives no longer tempt one.
Those whose nerves are highly keyed, form the habit of seasoning the
food too strongly, making it too stimulating. This undue stimulant
calls for more food at the time of eating than a normal appetite would
demand. The taste being cultivated for the stimulant, the habit of
eating too much food is formed.

There is a difference between the cultivated and the normal appetite.
A child rarely shows a desire for stimulants or condiments, unless
unwisely encouraged by an adult, who does it,—_not because it is good
for the child, but because the individual himself has cultivated a
taste for it_. It is as easy to form healthful tastes and habits of
eating as unhealthful ones, and care should especially be exercised in
the formation of healthful habits by the growing child.

The simple foods, in their natural state, are in the right condition
to be digested, with the aid of heat to break the cellular coverings
of the globules of some of them, but time, energy, muscular activity,
nerve force, and money are spent in combining, seasoning, and cooking
foods in such a manner as often to render them difficult of digestion.

_Deep breathing of fresh air, to throw off the poisonous carbon dioxid
and to supply an abundance of oxygen to oxidize the waste, thus putting
it in condition to be expelled from the system; brisk exercise to
accelerate the circulation, that the blood may carry the oxygen freely
and that the tissues may liberate the carbon dioxid and other waste;
and a copious drinking of water, are the best tonics for loss of
appetite or for a lack of vitality._

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Economy in Food]

It is economy, therefore, to keep the digestive organs and the
circulation and tissues strong, in order that all foods eaten may yield
returns, instead of hampering activity.

The food which furnishes the most tissue-building substance and
yields the most heat and energy, with the least refuse, is the
economical food. In the selection of food for any individual, the
result to be gained from the food must be borne in mind. If one is
doing heavy muscular work, more protein to rebuild tissue, as well as
more carbohydrates and fats to produce energy, are required than if
one’s habits of work are sedentary. In mental work, where the brain
is continually active, proteins are required to re-supply the brain
tissue, but the fats and carbohydrates may be lessened. This would
seem to contradict the theory that where one’s habits are sedentary
and the brain alone is active, the proteins are not required. In
sedentary occupation, the carbohydrates and fats are stored within
the system, clogging it and producing torpid liver, constipation, and
obesity,—unless the brain is sufficiently active to use all of the
fuel in brain energy.

In a dietary study of the following tables, the question should be to
provide the largest quantity of nutriment at the lowest cost, with due
attention to palatability and variety. In the selection of meats, for
instances, while beefsteak may cost twice as much as beef stew, it
must be borne in mind that beefsteak contains very little waste, and
it contains a large proportion of albuminoids, or the tissue building
proteins, while, in the beef stew, the bones and the connective
tissue predominate; the proteins yielded from the beef stew are a
large proportion gelatinoids and extractives,—not the tissue building
albuminoids. This would not hold in comparing the cheaper and the more
expensive cuts in the same kind of beefsteak; the cheaper cuts often
yield quite as much nutriment as the more expensive ones. Round steak
is just as nourishing as porter-house and much cheaper.

Much is said about the bacteria present in the atmosphere, the microbes
in the food, etc., that one is puzzled to know, not only what to eat,
but how to breathe, and, in fact, which way to turn to avoid them;
but microbes and bacteria have been present in the atmosphere and in
matter everywhere since time began. They are a part of the natural
surroundings, and the body, if kept in strong vitality, has sufficient
resistive power to enable one to live unharmed by them. The danger lies
in allowing the system to run down and the vital force to ebb, so that
the body becomes an easy prey to them.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Habit and Regularity of Eating.]

There is no doubt but that the _habit_ of eating governs one’s
convictions of what the system requires. One is inclined to think that
a desire for a food is a requirement of Nature; yet it may simply be
the continuance of a habit. The vital organs form habits just as one
forms a habit of walking, sitting or of carrying the head or the hands,
and habit re-asserts itself.

If a mother feeds her babe every three hours the child will usually
wake and call for food about this period. If she has formed the habit
of nursing the child every two hours, it will call for food in about
two hours, even though all symptoms indicate that the child is over fed.

It is important that both child and adult establish regular and
hygienic habits because the digestive juices secrete themselves at the
regular periods established. _A right habit is as easily formed, and as
difficult to change, as a wrong one._

If one forms the habit of eating a certain amount of food, the stomach
calls for about the same amount, and when one first begins to change
the quantity it protests, whether the change be to eat more or less.

Few people form the habit of drinking sufficient water,—particularly if
they have been taught that water at meals is injurious. In this busy
life, few remember to stop work and drink water between meals, and if
not consumed at the meal time the system suffers. Many people look
“dried up.”

The habit of drinking two glasses of water upon first arising, and six
more during the day is an important one.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Frequency of Meals]

There is no doubt but that a large number of people overload the
digestive organs. This, as well as the bolting of food, insufficiently
masticated, cannot be too strongly denounced. _All food should be
chewed to a pulp before swallowed._

As a relief from overeating, many theorists are advocating two meals
a day, but the work of the average man is planned into morning and
afternoon sessions, and the three meals have been arranged accordingly.

Where two meals a day are eaten, the first meal should be at nine or
ten o’clock in the morning and the second meal at five or six o’clock
in the afternoon; whereas, for the average person who eats two meals a
day, the custom is to go without food until the midday meal, and then
to eat two meals within six hours, with nothing more for eighteen hours.

The argument in favor of two meals a day has been that the digestive
system is inactive during sleep, and, therefore, the system is not
ready for a meal upon arising, but the latest experiments (Pawlow) show
that digestion continues during sleep, though less actively. It must be
borne in mind that the average evening meal is eaten about six o’clock
and that there are about four waking hours between this meal and the
sleep period; also, that the average individual is awake and moderately
active an hour before the morning meal. This gives five waking hours
between the evening and the morning meal. About the same time, five
hours, elapses between the morning and the midday meal, and between
the midday and the evening meal, so that three meals a day divide the
digestion periods about evenly.

More frequent meals, served in lighter quantity, with greater
regularity, so that the system is not overloaded at any one meals, is
rational for delicate, or undernourished nerves and tissues. The little
child is fed regularly every three hours.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Effect of Exercise and Breathing upon Digestion]

Daily exercise and the habit of full breathing are absolutely necessary
that the waste of the system may be fully liberated, that the
nourishment may be carried freely to every tissue, and that sufficient
oxygen may be carried through the blood to oxidize the waste, or, to
put it into condition to be thrown off.

The necessity of oxygen as food is evident. The body will subsist about
forty days upon the food stored within it, without re-supply, but it
can endure only a few seconds without oxygen, because heat, occasioned
by the union of oxygen with carbon and hydrogen, is necessary to keep
up the physical activity termed “life.” _The necessity of habits of
full, correct breathing cannot be too fully emphasized._ The quantity
of oxygen, daily consumed, should fully equal the sum of all other
food elements.[6]

Oxygen is necessary to cause combustion of fats, starches and sugars,
just as it is necessary to cause combustion of carbon in wood, or coal.

The heat from “burning” wood is produced by the oxygen of the air
uniting with hydrogen and carbon, forming carbon-dioxid (carbonic acid
gas) and water.

The light in the burning of wood is caused by the rapid combustion
of the carbonic acid gas. The same combustion occurs within the body
continuously, though more slowly, hence no light is produced.

The carbon in the body is liberated and brought into contact with
more oxygen in the blood through exercise and full breathing, just as
a fire is fanned to flame by bringing more oxygen into contact with
the fire, by means of a draught of air. Keep all air away from a fire
and it “goes out,” or ceases to unite with the oxygen, and no heat is
produced; keep all air from within the body, by cessation of breathing,
and it also becomes cold. A room in which the air is impure,
containing insufficient oxygen, is heated with difficulty,—the body
which is not constantly supplied with pure air generates very little
body heat. The effect of oxygen in the creation of heat is practically
demonstrated by repeatedly filling the lungs with air while out in the
cold. The body will become quickly warmed on the coldest day by this
practice.

Deep breathing aids digestion and assimilation, not alone because of
the regular exercise given to the pancreas, the spleen, the stomach,
and the liver by the correct movement of the diaphragm, but because of
the latent heat which the oxygen liberates within the digestive organs
and out among the tissues.

While the chemical action of food creates activity within, this
activity is materially aided by exercise, and oxygen is imperative, as
shown above. Exercise and oxygen are also necessary for chemical action
in tearing down waste and in putting raw material into condition to be
appropriated to the body needs.

_Two glasses of water in the morning and fifteen minutes’ brisk
exercise of well selected movements, to start a forceful circulation
and to surge the water through the vital organs, are a daily necessity
if one is to keep clean and strong within. It is as important to
cleanse the body within as without. It is the method employed by all
men and women who would retain strong vital forces to a ripe old age.
They fully enjoy the mere_ LIVING.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: “Tired” or Disturbed Balance]

Since the condition of the body so materially affects the digestion,
absorption, and metabolism of food, as well as the elimination of
waste, it is not amiss to discuss it here.

The habit of eating when too tired and then at once going to work, so
that the blood is called from the stomach, is almost sure to result in
indigestion.

The average person is tired because the brain and nerves are more
active than the muscles and is rested by muscular exercise, or change
of work.

The regular work of the body in keeping up the heart action and the
circulation and in renewing and relieving waste, requires a certain
quantity of oxygen to liberate energy. This energy the system, in
normal condition, with normal breathing, readily furnishes, but when
that used in undue muscular work is more than that being liberated at
the time, through combustion, the energy required for the constant
bodily needs is called upon, and the muscles, nerves and tissues are
then in the state termed “tired.” They remain so until sufficient
oxygen has liberated more potential energy than is needed for the work
constantly going on in the body. When a sufficient supply of oxygen has
been consumed to equal the demand, the body is in a state of rest.

In mental work the nerves and the brain call for the surplus energy,
while in muscular work the tissues require it, hence undue work, either
mental or physical, expresses itself in bodily fatigue, until the
oxygen equals the demand in all parts of the body.

A torpid condition of body, producing inertness, means that the waste
of the system is not relieved. It may be that by reason of insufficient
breathing of pure air, sufficient oxygen is not consumed to put the
waste in condition to be eliminated. This poisonous carbon dioxid being
hoarded, dulls the nerve sensation and the brain action and produces
more or less of stupor. It may be because the circulation in some part
of the body is clogged (most often the portal circulation through the
liver), so that sufficient oxygen is not carried to that part.

Relief from this “inertness” is experienced most quickly by exercise
in the fresh air, that the circulation may be quickened and the oxygen
more freely carried to each part. Exercise in one’s room by the open
window, or at least with the air in the room pure, is often preferable
to outdoor exercise, because the body can be nude, or so loosely
clothed that the oxygen may not only enter the lungs but also circulate
about the pores of the skin. Fifteen minutes of brisk exercise in one’s
room is better than a five-mile walk, because if the exercises be
intelligently selected, every organ and tissue is used, while walking
exercises only about one-fourth of the muscles. If the circulation
is clogged, the exercising must be kept up persistently, until the
obstruction is removed and particular attention must be given to the
supply of fresh air in the room.

After sleeping in a room with impure air, one arises fatigued, because
of insufficient oxygen to liberate the energy required for circulation
and catabolism, and because the carbonic acid gas cannot be relieved
without oxygen to cause combustion. As stated above, if the poisonous
carbonic acid gas remains in the system, it deadens the nerve
sensation and produces a semi-stupor.

The relief, then, from the state of body we call “tired,” is in the
distribution of the circulation, calling the blood from the unduly
distended capillaries, and supplying the normal quantity of oxygen.
Rightly directed physical exercise renews the circulation to all parts,
incites deep breathing, and puts the body in the state of harmony
called “rest.”

_Harmony_, either mental or physical, _is rest_.

With a little more intelligence in keeping up the supply and demand of
oxygen, in establishing correct breathing habits, and in understanding
the law of distribution of circulation, which means the harmony of
forces, this tired world could draw a deep, restful breath.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Influence of the Mind]

The state of the mind has much to do in regulating the digestive
system. Cheerful thoughts put the nerves of the entire organism in
a natural state, while disagreeable thoughts put the nerves in a
tense, unnatural condition. The nerves to the digestive system are
affected by the tensity of the mind, just as the nerves to any other
part of the body. As an illustration of this;—if one thinks ugly,
disagreeable thoughts for a continuous period, actual illness results.
These thoughts affect the digestion in such a manner that the appetite
sometimes entirely wanes. All so-called “new thoughts,” “ologies,” or
“isms,” conducive to the formation of the habit of looking upon the
bright side of life, or of looking for good and joy in life, put the
nerves in a natural state, affecting the digestion and consequently the
health. The practice is Christian _Sense_.

The nerves control, to a great degree, the peristaltic movements of the
stomach and the action of the absorption cells, as well as the cells
which secrete the digestive juices. Thus it is that a food which one
likes is not only more palatable, but it will digest more readily,
because the digestive juices flow more freely.

It is well, therefore, to begin the meal with something which tastes
particularly good, that the flow of these digestive juices may be
incited. For this reason, if one cares for fruit, it is an excellent
custom to begin the meal with fruit, or with soup, containing protein
extractives, which stimulate the flow of digestive juices. The habit of
finishing a meal with some tasty dessert, is based upon the scientific
principle that by so doing the gastric juices will flow more freely
after the meal, thus aiding in its digestion.

Dainty service in a sick-room, because of the psychic effect of a meal
daintily served, is of utmost importance. Because of the effect upon
the mind the sight of a meal served upon soiled linen will almost stop
the flow of gastric juice and destroy the desire for food, while a meal
daintily served upon dainty linen, with garnishings and tasteful table
decorations, incites the flow of gastric juices.

The careful wife and mother, who notes the appetites of members of her
family failing, should attend carefully to the garnishing of her dishes
and to serving them in a neat, attractive manner; also to changing her
table decorations, as far as may be consistent, so that the eye as well
as the sense of smell and taste may be pleased.

It is strange, but it is true, that just a fresh flower, or a new
table decoration, may so put the mind of one who is afflicted with
nervous indigestion in a receptive state that the meal more readily
digests, while an untidy table, or a lot of food served untidily would
retard digestion. One may be able to control the thoughts under most
circumstances but the above is a physiological fact.

Sometimes the sight of quantities of food turns one against it. The
custom among hearty eaters, of serving a plate too plentifully,
destroys the appetite of one whose digestion is not so hearty.

Our grandmothers’ overloaded tables, with sufficient food of various
kinds to serve many times the number of participants, might stimulate
the appetite of hearty, strong men, while the very sight of so much
might turn the appetite of one more delicate, whose system did not
crave food.


FOOTNOTES:

[6] Editor’s Note.—Measurements of eighteen thousand women show that
sixty-two per cent of women use only about one-half of their lung
capacity and less than nine per cent use their full capacity.




CLASSIFICATION OF FOODS


In the previous chapters, we have given the classification of the
elements in foods which supply the body needs. Below we classify the
foods commonly used, according to the predominance of these elements.


Carbonaceous Foods

While all foods contain a combination of elements, the foods described
below contain a greater proportion of carbohydrates and fats, and are
classed as _carbonaceous_.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Roots and Tubers]

Of the carbohydrates, next in importance to the sugars and to the
starches in their purest form (corn starch, tapioca, sago, and
arrowroot), come the roots and tubers, such as potatoes, sweet
potatoes, beets, parsnips, turnips and onions.

The following table shows the proportion of various foodstuffs in these
vegetables:


TABLE I—ROOTS AND TUBERS

  ——————————————+————————+————————+————————+————————+————————+——————————
                |        |        |        | Carbo- |        |Food Value
                |  Water |Protein |  Fat   |hydrates|  Ash   |per pound
  Food Materials|Per Cent|Per Cent|Per Cent|Per Cent|Per Cent| Calories
  ——————————————+————————+————————+————————+————————+————————+——————————
  Sweet Potatoes|  69.4  |  1.5   |  0.3   |  26.2  |  2.6   |    440
  White Potatoes|  75.0  |  2.1   |  0.2   |  22.0  |  0.7   |    295
  Parsnips      |  64.4  |  1.3   |  0.4   |  10.8  |  1.1   |    230
  Onions        |  86.0  |  1.9   |  0.1   |  11.3  |  0.7   |    225
  Beets         |  87.0  |  1.4   |  0.1   |   7.3  |  0.7   |    160
  Carrots       |  88.2  |  1.1   |  0.4   |   8.2  |  6.0   |    210
  Turnips       |  92.7  |  0.9   |  0.1   |   0.1  |  0.6   |    120

       *       *       *       *       *

=Potatoes.= It will be noted from the above table that sweet potatoes
have a larger percentage of carbohydrates, hence they produce more heat
and energy, than any other vegetable; next to the sweet potato, the
Irish potato.

In the above table, the skins of the vegetables are included, and
while the white potato contains two per cent protein, this is almost
all located in a very thin layer immediately beneath the skin, so that
when the potato is peeled in the ordinary way, the protein is removed.
This holds true in many vegetables. They lose their distinctive flavor,
as well as their value as tissue building foods, when the skins are
removed. In baking a potato, the outer skin is readily separated from
a less perceptible covering containing the protein, and this second
skin should be eaten to get the full value and flavor.

In the white potato, of the twenty-two per cent carbohydrates three and
two-tenths per cent is sugar and eighteen and eight-tenths per cent
is starch. In the sweet potato, ten and two-tenths per cent is sugar
and sixteen per cent is starch. Since sugar digests more quickly than
starch, the sweet potato digests more quickly than the white. Because
of the large per cent or carbohydrates in each, it is a mistake to
serve these two vegetables at the same meal. For the same reason, bread
and potatoes should not be eaten, to any extent, at the same meal,
unless by one who is doing heavy manual labor, requiring much energy.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Onions.= Only about four per cent of the onion represents nourishment;
the eleven per cent of carbohydrates is made up of two and eight-tenths
per cent sugar and the rest extractives. Of the extractives the
volatile oil, which causes the eyes to water when peeling, is the most
important. The onion is not, therefore, so important for its actual
nourishing qualities as for its relish and flavor, and for this it is
to be commended. It is a diuretic, encouraging a free action of the
kidneys. Because of its diuretic value it is commonly called a healthy
food. An onion and lettuce sandwich stimulates the action of the
kidneys and is a nerve sedative.

The volatile oil makes the onion difficult for some to digest and, in
that case, should be omitted from the diet.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Beets.= There is no starch in beets, the seven and three-tenths per
cent carbohydrates being sugar; they possess, therefore, more nutritive
value than onions, and they are easily digested. It will be noted that
it takes many beets to make a pound of sugar.

There are no more delicious nor nutritive greens than the stem and leaf
of the beet. These greens contain much iron and are valuable aids in
building up the iron in the blood, thus correcting anaemia.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Carrots.= Carrots are valuable as food chiefly on account of their
sugar. They are somewhat more difficult of digestion than beets and
they contain more waste. They make a good side dish, boiled and served
with butter or cream.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Turnips.= Turnips have little value as a food. Their nutriment
consists in the sugar they contain. For those who enjoy the flavor they
are a relish, serving as an appetizer, and, like the onion, are to be
recommended as a side dish for this purpose.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Parsnips.= Like carrots, parsnips are chiefly valuable for their sugar
and for the extractives which act as appetizers.

Since turnips, carrots, onions, and parsnips owe a part of their value
in nutrition to the extractives which whet the appetite for other
foods, it follows that, if one does not enjoy the flavor or the odor,
these vegetables lose in value to that individual as a food. If one
does enjoy the flavor, it adds to their food value.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Green Vegetables]

The question may be asked with reason: “Why do we eat green
vegetables?” They contain only about four per cent nutrition, as will
be seen by the chemical analysis in the following table, and are
mostly made up of water and pulp. It will be noted from the table that
they are distinctly lacking in protein (nitrogenous matter) and in
carbohydrates; hence, they have little food value. Some of them have
strong acids, thus increasing the alkalinity of the blood.

Their merit lies in the fact that they have distinct flavors and thus
whet the appetite. Another reason why green vegetables are thoroughly
enjoyed is because they come fresh in the spring, when the appetite is
a little surfeited with the winter foods and one looks for green things.


TABLE II—GREEN VEGETABLES

  ————————————————+———————+——————+—————+————————+———————+—————+————————
                  |       |Nitro-|     |        |       |Cell-| Fuel
                  | Water |genous| Fat | Carbo- |Mineral|ulose| Value
  Food Materials  | per   |Matter| per |hydrates| Matter| per |  per
                  | cent  | per  | cent|  per   |  per  | cent| pound
                  |       | cent |     |  cent  |  cent |     |Calories
  ————————————————+———————+——————+—————+————————+———————+—————+————————
  Cabbage         | 89.6  |  1.80| 0.4 |  5.8   |   1.3 | 1.1 |  165
  Spinach         | 90.6  |  2.50| 0.5 |  3.8   |   1.7 | 0.9 |  120
  Vegetable Marrow| 94.8  |  0.06| 0.2 |  2.6   |   0.5 | 1.3 |  120
  Tomatoes        | 91.9  |  1.30| 0.2 |  5.0   |   0.7 | 1.1 |  105
  Lettuce         | 94.1  |  1.40| 0.4 |  2.6   |   1.0 | 0.5 |  105
  Celery          | 93.4  |  1.40| 0.1 |  3.8   |   0.9 | 0.9 |   85
  Rhubarb         | 94.6  |  0.70| 0.7 |  2.3   |   0.6 | 1.1 |  105
  Water Cress     | 93.1  |  0.70| 0.5 |  8.7   |   1.3 | 0.1 |  110
  Cucumbers       | 95.9  |  0.80| 0.1 |  2.1   |   0.4 | 0.5 |   10
  Asparagus       | 91.7  |  2.20| 0.2 |  2.9   |   0.9 | 2.1 |  110
  Brussels Sprouts| 93.7  |  1.50| 0.1 |  3.4   |   1.3 | 0.4 |   95
  Beans (string)  |  8.92 |  2.3 | 0.3 |  7.4   |   0.8 | 7.0 |  195
  Beans (dried)   | 12.6  | 22.5 | 1.8 | 59.6   |   3.5 | 0.0 | 1605
  Peas (green,    |       |      |     |        |       |     |
    shelled)      | 74.6  |  7.0 | 0.5 | 16.9   |   1.0 | 0.0 |  465
  ————————————————+———————+——————+—————+————————+———————+—————+————————

All fresh vegetables should be masticated to almost a fluid
consistency; otherwise, they are difficult of digestion, containing, as
they do, so much pulp.

They are diuretic, helping the kidneys and the skin to rid the system
of waste, and they are more laxative to the intestines than the root
vegetables, partly because of the salts which they contain and partly
because of the undigested vegetable fibre, which helps to move along
the waste in the intestines. This vegetable fibre, being coarse,
assists in cleansing the mucous lining of stomach and intestines,
and, if for no other reason than for this cleansing of kidneys and
intestines in the spring, when the system is most sluggish, the use of
green vegetables is to be commended.

In larger cities, fresh vegetables are in the markets the year around,
but if they are raised in greenhouses, or in any way forced, they lack
the matured flavor and they also lack the iron which the rays of the
sun give. If raised in the south and shipped for a distance, they are
not fresh and they do not have as good an effect upon the system as
when fresh and fully matured by the sun.

All greens, as spinach, chard, dandelions and beet tops, as previously
stated, contain iron and build red blood corpuscles.

It is well, then, to eat freely of fresh vegetables in their season,
even though they do not appreciably build tissue or furnish energy. By
their effect upon the blood, the kidneys, skin, and intestines, they
make sluggish vital organs more efficient.

Tomatoes and rhubarb are often, and with reason, classed under fruits.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Fruits]

Technically speaking, fruits include all plant products which bear
or contain a seed. They are valuable for their acids and organic
salts—citrates, malates, or tartrates of potassium, sodium, magnesium,
and calcium. In the juices of citrous fruits, are citrates of above
minerals.

The fruit juices are readily absorbed and carried at once to the liver,
where the sodium, magnesium, and potassium are released and the acids
oxidized and changed to carbonates. They increase the alkalinity of the
blood. These alkalis are soon eliminated through the kidneys, which
accounts for the diuretic effect of fruits.

The seeds in the small fruits are not digested, but they serve the
purpose of increasing intestinal peristalsis and of assisting the
movement of the contents of the intestines. The skin and the fibre
of fruits also assist the intestines in this way, just as the fibre
in vegetables does. Fruits may be classified into acid and sweet
fruits. Under _acid fruits_ are the citrous group—lemons, limes, grape
fruit, oranges, cranberries, gooseberries, whortleberries, pineapples,
currants, and rhubarb—if rhubarb is to be classed as a fruit.

There has been a commonly accepted theory that where a blood test shows
evidence of too much uric acid, acid fruits are to be avoided, but the
reverse is true. It has been fully demonstrated that the use of acid
fruits increases the alkalinity,—or neutralizes the acids in the blood.

In case of an excess of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, lemon, or
citrous fruits are valuable about half an hour before a meal as they
decrease the secretion of the hydrochloric acid into the stomach.
Where hydrochloric acid is limited, acids are given after a meal to
supplement the deficient amount.

The sweetening of acid fruits does not detract from the value of the
acids or of organic salts.

All acid fruits stimulate the action of the kidneys and the
skin,—particularly lemons, limes, grape fruit, and oranges, and
wherever the kidneys and skin are not sufficiently active, these fruits
should be eaten freely.

It is difficult to make a decided distinction between sweet and acid
fruits. The best guide is in the amount of sugar required to make them
palatable. Some species of cherry are distinctly sour, while others are
sweet. The same is true of apples, peaches, plums, etc.

Under _sweet_ or _bland_ fruits are pears, raspberries, grapes,
bananas, blackberries, blueberries, melons, apricots, and some peaches,
apples, and plums.

The large majority of fruits do not contain sufficient sugar to make
them valuable for nourishment. Their chief value is in their appetizing
flavor, and in the acids, and salts. Dates, figs, prunes, and dried
grapes (raisins) are exceptions. As will be noted by the following
table, these fruits contain a large amount of carbohydrates in the form
of sugar. The larger amount of protein in these sweet fruits is largely
in the seeds and, as the seeds are not digested, they have no real food
value to the individual.

Figs and prunes are laxative,—probably the laxative effect of figs is
due to the seeds, and of prunes to the salts and acids. However, prunes
are free from tannic acid.


TABLE III—FRUITS

  ————————————————+———————+———————+———————+————————+—————+—————+—————
                  |       |       | Ether | Carbo- |     |Cell-|
                  | Water |Protein|Extract|hydrates| Ash |ulose|Acids
  Food Materials  |  Per  |  Per  |  Per  |  Per   | Per | Per | Per
                  | Cent  | Cent  | Cent  |  Cent  | Cent| Cent| Cent
  ————————————————+———————+———————+———————+————————+—————+—————+—————
  Acid:           |       |       |       |        |     |    |
    Apples        | 82.50 |  0.40 |  0.5  |  12.5  | 0.4 | 2.7| 1.0
    Apricots      | 85.00 |  1.10 |  0.6  |  12.4  | 0.5 | 3.1| 1.0
    Peaches       | 88.80 |  0.50 |  0.2  |   5.8  | 0.6 | 3.4| 0.7
    Plums         | 78.40 |  1.00 |  0.2  |  14.8  | 0.5 | 4.3| 1.0
    Cherries      | 84.00 |  0.80 |  0.8  |  10.0  | 0.6 | 3.8| 1.0
    Gooseberries  | 86.00 |  0.40 |  0.8  |   8.9  | 0.5 | 2.7| 1.5
    Currants      | 85.20 |  0.40 |  0.8  |   7.9  | 0.5 | 4.6| 1.4
    Strawberries  | 89.10 |  1.00 |  0.5  |   6.3  | 0.7 | 2.2| 1.0
    Whortleberries| 76.30 |  0.70 |  3.0  |   5.8  | 0.4 |12.2| 1.6
    Cranberries   | 86.50 |  0.50 |  0.7  |   3.9  | 0.2 | 6.2| 2.2
    Oranges       | 86.70 |  0.90 |  0.6  |   8.7  | 0.6 | 1.5| 1.8
    Lemons        | 89.30 |  1.00 |  0.9  |   8.3  | 0.5 | 1.5| 1.8
    Pineapples    | 89.30 |  0.04 |  0.3  |   9.7  | 0.3 | 1.5| 7.0
                  |       |       |       |        |     |    |
    Pears         | 83.90 |  0.40 |  0.6  |  11.5  | 0.4 | 3.1| 0.1
    Blackberries  | 88.90 |  0.90 |  2.1  |   2.3  | 0.6 | 5.2| 1.6
    Raspberries   | 84.40 |  1.00 |  2.1  |   5.2  | 0.6 | 7.4| 1.4
    Mulberries    | 84.70 |  0.30 |  0.7  |  11.4  | 0.6 | 0.9| 1.8
    Grapes        | 79.00 |  1.00 |  1.0  |  15.5  | 0.5 | 2.5| 0.5
    Watermelons   | 92.90 |  0.30 |  0.1  |   6.5  | 0.2 | 1.0| 0.5
    Bananas       | 74.00 |  1.50 |  0.7  |  22.9  | 0.9 | 0.2| 0.5
                  |       |       |       |        |     |    |
  Sweet:          |       |       |       |        |     |    |
    Dates, dried  |  2.08 |  4.40 |  2.1  |  65.1  | 1.5 | 5.5| 7.0
    Figs, dried   |  2.00 |  5.50 |  0.9  |  62.8  | 2.3 | 7.3| 1.2
    Prunes, dried |  2.64 |  2.40 |  0.8  |  66.2  | 1.5 | 7.3| 2.7
    Raisins       | 10.60 |  2.50 |  4.7  |  74.7  | 3.1 | 1.7| 2.7
  ————————————————+———————+———————+———————+————————+—————+—————+—————

Care should be exercised in selecting ripe fruits and those which have
not started to decay. The difficulty with so many fruits, which must be
shipped from a distance, is, that, in order to reach their destination
in fair condition, outwardly, they are picked before ripe and there
is too much tannic acid in them. When fruits are allowed to ripen on
the trees, the tannic acid is changed to sugar and fruit juices. One
test of a ripened apple is to cut it with a steel knife—if the blade
turns black, or if the cut surface of the apple turns brown in a few
minutes, it should not be eaten, for it indicates an excess of tannin.
It is this tannin which gives the small boy, with his green apples,
excruciating pains. It will be recalled that the tannin from the bark
of trees, so toughens the elastic skin of animals that we can wear
this skin for shoes. The effect upon the live skin of the stomach and
intestines, from the tannin in food, is not pronounced in toughening
the skin, because of the activity and resistance of live matter.

Bananas are commonly picked green, because they decay so quickly that
if they were picked ripe they would spoil before reaching the northern
markets. The above table shows that bananas contain nearly twenty-three
per cent of carbohydrates, which, in an immature state, are largely
starches. The natural ripening process changes the starch to sugar,
thus making them more easily digested. The starch globules, when not
matured on the tree, are not easily broken and are thus difficult of
digestion. Baking breaks the globules; a baked banana is thus more
readily digested.


Nitrogenous Foods

As previously stated, in a mixed diet meat and eggs are the chief
sources of nitrogenous foods. Next to these come the legumes.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Meat]

Meat is almost all digested in the stomach by the gastric juice, which
changes it into peptone. It is needless to say that it should be
thoroughly masticated that there may be no delay in the prompt action
of the gastric juice upon it. If any part passes into the intestine
undigested, the process is continued by the trypsin of the pancreatic
juice. The peptone is absorbed as peptone and after it passes through
the inner coating of the intestines, it is changed back to protein and
carried by the blood and lymph to all tissues of the body, where it is
used for growth and repairs. As stated, any excess of protein above
that needed for growth and repair, is oxidized in the blood, yielding
energy and heat, and the waste is eliminated through the kidneys and
the bile. The red blood corpuscles, which are nitrogenous, are broken
down in the liver and discharged through the bile.


TABLE IV—ANIMAL FOODS

  ————————————————————+——————+———————+——————+—————————+——————+————————
                      |      |       |      | Carbo-  |      |  Fuel
                      |Water |Protein| Fat  |hydrates | Ash  | Value
  Food Materials      |  Per |  Per  | Per  |  Per    | Per  |  Per
                      | Cent | Cent  | Cent |  Cent   | Cent | Pound
                      |      |       |      |         |      |Calories
  ————————————————————+——————+———————+——————+—————————+——————+————————
  Beef, Fresh         | 54.0 |  17.0 | 19.0 | ......  |  O.7 |  1,105
    Flank             | 54.0 |  17.0 | 19.0 | ......  |  0.7 |  1,105
    Porterhouse       | 52.4 |  19.1 | 17.9 | ......  |  0.8 |  1,100
    Sirloin steak     | 54.0 |  16.5 | 16.1 | ......  |  0.9 |    975
    Round             | 60.7 |  19.0 | 12.8 | ......  |  1.0 |    890
    Rump              | 45.0 |  13.8 | 20.2 | ......  |  0.7 |  1,090
    Corned beef       | 49.2 |  14.3 | 23.8 | ......  |  4.6 |  1,245
  Veal:               |      |       |      |         |      |
    Leg cutlets       | 68.3 |  20.1 |  7.5 | ......  |  1.0 |    695
    Fore quarter      | 54.2 |  15.1 |  6.0 | ......  |  0.7 |    535
  Mutton:             |      |       |      |         |      |
    Leg, hind         | 51.2 |  15.1 | 14.7 | ......  |  0.8 |    890
    Loin Chops        | 42.0 |  13.5 | 28.3 | ......  |  0.7 |  1,415
    Lamb              | 49.2 |  15.6 | 16.3 | ......  |  0.85|    967
  Ham:                |      |       |      |         |      |
    Loin chops        | 41.8 |  13.4 | 24.2 | ......  |  0.8 |  1,245
    Ham, smoked       | 34.8 |  14.2 | 33.4 | ......  |  4.2 |  1,635
  Sausage:            |      |       |      |         |      |
    Frankfurter       | 57.2 |  19.6 | 18.6 |   1.1   |  3.4 |  1,155
    Fowls             | 47.1 |  13.7 | 12.3 | ......  |  O.7 |    765
  Poultry:            |      |       |      |         |      |
    Goose             | 38.5 |  13.4 | 29.8 | ......  |  0.7 |  1,475
    Turkey            | 42.4 |  16.1 | 18.4 | ......  |  0.8 |  1,060
  Animal Viscera:     |      |       |      |         |      |
    Liver (sheep)     | 61.2 |  23.1 |  9.0 |   5.0   |......| ......
    Sweetbreads       | 70.9 |  16.8 | 12.1 | ......  |  1.6 | ......
    Tongue, smoked    |      |       |      |         |      |
      and salted      | 35.7 |  24.3 | 31.6 | ......  |  8.5 | ......
  Brain:              | 80.6 |   8.8 |  9.3 | ......  |  1.1 | ......
  Fresh Fish          |      |       |      |         |      |
    Bass large-mouthed|      |       |      |         |      |
      Black, dressed  | 41.9 |  10.3 |  0.5 | ......  |  0.6 |    215
    Cod steaks        | 72.4 |  16.9 |  0.5 | ......  |  1.0 |    335
    Shad roe          | 71.2 |  23.4 |  3.8 | ......  |  1.6 |    595
    Whitefish, dressed| 46.1 |  10.2 |  1.3 | ......  |  0.7 |    245
  Preserved Fish:     |      |       |      |         |      |
    Halibut, salted,  |      |       |      |         |      |
      smoked and dried| 46.0 |  19.1 | 14.0 | ......  |  1.9 |    945
    Sardines, canned  | 53.6 |  24.0 | 12.1 | ......  |  5.3 |    955
    Salmon, canned    | 59.3 |  19.3 | 15.3 | ......  |  1.2 |  1,005
  Mollusks:           |      |       |      |         |      |
    Oysters, solid    | 88.3 |   6.1 |  1.4 |   3.3   |  0.9 |    235
    Round clams       |      |       |      |         |      |
      removed from    |      |       |      |         |      |
      shell           | 80.8 |  10.6 |  1.1 |   5.1   |  2.3 |    340
    Mussels           | 42.7 |   4.4 |  0.5 |   2.1   |  1.0 |    140
  Crustaceans:        |      |       |      |         |      |
    Lobster, in shell | 31.1 |   5.5 |  0.7 | ......  |  0.6 |    130
    Crab, in shell    | 34.1 |   7.3 |  0.9 |   0.5   |  1.4 |    185
    Shrimp, canned    | 70.8 |  25.4 |  1.0 |   0.2   |  2.6 |    520
    Terrapin, turtle, |      |       |      |         |      |
      etc.            | 17.4 |   4.2 |  0.7 | ......  |  0.2 |    105
  ————————————————————+——————+———————+——————+—————————+——————+————————

In the composition of meat, of course there is more or less fat,
varying from two to forty per cent, according to the animal and to the
condition at the time of killing.

It is possible to combine the fat and the lean of meat so as to meet
the requirements of the body without waste. About ninety-seven per cent
of the meat consumed is assimilated by the system, while a large part
of the vegetable matter consumed is excreted as refuse. The compounds
contained in the animal foods are much like those of the body,
therefore, they require comparatively little digestion to prepare them
for assimilation—this work having been done by the animal—while the
vegetable compounds require much change by the digestive system before
they can be used in the body.

Fish and sea foods are, many of them, rich in protein, as seen by the
above table. Note that sardines contain the largest proportion of
protein and next to these, shad roe.

There is a prevalent idea that fish is brain food. In so far as fish is
easily digested, it builds brain tissue, but no more so than beef, or
any food containing a goodly proportion of protein, easily digested,
absorbed, and assimilated.

Lobsters are difficult of digestion and they contain little nutrition,
so they are not valuable as a food.

Oysters, raw, are easier to digest than when cooked. Oysters should not
be eaten during the spawning season from May to September.

Roasted flesh seems to be more completely digested than boiled meat,
but raw meat is more easily digested than cooked. Roasted chicken and
veal are tender, easily masticated, and easily and rapidly digested
in the stomach. This is one reason why the white meats are considered
a good diet for the sick-room, especially in the case of stomach
difficulty. Fat meats remain in the stomach a much longer time than
lean meats; thus, gastric digestion of pork, which is largely fat, is
especially difficult. Fried pork, in which the fat is heated to a very
high degree, is very difficult of digestion. (See page 197).

The chief objection to pork, however, is that hogs are scavengers and
live upon all sorts of refuse. Another objection is that in preparing
hogs for the market, the effort of the farmer is to force the feeding
and get them as fat as possible. This excess of fat may result in
degeneration of the meat tissue. The latter objection does not hold,
however, for hogs carefully fatted for home consumption, or for hogs
which run in the forests and live upon nuts, as do the beech fed hogs
of the south.

The best meats are from young animals which have been kept fat and have
not been subjected to any work to toughen the muscles.

Preserved and canned meats should be eaten with the utmost caution,
not only because of the inferior meat used in the preparation of these
foods, but also from the fact that they may become putrid after being
canned.

The proportion of _albuminoids_, _gelatinoids_ and _extractives_ in
meat vary with different meats and with different cuts of the same meat.

The _albuminoids_ of meat include the meat tissue, or the muscle cells.
These constitute by far the greater part of the meat.

The _gelatinoids_ are the connective tissue forming the sheath of the
muscle and of bundles of muscles, the skin, tendons, and the casein
of bone. Gelatines are made from these and, if pure and prepared in a
cleanly manner, they are wholesome.

Gelatin is distinguishable in rich meat soups, which jelly upon cooling.

While the gelatinoids are not muscle, they keep the muscles from being
consumed when starches, sugars, and fats are lacking, and, in this
sense, may be considered more in the nature of carbohydrates.

The _extractives_ consist of a substance within the lean meat, known as
creatin. This creatin is not a food; it is an appetizer, and gives to
cooked meats, broths, etc., their pleasing flavor. In case of anaemia
where it is necessary to build up red blood corpuscles, it is desirable
to have the patient take the blood of beef, the thought of which is
usually repellant, but it may be made very palatable if it is heated
sufficiently to bring out the extractives, or flavor, and then seasoned.

Unless the beef extracts on the market contain the blood tissue in
addition to the extractives, they are not particularly nourishing and
are only valuable in soups, etc., as appetizers.

One reason why meat soups constitute the first course at dinner is
because the extractives stimulate the appetite and start the flow of
gastric juices. Bouillons contain no nourishment, because the proteins
have been coagulated by the vigorous boiling, but they may be used as a
basis for vegetables, rice, or barley to give them flavor.

The best method is to make one’s own soup from the connective tissues
(gelatinoids) and meat tissue.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Eggs]

Eggs consist chiefly of two nutrients,—protein, and fat (ten per cent),
combined with water, phosphorous, and ash. Eggs are a wholesome source
of protein and are, therefore, classed as nitrogenous foods.

The fat and the iron are in the yolk, which is about one-third fat. The
yolk also contains phosphorous and some ash. The white is practically
free from fat but contains sulphur, phosphorous and a very little ash.
The white and the yolk contain almost equal quantities of protein.

The white of the egg is said to be pure albumen; the chief ash
constituent is common salt. The total phosphorous in the white of the
egg is equivalent to about two per cent phosphoric acid and the total
phosphorous in the yolk is equivalent to one per cent.

The dark stain made by eggs on silver is due to the sulphur contained
in them. The iron in the egg is valuable to assist in building red
corpuscles.

The large part of the egg, as other proteins, is changed, mostly in the
stomach, into peptone, absorbed as peptone and then changed back again
into protein after absorption. That not digested in the stomach is
changed in the intestine, as is the case with other proteins.

Eggs are, no doubt, excellent articles of food for nutrition and for
tissue building. They contain more water than cheese, but are more
concentrated than milk or oysters. They have practically the same
relative value in the diet as meat, and make a very good substitute for
meat. Egg yolk in abundance is often prescribed where it is necessary
to supply a very nutritious and easily assimilated diet.

One of the best methods of preparing eggs, which is especially valuable
for those having delicate stomachs or for those who need to build up
red blood corpuscles with the iron in the yolk, is in egg lemonade or
orangeade. Thoroughly beat the egg, add the juice of half a lemon or
orange, sugar to taste, and fill the glass with water.

The citric acid in these fruits partly digests the egg, changing it
into egg albumin,—the egg becomes limpid, no longer stringy. From this
condition the gastric juice quickly changes it to peptone.

Grape juice, cream, and cocoa may be used in place of lemon or orange,
in order to give variety where it is necessary to take many of them,
but the grape juice acid does not partially digest the egg as the juice
of the lemon does.

Eggnog is another means of taking raw eggs.

One method which any housewife can use to test the freshness of eggs is
to drop them into a strong, salt brine made of two ounces of salt to a
pint of water. A fresh egg will at once sink to the bottom. After the
third day the surface of the shell will be even with the surface of the
water and with increasing age they will rise still higher.

There is a prevalent opinion that if an egg is boiled hard it is
difficult of digestion, but this depends entirely upon the mastication.
If it is masticated so that it is a pulp before swallowed, a hard
boiled egg is digested as readily as a soft boiled one. If it is not
thoroughly masticated, then an egg should not be boiled longer than
three to four minutes, or should be put into boiling water and allowed
to remain in the water for six minutes without actively boiling. The
latter method cooks the egg through more evenly. Another method of
cooking the yolk evenly with the whites is to put the egg in cold
water, let it come to a boil, and then again immerse in cold water. Or
the egg may be put in cold water, let come almost to a boil, removed
from the stove, and let stand ten to twelve minutes in the hot water.
Any one of the last three methods cooks the white and the yolk evenly.


Carbo-Nitrogenous Foods

Under this class come cereals, legumes, nuts, milk, and milk products.
In these foods the nitrogenous and carbonaceous elements are more
evenly proportioned than in either the carbonaceous or nitrogenous
groups. The different food elements in this group are so evenly divided
that one could live for a considerable length of time upon any one
food. Some animals build flesh from nuts alone, while the herbivorous
animals live upon cereals and plants.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Cereals]

Under cereals, used by man for food, come wheat, oats, rye, barley,
rice, and corn. As will be noted by the table below, cereals contain
a large proportion of starch and are therefore to be used largely for
heat and energy. Rice contains the largest proportion and next to rice,
wheat flour.


TABLE V—CEREALS

  —————————————————————+——————+———————+——————+—————————————+————
                       |      |       |      |Carbohydrates|
                       |Water |Protein|Fat   +——————+——————+Ash
  Food Materials       |Per   |Per    |Per   |Starch|Crude |Per
                       |Cent  |Cent   |Cent  |etc.  |Fiber |Cent
                       |      |       |      |Per   |Per   |
                       |      |       |      |Cent  |Cent  |
  —————————————————————+——————+———————+——————+—————————————+————
  Wheat                | 10.4 |  12.1 |  2.1 | 71.6 |  1.8 | 1.9
  Rice                 | 12.4 |   7.4 |  0.4 | 79.2 |  0.2 | 0.4
  Oats                 | 11.0 |  11.8 |  5.0 | 59.7 |  9.5 | 3.0
  Rye                  | 11.6 |  10.6 |  1.7 | 72.0 |  1.7 | 1.9
  Breads and Crackers: |      |       |      |      |      |
    Wheat bread        | 32.5 |   8.8 |  1.9 | 55.8 | .....| 1.0
    Graham bread       | 34.2 |   9.5 |  1.4 | 53.3 | .....| 1.6
    Rye bread          | 30.0 |   3.4 |  0.5 | 59.7 | .....| 1.4
    Soda crackers      |  8.0 |  10.3 |  9.4 | 70.5 | .....| 1.8
    Graham crackers    |  5.0 |   9.8 | 13.5 | 69.7 |      | 2.0
    Oatmeal crackers   |  4.9 |  10.4 | 13.7 | 69.6 | .....| 1.4
    Oyster crackers    |  3.8 |  11.3 |  4.8 | 77.5 | .....| 2.6
    Macaroni           | 13.1 |   9.0 |  0.3 | 76.8 | .....| 0.8
  Flours and Meals:    |      |       |      |      |      |
    Flour, wheat       | 12.5 |  11.0 |  1.0 | 74.9 | .....| 0.5
    Corn Meal          | 15.0 |   9.2 |  3.8 | 70.6 | .....| 1.4
    Oatmeal            |  7.6 |  15.1 |  7.1 | 68.2 | .....| 2.0
  —————————————————————+——————+———————+——————+—————————————+————

There is no part of the world, except the Arctic regions, where cereals
are not extensively cultivated. From the oats and rye of the north, to
the rice of the hot countries, grains of some kind are staple foods.

“An idea of the importance of cereal foods in the diet may be gathered
from the following data, based upon the results obtained in dietary
studies with a large number of American families:—Vegetable foods,
including flour, bread, and other cereal products, furnished fifty-five
per cent of the total food, thirty-nine per cent of the protein, eight
per cent of the fat, and ninety-five per cent of the carbohydrates
of the diet. The amounts which cereal foods alone supplied were
twenty-two per cent of the total food, thirty-one per cent of the
protein, seven per cent of the fat and fifty-five per cent of the total
carbohydrates—that is, about three-quarters of the vegetable protein,
one-half of the carbohydrates, and seven-eighths of the vegetable fat
were supplied by the cereals. Oat, rice, and wheat breakfast foods
together furnished about two per cent of the total food in protein,
one per cent of the total fat, and four per cent of the carbohydrates
of the ordinary mixed diet, as shown by the statistics cited. These
percentage values are not high in themselves, but it must be remembered
that they represent large quantities when we consider the food consumed
by a family in a year.”[7]

If one’s work calls for extreme muscular exertion, the cereals may be
eaten freely, but if one’s habits are sedentary, and the cereals are
used in excess, there is danger of clogging the system with too much
glycogen, or converted starch. Indeed, for one whose occupation is
indoors and requires little muscular activity, a very little cereal
food will suffice; the carbohydrates will be supplied, in sufficient
quantity, in vegetables. Mineral matter is supplied in sufficient
quantity in almost all classes of foods.

The power of the system to throw off food, over and above the needs of
the body, is a wise provision of Nature, because where foods are not
supplied in the proper proportions, a more liberal diet enables the
system to select such foods as it needs from the abundance.

Cereals and legumes supply nutrients cheaper than any class of foods;
therefore a vegetarian diet involves less expense than the mixed diet.
Meat, eggs and milk, which usually supply the proteins, are the most
expensive foods, and where these are eliminated, a large proportion of
proteins should be supplied by the legumes.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Wheat.= Perhaps no food is as commonly used as wheat, in its various
forms. It is composed of:

First—The nitrogenous or protein compound, chiefly represented in the
cerealin and the gluten of the bran.

Second—The carbon extracts,—the largest contributor to the flour.

Third—The fats, occurring chiefly in the germ of the grain.

Fourth—The phosphorous compounds, iron and lime, found in the bran.

The kernel of wheat consists of the bran or covering, which surrounds
the white, pulpy mass of starch within. In the lower end of the kernel
is the germ.

_Flour._ In the old time process of making flour the wheat was crushed
between stones and then sifted, first, through a sieve, which separated
the outer shell of the bran; then through bolting cloth, which
separated the white pulp from the inner bran coating. It was not ground
as fine as in the present process, thus the gluten, phosphorous, and
iron (valuable foods) were, in the old process, nearly all left out of
the white flour. The second bran coating, left by the second sifting,
was not so coarse as the outer shell but coarser than the inner. Care
was not formerly observed in having the grain clean before grinding,
the bran containing chaff and dirt, so that it was not used as food but
was considered valuable for stock and was called “middlings.”

The modern process of crushing the wheat between steel rollers, crushes
it so fine that the white flour of to-day contains more of the protein
from the inner coat of the bran than the white flour of the old
process; hence, it is more nutritious.

_Bran._ Objection is sometimes made to bran because the cellulose shell
is not digested, but bran contains much protein and mineral matter
and, even though it is crude fiber, as stated above, this fiber has
a value as a cleanser for the lining of stomach and intestines, and
for increasing peristalsis, thus encouraging the flow of digestive
juices and the elimination of waste. In bread or breakfast foods, it is
desirable to retain it for its laxative effect.

The bran has three coats,—the tough, glossy outside, within this a coat
containing most of the coloring matter, and a third coat, containing
a special kind of protein, known as cerealin. The two outer layers
contain phosphorous compounds, lime, and iron. All three coats contain
gluten.

Of course there is more waste in bread made with bran and in
consequence, there is a smaller _proportion_ of the nutrition in graham
bread. It is held by some, however, that more of the nutrition is
digested than in white bread.

_Gluten flour_ is made of the gluten of wheat. It is a valuable, easily
digested food, containing a large proportion of protein.

_Whole wheat_ flour does not contain the whole of the wheat, as the
name implies; it, however, does contain all the proteins of the
endosperm and the gluten and oil of the germ, together with all of
the starch. As a flour, therefore, it is more valuable than the white
flour, containing more nitrogenous elements.

_Graham flour_ is the entire wheat kernel; with the exception of
the outermost scale of the bran. It contains the starch, gluten,
phosphorous compounds, iron and lime. It is the most desirable of
the flours because, containing the bran, it assists in digestion and
elimination, and the phosphorous, iron and lime are valuable for body
building.

_Nutri meal_ is much the same as Graham flour, the chief difference
being that the bran is ground finer. The wheat is ground between
hot rollers, the heat bringing out the nutty flavor of the bran. It
contains all of the nutrition of the wheat.

_Bread._ As must be implied from the above, the “whole wheat,” nutri
meal, or graham flours are necessary if bread is to be a complete food.

There is perhaps no form of prepared food which has been longer in
vogue. It has been known since history began. It probably maintains and
supports life and strength better than any single food. The ease with
which it is digested depends very largely upon its porous condition.
When full of pores, it is more readily mixed with the digestive juices.

The pores in bread are produced by the effort of the gas, released
by the yeast, to escape. When mixed with water, the flour forms a
tenacious body which, when warm, expands under the pressure of the
gas from the yeast, until the dough is full of gas-filled holes. The
walls of the gluten do not allow the gas to escape, and thus the dough
is made light and porous. The more gluten the flour holds, the more
water it will take up in the dough, and the greater will be the yield
of bread; hence, the more gluten, the more valuable the flour. If the
bread is not porous, the fermentation is not complete, and the bread is
heavy.

Yeast is a plant fungus. In its feeding, the plant consumes sugar,
changing it into alcohol and carbonic acid gas. If the bread contains
no sugar the yeast plant will change the starch in the flour into sugar
for its feeding. Many housewives, realizing that the bread begins to
“rise” quicker if it contains sugar, put a little into the sponge.
Unless a large quantity of sugar is put in, the yeast will consume it
and the bread will not have an unduly sweet taste.

As the yeast causes fermentation, alcohol forms in the dough. This
is driven off in the baking. If the bread is not thoroughly done,
the alcohol continues to ferment and the bread turns sour. Bread is
not thoroughly baked until fermentation ceases. It is claimed that
fermentation does not entirely cease with once baking; this is the
basis of the theory, held by some, that bread should be twice baked.
The average housekeeper bakes an ordinary loaf one hour.

Time must be given for the products of fermentation to evaporate, in
the cooling of the bread, before it is eaten and it is not ready to eat
for eight to ten hours after baking. Hot or insufficiently cooked bread
is difficult of digestion, because it becomes more or less soggy upon
entering the mouth and the stomach, and the saliva and gastric juices
cannot so readily mix with it.

The best flour for bread is that made from the spring wheat, grown in
cooler climates, because it is richer in gluten than the winter wheat.
The winter wheat flour is used more for cakes and pastries.

Bread made from milk, is, of course, richer and more nutritious than
that made from water and bread made from potato water contains more
starch; both of these retain their moisture longer than bread made with
water.

Mould, which sometimes forms upon bread, is, like the yeast, a minute
plant. It is floating about everywhere in the air, ready to settle down
wherever it finds a suitable home. Moisture and heat favor its growth,
hence bread should be thoroughly cooled before it is put into a jar or
bread box and the bread box should be kept in a cool place.

_Rye bread_ contains a little more starch and less protein than wheat
bread. It contains more water and holds its moisture longer.

_Biscuits._ The objection to eating hot bread, does not hold for baking
powder or soda biscuits, if well cooked, because these cool more
rapidly and they do not contain the yeast plant; hence, they do not
ferment as does the bread.

Baking powder is made from bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and cream
of tartar. When these are brought in contact with moisture, carbon
dioxid is formed, and, in the effort to escape, it causes the dough to
expand and become light. The reason that the cook attempts to bake her
biscuits, or anything made with baking powder as quickly as possible,
after the baking powder comes in contact with the moisture, is that the
dough may have the full effect of the expansion of the gas. If the room
in which she mixes her dough is cool, or if her biscuit dough is left
in a cool place, this is not important, as heat and moisture are both
required for full combustion.

_Macaroni and spaghetti_ are made from a special wheat flour rich
in gluten known as Durum. They contain about seventy-seven per cent
starch, little fat and little protein. They may take the place of
bread, rice or potato at a meal.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Rice= is a staple cereal in all tropical and temperate climates. It
requires special machinery to remove the husk and the dark, outer skin
of the kernel. It is seldom eaten within three months after harvesting
and it is considered even better after two or three years. It requires
thorough cooking.

Unhusked rice is called paddy.

_Wild rice_ is used by the North American Indians. The seeds are
longer, thinner and darker, than the tame rice. It is coming into favor
as a side dish, but it is served more particularly at hotels in soup
and with game.

As previously stated, rice contains a larger proportion of starch than
any other cereal and the smallest proportion of protein. Next to rice,
in starches, comes wheat flour; yet whole wheat or graham flour contain
half as much again of protein.

Because of the quantity of starch in flour, potatoes and rice, it is
obvious that one should not eat freely of more than one of these at the
same meal, else the digestive organs will be overworked in converting
the starch into sugar and the liver overworked in converting the
sugar into glycogen and back again into sugar; and the liver will be
overloaded in storing it up. By far the best plan is to eat but one
cereal at a meal.

Rice contains no gluten, hence it cannot be raised in bread.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Corn= (maize) is a native of America and has been one of the most
extensively used cereals. Corn bread and corn meal mush were important
foods with the early settlers, partly because they are nutritious and
partly because the corn meal was easily prepared at the mill and was
cheap. The germ of the corn is larger in proportion than the germs
of other grains, and it contains much fat; therefore it is heating.
For this reason, it is strange that corn bread is so largely used by
inhabitants of the southern states. It is a more appropriate food for
winter in cold climates.

Because of the fat in the germ, cornmeal readily turns rancid, and,
on this account, the germ is separated and omitted from many cornmeal
preparations.

_Hulled corn_, sometimes called lye hominy, is one of the old-fashioned
ways of using corn. In its preparation, the skin is loosened by
steeping the corn in a weak solution of lye, which gives it a peculiar
flavor, pleasing to many.

_Cornmeal mush_ is a valuable breakfast food.

_Pop corn._ The bursting of the shell in popping corn is due to the
expansion of the moisture in the starch, occasioned by the heat.

_Green sweet corn_ does not contain the same proportion of starch as
cornmeal, it being, in its tender state, mostly water. It is laxative,
because it is eaten with the coarse hull, which causes more rapid
peristalsis of the intestines.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Breakfast Foods]

The claims made for various advertised breakfast foods would be
amusing if they were not intended to mislead. Nearly all of them have
sufficient merit to sell them, if the advertiser confines himself
strictly to the truth, but the ever pertinent desire to excel, which is
one great incentive to progress, leads to exaggeration. For example:
Claim is sometimes made that they contain more nutriment than the
same quantity of beef. Reference to above table does not bear out
such statement; they contain more starch but less protein. It is
also claimed by some advertisers that breakfast foods are brain and
nerve foods. The idea that certain foods are brain and nerve foods is
erroneous, excepting that any tissue building food (protein) builds
nerve and brain tissue as it builds any other tissue. There is a
prevalent idea that fish and celery are brain food, but there is no
scientific basis for the theory.

The grains commonly used for breakfast foods are corn, oats, rice, and
wheat. Barley, and wild rice, millet and buckwheat are used in some
sections but not enough to warrant discussion here. Barley is used
chiefly for making malt and pearled barley for soups.

The following table, from one of the bulletins published by the United
States Department of Agriculture, is interesting from an economical
standpoint.


Table VI.

_Comparative cost of digestible nutrients and available energy in
different cereal breakfast foods._

  ————————————————————+—————+———————+———————+——————————————————————————————
                      |     |Cost of|Cost of|    Amount for 10 cents
                      |Price|  one  |1,000  +———————+————+————+——————+—————
  Food Materials      | per | pound |calo-  | Total |Pro-|    |Carbo-|En-
                      |pound|  of   |ries   |wgt. of|tein|Fat | hy-  |ergy
                      |     |protein|  of   | mate- |    |    |drates|
                      |     |       |energy | rial  |    |    |      |
  ————————————————————+—————+———————+———————+———————+————+————+——————+—————
  Oat preparations:   |     |       |       |       |    |    |      |
    Oatmeal, raw      |  3  |  0.24 |   1.7 | 3.33  |0.42|0.22|2.18  |5,884
      Do              |  4  |   .32 |   2.3 | 2.50  | .31| .16|1.64  |4,418
    Rolled oats,      |     |       |       |       |    |    |      |
      steam cooked    |  6  |   .48 |   3.4 | 1.67  | .21| .11|1.08  |2,938
  Wheat preparations: |     |       |       |       |    |    |      |
    Flour, Graham     |  4  |   .40 |   2.6 | 2.50  | .25| .01|1.61  |3,790
    Flour,            |     |       |       |       |    |    |      |
      entire-wheat    |  5  |   .46 |   3.1 | 2.00  | .22| .03|1.36  |3,188
    Flour, patent     |  3.5|   .35 |   2.1 | 2.86  | .29| .03|2.10  |4,700
    Farina            | 10  |  1.12 |   6.2 | 1.00  | .09| .01| .73  |1,609
    Flaked            | 15  |  1.69 |   9.3 |  .67  | .06| .01| .46  |1,005
    Shredded          | 12.5|  1.62 |   8.2 |  .80  | .06| .01| .57  |1,217
    Parched and       |     |       |       |       |    |    |      |
      ground          |  7.5|   .88 |   4.9 | 1.33  | .11| .02| .94  |2,050
    Malted, cooked    |     |       |       |       |    |    |      |
      and crushed     | 13  |  1.43 |   8.5 |  .77  | .07| .01| .53  |1,175
    Flaked and        |     |       |       |       |    |    |      |
      malted          | 11  |  1.21 |   7.2 |  .91  | .08| .01| .62  |1,389
  Barley preparations |     |       |       |       |    |    |      |
    Pearled barley    |  7  |  1.06 |   4.6 | 1.43  | .09| .01|1.04  |2,165
    Flaked, steam     |     |       |       |       |    |    |      |
      cooked          | 15  |  1.83 |   9.6 |  .67  | .05|    | .50  |1,051
  Corn preparations:  |     |       |       |       |    |    |      |
    Corn meal,        |     |       |       |       |    |    |      |
      granular        |  3  |   .44 |   1.8 | 3.33  | .23| .06|2.48  |5,534
    Hominy            |  4  |   .62 |   2.4 | 2.50  | .16| .01|1.97  |4,178
    Samp              |  5  |   .78 |   3.0 | 2.00  | .13| .01|1.57  |3,342
    Flaked and        |     |       |       |       |    |    |      |
      parched         | 13  |  1.73 |   7.5 |  .77  | .06| .01| .60  |1,335
  Rice preparations:  |     |       |       |       |    |    |      |
    Rice, polished    |  8  |  1.48 |   4.7 | 1.25  | .07|    | .94  |1,855
  Flaked, steam       |     |       |       |       |    |    |      |
    cooked            | 15  |  2.31 |   9.8 |  .67  | .04|    | .51  |1,026
  Miscellaneous foods |     |       |       |       |    |    |      |
     for comparison:  |     |       |       |       |    |    |      |
    Bread, white      |  6  |   .74 |   5.0 | 1.67  | .14| .02| .87  |2,009
      Do              |  5  |   .62 |   4.2 | 2.00  | .16| .02|1.04  |2,406
    Crackers          | 10  |  1.10 |   5.3 | 1.00  | .09| .08| .71  |1,905
    Macaroni          | 12.5|  1.08 |   7.5 |  .80  | .09| .01| .58  |1,328
    Beans, dried      |  5  |   .28 |   3.5 | 2.00  | .35| .03|1.16  |2,868
    Peas, dried       |  5  |   .26 |   3.4 | 2.00  | .38| .02|1.20  |2,974
    Milk              |  3  |   .94 |   9.7 | 3.33  | .11| .13| .17  |1,030
      Do              |  3.5|  1.09 |  11.3 | 2.86  | .09| .11| .14  |  885
    Sugar             |  5  |       |   2.8 | 2.00  |    |    |2.00  |3,515
      Do              |  6  |       |   3.4 | 1.67  |    |    |1.67  |2,940
  ————————————————————+—————+———————+———————+———————+————+————+——————+—————

The less expensive breakfast foods, such as oatmeal and cornmeal,
are as economical as flour, and, as they supply heat and energy in
abundance, as shown by above table, they should be supplied in the diet
in proportion to the energy required. They are easily prepared for
porridge, requiring simply to be boiled in water, with a little salt.

For invalids, children and old people, breakfast foods prepared in
gruels and porridges are valuable as they are easily digested. All
should be thoroughly cooked so as to break the cells enclosing the
starch granules.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Predigested Foods.= Some foods are claimed to be partly digested and
thus valuable for those with weak stomachs, but breakfast foods are
largely starch and the gastric juices are not active in the digestion
of starch. It is digested by saliva and the ferment diastase in the
intestines. (Diastase is a ferment of saliva and pancreatic juice,
which changes starch into dextrin and maltose, in which form it is more
easily acted upon by the intestinal juices.)

Experiments with “predigested” foods do not show a larger proportion
of dextrin, however, than would naturally be produced by the
heating of the starch, as these foods are being cooked at home. The
natural cooking at home makes starch more or less soluble, or at
least gelatinized. As a result of these experiments, therefore the
“predigested” argument is not given much weight.

Predigested foods, excepting in cases so weak as to be under the
direction of a physician, are not desirable. Nature requires every
organ to do the work intended for it, in order to keep up its
strength, just as she requires exercise for the arms or legs to keep
them strong. If an organ is weak, the _cause_ must be found and
corrected,—perhaps the stomach or intestines need more blood which
should be supplied through exercise; or perhaps the nerves need
relaxation; or the stomach less food; or food at more regular intervals.

Another argument against predigested foods lies in the fact that
dentists hold that the chewing of coarse food is necessary to keep the
teeth strong. For this strengthening of the teeth, children are given
dry crackers and dry toast each day.

In the so-called “predigested” or “malted” preparations, malt is added
while they are being cooked. Malt is a ferment made from some grain,
usually from barley, the grain being allowed to germinate until the
ferment diastase is developed.

There is no doubt that a number of foods, containing malt are valuable
in the hands of physicians to assist in converting starch into dextrin
or sugar, where diastase is not formed in sufficient quantity,
just as pepsin is an aid in the digestion of protein,—but eaten
indiscriminately, there can be no question that it is more important
for the stomach and intestines to perform their natural work and thus
keep their strength through normal exercise.

While they are not “predigested,” as claimed, they are, as a rule,
wholesome and nutritious. They are cleanly, and made from good,
sound grain and they contain no harmful ingredients. Some contain
“middlings,” molasses, glucose and similar materials, but these are in
no way injurious and have value as foods. The dry, crisp, ready-to-eat
foods are especially advantageous because of the mastication they
require,—this mastication insuring plenty of saliva being mixed with
them to aid in digestion. A dish of such dry breakfast food, well
masticated, together with an egg, to furnish a larger proportion of
protein, makes a wholesome breakfast.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Cracked Wheat.= In America wheat is seldom used whole. In England the
whole grain, with the bran left on, is slightly crushed and served as
cracked wheat or wheat grits.

Wheat is also rolled, or flaked, or shredded. The majority of wheat
breakfast foods contain a part of the middlings and many of them bran.
Farina and gluten preparations do not contain these, however.

The preparations of the various breakfast foods are a secret of the
proprietors. The ready-to-eat brands are cooked, then they are either
rolled or shredded, the shredding requiring special machinery to
tear the steamed kernels; later they are dried, and, finally packed,
sometimes in small biscuits. Many preparations are baked after being
steamed, which turns them darker and makes them more crisp. Some
preparations are steamed, then run through rollers, while still wet,
and pressed into flakes or crackers.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Oatmeals= are the most nutritious cereals. The oat contains more fat
than other grains and a larger proportion of protein. It is, therefore,
the best adapted to sustain life in the proportion of nutrient
elements. On account of the fat, oats are especially well adapted for
a breakfast food in winter. Another advantage oatmeal, or rolled oats,
have as a breakfast food is in their laxative tendency, due to the
coarse shell of the kernel.

Oat breakfast foods keep longer than the foods made from wheat and
rice.

There are no malts, or any mixtures in the oat preparations. The
difference between the various oatmeal breakfast foods is in their
manner of preparation. They all contain the entire grain, with the
exception of the husk. They are simply the ground or crushed oat. In
preparing the oats before grinding, the outer hull is removed, the
fuzzy coating of the berry itself is scoured off, the ends of the
berry, particularly the end containing the germ, which is usually the
place of deposit for insect eggs, is scoured, and the bitter tip end of
the oat berry is likewise removed.

_Rolled oats_ consist of the whole berry of the oat, ground into a
coarse meal, either between millstones, or, in the case of the so
called “steel cut” oatmeal, cut with sharp steel knives across the
sections of the whole oat groat.

_Quaker Oats_ consist of the whole groat, which, after steaming in
order to soften, have been passed between hot steel rolls, somewhat
like a mangle in a laundry, and crushed into large, thin, partially
cooked flakes. The oats are then further cooked by an open pan
drying process. This roasting process insures that all germ life is
exterminated, renders the product capable of quicker preparation for
the table and the roasting causes the oil cells to release their
contents, thereby producing what is termed the “nut flavor,” which is
not present in the old fashioned type of oat product.

Both Rolled Oats and Quaker Oats are now partially cooked in their
preparation but the starch cells must be thoroughly broken and they
should be cooked at least forty-five minutes in a double boiler; or, a
good way to prepare the porridge, is to bring it to the boiling point
at night, let it stand covered over night and then cook it twenty to
thirty minutes in the morning. Another method of cooking is to bring
the porridge to the boiling point and then leave it in a fireless
cooker over night.

The great fault in the preparation of any breakfast food is in not
cooking it sufficiently to break the starch cells.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Puffed Rice= is made from a good quality of finished rice. The process
is a peculiar one, the outer covering, or bran, is removed and then
the product is literally “shot from guns;” that is, a quantity of the
rice is placed in metal retorts, revolved slowly in an oven, at high
temperature, until the pressure of steam, as shown by gauge on the gun,
indicates that the steam, generated slowly by the moisture within
the grain itself, has thoroughly softened the starch cells. The gun
retort is pointed into a wire cage and the cap which closes one end is
removed, permitting an inrush of cold air. This cold, on striking the
hot steam, causes expansion, which amounts practically to an explosion.
The expansion of steam within each starch cell completely shatters the
cell, causing the grain to expand to eight times its original size. It
rushes out of the gun and into the cage with great force, after which
it is screened to remove all scorched or imperfectly puffed grains.

This process dextrinizes a portion of the starch and also very
materially increases the amount of soluble material as against the
original proportion in the grain.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Puffed Wheat= is manufactured from Durum, or macaroni wheat, of the
very highest grade. This is a very hard, glutinous grain. It is pearled
in order to thoroughly clean and take off the outer covering of bran.
It then goes through a puffing process, identical with that of Puffed
Rice. The chemical changes are very similar to those of puffed rice.

Both Puffed Rice and Puffed Wheat are more digestible than in the
original grain state. They are valuable foods for invalids.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Stale Bread.= A food which tastes much like a prepared breakfast food,
but is cheaper, may be made by dipping stale bread into molasses and
water, drying it in the oven for several hours, and then crushing it.
It is then ready to serve with cream. This is a palatable way to use up
stale bread.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Crackers and Milk or Bread and Milk.= As noted by above table,
crackers are similar to breakfast foods in nutrient elements, and with
milk make a good food for breakfast, or a good luncheon. Business men,
and others who eat hurriedly and return immediately to work, will do
well to substitute crackers and milk, or bread and milk, for the piece
of pie, which often constitutes a busy man’s lunch.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Cereal Coffees]

According to investigations made by the United States Agriculture
Experiment Station, cereal coffees are made of parched grains. A few
contain a little true coffee, but for the most part they are made of
parched wheat, barley, etc., or of grain mixed with wheat middlings,
pea hulls, or corn cobs. There is no objection to any of these mixtures
providing they are clean. The cereal coffees, as seen by the following
table, contain no more nourishment than the true coffee, but they
are probably more easily digested; only a very little of the soluble
starch passes into the water. Coffee and tea are not taken for their
nutrition, but for their stimulating effect upon the nerves; and, if
stimulation is desired, the cereal coffees fall short.


TABLE VII.

_Composition of cereal-coffee infusion and other beverages._

  ————————————————————————————————————+—————+———————+———+————————+—————
                                      |     |       |   |Carbo-  | Fuel
            Kind of Beverage          |Water|Protein|Fat|hydrates|Value
                                      |     |       |   |        | per
                                      |     |       |   |        |Pound
  ————————————————————————————————————+—————+———————+———+————————+—————
  Commercial cereal coffee (0.5 ounce |     |       |   |        |
    to 1 pint water)                  | 98.2|  0.2  |   |   1.4  |  30
  Parched-corn coffee (1.6 ounces to 1|     |       |   |        |
    pint water)                       | 99.5|  0.2  |   |    .5  |  13
  Oatmeal water (1 ounce to 1 pint    |     |       |   |        |
    water)                            | 99.7|  0.3  |   |    .3  |  11
  Coffee (1 ounce to 1 pint water)    | 98.9|   .2  |   |    .7  |  16
  Tea (0.5 ounce to 1 pint water)     | 99.5|   .2  |   |    .6  |  15
  Chocolate (0.5 ounce to 1 pint milk)| 84.5|  3.8  |4.7|   6.0  | 365
  Cocoa (0.5 ounce to 1 pint water)   | 97.1|   .6  | .9|   1.1  |  65
  Skimmed milk                        | 88.8|  4.0  |1.8|   5.4  | 170
  ————————————————————————————————————+—————+———————+———+————————+—————

By reference to table VII it will be seen that cocoa and skimmed milk
contain much more nutrition than any of the coffees. Their chief value
is that they furnish a _warm_ drink with the meal. They should not be
too hot.

Barley or wheat, mixed with a little molasses, parched in the oven, and
then ground, makes about the same mixture as the cereal coffee.

The old fashioned crust coffee, made from bread crusts, toasted in the
oven, is just as nutritious as any of the coffees and has the advantage
of being cheaper.

Barley water and oat water, made by boiling the grain thoroughly and
then straining, are nourishing foods for invalids and children. They
are often used as drinks by athletes and manual laborers, as they have
the advantage of both quenching thirst and supplying energy.

Gruels are made in the same way, only strained through a sieve. This
process allows more of the starch to pass with the water.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Legumes]

The legumes are the seeds of peas, beans, lentils and peanuts.

While they are seeds, just as the cereals are, they differ in that they
contain a very much larger proportion of protein and may be substituted
for meat or eggs in a diet. In all vegetarian diets the legumes should
be used freely to replace the meat.

All legumes must be thoroughly cooked and thoroughly masticated.
Because the protein in these foods is more difficult of digestion than
that in meat or eggs, particularly if not thoroughly masticated, they
are better adapted for the use of men doing manual labor. Soldiers,
day laborers, and others, whose work calls for physical exercise, can
digest legumes, when those whose occupation is more sedentary can not
do so.


TABLE VIII.—LEGUMES

  —————————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+——————————
    Food Materials     |Water|Protein|Fat  |Carbo-  |     |
                       |     |       |     |hydrates|Ash  |Fuel Value
                       |Per  |Per    |Per  |Per     |Per  |per pound
                       |Cent |Cent   |Cent |Cent    |Cent |Calories
  —————————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+——————————
  Dried Legumes:       |     |       |     |        |     |
    Navy beans         |12.6 | 22.5  | 1.8 | 59.6   | 3.5 |  1,605
    Dried Peas         | 9.5 | 24.6  | 1.0 | 62.0   | 2.9 |  1,655
    Lentils            | 8.4 | 25.7  | 1.0 | 59.2   | 5.7 |  1,620
    Lima beans         |10.4 | 18.1  | 1.5 | 65.9   | 4.1 |  1,625
    Peanuts            | 9.2 | 25.8  |38.6 | 24.4   | 2.0 |  2,560
    Peanut butter      | 2.1 | 29.3  |46.5 | 17.1   | 5.0 |  2,825
  Fresh Legumes:       |     |       |     |        |     |
    Canned peas        |85.3 |  3.6  | 0.2 |  9.8   | 1.1 |    255
    Canned lima beans  |79.5 |  4.0  | 0.3 | 14.6   | 1.6 |    360
    Canned string beans|93.7 |  1.1  | 0.1 |  3.8   | 1.3 |     95
    Canned baked beans |68.9 |  6.9  | 2.5 | 19.6   | 2.1 |    600
    String beans       |89.2 |  2.3  | 0.3 |  7.4   | 0.8 |    195
    Shelled peas       |74.6 |  7.0  | 0.5 | 16.9   | 1.0 |    465
  —————————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+——————————

The protein of the legumes is of the same nature as the casein of milk.
It has been called vegetable casein.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Peanuts.= While an underground vegetable, grown like potatoes, peanuts
resemble nuts, inasmuch as they contain so much oil. Like other
legumes, they require cooking. They are roasted because this develops
the flavor.

Because of the proportion of the chemical elements in peanuts, they
will sustain life for an indefinite period, without other food, as they
provide rebuilding material, energy and heat. Used alone, however,
there is no counteracting acid, and it is better to add some fruit,
such as apples, or apples and dates.

In eating peanuts it is imperative that they be masticated _until they
are a pulp_; otherwise they are very difficult of digestion. The pain
which many people experience, after eating peanuts, is probably due to
eating too large a quantity and not fully masticating them, forgetting
that they are a very rich, highly-concentrated food. Both peanuts and
peanut butter contain over twenty-five per cent of protein and a much
larger percentage of fat; therefore they yield much heat and energy.

_Peanut Butter._ While peanut butter contains forty-six and one half
per cent fat, it contains only seventeen per cent carbohydrates. Since
sugars and starches are protections to fat, being used for energy
before the fats are consumed, if these sugars and starches are not
supplied in other food, the fats in the peanut butter are consumed for
energy. If starches _are_ consumed in other foods, it is clear that one
who wishes to reduce in flesh should avoid peanut butter, as well as
other fats.

Peanut butter is more easily digested than the baked peanut, unless
the latter is chewed to a pulp. It can be made at home by grinding the
peanuts in a meat grinder and then further mashing with a rolling pin
or a potato masher. A little lemon juice mixed with the peanut butter
makes it not only more palatable, but more easily digested. A peanut
butter sandwich is quite as nourishing as a meat sandwich.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Shelled Peas.= Shelled peas were used in Europe as far back as in the
Middle ages, and there, to-day, the dried or “split” pea is used quite
as extensively as the dried bean. In America, peas are used almost
entirely in the green stage, fresh or canned.

As seen by Table VIII, the green, shelled pea contains seven per cent
protein and sixteen per cent sugar and starch, while the dry or “split”
pea contains over twenty-four and a half per cent protein and sixty-two
per cent sugar and starch, the difference being in the amount of water
in the shelled peas. Canned peas contain even a larger per cent of
water.

A variety of green peas is now being cultivated in which the pod of
the pea is used, just as the pod of the string bean. It is a sweet and
delicious side dish.

_Dry Peas_ are used in this country only by boiling, putting through a
sieve, and serving as pureé.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Beans.= Baked navy beans may well be substituted on a menu for meat,
containing, as they do, twenty-two and one half per cent protein. It
is needless to state that beans and lean meat or eggs should not be
served at the same meal. Beans have the advantage of being cheaper than
meat, yet, as stated above, the protein in the legumes is less easily
digested than the protein of meat or eggs. They must be thoroughly
cooked and thoroughly masticated.

There is but a small percentage of fat in dried beans and for this
reason they are usually baked with a piece of pork. They make a very
complete, perhaps the most complete food, containing nutrient elements
in about the proper proportions. Effort has been made to make a bean
cracker for the sustenance of soldiers on a march, thus giving them a
complete food in condensed form.

In baking dried beans or peas, soft or distilled water should be used,
as the lime of hard water makes the shell almost indigestible. For
the same reason salt should be added when the beans are nearly done.
If soft water is not obtainable, add a little baking soda, in the
proportion of a half a teaspoon to two quarts of water.

_String Beans._ The string bean contains very little nutrient elements,
as shown by Table VIII. The pod and the bean, at this unripe stage,
are nearly ninety per cent water. Their chief value as a food consists
of their appetizing quality to those who are fond of them, thus
stimulating the flow of gastric juice. Like all green vegetables,
they stimulate the action of the kidneys. For this reason all green
vegetables are particularly valuable to those who drink little water.

_Lima Beans._ The dry, shelled bean, used during the winter, boiled and
baked is the lima bean.

_Kidney Beans_ contain much water but are more nutritious than the
string bean.

_Soy Bean._ In China and Japan this bean is used extensively. Being
rich in protein, it makes a well balanced diet with rice.

The soy bean is made into various preparations, one of the most
important being _shoyo_, now being introduced into other countries. To
make it, the soy bean is cooked and mixed with roasted wheat flour and
salt; into this is put a special ferment. It is then allowed to stand
for years in casks. The result is a thick, brown liquid with a pungent,
agreeable taste. It is very nourishing.

A kind of cheese is also made from boiling the soy bean for several
hours, then wrapping the hot mass in bundles of straw, and putting it
in a tightly closed cellar for twenty-four hours.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Lentils= are not commonly used in this country, but they were one of
the earliest vegetables to be cultivated in Asia and the Mediterranean
countries. They are imported and are found only in the best markets of
large cities. They are used in the menu like dried peas and are fully
as nourishing, but the flavor of the lentil is pronounced and they are
not as agreeable to the average person as peas or beans.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Nuts]

Nuts are classed with the carbo-nitrogenous foods, because of the more
nearly equal proportion of proteins and carbonaceous substances.


TABLE IX.—NUTS
  ——————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+——————————
    Food Materials  |Water|Protein|Fat  |Carbo-  |     |
                    |     |       |     |hydrates|Ash  |Fuel Value
                    |Per  |Per    |Per  |Per     |Per  |per pound
                    |Cent |Cent   |Cent |Cent    |Cent |Calories
  ——————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+——————————
  Almonds           |  4.8|  21.0 |54.90|  17.3  |  2.0|  3,030
  Brazil nuts       |  5.3|  17.0 |66.80|   7.0  |  3.9|  3,329
  Filberts          |  3.7|  15.6 |65.30|  13.0  |  2.4|  3,342
  Hickory nuts      |  3.7|  15.4 |67.40|  11.4  |  2.1|  3,495
  Pecans            |  3.0|  16.7 |71.20|  13.3  |  1.5|  3,633
  English walnuts   |  2.8|  16.7 |64.40|  14.8  |  1.3|  3,305
  Chestnuts, fresh  | 45.0|   6.2 | 5.40|  42.1  |  1.3|  1,125
  Walnuts, black    |  2.5|  27.6 |56.30|  11.7  |  1.9|  3,105
  Cocoanut, shredded|  3.5|   6.3 |57.30|  31.6  |  1.3|  3,125
  Peanuts, roasted  |  1.6|  30.5 |49.20|  16.2  |  2.5|  3,177
  ——————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+——————————

It will be noted, by reference to the table, that nuts contain a much
larger proportion of fats and less starch than the legumes. Chestnuts
contain the largest amount of starch, pecans the most fat, and roasted
peanuts the most protein.

Nuts are a valuable food, but they should be made a part of a meal and
may well take the place of meat, because of the large percentage of
protein, rather than to be eaten as a dessert. They are too hearty to
eat at the end of a meal, after one has eaten as much other food as the
system requires. In planning a meal, if the dietary is rich in starches
and lacking in protein, a side dish of nuts may be served.

Too great stress cannot be laid upon the importance of the thorough
mastication of nuts; otherwise they are difficult of digestion. When
thoroughly chewed, however, they are as easily digested as cereals or
legumes. If ground fine in a meat grinder or through a sieve, they
digest more readily, but this grinding does not take the place of the
grinding with the teeth and the mixing with saliva. They are best
ground for salads, cake or croquettes.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Milk]

Milk is called a complete food. It is a perfect food for the sustenance
of its own species,—the milk of the cow for the calf, the mother’s
milk for the infant; yet the milk of the cow is not perfect for the
child,—it is lacking in the proper proportion of sugar, and when fed to
the child a little sugar is added.

There has been a tendency among certain classes, to recommend an
all-milk diet, because the proteins, carbohydrates and fats are in
proportion to sustain life indefinitely, but experiments have shown
that healthy, digestive organs do their work better when a part of
the food is solid. Moreover, if an all-milk diet were followed, the
adult, in order to get sufficient nutriment, would be compelled to take
a larger proportion of water than necessary, the proportion of water
required by the system being about sixty-seven per cent, while milk
contains eighty-seven per cent.

In order for the adult to get the proper quantity of carbohydrates and
fat, from an all-milk diet, it would be necessary to drink from four
to five quarts of milk a day (sixteen to twenty glasses). Therefore,
although an exceedingly valuable food, containing nutriment elements
for repair and to supply heat and energy for an indefinite time, _milk
is not a desirable, perfect food for an adult_.

If the mother’s milk contains eighty-seven per cent water it seems
not too much for the infant. Young babies, on a milk diet, are almost
always fat. This is not because the fats, sugars and starches are in
too large a proportion to the protein, but it bears out the theory,
which is fully demonstrated in actual experiments of the writer with
over twenty thousand women, that the free drinking of liquid at a meal
aids digestion and a better absorption and assimilation of food.

One advantage of drinking milk with the meal, is that it is not taken
as cold as water and it supplies a portion of actual food.


TABLE X.

_Milk and Milk Products._

  ——————————————+———————+————————+——————+———————+———————+———————
  Food Materials| Water |Proteins| Fats | Sugar | Salts |Lactic
                |       |        |      |       |       |Acid
  ——————————————+———————+————————+——————+———————+———————+———————
  Milk          | 86.8  |   4.0  |  3.7 |  4.8  |  0.7  | ......
  Skimmed milk  | 88.0  |   4.0  |  1.8 |  5.4  |  0.8  | ......
  Buttermilk    | 90.6  |   3.8  |  1.2 |  3.3  |  0.6  |  0.3
  Cream         | 66.0  |   2.7  | 26.7 |  2.8  |  1.8  | ......
  Cheese        | 36.8  |  33.5  | 24.3 | ......|  5.4  | ......
  Butter        |  6.0  |   0.3  | 91.0 | ......|  2.7  | ......
  ——————————————+———————+————————+——————+———————+———————+———————

Reference to the above table shows that the thirteen per cent of
organic foods are about equally divided between fat, sugar and protein.
The protein is _casein_. There is no starch in milk. The digestive
ferment, which acts upon starch, has not developed in the young babe
and the infant cannot digest starch. The salts promote the growth of
bone.

The fat in milk is in small emulsified droplets within a thin
albuminous sheath. When allowed to stand in a cool place it rises to
the top.

Besides casein, there is a certain amount of albumen in milk,—about
one-seventh of the total amount. This is called lactalbumin.

A part of the digestion of the casein is performed by pepsin in the
stomach and a part by the trypsin of the pancreatic juice.

_Digestion of Milk._ The larger part of the digestion of the milk
sugar is performed by the pancreatic juice; yet it is partly acted
upon by the saliva. There is little chance for the saliva to act upon
the milk sugar in the mouth, however, as very little saliva is mixed
with the milk. This constitutes another objection to the diet of all
milk, and is an argument in favor of drinking milk slowly and holding
it in the mouth until it is mixed with saliva. It is one reason, also,
why children should be given bread broken in the milk, instead of a
piece of bread and a glass of milk. By swallowing the milk slowly, the
curds formed in the stomach are smaller and the milk is more thoroughly
digested.

When the fat (cream) is removed milk digests more readily, so that in
case of delicate stomachs _skimmed milk, clabbered milk or buttermilk_
are often prescribed instead of sweet milk. Boiled milk is also more
easily digested by some because of the lactalbumin which is separated
and rises to the top in a crinky skum. The casein is also more readily
digested in boiled milk, forming in small flakes in the stomach instead
of in curds.

When one takes from two to three glasses of milk at a meal, less
solid food is needed, because the required nutriment is partially
supplied with the milk. One reason why milk seemingly disagrees with
many people, is because they lose sight of the fact that milk is an
actual food, as well as a beverage and they eat the same quantity of
food in addition to the milk that they eat if drinking water. This
is the reason that milk seems to make some people bilious and causes
constipation. It is due to too much food rather than to any quality in
the milk.

Constipation may be occasioned by drinking milk rapidly so that large
curds are formed by the acids in the stomach, rendering it difficult of
digestion. The constipating effect will be overcome by lessening the
quantity of food and by the addition of limewater to the milk.

To prepare limewater put a heaping teaspoon of slaked lime into a
quart of boiled or distilled water; put into a corked bottle and shake
thoroughly two or three times during the first hour. Then allow the
lime to settle, and after twenty-four hours pour or siphon off the
clear fluid.

Barley water or oatmeal water added to milk also prevent the formation
of curds.

In young babes the milk is curdled, or the casein separated from the
water and sugar, not by hydrochloric acid, but by a ferment in the
gastric juice, known as rennin. It is the rennin, or rennet, from the
stomachs of young calves and young pigs, which is used to coagulate the
casein in cheese factories.

Milk is coagulated or curdled by many fruit and vegetable acids,
as the housewife well knows, using milk in pies containing certain
acid fruits, such as lemons, or in soup containing tomatoes. The
hydrochloric acid of the stomach at once causes a similar coagulation,
though the curds are tougher and more leathery. The milk forms into
curds immediately upon entering the stomach. This is the natural
process of milk digestion and is the chief reason why it should be
drunk slowly, otherwise the curds will form in too large sizes, thus
pressing upon the entrance to the stomach and causing distress. The
tough, large curds formed by the hydrochloric acid, are difficult for
invalids or for very delicate stomachs to digest.

If an alkali, such as limewater, is added, to neutralize the acids of
the stomach, the curds do not form, or are re-dissolved, and digestion
is aided. One sixth limewater to five-sixths milk is the proper
proportion.

_Milk Tests._ In testing the value of milk, or the value of a cow,
butter makers and farmers gauge it by the amount of butter fat in
the milk, while the cheese maker tests the milk for the proportion
of protein (casein). The amount of butter fat depends upon the feed
and water, and upon the breed. The milk from Jersey and Guernsey cows
yields about five per cent butter fat. If the total nutrient elements
fall below twelve per cent, it is safe to assume that the milk has been
watered.

In cheese and butter there is no sugar; it remains in the buttermilk
and the whey, both of which the farmer takes home from the factories to
fatten his hogs.

_Preserving Milk._ Many forms of bacteria thrive in milk and it is
needless to say that the utmost cleanliness should be observed on the
part of the dairyman in the care and cleanliness of his cows, in the
cleanliness of the milk receptacles, and in the place in which the milk
is allowed to stand over night. Care and cleanliness in the home is
quite as important.

If milk could be kept free from bacteria, it would keep sweet almost
indefinitely. At the Paris Exposition, milk from several American
dairies was kept sweet for two weeks, without any preservative, except
cleanliness and a temperature of about forty degrees. The United States
Bureau of Animal Industry states that milk may be kept sweet for seven
weeks without the use of chemicals.

The best method for the housewife to follow is to keep the milk clean,
cool, and away from other foods.

_Pasteurized Milk._ In pasteurizing milk the aim is to destroy as
many of the bacteria as possible without causing any chemical changes
or without changing the flavor. One can pasteurize milk at home by
placing it in an air tight bottle, immersing the bottle to the neck
in hot water, heating the water to one hundred and forty-nine degrees
F for a half hour and then quickly cooling the milk to fifty degrees,
by immersing the bottle in cold water. The rapid cooling lessens the
cooked taste. Many of the best dairies pasteurize the milk in this way
before it is marketed.

_Sterilized Milk._ Milk is sterilized to destroy all bacteria, by
boiling it. It must sometimes be boiled one, two or three successive
days. Sterilized milk remains sweet longer than pasteurized milk, but
more chemical changes are produced and the flavor is changed.

Formerly borax, boric acid, salicylic acid, formalin and salt petre
were used to keep the milk sweet, but this adulteration is now
forbidden by the pure food laws.

_Malted Milk_ is a dry, soluble food product in powder form, derived
from barley malt, wheat flour and cows milk, with the full amount of
cream.

The process of the extraction from the cereals is conducted at elevated
temperatures so as to allow the active agents (enzymes) of the barley
malt to affect the conversion of the vegetable protein and starches.
The filtered extract, containing the derivatives of the malt, wheat and
the full-cream cows milk, is then evaporated to dryness in vacuo, the
temperature being controlled so as to obviate any alteration of the
natural constituents of the ingredients and so as to preserve their
full physiological values. The strictest precautions are observed to
insure the purity of the product. It contains,

  Fats                                8.75
  Proteins                           16.35
  Dextrine                           18.80
  Lactose and Maltose                49.15
    (Total Soluble Carbohydrates)    67.95
  Inorganic Salts                     3.86
  Moisture                            3.06

It is free from germs, the starches and sugars being converted in the
process of manufacture in maltose, dextrine and lactose. The fats
are in an absorbable condition, and it contains a high percentage of
proteins derived from both the milk and the grains, as well as a marked
percentage of mineral salts. It is readily soluble in water and is
easily digested.

_Smierkase_, made in the home, is coagulated casein. It contains
thirty-three per cent protein, twenty-four per cent fat and five per
cent salts. The thickening of the milk, or the coagulation of the
casein, is like that produced by lactic acid.

_Skimmed Milk_, as shown by the table, contains the same amount of
protein as fresh milk, but more sugar and more ash, the difference
consisting almost entirely of less fat, which has been removed in the
cream.

_Buttermilk._ There is less fat, protein, sugar or ash in buttermilk
than in skimmed milk; it is therefore less nourishing but more easily
digested. The sugar has partially fermented and the free lactic acid
gives the pungent taste. Buttermilk made by lactone tablets and fresh
milk is as nourishing and as desirable as that made in the process of
butter making, and it has the advantage of being fresh.

_Clabbered Milk._ The casein in clabbered milk coagulates, and, if kept
in a hot place, the coagulation continues until the water, sugar and
salt are separated. This is the whey, which is fed to hogs,—the sugar
fattens them.

_Milk Sugar._ Sugar made from milk is now a commercial factor; it is
evaporated and compressed into a fine powder. This powder is used by
physicians and druggists in mixing powders, pills, tablets, etc.

_Milk Junket._ The junket tablets, used in milk junket, are milk
coagulated by rennet. Flavored milk coagulated by rennet, has not the
sour taste of milk coagulated by acid.

_Condensed Milk_ is made by evaporating the water until the milk is
reduced to about one fourth its volume. It is then sterilized and
hermetically sealed. It is convenient for use, wherever fresh milk
cannot be obtained, but the process of evaporation changes its flavor
so that few care for it as a drink. It makes a good substitute for
cream in coffee, and diluted with three times its volume in water, it
is again of the same constituency as before the water was evaporated.


FOOTNOTES:

[7] Charles D. Woods Dr. Sc. in “Cereal Breakfast Foods.”




BEVERAGES


[Sidenote: Tea]

Tea is made by steeping the leaves of a shrub, which grows in the
tropical regions of Asia and adjacent islands. The green tea comes from
China and Japan and the darker varieties from India and Ceylon.

It should never be boiled nor allowed to stand longer than a few
minutes, as standing in water causes tannin to be extracted from the
leaves, and this tannin disturbs digestion. It is the tannin extracted
from the bark of trees which toughens animal skins into leather. The
best way to make tea is to pour on boiling water and serve almost
immediately, or at least within five to ten minutes.

Because of the uncertainty as to the length of time tea may be allowed
to steep in hotel kitchens or restaurants, it is a wise custom to have
a ball of tea and a pot of hot water served that the guest may make the
tea at the table.

Tea, as well as coffee, is diuretic—stimulating the action of the
kidneys. It is not a _food_; it is a _stimulant_.

_Thein_, which is the ingredient for which tea is drunk, is chemically
identical with caffein in coffee.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Coffee]

Coffee is a beverage, prepared from the seeds of the coffee tree. The
best known brands come from the Island of Java, Mocha, Rio de Janeiro,
and Mexico.

Coffee _is not a food_. The active principle is caffein. This is an
alkaloid and is a strong stimulant to the central nervous system. It
quickens the heart action, and, unless the heart be weak, one does
not need so strong a stimulant. The stimulating effect is so apparent
with many, that they cannot sleep for several hours after drinking it.
Others drink coffee to quicken mental activity and to keep them awake.

It must be borne in mind, however, that there is a reactionary effect
from all stimulants, and while coffee is not intoxicating, as alcohol,
it has a similar effect upon the nerves and heart. It is given to those
addicted to liquor, as a milder stimulant, when they are recovering
from a spell of intoxication.

Whether because of the strong stimulant, or because of some chemical
effect of caffein, coffee retards digestion, especially when the
digestive organs are weak. It has the redeeming feature, of having a
pleasing aroma, which, because of the effect upon the mind, may incite
the flow of gastric juice; but, despite the fact that no morning
beverage has quite the same pleasing aroma, or pungency, as coffee, one
is much better without it.

One who knows that coffee disturbs his digestion and yet cannot break
himself from the habit of drinking it, should have sympathy for the one
who is addicted to liquor and finds it difficult to break the habit of
depending upon this _so-called_ stimulant.

_Cereal Coffee_ has been discussed under the heading “Cereals.”

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Cocoa and Chocolate]

_Cocoa and Chocolate_ are prepared from the chocolate bean. Cocoa is
from the shell of the bean and chocolate from the kernel. As shown by
Table VII, they are more nutritious than the other beverages; yet the
fat in chocolate is not like the fat in other foods. It is not used as
a reserve in animal tissue as are the other fats.

The active principle in cocoa and chocolate is _theobromin_ and is
similar to caffein in its stimulating effect upon the nervous system,
though milder.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Lemonade]

_Lemonade_ and other fruit drinks, particularly those made from the
citrous fruits, slake the thirst more quickly than most drinks.

All fruit drinks are diuretic, and, wherever the action of the kidneys
is sluggish, they are especially desirable.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Carbonized Drinks]

are made from bottling some drink, and, before sealing, forcing carbon
dioxid into the bottle under pressure. As soon as the cork is removed
the escape of the gas causes effervescence. These drinks have no
advantage, other than that they slake the thirst.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Water]

There is no beverage nor concoction devised by man equal to water. It
is to be deplored that it is not used as freely as Nature demands,—from
eight to ten glasses a day.

The value of water as a food and as an aid to digestion is discussed on
page 41.




CONDIMENTS


Without doubt, highly spiced foods are undesirable. They tend to weaken
digestion, by calling for an undue secretion of digestive juices,
which, if prolonged, tires out the glands. A reasonable amount of
condiments such as pepper, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, sage, thyme,
ginger, mustard, cinnamon, mace, horseradish, vanilla, dill, etc., may
be used as appetizers, because the pleasing thought of them may incite
the flow of gastric juice; but if one has not cultivated a taste for
them this thought will not be pleasing and they are then better omitted
from the diet. The taste is undoubtedly a cultivated one, and should
not be encouraged in children. The child rarely cares for condiments
and it is better that he continue to relish his food for its natural
flavor.

Condiments are not foods.




PRESERVATION OF FOODS


All food for preservation should be kept in a clean, cool, dry, dark
place. Reduction in temperature to near freezing, and removal of
moisture and air stop bacterial development.

Drying, cooking, and sealing from the air will preserve some meats and
fruits, while others require such preservatives as sugar, vinegar and
salt. The preservative in vinegar is acetic acid.

All preservatives which are actual foods, such as sugar, salt
and vinegar, are to be recommended, but the use of antiseptic
preservatives, such as salicylic acid, formaldehyd, boracic acid,
alum, sulphur and benzonate of soda, all of which have been used by
many canning merchants, is frought with danger. The United States
Department of Agriculture holds, that by the use of such preservatives,
unscrupulous dealers may use fruits and vegetables not in good
condition.

There can be no doubt that, wherever possible, the best method for the
housewife to preserve food is to do her own drying, canning, preserving
and pickling of fruits and vegetables, which she knows are fresh,
putting up her own preserves, jams, jellies, pickles, syrups, grape
juice, etc.

Since economy in food lies in the least amount of money for the
greatest amount of nutriment, the preparation of simple foods in the
home, with a care that no more is furnished for consumption than the
system requires, is the truest economy in health and in doctor’s bills.

It is not more brands of prepared food which are needed, but purity of
elements in their natural state. A dish of wholesome, clean oat meal
has more nourishment and more fuel value than the average prepared food.

 _In the effort to emphasize the importance of pure food in amount
 and quality, pure air and pure water must not be overlooked. Much
 infection is carried by these two elements. Pure air, containing a
 normal amount of oxygen, is absolutely necessary that the system may
 digest and assimilate the foods consumed._




COOKING


The cooking of food is as important as its selection, because the
manner of cooking makes it easier or more difficult of digestion. The
question of the proper selection and cooking of food is so vital to the
health and resultant happiness of every family, and to the strength
and well being of a nation, that every woman, to whom the cooking for
a family is entrusted, should have special preparation for her work,
and every girl should be given practical and theoretical training in
Dietetics in our public schools. The study is as dignified as the
study of music and art. Indeed it can be made an art in the highest
conception of the term. Surely the education of every girl in the
vocation, in which she sooner or later must engage, either actively or
by directing others, means more than education in music and drawing. We
must all eat two and three times every day; there are few things which
we do so regularly and which are so vital; yet in the past we have
given this subject less study than any common branch in our schools.
When the dignity of the profession of dietetics is realized, the
servant problem will be largely solved.

In cooking any food, heat and moisture are necessary, the time varying
from thirty minutes to several hours, according to different foods.
Baked beans and meats containing much connective tissue, as boiling and
roasting cuts, require the longest time.

The purposes in the cooking of foods are: the development of the
flavor, which makes the food appetizing, thus encouraging the flow of
gastric juice; the sterilization, thereby killing all parasites and
micro-organisms, such as the tape worm in beef, pork, and mutton, and
the trichinae in pork; the conversion of the nutrients into a more
digestible form, by partially or wholly converting the connective
tissue into gelatin.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Cooking of Meats]

The fundamental principle to be observed in the cooking of meat
concerns the retention of the juices, since these contain a large part
of the nutrition. The heat develops the flavor, and the moisture,
together with the heat, dissolves the connective tissue and makes it
tender.

A choice piece of meat may be toughened and made difficult of
digestion, or a tough piece may be made tender and easy to digest, by
the manner of cooking.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Soups.= To make meat soups, the connective tissue, bone and muscle
should be put into cold water, brought _slowly_ to the boiling point
and allowed to simmer for hours. It must be remembered that the gelatin
from this connective tissue does not contain the tissue building
elements of the albuminoids. These are retained in what meat may be
about the bones of the boiling piece and in the blood.

The albumin of meat is largely in the blood and it is the coagulated
blood which forms the scum on soup, if heated above a certain point;
the cook should boil the soup slowly, or much of the nutrition is lost
in the coagulated blood, or skum.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Roasting.= The flavor and juice of the meat is best retained by
roasting. If it is put into a hot oven, with a little suet over the
top, so as to sear the meat with hot fat, and no water is put in the
pan, it will retain the juice and the flavor. Water draws out the
extractives.

It is important to remember that the smaller the cut to be roasted,
the hotter should be the fire. An intensely hot fire coagulates the
exterior and prevents the drying up of the meat juice. After the
surface is coagulated and seared it should cook slowly.

Unless the oven is sufficiently hot to sear the surface, the moisture,
or juice, will escape into the roasting pan and the connective tissue
will be toughened. A roast should be cooked in a covered roaster to
retain the moisture.

The roast should be turned as soon as one side is seared and just
sufficient water put into the pan to keep it from burning.

Frequent basting of a roast, with the fat, juice, and water in
the roasting pan, still further sears the surface, so that the
juices do not seep through and keeps the air in the pan moist; the
heated moisture materially assists in gelatinizing the connective
tissue,—roasting pans are now made which are self-basting.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Broiling.= The same principle applies to broiling as to roasting. The
meat is put over a very hot flame and turned so as to quickly sear
both sides, to prevent the juice from oozing out. In fact, the best
broiled steaks are turned just as soon as the juice begins to drip, so
as to retain all juice in the meat.

Meat containing much connective tissue is not adapted to broiling,
because it takes too long for this tissue to become gelatinized.

Steak broiled in a skillet, especially round steak which has been
pounded to assist in breaking the connective tissue, is often first
dipped in seasoned flour, which is rubbed well into it. The flour
absorbs the meat juices so that none of them are lost. All meats
broiled in skillets should be put into a very hot skillet and one
surface seared, then should be turned so as to sear the other side. The
skillet should be kept covered so as to retain the moisture.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Boiling.= In boiling meat, where the object is to eat the tissue
itself, it should be put into hot water, that the albumin on the
surface may be immediately coagulated and prevent the escape of the
nutrients into the water. It is impossible to make a rich broth and to
have a juicy, highly flavored piece of boiled meat at the same time.
Meat is best roasted or broiled when the meat tissue is to be eaten.

The boiling cuts contain more connective tissue, therefore they require
a much longer time to cook in order to gelatinize this tissue. They are
not as rich in protein as the steaks.

Meat soups, bouillons and broths contain very little nutriment, but
they do contain the extractives, and the flavors increase the flow of
digestive juices and stimulate the appetite. It is for this reason that
soups are served before a meal rather than for a dessert; they insure
a copious flow of gastric juice and saliva to act upon the crackers or
toast eaten with the soup. Many mistake the extractives and flavor for
nourishment, feeling that the soups are an easy method of taking food,
but the best part of the nutriment remains in the meat or vegetables
making the soup.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Pot Roasts.= In the case of a pot roast, or roast in a kettle, where
it is desirable to use both the fibre of the meat and the juice, or
gravy, it should be put into a little cold water and raised to about
180 degrees F., where it should be kept for some hours. The juices of
the meat seep out in the gravy. The extractives are simmered down and
are again poured over the meat in the rich gravy.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Frying.= This is the least desirable method of cooking. Food cooked
by putting a little grease into a frying pan, such as fried potatoes,
mush, eggs, french toast, and griddle cakes, are more difficult of
digestion than foods cooked by any other means, particularly where
the fat is allowed to smoke. The fat is superheated; if a lighted
match is placed near the smoke it will catch fire, showing that it is
volatilizing, or being reduced to a vapor.

The extreme heat liberates fatty acids. This acrid fat soaks into the
food and renders it difficult of digestion. It is wise not to employ
this method of cooking.

The objection to frying does not hold so strongly in the case of
vegetables, such as potatoes, if fried _slowly_ in fat, that is not
over heated, or to griddle cakes cooked slowly without smoke, or to
foods immersed in grease (such as saratoga chips, doughnuts, french
fried potatoes, etc.), as the large amount of fat does not permit it
to get so heated. It does apply, however, if the fat is sufficiently
heated to smoke.

The coating of vegetables and cereals with the hot fat prevents the
necessary action of saliva upon the starch globules. As previously
stated, most of the starches are digested in the mouth and the stomach,
while the fats are not emulsified until they reach the intestines.

The starch globules in cereals and vegetables are in the form
of cells, the covering of these cells being composed largely of
nitrogenous matter. The protein is not acted upon by the saliva, and
the nitrogenous matter is largely digested in the stomach. It is more
easily dissolved if it is broken or softened by cooking, so that the
carbohydrates can come in contact with the saliva, but if encased in
fried fat, the gastric juices cannot digest the protein covering and
the saliva cannot reach the starch until the fat is emulsified in the
intestines. This means that wherever starch globules are surrounded
with fat, the digestive ferments reach these globules with difficulty
and fried foods must be digested mostly in the intestines.

Fats are readily absorbed in their natural condition, but when subject
to extreme heat, as in frying, they are irritants. For this reason,
eggs, poached, boiled or baked are more easily digested than fried.

_Boiling, broiling and roasting are preferable to foods cooked in fats._

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Cooking of Cereals]

One safe rule for the cook is, that it is better to cook most foods
too much than too little; overcooking is uncommon and harmless, while
_under_cooked foods are common and difficult of digestion.

In partially cooked cereals, one does not know how much of the cooking
has been done, but it is safe to cook all such foods at least as long
as specified in the directions.

One reason why breakfast foods, such as rolled oats, are partially
cooked, is because they keep longer.

As has been stated, the nutrients of the grain are found inside the
starch-bearing and other cells, and the walls of these cells are made
of crude fiber, on which the digestive juices have little effect.
Unless the cell walls are broken down, the nutrients can not come
under the influence of the digestive juices until the digestive organs
have expended material and energy in trying to get at them. Crushing
the grain in mills, and making it still finer by thorough mastication
breaks many of the cell walls, and the action of the saliva and other
digestive juices also disintegrates them more or less, but the heat
of cooking accomplishes the object much more thoroughly. The invisible
moisture in the cells expands under the action of heat, and the cell
walls burst. The water added in cooking also plays an important part
in softening and rupturing them. Then, too, the cellulose itself may
be changed by heat to more soluble form. Heat also makes the starch in
the cells at least partially soluble, especially when water is present.
The solubility of the protein is probably, as a rule, somewhat lessened
by cooking, especially at higher temperatures. Long, slow cooking is
therefore better, as it breaks down the crude fiber and changes the
starch to soluble form without materially decreasing the solubility of
the protein.

“In experiments made with rolled oats at the Minnesota Experiment
Station, it appeared that cooking (four hours) did not make the starch
much more soluble. However, it so changed the physical structure of the
grains that a given amount of digestive ferment could render much more
of it soluble in a given time than when it was cooked for only half an
hour.

“On the basis of the results obtained, the difficulty commonly
experienced in digesting imperfectly cooked oatmeal was attributed
to the large amounts of glutinous material which surrounds the starch
grains and prevent their disintegration. When thoroughly cooked the
protecting action of the mucilaginous protein is overcome, and the
compound starch granules are sufficiently disintegrated to allow the
digestive juices to act. In other words, the increased digestibility
of the thoroughly cooked cereal is supposed to be largely due to
a physical change in the carbohydrates, which renders them more
susceptible to the action of digestive juices.”

       *       *       *       *       *

=Pastry.= Pastry owes its harmful character to the interference of
fat as shown on page 198, with the proper solution of the starch,—at
least such pastry as requires the mixing of flour with fat; the coating
of these granules with fat prevents them from coming in contact with
liquids; the cells cannot absorb water, swell and burst so that they
may dissolve. The fat does not furnish sufficient water for this and
so coats the starch granules as to prevent the absorption of water in
mixing, or of the saliva in mastication. This coating of fat is not
relieved until late in the process of digestion, or until the food
reaches the intestines. This same objection applies to rich gravies,
unless the flour be dissolved in water and heated before being mixed
with the fats. The objection, therefore, is to such pastry as is made
by mixing flour with fat, as in pie crust; it does not apply to most
puddings.

Heat, in cooking, causes a combustion of the carbonic acid gas and the
effort of this gas to escape, as well as the steam occasioned by the
water in the food, causes the bubbles. When beaten eggs are used, the
albuminoids in the bubbles expand the walls, which stiffen with the
heat and cause the substances containing eggs to be porous.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Cooking of Vegetables]

Since the root vegetables contain a large proportion of carbohydrates,
they should be well cooked, in order that the cells may be fully
dissolved, and the crude fibre broken.

Vegetables are best cooked in soft water, as lime or magnesia, the
chemical ingredients which make water “hard”, make the vegetables less
soluble.

Vegetables and fruits become contaminated with the eggs of numerous
parasites from the fertilizers used; hence they should be thoroughly
washed.

The objection to frying meats are equally strong in regard to
vegetables. The coating of vegetables with the hot fat retards
digestion, as shown on page 198.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Cooking of Fruit]

“In different countries opinions differ markedly regarding the relative
wholesomeness of raw and cooked fruit. The Germans use comparatively
little raw fruit and consider it far less wholesome than cooked fruit.
On the other hand, in the United States raw fruit of good quality is
considered extremely wholesome, and is used in very large quantities,
being as much relished as cooked fruit, if indeed it is not preferred
to it. It has been suggested that the European prejudice against raw
fruit may be an unconscious protest against unsanitary methods of
marketing or handling and the recognition of cooking as a practical
method of preventing the spread of disease by fruit, accidentally
soiled with fertilizers in the fields or with street dust.

“As in the case with all vegetable foods, the heat of cooking breaks
down the carbohydrate walls of the cells which make up the fruit flesh,
either because the moisture or other cell contents expand and rupture
the walls or because the cell wall is itself softened or dissolved.
Texture, appearance, and flavor of fruit are materially modified by
cooking, and, if thorough, it insures sterilization, as in the case of
all other foods. The change in texture often has a practical advantage,
since it implies the softening of the fruit flesh so that it is more
palatable and may be more readily acted upon by the digestive juices.
This is obviously of more importance with the fruits like the quince,
which is so hard that it is unpalatable raw, than it is with soft
fruits like strawberries. When fruits are cooked without the addition
of water or other material, as is often the case in baking apples,
there is a loss of weight, owing to the evaporation of water, and the
juice as it runs out carries some carbohydrates and other soluble
constituents with it, but under ordinary household conditions this does
not imply waste, as the juice which cooks out from fruits is usually
eaten as well as the pulp. Cooking in water extracts so little of the
nutritive material present that such removal of nutrition is of no
practical importance.

“The idea is quite generally held that cooking fruit changes its acid
content, acid being sometimes increased and sometimes decreased by the
cooking process. Kelhofer showed that when gooseberries were cooked
with sugar, the acid content was not materially changed, these results
being in accord with his conclusions reached in earlier studies with
other fruits. The sweeter taste of the cooked product he believed to be
simply due to the fact that sugar masks the flavor of the acid.

“It is often noted that cooked fruits, such as plums, seem much sourer
than the raw fruit, and it has been suggested that either the acid
was increased or the sugar was decreased by the cooking process. This
problem was studied by Sutherst, and, in his opinion, the increased
acid flavor is due to the fact that cooked fruit (gooseberries,
currants, plums, etc.) usually contains the skin, which is commonly
rejected if the fruit is eaten raw. The skin is more acid than the
simpler carbohydrates united to form a complex carbohydrate. In
some fruits, like the apple, where the jelly-yielding material must
be extracted with hot water, the pectin is apparently united with
cellulose as a part of the solid pulp. As shown by the investigations
of Bigelow and Gore at the Bureau of Chemistry, 40 per cent of the
solid material of apple pulp may be thus extracted with hot water, and
consists of two carbohydrates, one of which is closely related to gum
arabic. That such carbohydrates as these should yield a jelly is not
surprising when we remember that they are similar to starch in their
chemical nature, and, as every one knows, starch, though insoluble in
cold water, yields when cooked with hot water a large proportion of
paste, which jellies on cooling.

“When fruits are used for making pies, puddings, etc., the nutritive
value of the dish is, of course, increased by the addition of flour,
sugar, etc., and the dish as a whole may constitute a better balanced
food than the fruit alone.”[8]


FOOTNOTES:

[8] C. F. Langworthy, Ph. D.—In charge of Nutritive Investigations of
the United States Experiment Station.




DIETS


As previously stated, the object of foods is to supply the needs of
the body in building new tissue in the growing child; in repairing
tissue which the catabolic activity of the body is constantly tearing
down and eliminating; and in supplying heat and energy. This heat and
energy is not alone for muscular activity in exercise or movement; it
must be borne in mind that the body is a busy work-shop, or chemical
laboratory, and heat and energy are needed in the constant metabolism
of tearing down and rebuilding tissue and in the work of digestion and
elimination.

In this chapter, a few points given in the preceding pages are repeated
for emphasis. The proteins, represented in purest form in lean meat,
build tissue and the carbonaceous foods, starches, sugars and fats,
supply the heat and energy. An excess of proteins, that is more than
is needed for building and repair, is also used for heat and energy;
the waste products of the nitrogenous foods are broken down into
carbon dioxid, sulphates, phosphates, and other nitrogenous compounds
and excreted through the kidneys, skin, and the bile, while the waste
product of carbonaceous foods is carbon dioxid alone and is excreted
mostly through the lungs.

Since the foods richest in protein are the most expensive, those who
wish to keep down the cost of living, should provide, at most, no more
protein than the system requires. The expensive meat may be eliminated
and proteins be supplied by eggs, milk, legumes, nuts and cereals.

The most fundamental thing is to decide upon the amount of protein—two
to four ounces, nearly a quarter of a pound a day—and then select
a dietary which shall provide this and also supply heat and energy
sufficient for the day. If the diet is to include meat, a goodly
proportion of protein will be furnished in the lean meat. This will
vary greatly with the different cuts of meat as shown on Table IV,
page 128. If, as often happens, one does not care for fats, then the
starches and sugars must provide the heat. If one craves sweets, less
starches and fats are needed.

The normally healthy individual is more liable to supply too much
protein than too little, even though he abstain from meat. Yet, as will
be shown later, our strongest races, who have lent most to the progress
of the world, live upon a mixed diet.

If the diet is to include meat, it will consist of less bulk, because
the protein is more condensed; for the same reason, if it includes
animal products of eggs and milk and a fair proportion of legumes,
it will be less bulky than a vegetable diet. This point is important
for busy people, who eat their meals in a hurry and proceed at once
to active, mental work. Those who engage in physical labor are much
more likely to take a complete rest for a half hour, to an hour, after
eating. The _thinkers_ seldom rest, at least after a midday meal, and
those who worry seldom relax the mental force during any waking hours.

Where the system shows an excess of uric acid, the chances are that the
individual has not been living on a diet with too large a proportion of
protein, but that he has been eating more than he requires of all kinds
of foodstuffs. His system thus becomes weakened and he does not breathe
deeply nor exercise sufficiently to oxidize and throw off the waste.
Let it be recalled here that the theory that rheumatism is caused by
an excess of uric acid is disputed by the highest authorities. It is
_accompanied_ by uric acid, but not supposed to be caused by it.

Every housewife, to intelligently select the daily menus for her
family, needs a thorough knowledge of dietetics. She must understand
the chemistry of food that she may know food values. The difficulty
which confronts the housewife, is to provide one meal suited to
the needs, tastes, or idiosyncracies of various members of her
household. Peculiarities of taste, unless these peculiarities have
been intelligently acquired, may result in digestive disturbances. As
an illustration: one may cultivate a dislike for meat, milk, or eggs,
as is often the case, and the proteins for the family being largely
supplied by these, the individual is eating too much of starches and
sugars and not sufficient protein,—legumes, nuts, etc., not being
provided for one member. Such an one’s blood becomes impoverished and
she becomes anaemic.

The relief lies in _cultivating a taste_ for blood building foods.
Foods which are forced down, with a mind arrayed against them, do not
digest as readily, because the displeasure does not incite the flow of
gastric juices. One fortunate provision of nature lies in the ability
to cultivate a taste for _any_ food. Likes and dislikes are largely
mental. There are certain foods which continuously disagree and they
should be avoided; but many abstain from wholesome food because it has
disagreed a _few_ times. It may be that it was not the particular food
but the weakness of the stomach at this time. Any food fails of prompt
digestion when the nerves controlling the stomach are weak.

Many foods disagree at certain times because of the particular
conditions regulating the secretion of digestive juices. Where this
condition has continued for some time it becomes chronic and a special
diet is required, together with special exercises to bring a better
blood supply to stomach and intestines and to regulate the nerves
controlling them.

Dr. W. S. Hall estimates that the average man at light work requires,
each day,

  106.8 grams of protein[9]
  57.97 grams of fat
  398.84 grams of carbohydrates

These elements, in proper proportions, may be gained through many food
combinations. He gives the following:

  Bread          1 lb.
  Lean Meat    ½ lb.
  Oysters      ½ lb.
  Cocoa          1 oz.
  Milk           4 oz.
  Sugar          1 oz.
  Butter       ½ oz.

A medium sized man at out of door work, fully oxidizes all waste of
the system and he requires a higher protein diet,—125 grams. In such
event he does not require so much starch and sugar. If on the other
hand he were to take but 106.8 grams of protein, as above, he would
require more carbohydrates. One working, or exercising in the fresh
air, breathes more deeply and oxidizes and eliminates more waste, hence
he has a better appetite, which is simply the call of nature for a
re-supply of the waste.

In active work, one also liberates more heat, thus more fat, starches,
and sugar are required for the re-supply. If one has an excess of
starch (glycogen) stored in the liver, or an excess of fat about the
tissues, this excess is called upon to supply the heat and energy when
the fats and carbohydrates daily consumed are not sufficient for the
day’s demand. This is the principle of reduction of flesh.

It is interesting to note that habits of combining foods are
unconsciously based upon dietetic principles. Meats rich in protein are
served with potatoes, or with rice, both of which are rich in starch.
Bread, containing little fat, is served with butter. Beans, containing
little fat, are cooked with pork. Starchy foods of all kinds are served
with butter or cream. Macaroni, which is rich in starch, makes a well
balanced food cooked with cheese.

  Pork and beans,
  bread and butter,
  bread and milk,
  chicken and rice,
  macaroni and cheese,
  poached eggs on toast, and
  custards, form balanced dishes.

A knowledge of such combinations is important when one must eat a hasty
luncheon and wishes to supply the demands of the body in the least
time, giving the least thought to the selection; but hasty luncheons,
with the mind concentrated upon other things, are to be strongly
condemned. The mind must be relaxed and directed to pleasant themes
during a meal or the nerves to the vital organs will be held too tense
to permit a free secretion of digestive juices. Chronic indigestion is
sure to result from this practice. Dinner, or the hearty meal at night,
rather than at noon, is preferable for the business or professional man
or woman, because the cares of the day are over and the brain force
relaxes. The vital forces are not detracted from the work of digestion.

Experiments in the quantity of food actually required for body needs,
made by Prof. R. H. Chittenden of the Sheffield Scientific School, Yale
University, have established, beyond doubt, the fact that the average
individual consumes very much more food than the system requires. In
fact, most tables of food requirements, in previous books on dietetics,
have been heavy.

Prof. Chittenden especially established the fact that the average
person consumes more protein than is necessary to maintain a
nitrogenous balance. It was formerly held that the average daily
metabolism and excretion of nitrogen through the kidneys was 16 grams,
or about 100 grams of protein or albuminoid food. Prof. Chittenden’s
tests, covering a period of six months, show an average daily excretion
of 5.86 grams of nitrogen, or a little less than one-third of that
formerly accepted as necessary; 5.86 grams of nitrogen corresponds to
36.62 grams of protein or albuminoid food.

Prof. Chittenden’s experiments of the foodstuffs actually required by
three groups of men, one group of United States soldiers, a group from
the Yale College athletic team, and a group of college professors, all
showed that the men retained full strength, with a higher degree of
physical and mental efficiency, when the body was not supplied with
more protein than was liberated by metabolic activity, and when the
quantity of carbonaceous food was regulated to the actual requirement
to retain body heat and furnish energy.

It may be well to call attention here to the fact that the food
elements, called upon for work, are not from those foods just consumed
or digested, but from those eaten a day or two previous, which have
been assimilated in the muscular tissues.

In selecting a diet, the individual must be considered as to age, sex
and physical condition, also whether active in indoor or outdoor work,
and whether he or she breathes deeply, so as to take plenty of fresh
air into the lungs.

The following tables, published through the courtesy of Dr. W. S. Hall,
give the rations for different conditions.


TABLE XI.

_Rations for Different Conditions._

  ———————————————————————————+—————————+————+—————————————+—————————
                             |Proteins |    |Carbohydrates|Energy in
          Conditions         +————+————|Fats|—————+———————+ Calories
                             |Low |High|    | Low |  High |
  ———————————————————————————+—————————+————+—————————————+—————————
  Man at light indoor work   |  60| 100|  60| 390 |  450  | 2764
  Man at light outdoor work  |  60| 100| 100| 400 |  460  | 2940
  Man at moderate outdoor    |    |    |    |     |       |
    work                     |  75| 125| 125| 450 |  500  | 3475
  Man at hard outdoor work   | 100| 150| 150| 500 |  550  | 4000
  Man at very hard outdoor   |    |    |    |     |       |
    winter work              | 125| 180| 200| 600 |  650  | 4592
  U. S. Army rations         |  64| 106| 280| 460 |  540  | 4896-5032
  U. S. Navy rations         |    | 143| 292| 557 |       | 5545
  Football team (old regime) |    | 181| 292| 557 |       | 5697
  College football team (new)| 125| 125| 125| 500 |       | 3675
  ———————————————————————————+—————————+————+—————————————+—————————


TABLE XII.

_Rations Varied for Sex and Age._

  ———————————————————————————+—————————+————+—————————————+—————————
                             |Proteins |    |Carbohydrates|Energy in
          Variations         +————+————|Fats|—————+———————+ Calories
        of Sex and Age       |Low |High|    | Low | High  |
  ———————————————————————————+—————————+————+—————————————+—————————
  Children, two to six       | 36 | 70 | 40 | 250 |  325  |1520-1956
  Children, six to fifteen   | 50 | 75 | 45 | 325 |  350  |1923-2123
  Women, with light exercise | 50 | 80 | 80 | 300 |  330  |2272
  Women, at moderate work    | 60 | 92 | 80 | 400 |  432  |2720
  Aged women                 | 50 | 80 | 50 | 270 |  300  |1870
  Aged men                   | 50 |100 |400 | 300 |  350  |2258
  ———————————————————————————+—————————+————+—————————————+—————————

The unit of measurement for the calories of energy is the amount of
heat required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of energy to 1°
centigrade.

In estimating the number of calories of energy given off by the
different foods, Dr. Hall represents

  1 gram of carbohydrates as 4.0 calories
  ”  ”   ”  fats          ”  9.4    ”
  ”  ”   ”  proteins      ”  4.0    ”

To determine the relative energy which a food represents, it is only
necessary to multiply the number of grams of protein in that food by 4,
the fat by 9.4 and the carbohydrates by 4, and add the results.

Thus according to the food required for the average man at light work
given on page 211.

  106.8 grams of proteins      × 4 =  427.20 calories of energy
   57.97  ”   ”  fat         × 9.4 =  544.94    ”     ”    ”
  398.84  ”   ”  carbohydrates × 4 = 1595.36    ”     ”    ”
                                     ———————
                                     2567.51 = the calories of
  energy required for the average man at light work.

Dr. Chittenden’s experiments show that a man leading a very active
life, and above the average in body weight, can maintain his body
in equilibrium indefinitely with a daily intake of 36 to 40 grams
of protein, or albuminoid food, and with a total fuel value of 1600
calories. Authorities, however differ upon the amount of food required.

  Dr. Hall suggests                      106 grams of protein
  Ranke suggests                         100 grams of protein
  Hultgren and Landergren suggests       134 grams of protein
  Schmidt suggests                       105 grams of protein
  Forster and Moleschott suggests        130 grams of protein
  Atwater suggests                       125 grams of protein

In order to bring oneself to as limited a diet as Prof. Chittenden’s
men followed, however, it would be necessary to have all food weighed
so as to be sure of the correct proportions; otherwise the actual needs
would not be supplied and the body would suffer. A wise provision
of nature enables the body to throw off an excess of food above the
body needs without injury, within limitations; but, as stated, there
is no doubt that the average person exceeds these limits, exhausting
the digestive organs and loading the system with more than it can
eliminate; the capacity for mental work is restricted, and the whole
system suffers.

Prof. Chittenden’s experiments have been a wonderful revelation to
dietitians and scientists. They have demonstrated beyond doubt that
the average person eats much more than the system requires and thus
overworks the digestive organs.

[Sidenote: Mixed Diet versus a Vegetable Diet]

From the fact that only from two to four ounces of nitrogenous food
is required to rebuild daily tissue waste, it is apparent that this
amount can readily be supplied from the vegetable kingdom, since
nuts, legumes, and cereals are rich in proteins; yet there is a
question whether a purely vegetable diet is productive of the highest
physical and mental development. Natives of tropical climates live
upon vegetables, fruits, and nuts, and it may be purely accidental or
be due to climatic or other conditions, that these nations have not
been those who have made the greatest progress in the world. Neither
have the Eskimos, who live almost entirely upon meat, attained the
highest development. The greatest progress and development, both as
nations and as individuals, have been made by inhabitants of temperate
climates, who have lived upon a mixed diet of meat, eggs, milk, grains,
vegetables, fruits, and nuts. They have shown more creative force,
which means reserve strength.

The Eskimo has demonstrated, however, that an entire meat diet supplies
all physical needs; the meat tissue providing growth and repair and the
fat supplying all of the carbonaceous elements. The fat, as previously
stated, yields more heat than starches and sugars, and Nature provides
this heat for climates where most warmth is required. It may be the
natural reason why natives of warm climates have formed the habit of
using vegetables and grains for their heat and energy rather than meat.
It is also a natural reason why man, in temperate climates, eats more
meat in winter than in summer.

An unperverted, natural instinct will always be found to have a sound
physiological basis. For example,—if, by reason of some digestive
disturbance, one has become emaciated, all of the fat having been
consumed, and the cause of the disturbance is removed by an operation
or otherwise, one is seized with an almost insatiable desire for fat,
often eating large chunks of the fat of meat or large quantities of
butter or cream at a meal. When obstructions are removed, Nature makes
immediate effort to adjust her forces.

Those who object to eating meat should study carefully and know that
the proper proportion of protein is supplied with each day’s rations.
The legumes—peas, beans, nuts, and grains—must be supplied with the
vegetables. While the wheat kernel contains twelve per cent of protein,
the white flour does not contain as large a percentage and it will be
noted by reference to Tables II and III, that the majority of fruits
and vegetables contain little nitrogenous substance.

Unless the whole of the grain and the legumes form a goodly proportion
of the diet the danger is in consuming too large a bulk of waste and
too much starch in a purely vegetable diet. In a vegetarian diet, one
is liable to eat too freely of cereals; as a result, the liver becomes
clogged and torpid and the stomach and intestines are deranged and
rendered incapable of full digestion and absorption. The clogged system
refuses to assimilate more food.

It follows, therefore, that, unless one is a thorough student of
dietetics, the mixed diet is by far the safest to follow. One can
better run short of starch or fat in one day’s rations than to be short
of protein, because if the two to four ounces daily requirement is not
provided the tissues are consumed and the blood is impoverished. It is
a rare condition in which a reserve of glycogen and fat is not stored
in the system. On the other hand an excess of nitrogenous foods calls
for a very active circulation and plenty of oxygen in the system.

It has been held that the vegetarian has a clearer brain, and, if this
be true, it may be due to the fact that he is not eating too much and
thus his system is not overloaded.

Experience, however, does not prove that he has greater mental,
physical, and moral power and efficiency. One’s brain, in fasting, is
at first clear and forceful, but the reason is unbalanced if the fast
be too prolonged.

_A complete diet may be selected without animal flesh, but including
animal products of eggs, milk, cream, and butter, together with
vegetables, fruits, cereals, and nuts, yet if the vegetable diet be
selected the legumes, the whole of the grains, and nuts must be given
their share in each day’s rations._


FOOTNOTES:

[9] For table of weights see Appendix.




MENUS


_Before giving any menus, let me first of all impress upon the reader
the importance of eating slowly, of good cheer, of light conversation
during a meal, and of thoroughly masticating the food. Remember it is
the food_ ASSIMILATED, _which nourishes_.

The following menus allow sufficient food for average conditions, when
the vital organs are normal.

Fruit, as previously stated, contains a very small quantity of
nutrition. It is more valuable for its diuretic effect; and to
stimulate the appetite; for this reason it may well be eaten before a
meal.

The citrous fruits tend to neutralize too strong acids of the blood,
increasing its alkalinity. For this reason, also, they are best before
a meal, particularly before breakfast; they have a more laxative and
cleansing effect if eaten before the other food. The custom has been,
however, to eat fruits after dinner for dessert and they are so given
on the following menus.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Sedentary Occupation]

The following diet is for one who has attained full growth and who
walks a few blocks a day. The diet may seem light, but where one is
sitting indoor most of the time, and has little outdoor exercise, less
waste protein is oxidized and less starch, fat and sugar are required
for heat and energy. If too much carbonaceous food is consumed, one
will store up too much and become too large. If more protein is
consumed than is oxidized and eliminated one is liable to neuralgic or
rheumatic difficulties.

Every person at sedentary employment should, without fail, exercise
each day as suggested on pages 104 to 107.

In nearly all of the following menus coffee and tea have been omitted
because, as before stated, they are not foods, but _stimulants_ and
the caffein and thein may overstimulate the nerves and the heart.
They retard digestion. Some other warm drink should be substituted
where there is digestive disturbance, or where the digestion is weak.
They should never at any time be used strong. They are used for their
pleasing flavor and where one has difficulty in governing the desire
for them, sufficient may be used to flavor the water.

The following is a suggestive diet for one who is not active:


BREAKFAST

 Fruit,

 Cereal or Toast Coffee,

 Dry toast (two slices), or two muffins or two gems.

If one has taken brisk exercise, as suggested above, or is to take a
brisk walk of a mile or two, a dish of oatmeal or some other cereal
with cream and sugar, may be added.


LUNCH

 Creamed soup, or pureé with crackers or dry toast.

 Sandwich and fruit, or two slices of bread and butter with fruit.

 Cup of custard or one piece of cake and milk or two cookies.

 A glass of milk or buttermilk.

 If pureé of peas or beans is used the sandwich may be omitted and one
 slice of bread is sufficient.


DINNER

 Meat, gravy, potatoes or rice.

 One vegetable, green peas, green beans, cauliflower, greens, corn. (Do
 not use dried baked beans or dried peas with lean meat.)

 Salad or fruit.

 Pudding, easily digested, such as bread, rice, tapioca, cornstarch or
 chocolate.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: The Young Child]

After one year, the child should be given solid food _very gradually_
to develop his digestive functions as well as his teeth. The ferment,
which enables him to digest starches is beginning to form, and he
needs some cereal. A piece of dry toast or a dry cracker will do. The
year old child may also begin to drink cow’s milk. One or two glasses
a day may be given, until the child is at least thirteen or fourteen
years old.

The child must build muscle, bone and sinew and more protein is
required as soon as he begins to walk. Milk, eggs and cereals will
furnish this. The heavier protein diet is best given at eighteen months
to two years, in eggs, cooked soft. These soft cooked eggs are best
when mixed with broken, dry toast or broken crackers, because if dry
food is served with them, they will be better masticated, hence more
saliva be mixed with them. The habit of thorough mastication should be
cultivated at this period.

Oatmeal, thoroughly cooked, and shredded wheat, with cream and sugar,
ripe fruit, bread and butter, milk, soft cooked eggs (poached, baked or
boiled) constitute a rational diet.

If the child is hungry between meals, he should be fed at a regular
period, midway between breakfast and luncheon and between luncheon and
the evening meal. The food should be dry (toast or a dry cracker) to
require thorough and slow mastication.

Many object to “piecing” between meals, but if this piecing be done
at hours as regular as his meal hour, and the food be dry and well
masticated, it will readily digest and will not interfere with his
meals. The growing child needs more frequent meals than the adult.
His stomach is not so large, he is active in out door exercise, and
eliminates waste freely. He also requires much heat and energy. The
active child at outdoor play uses almost as much energy as the laboring
man.

The growing child craves sweets.

Candy should not be taken at any time during the day, because the
digestive system needs rest. It is quickly converted into heat and is
best eaten immediately following a meal. Sugar may be spread upon bread
for the four o’clock lunch or a little candy may be eaten at this time.
Two to three pieces of candy an inch square are sufficient.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: The Developing, or the Adolescent Period]

This period begins with a girl, usually near the thirteenth year, and
with a boy about fourteen. There is no time in life when a mother needs
to be so watchful of the diet. Growth is very rapid and much easily
digested protein is needed to build tissue, particularly to build the
tissue of red corpuscles.

The red meats, eggs, spinach and all kinds of greens are important
articles of diet at this time, because of the iron which they contain.
They should be supplied freely, particularly for developing girls,
or they may otherwise be inclined to anaemia, at this time. Butter
and milk are valuable and _regular exercises with deep breathing are
imperative_.


BREAKFAST.

 Fruit.

 Oatmeal or some other cereal, well cooked, with cream and sugar.

 One egg, boiled, poached or baked (cooked soft), or chipped beef in
 cream gravy.

 Cereal coffee, toast coffee or hot water with cream and sugar.

 Buttered toast, shredded wheat biscuit or triscuit.


LUNCH

 Cream soup, bean soup, or pureé with crackers or dry toast.

 Bread and butter.

 Fruit and cake, or rice pudding, or bread, tapioca, cocoanut or cereal
 pudding of any kind, or a cup of custard.


DINNER

 An ample portion of meat, (preferably red meat).

 Potatoes.

 Vegetables, preferably spinach, or greens of some kinds, or beets
 boiled with the tops.

 Graham bread.

 Fruit with triscuit, graham bread toasted or graham wafers.

 Candy. (small quantity)

A growing child is usually hungry upon returning from school, and it is
well to take a little easily digested food regularly but not sufficient
to destroy the appetite for the evening meal. An egg lemonade is easily
digested and satisfying. If active and exercising freely, craving for
sweets should be gratified, to a limited extent.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: The Athlete]

The young man, active in athletics, needs the same food as given for
the adolescent, yet more in quantity. He needs to drink water before
his training and at rest periods during the game. If he is too fat, he
should train off the superfluous amount by exercise and by judiciously
abstaining from much sugars, starches and fats. Diets for reductions
must be governed by the condition of the kidneys and the digestive
organs.

Deep breathing habits are imperative and he must be careful not to
overtax lungs or heart.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: The Laboring Man]

The man engaged in muscular work requires plenty of food; he can digest
foods which the professional or business man, or the man of sedentary
habits, cannot. He will probably be able to drink coffee and tea
without any disturbance to nerves or to digestion. In his muscular
work he liberates the waste freely and needs fats, starches and sugars
to supply the heat and energy. This is especially true of men who work
in the fresh air; the muscular action liberates waste and heat and the
full breathing freely oxidizes the waste, putting it in condition to be
excreted through lungs, skin, kidneys and intestines.

He should have more meat, eggs and nitrogenous foods, and he also needs
more carbonaceous foods to supply heat and energy. Three hearty meals a
day are necessary.

His muscular movements of the trunk keeps the circulation forceful and
the vital organs strong so that his diet may be almost as heavy as that
of the football player. Meat or eggs, two or even three times a day,
with tea or coffee, and even _pie_ may be eaten with impunity. He needs
a good nourishing breakfast of bacon and eggs or meat, also potatoes,
or a liberal allowance of bread and butter, corn bread, muffins, etc.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: The Aged]

The term aged is not governed entirely by years. If one stops physical
and mental activity, the vital forces recede, muscles and vital organs
become weak and inactive, the waste of the system is not fully relieved
and such a man at fifty-five is physically and mentally older than the
man who is in active business or is taking daily vigorous exercise, at
seventy or eighty. The latter may follow the same diet which he follows
at fifty, while the former should follow the diet of the old man who
has stopped active work. It should be simple, easily digested and
nutritious, and should be reduced in quantity.


BREAKFAST

  Cereal, well cooked, with cream or sugar. Oatmeal is preferred because
    it is laxative.
  One egg, boiled, poached or baked (soft).
  One slice of toast.
  Cereal coffee.


DINNER

  Bouillon or soup.
  Meat—small portion.
  Potato (preferably baked).
  Vegetable.
  Cup custard, or bread, rice or cornmeal pudding with lemon cream sauce.


SUPPER

  Soup.
  Bread and butter.
  Stewed fruit.
  Tea.

An old person needs little meat. The food should be masticated to
a pulp. Tea and coffee are best omitted, but if used to tea, one
small cup, prepared by turning boiling water on the leaves and served
immediately, may be included. The tea should not be strong and, for
reasons given on page 183, should never be allowed to steep.

If inclined to constipation, or if the kidneys are inactive, grapes or
an apple, or some fruit may be eaten just before retiring.




MENUS FOR ABNORMAL CONDITIONS.


Where the body is not in normal condition, because elements are lacking
in the blood, these elements must be supplied in larger proportions
with the food, and the case is one for a food chemist, or for one who
has made food conditions a study. When medical colleges broaden their
curriculum, or physicians employ methods other than medicine and the
knife, for correction of physical ailments, the relief will be with
this profession. If they do not, professional schools for the education
of the physical culturist and food specialists, for the correction of
deranged conditions of the system, due to poor circulation and abnormal
blood conditions, which have so long been controlled entirely through
medicine, will spring up and replace much of the correction previously
left entirely to the medical fraternity.

In case of an abnormal condition, the food must be regulated according
to the case. This also applies to a diet where one carries an abnormal
amount of fat.

In the early stage of various diseases, where toxins are hoarded in
the system, it is often advisable to abstain from food for from one to
three days, according to conditions. As previously stated, where the
system is not properly eliminating the waste, it is wise to abstain
from food, to take brisk exercise, breathe deeply and drink freely of
water, until the waste is eliminated. A laxative is also desirable.

The above suggestions are for abnormal conditions. To _keep_ the body
in health, eat at regular periods.

It is the purpose here to give diets for chronic cases, which the
average person attempts to regulate without a physician in regular
attendance.

The foundation education in regard to foods, belongs in the public
schools. How many lives are lost on account of the lack of knowledge of
food values will never be known.

The system readily excretes an excess of vegetable products, and, as a
rule, no acute difficulties result; however, such chronic difficulties,
as Constipation, Torpid Liver and Indigestion, frequently result from
an excess of starch, over that consumed in energy. On account of the
readiness to putrefaction of protein products, care should be taken not
to consume these in too great proportion.

Broadly speaking, a diet largely of protein, which is digested in the
stomach, rests the intestines, and a diet largely of carbohydrates,
rests the stomach, because the gastric juice is not active in starch
digestion. In case sufficient saliva is not swallowed with the food to
digest the starches and sugars in the stomach they are passed into the
intestines for digestion. In the absence of sufficient saliva, water
with the food is desirable to dissolve the starches, that they may more
readily pass the pylorus.

A study of the habitual taste for foods, in connection with the
physical ailments of eighteen thousand women, shows that by the
constituents in the blood, and the condition of the different organs
of the digestive system, one can usually determine which food the
individual has formed a habit of eating, because the blood will show a
lack of the elements which that patient has denied himself on account
of his likes and dislikes.

It is necessary to change the mental attitude toward certain foods
before the system will assimilate them; thus _a taste for the foods
which the body requires should be cultivated_.

Every mother, with growing children, should be a thorough student of
the chemistry of food. If the child’s bones do not grow to sufficient
size and strength, care in the selection of foods, rich in proteins,
lime, magnesium and phosphates, may correct it. Such a child should
have meat, whole wheat bread and eggs.

Where the child stores up too much fat, care in the amount of exercise,
and of oxygen consumed, as well as the regulation of diet, are of vital
importance. If one is thin and undernourished, chemical analysis of the
contents of stomach, intestines and kidneys should be made, the nerves
be rested and proper food, exercise and breathing should accompany
medical treatment, if medicine is needed.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Anaemia]

Regular exercise and deep breathing are fully as important as the
regulation of diet for the anaemic. In anaemia the red blood corpuscles
are lacking, or there is not sufficient blood. The red corpuscles
not being sufficient in number to carry the necessary quantity of
oxygen to the tissues to oxidize the waste, the system becomes clogged
with waste, which affects the nerves and brain cells. The patient is
tired and disinclined to exercise, thus the decreased number of red
corpuscles are not kept in forceful circulation and the carbonic acid
gas is not freely thrown off by the lungs; this further aggravates the
condition.

Pus formation, in abscesses, are frequent in anaemic cases.

There is little desire for food when the system is clogged, and there
is little use in forcing food.

The red corpuscles are made in the red marrow of the bones and free
action of the joints is desirable.

The initial work, therefore in the correction of anaemia, lies in
brisk, every day exercise and deep breathing of fresh air. Such
exercise should be intelligently directed to the joints and to the
vital organs, particularly to the liver, that it may be kept in normal
condition to break down the protein waste. The windows at night should
admit of a good circulation of air through the sleeping room. These
habits being established, the diet should consist of foods containing
iron, such as red meat, eggs and the green leaves of vegetables. Milk
sipped slowly and a free use of butter are desirable.

It will usually be found that the anaemic individual has no taste for
vegetables containing iron, or for meats rich in albuminoids,—or, that
these foods have been denied because of their scarcity; therefore, the
elements necessary for red blood corpuscles have been deficient.

The following is a suggestive diet:


BREAKFAST

  Fruit, in plenty.
  Two eggs, soft boiled, poached or baked.
  Cereal coffee or cambric tea.
  Toast, graham bread or graham or corn muffins.


MIDDLE OF THE FORENOON

  Lemonade with spoonful of beef =juice= (not beef extract) or with a
    beaten egg.


LUNCH

  Split pea or bean soup with dry toast.
  Fruit and nut salad (no vinegar).
  Fruit, fresh or stewed.
  Cake.
  Glass of milk.


MIDDLE OF AFTERNOON

  Egg lemonade or eggnog.


DINNER

  Bouillon.
  Tenderloin steak or lamb chops.
  Baked potato.
  Spinach, beet or dandelion greens.
  Custard, fruit gelatin, or cornstarch pudding, or rice with lemon
    cream sauce.
  Glass milk.

If the patient still has no appetite, more exercise, deep breathing
and abstinence from all food for a day or two are desirable. This will
give the system a chance to clear itself of waste and when the waste
is relieved through exercise and diet the desire for food will assert
itself.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Indigestion and Dyspepsia]

Indigestion or Dyspepsia is the broad term commonly applied to most
chronic stomach and intestinal difficulties—due, not to structural
disease, but to their being incapable of normally performing their
functions in digesting ordinary foods. The term includes troubles
arising from so many different causes that the cause must be determined
and remedied before definite results can be attained through diet.

Most chronic cases are due to improper hygiene,—such as irregular
meals; over eating; insufficient mastication; wrong choice of foods;
or to a general run down condition, with a weakness of muscles of
the stomach, due to insufficient blood supply; or to a weakened or
over-strenuous condition of nerves controlling the stomach.

Indigestion is usually accompanied by constipation, or by irregular
action of the intestines.

Plenty of fresh air, and exercise, directed definitely to muscles and
nerves of the stomach, that it may be strengthened by a better blood
supply, as well as exercises and deep breathing to build up the general
health, should be systematically followed.

Easily digested food, well masticated, and regular meals served
daintily, with following of above directions, will gradually regulate
digestion.

Without doubt, the intelligent medical treatment of stomach
difficulties in the future will be directed by a chemical analysis
of the stomach contents. If the stomach is not secreting normal
proportions of pepsin or hydrochloric acid, the deficiency can be
regulated. The chemical analysis of the gastric secretions will alone
determine what elements are lacking. As stated above, the permanent
relief must lie in gaining a good circulation of blood through the
entire body and through the stomach, that it may be strengthened and
thus enabled to secrete these elements in proper proportions.

Many cases of stomach difficulty are due to the condition of the nerves.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Nervous Indigestion= is due to the general nerve condition. In such
cases the entire nervous system should be regulated through exercise,
breathing, relaxation and a change of thought. Physicians usually
recommend change of scene to direct change of thought.

The diet should be light and laxative and low in protein. Cream soup,
bread and milk, crackers and milk, custards, egg lemonade, and gruels,
furnish an easily digested list. No tea, coffee, very little meat and
no fried food. Where the walls of the stomach are weak and distended,
light food six times a day is preferable to a hearty meal, which
distends the stomach walls.

Where a loss of weight occurs, it usually indicates a failure to
_assimilate_ a sufficient amount of food, rather than a failure to
eat sufficient. A good circulation, particularly through the vital
organs, deep full breathing of fresh air, and regular and complete rest
periods, should be observed. Usually a dietitian, or a physician, is
not called in chronic cases until the condition has prevailed for so
long that other complications have set in and the patient has lost
much flesh. It takes months to pull the system down and it takes months
of following of proper hygiene to build it up.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Gastritis or Catarrh of the Stomach= involving an inflammation of the
mucous lining of the stomach, is a most common phase of indigestion. In
acute cases the physician is called at once. He can treat the case in
its initial stages and bring about a much more rapid recovery.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Acute Gastritis= is accompanied by nausea and vomiting and the patient
should rest from all food and drink for two days. If the mouth is dry,
water or ice may be given frequently and held in the mouth, but not
swallowed.

After two days rest, begin the nourishment with water and a small
portion of liquid food (not over two ounces) every two hours. Toast
tea, made by pouring hot water over toast, oatmeal, or barley gruel
(thoroughly strained so that no coarse matter may irritate the
stomach), limewater and milk, and egg lemonade are easily digested
foods to begin to eat. Increase the quantity the fourth day and
lengthen the time between feedings to three hours. Gradually increase
the diet by semi-liquid food, soft boiled eggs, moistened toast, raw
oysters, etc., slowly returning to the regular bill of fare.

Avoid, as you do so, any food difficult of digestion and any vegetable
containing coarse fibre. Tea, coffee, pickles, and alcoholic drinks
should be avoided.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Chronic Gastritis= is accompanied with a thickening of the mucous
lining of the stomach. It is usually caused by prolonged use of
irritating foods and the regulation of the diet is of utmost
importance. Alcohol is a common cause. The difficulty begins gradually
and the relief must likewise be gradual.

The stomach needs water. If the drinking of water causes nausea it is
well to wash it out with a stomach pump each morning before breakfast.

If not convenient to use the stomach pump the washing may be
accomplished by drinking two glasses of water at least an hour before
breakfast, followed by stomach exercises, to cause a regurgitation of
the water through the stomach. This will be uncomfortable at first,
with a very full feeling and one may begin by drinking one glass,
followed by stomach exercises, gradually taking another glass within
a half hour of the first. This, with the exercises, will wash out the
mucus. In many cases as much as a pint of slimy mucus collects in the
stomach during the night. Where the stomach cleansing is impossible, in
above manner, the stomach tube should be used.

Chronic gastritis, in any of its phases, is frequently accompanied by
constipation, and the diet should be so selected as to be as laxative
as possible, without irritating the lining of the stomach. The liquid
diet assists the intestines, to a certain extent, particularly if the
stomach be cleansed by the water in the morning, as indicated under
Mucous Gastritis below.

Fruit in the morning and just before retiring aid the intestines. Two
prunes chopped up with one fig or a bunch of grapes or an apple just
before retiring assist the action of the intestines and the kidneys.

Almost all fruits contain acid, which increases peristalsis, and the
resultant flow of gastric juice. Cooked pears, stewed or baked apples,
prunes and dates are mild fruits which may be used if they agree with
the patient. The juice of an orange upon first arising may be used,
except in case of a diminution, or absence, of hydrochloric acid.

Peptonized milk is an excellent food both for chronic and acute cases
especially in severe cases. This is prepared by putting “pancreatin,”
a pancreatic ferment, (trypsin), into fresh milk. Preparations of
“pancreatin” are sold in the drug stores. The peptonized milk does not
form curds and readily passes through the stomach for digestion in
the intestine. This may be given for a few days, followed by milk and
limewater, barley and toast water, kumyss, oatmeal gruel, meat juices,
scraped meat (raw, boiled or roasted), broths thickened with thoroughly
cooked cereals, ice cream, egg lemonade, gelatins and whipped cream,
custards, raw oysters.

After one week gradually assume the regular diet of easily digested
foods. All cereals should be thoroughly cooked. The white meat of
chicken is readily digested. As the solid food diet is assumed,
regularity of food, in small amounts, and thorough mastication are
important. If the patient imagines he is chewing it will help him to
keep chewing until the food is reduced to a pulp.

Avoid meat with tough fibre, too fat meat (pork), sausage, lobster,
salmon, chicken salads, mayonnaise, cucumbers, pickles, cabbage, tea,
coffee and alcohol.

Four or five light meals a day are preferable to three heavy meals.

_The regulation of the flow of gastric juices_ is constitutional. The
general circulation must be forceful, the habit of deep breathing and
of regular periods of complete rest of body and mind established.

Since one with chronic gastritis is liable to have many idiosyncracies,
he should not be urged to eat foods for which he has a dislike. The
easily digested foods should be prepared in various ways and served in
an appetizing, dainty manner.

There are four special phases of chronic gastritis, Mucous Gastritis,
Hyperchlorhydria, Hypochlorhydria and Achlorhydria.

In _Mucous Gastritis_ there is a profuse secretion of mucus into the
stomach. In this case it is always well to wash out the stomach before
introducing food, as suggested above.

The same general diet, suggested above for acute gastritis, should be
followed.

_Hyperchlorhydria._ The condition known as Hyperchlorhydria shows a
liberal excess of hydrochloric acid. The condition is common, and
is brought on by worry, nervous excitement, eating when overtired,
irregularity of food, imperfect mastication and excessive use of
alcohol. The diet should be a mixed one, in about normal proportions.
If anything, it should incline more to proteins than to starches.
The hydrochloric acid is necessary for the digestion of proteins. It
reduces the protein to acid albumin, which is less irritating to the
stomach. However the proteins are stimulating to the stomach and the
protein proportion should not be carried to excess.

The juice of one-fourth of a lemon taken one half hour before the meal
will decrease the secretion of hydrochloric acid into the stomach.

Limewater and milk may constitute the diet for two days; alkaline,
effervescing mineral water may be used and then the diet should follow
the general principles for chronic gastritis. Avoid all irritating
foods.

_Hypochlorhydria_ is a diminution in the amount of hydrochloric acid.
Physicians often administer hydrochloric acid about one half hour to an
hour after the meal.

Many advocate a diet omitting protein, but since protein foods
stimulate the flow of gastric juices, they should _not_ be omitted, but
used a little less freely.

_Achlorhydria._ Where there is an entire absence of hydrochloric acid,
as in Achlorhydria, the stomach, of course, cannot digest proteins and
this digestion must be done entirely by the trypsin of the pancreatic
juice. The presence of liquified protein as beef juice in the stomach,
however, acts as a stimulus to the gastric juice and is an agency in
again starting its flow.

The foods should be liquid, so as to pass through the stomach without
irritation. Clear milk must be excluded, because of the action of the
rennin in coagulating the casein. This would irritate the stomach.

Peptonized milk, described on page 245 may be used as an article of
diet,—also milk with limewater, gelatin, cream, olive oil, gruels, and
any foods which would pass through the stomach in a liquid state. Any
cereals must exclude the bran and must be masticated to a pulp, so that
they may readily pass into the small intestine.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Dilation of the Stomach= results from continued overeating,
(especially when the nerves are weak), or eating when over tired. The
muscular walls become so weak that they fail to contract. Peristalsis
is likewise weak and the food, failing to digest promptly, ferments and
forms gas. A dilated stomach is larger and its weight and weakness
cause it to prolapse.

In the prolapsed condition the pyloric, or lower orifice of the
stomach, is often nearly closed, partly by reason of its position and
partly by the weakened folds of the stomach walls. Because of this
obstruction to the free emptying of the contents into the duodenum, it
is imperative that the food be masticated to a pulp and thus mixed with
saliva, that the salivary digestion of starches may be complete in the
stomach; or, at least, that all foods be reduced to a liquid state in
the stomach. A chunk of food could not easily pass through the pylorus.
All liquid or semi-liquid food should be held in the mouth until it,
also, is mixed with saliva. The stomach should not be overloaded with
either food or water and for this reason six meals a day, of light
feeding, is best.

A dilated stomach does not necessarily indicate that the digestive
juices are not secreted in normal proportions and easily digested
proteins need not be avoided. It is desirable to furnish the proteins
in concentrated form, as in meats, so as to get the most nutrition with
the least bulk. Milk may be used, with limewater, if sipped slowly and
held in the mouth until mixed with saliva.

Sugar should be used very sparingly, because it ferments readily and
aggravates the distension. If it is evident that fermented products are
in the stomach, it should be washed out with a stomach pump.

A tumor near the pylorus, or constriction of the pyloric orifice, will
also cause dilation of the stomach.

Beef juice, any of the better grades of meats, well masticated and
containing no gristle, limewater and milk, soft cooked eggs, and well
cooked cereals should constitute the diet.

Avoid vegetables containing coarse fibre, fried foods, and bread baked
on the same day.

Liquid with the meal should be avoided, on account of the tendency to
overload the stomach.

Cold water, taken a swallow at a time at intervals during the day, has
a tonic effect upon the relaxed muscles. It also incites the flow of
gastric juice.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Ulcer of the Stomach.= Where this condition is severe, accompanied
with severe pains and vomiting of blood, the dietetic treatment is to
give the nourishment through the rectum for from five to ten days. Then
follows a period of ten days milk diet, with bouillon, barley water, a
beaten egg, and once a day, after the third day, strained oatmeal gruel.

Limewater is added to the milk to avoid the formation of leathery curds
and to neutralize the acids of the stomach. The patient is given half
a cup of milk every hour for three days, from 7 A. M. to 9 P. M. From
the third to the tenth day increase the quantity to one cupful, then
to a cup and a half and lengthen the periods between feedings to two
hours. If the milk is brought to a boil before the limewater is added,
it digests more readily.

After ten days, for the succeeding ten days the nourishment should be
given every two hours and the diet varied by semi-liquid foods, such
as gruels, toast water, soft boiled egg (once a day) beef juice, two
softened crackers (once a day) gelatin, buttermilk and strained soups.

After twenty days the patient, if all is well, may very gradually
resume a normal diet, beginning with baked potatoes, softened toast,
lamb chops, a small piece of steak or white meat of chicken. It is
imperative that all food, liquid or solid, be thoroughly mixed with
saliva and that solids be chewed to a pulp.

Liquids must not be swallowed either hot or cold, but about body
temperature. Cold water may be taken into the mouth when more palatable
than warm and held there until about body temperature before it is
swallowed. All liquid should be sipped, not swallowed in gulps.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Cancer of the Stomach.= Since the growth most often obstructs the
pylorus, the stomach is usually dilated and the general directions
for dilation of the stomach should be followed. If the food will not
digest in the stomach, one must resort to rectal feeding. Where gastric
digestion is near normal, the general principles of diet for ulceration
of the stomach should be followed.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Intestinal Disorders]

Most cases of intestinal difficulties may traced to a clogged
condition, either due to a weakness of the nerves and of the intestinal
muscles, and a resultant weak peristalsis, which does not strongly move
the mass along its course, or to a failure of the liver to discharge
sufficient bile to lubricate the mass. If the waste is not promptly
moved through the intestines, irritation may result and the poisons
from bacterial fermentations will be absorbed by the system.

Deranged stomach digestion also interferes with the digestion in the
intestines.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Constipation.= The causes of this difficulty are so varied that it can
seldom be regulated by diet alone. It can be _helped_. A large number
of cases of chronic constipation are due to the failure to respond to
Nature’s call at a regular time each day, thus establishing a regular
habit at a certain hour. Many others are due to the weakness of the
muscular walls of the intestines or to the nerves controlling them. In
this event the intestinal peristalsis is weak. Still another cause is a
failure of the liver to discharge sufficient bile into the intestines
to lubricate the foeces. Many chronic cases are due to the pill and
drug habit. Where one continues to take pills, the condition brings a
result similar to the feeding of “predigested” food,—if the work is
done for the organs they become lazy and rely upon artificial aid.
_Every part of the body requires activity for strength._

If the straight front corset cramps the intestines it may cause
constipation by restraining their normal exercise during movements
of the body in walking, etc. Every woman who wears the straight front
corset should take exercises for the intestines morning and night.

The most natural relief for constipation is exercise,—particularly
exercise directed to the muscles of the intestines and to the nerve
centers controlling them.

Such foods as are laxative in effect, with the free use of water are
helpful. Figs and raisins (due to their seeds), prunes, dates, grapes,
apples, and rhubarb are laxative, due to their acids. These have best
effect when eaten just before retiring.

Oatmeal, or any cereal containing the bran, is laxative,—such as bran
bread or green corn.

As must be inferred from the above statement, the _cause_ of the
difficulty must first be reached.

Children should be trained to attend to Nature’s call regularly _every_
day. The best time is shortly after breakfast.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Enteritis.= (=Inflammation or Catarrh of the Intestines=) is similar
in its nature to Gastritis or Catarrh of the Stomach and is treated in
a similar manner.

_Acute Enteritis_, as Acute Gastritis, is usually caused by a strong
irritant,—either by some food which disagrees, or by a mass of
undigested food. A fast of two or three days is the initial dietetic
treatment. A free drinking of water not only soothes the irritated
intestines but it cleanses the intestinal tract and assists the kidneys
in eliminating elements of fermentation; if these are not eliminated,
they will absorb into the blood.

Physicians usually give a course of calomel and castor oil to eliminate
all intestinal contents.

After the fast, a liquid and semi-liquid diet is followed until
inflammation is relieved. Milk, strained gruels, broths, strained
soups, buttermilk, eggs (soft cooked or raw), beef juice, barley water,
custards, gelatines, soft puddings, etc., are the foods most nourishing
and causing least irritation.

All irritating foods as coarse vegetables, pickles, acid fruits and
fruits with coarse seeds, candies, beer, wines and salads should be
omitted.

_Chronic Enteritis_ has the same general cause as Acute Enteritis,
though its onset is slow and it takes a correspondingly longer time to
correct.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Dysentery=, if acute, demands complete rest in bed. The diet in both
Acute and Chronic cases must be confined to easily digested foods, such
as peptonized milk (see page 244), boiled milk, pressed meat juice, and
the white of egg, beaten and served with milk. Blackberry brandy, and
tea made from wild cherry bark, tend to check the inflammation.

During convalescence, care must be taken not to over-feed. Begin a more
liberal diet with a more liberal allowance of beef juice, gradually
adding tender beef steak, roast beef, fish, white meat of chicken,
eggs, custards, wine jelly, dry toast, blancmange, well boiled rice and
other easily digested food. The beef and egg are particularly valuable,
because of the anaemia occasioned by the loss of blood.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Rectal Feeding]

is sometimes necessary in cases of ulcer, cancer, or tumor, along the
digestive tract. Since food is not absorbed in the large as readily as
in the small intestine, the strength cannot be fully maintained through
rectal feeding. In cases where the stomach is not able to digest the
food, it is the best expedient, however, until the functioning of the
stomach is re-established.

The rectum should be prepared about an hour before the feeding by a
full injection of water, to thoroughly cleanse the intestine. Place the
patient on his side with the hips elevated. If for any reason he cannot
lie on his side, let him lie on his back and elevate the foot of his
bed. After the water cleansing, inject two or three ounces of water in
which a small pinch of salt (6%) has been added and let it go high up
into the rectum.

Two to three ounces four to five hours apart is the desirable quantity
of rectal nutrition for an adult. The white of egg, beef juice, and
milk, all peptonized, are the best foods. The pancreatic trypsin, sold
in preparations of “pancreatin” is best. Unless milk is peptonized the
casein will be difficult to absorb. The food should always be salted,
as salt aids the absorption.

The white of egg should be diluted with four or five times its volume
of water; to beef juice add an equal volume of water. The yolk of egg
contains too much oil to absorb readily. Fats are not absorbed through
the rectum. If egg and beef juice are used without milk, a little sugar
may be added. Milk contains sugar in proportion.

It is not advisable to inject wine as it interferes with absorption of
other foods.

The nutriment should be forced eight to ten inches up into the rectum
to insure absorption. This can be done by using a small injection point
on a rubber tube and gently and patiently turning it as it is inserted.
The tube may be oiled to prevent irritation.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Derangements of the Liver]

The liver is not, in a strict sense. a digestive organ, but it is very
dependent upon them, as all products of digestion must pass through
it and the starches, sugars and proteins, after they enter the blood,
undergo chemical changes here.

For a fuller understanding of the reasons for the following suggestions
regarding diet for the liver, the writer would request a re-reading, at
this point, of the chapter upon the “Work of the Liver” upon pages 81
to 92.

It will be recalled that the liver acts, not only upon proteins,
sugars, and starches,—the nourishing foods, but it also stands guard
over poisonous ferments, due to putrefactions absorbed from the
intestines, rendering them harmless; to a limited extent it also
oxidizes the poisons of alcohol. The fats also pass through the liver.

Since all products of digestion must pass through this organ, it is
easy to see how it may be overworked, for it is an undisputed fact that
most people eat more food than is required to maintain the body in
nitrogenous equilibrium and to supply the necessary heat and energy.

After the gorging of a heavy meal, the overloaded blood and liver
express themselves in a sluggish brain and one feels mentally, as well
as physically, logy, or overloaded.

Since both sugar, carbohydrates and protein undergo chemical changes in
the liver, it is evident that a diet consisting of an excess of either,
must overwork the liver, not only through the nutritive food elements
absorbed, but through the toxic substances which must be absorbed,—due
to the excessive amount of food not being digested as readily as a
smaller amount. If the food remains in the intestines too long, it is
attacked by the bacteria always present there, fermentation results
and poisons are absorbed and carried to the liver, where they must be
broken down and rendered harmless, so as not to affect other parts of
the system. If for any reason the liver is diseased, overloaded, or its
action is sluggish, it will not promptly oxidize these toxins.

One of the most important corrective agencies for an inactive liver is
exercise directed to this organ, to bring a free supply of blood, and
deep breathing of fresh air. _It is apparent that the blood must carry
its full quota of oxygen to assist in oxidizing both the nitrogenous
waste and the poisons_; and it must be remembered that the liver must
oxidize the waste from its own tissues, as well as from other parts of
the system.

It is apparent, from the above, that the regulation of diet for an
abnormal liver must be more in the _quantity_ than in the _quality_ of
food and in the perfect digestion. It depends also upon the activity of
the intestines, since the poisonous products of imperfectly digested
and fermenting food, not being regularly eliminated, must be absorbed
and carried to the liver. It is to free the intestines of the waste
containing the toxins that physicians give calomel and other strong
cathartics, to work off the toxins. These cathartics also work off
foodstuffs from the intestines before they are absorbed, so that the
liver has more rest.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Torpid Liver or Billiousness.= This condition is due to the sluggish
action of this organ and a consequent failure to eliminate the
bile through the bile ducts into the duodenum. It may be caused
by inactivity and a resultant sluggish circulation of blood, to
overwork of the liver, due to overeating, to breathing of impure air,
or to insufficient breathing of pure air. It may also result from
constipation and a resultant absorption of toxic matter as described
above.

Many cases of billiousness are occasioned by obstruction of the opening
of the bile ducts into the intestines, which is often occasioned by
an excess of mucus in the duodenum. In such cases exercise for the
intestines is clearly indicated.

In the bending, twisting and squirming movements which the infant in
the cradle makes, the liver is regularly squeezed and relaxed. The same
is true in the free movements of an active child at play. If during
adult life these same free movements of bending and twisting the trunk
were continued daily and correct habits of free breathing of pure air
were established, there would be little call for “liver tonics.”

The elaboration of carbohydrates in the liver is an important part of
its work and in case of inactive liver the sugars and starches should
be limited, allowing that function to rest. Yet it is a mistake to
allow a diet too rich in protein. The best method is to cut down the
quantity of a mixed diet.

Two glasses of water an hour before breakfast followed by brisk
exercise for the vital organs and deep breathing are important. The
daily action of the bowels is imperative. In extreme cases a fast
of two or three days, with a copious use of water, is recommended.
Following this fast the diet should consist of easily digested
foods, eliminating those containing starch and sugars in too great
proportions, and it should be as limited as possible, consistent with
the actual necessity for rebuilding and for energy.

Some authorities restrict fats in a diet for billiousness but the
presence of fat in the duodenum stimulates the flow of pancreatic
juice, which in turn stimulates the secretion of bile.

Lemon stimulates the action of the hepatic glands and thus tends to
increase the liver activity.

There is a prevalent thought that eggs and milk cause sluggish liver
action. There is no physiological reason for this if too much food is
not eaten. One often loses sight of the fact that milk is a food as
well as a beverage, and that when milk constitutes an appreciable part
of the diet other foods should be limited accordingly.


 The =DIET= may be selected from the following:[10]

 =Soups.=—Light broths and vegetable soup with a little bread toasted
 in the oven.

 =Fish.=—Raw oysters, fresh white fish.

 =Meats.=—Mutton, lamb, chicken or game.

 =Farinaceous.=—Whole wheat or graham bread and butter, toast buttered
 or dry, toasted crackers, cereals in small portions.

 =Vegetables.=—Fresh vegetables, plain salads of watercress, lettuce,
 and celery.

 =Desserts.=—Gelatins, fruits, cornstarch, ice cream, junket, simple
 puddings,—all with =very little sugar=.

 =Liquids.=—Hot water, lemonade, orangeade, toast water, buttermilk,
 loppard milk and unfermented grape juice,—not too sweet.

 =AVOID.=—All rich, highly seasoned foods, candies, cheese, pies,
 pastry, pan cakes, or any fried foods, salmon, herring, mackeral,
 bluefish, eels, dried fruits, nuts and liquors of all kinds.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Gall Stones]

The diet for gall stones need have no reduction in protein nor
carbohydrates, since the oxidation, or the chemical action upon sugars
is not interfered with. The presence of fat in the duodenum increases
the flow of pancreatic juice which, in turn stimulates the flow of
bile, so olive oil is often recommended in case of gall stones.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Diabetes]

is a serious disturbance of nutrition. It is known and tested by the
appearance of sugar in the urine. However, the conclusion should not be
drawn that one has diabetes if the urine test for a day shows sugar.
This may be due to an excess of carbohydrates, particularly of sugar
in the diet a day or two previous and all trace of it may disappear in
a day. If continued tests for some period show an excess, nutritional
disturbances are indicated.

The most usual form of diabetes is _diabetes mellitus_. It is supposed
to be due to a disturbance in the secretions from the pancreas.
Experiments have shown that the general process of putting the
carbohydrates in condition to be absorbed into the blood is controlled
by a secretion from the pancreas.

The difficulty which confronts the dietitian is to prescribe a diet
without carbohydrates which will keep up the body weight and not
disturb the nutritive equilibrium. The diet must consist of protein
and fat and one danger is in the tendency to acetic and other acids in
the blood, which involves the nervous system. The patient has a craving
for sugars and starches, but the system cannot make use of them, and
the heat and energy must be supplied by fats. While, as a rule, the
craving for certain foods is an indication that the system needs the
elements contained in it,—this is true in the craving of the diabetes
patient for carbohydrates,—yet the desire _must not_ be gratified,
because of the inability to digest them.

There is often a distaste for fat, but its use is imperative and
in large quantities, because the weight and general vitality must
be maintained. The effort of the physician is to get the system in
condition to use carbohydrates.

Fats may be supplied in the yolk of egg, cream, butter, cheese, bacon,
nuts, particularly pecans, butternuts, walnuts and Brazil nuts.

In beginning a diet, the change must not be too sudden. At least a
week’s time should be allowed for the elimination of all sugar and
starch. Begin by eliminating sugars and next bread and potatoes.

Van Noorden gives the following diet, free from carbohydrates, which
has been in general use in Europe and America.


BREAKFAST.

  Tea or coffee, 6 ounces.
  Lean meat (beefsteak, mutton chop, or ham), 4 ounces.
  Eggs one or two.


LUNCH.

  Cold roast beef, 6 ounces.
  Celery, or cucumbers, or tomatoes with salad dressing.
  Coffee, without milk or sugar, 2 ounces.
  Whisky, drams, diluted with 13 ounces of water.


DINNER.

  Bouillon, 6 ounces.
  Roast beef, 7½ ounces.
  Green salad, 2 ounces.
  Vinegar, 2½ drams.
  Butter, 2½ drams.
  Olive oil, 5 drams, or spinach with mayonnaise, large portion.
  Whisky, 5 drams, diluted with 13 ounces water.


SUPPER, 9 P. M.

  Two eggs, raw or cooked.

Van Noorden includes alcohol, in whisky, in his diet and most
physicians follow the theory that whisky or brandy aids in the
digestion and absorption of fats; the need is recognized since fats
must be supplied in so large quantities, yet the sweet wines and
beers contain sugar while the sour wines contain acids, which disturb
digestion.

There is a grave question in regard to the advisability of including
alcohol in the diet of a young person afflicted with diabetes and
the greater activity of the young patient will insure more perfect
digestion, so that the physician may not consider alcohol necessary.

Dr. Hall gives the following as a reasonable diet for a diabetic case,
after the first week or two, allowing potatoes.


BREAKFAST.

  Tea or coffee, 6 ounces.
  Cream, 2 ounces.
  Meat, (beefsteak, mutton chops, or ham), 4 ounces.
  Bread and butter, 2 slices.
  Baked potato, with butter.


LUNCH.

  Cold roast beef or cold boiled ham, 6 ounces.
  Bread and butter, two slices.
  Salad with mayonnaise dressing, egg garniture.
  Tea or coffee with cream.


4 P. M.

  Egg lemonade or egg orangeade.


DINNER.

  Clear soup of any kind.
  Roast beef or mutton, or pork.
  Potatoes, baked or boiled.
  Olives, celery, or radishes.
  Side dish of green vegetables.
  Bread and butter.
  Dessert, milk-egg custard, sweetened with saccharin.

After a week on either of the above diets, in mild cases, sugar will
disappear from the urine. In extreme cases, it may be necessary to
follow this strict regime for two weeks. When the patient begins to eat
a little starch, potatoes and bread are re-instated first. Sugar is
kept out of the diet, except the little in fruit and vegetables, until
the urine shows no trace of it.

The following is a list of foods allowable:

Fresh meat, fish, oysters, clams, lobster, turtle, meat extracts, fats
of all kinds, eggs, such fresh vegetables as peas, beans, lentils,
lettuce, celery, asparagus, cabbage, pickles, clear soups (all kinds),
cheese (all kinds), coffee, tea (without sugar), cream, butter, fruit,
acid drinks and carbonated waters.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Derangements of the Kidneys]

In the dietetic treatment of any diseased organ, the object must be
to give that organ as much rest as consistent with keeping up the
general nutrition of the system. The stomach and intestines are so
closely allied that, where one is affected, the other is liable to
affection also, and the dietetic treatment is regulated accordingly.
Yet generally speaking, in stomach disorders the quantity of protein
is limited; in intestinal disorders the starches, sugar and fats are
limited. Since the office of the kidneys is to pass from the system the
soluble salts and the nitrogenous waste, which dissolve in water, the
work of the kidneys in most conditions is aided by a copious drinking
of water. Since uric acid is stimulated by the kidneys, the proteins
should be restricted in the diet, particularly those formed from
the glands of animals,—as liver, sweetbreads, kidneys, also brains.
Potatoes, green vegetables, stone fruits and cranberries aggravate an
acute condition.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Acute Nephritis.= In case of inflammation of the kidneys the
excretions are interrupted. In this event the quantity of water should
be limited to three to four glasses a day. In the event that the
kidneys will not excrete the water, the pores of the skin must be kept
freely open by sweat baths to assist in the elimination of waste.

Dr. Hall recommends a milk and cream diet of from three to seven pints
a day, for a few days, according to the case,—two parts of milk to one
of cream. If the urine is scanty, he reduces it to one and one half
pints a day, taken in four or five installments. After the three to
seven days of milk diet he gradually introduces starches and fats.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Brights Disease.= This term covers forms of diseases of the kidneys,
associated with albumin in the urine.

Where for any reason the kidneys have difficulty in discharging the
nitrogenous waste of the system, the work of the dietitian must be to
eliminate protein from the diet as closely as may be consistent with
the body necessities. Besides restricting the amount of nitrogenous
foods, the kidneys must be assisted in eliminating the nitrogenous
waste, and the products of the inflammation, by a copious drinking of
water. Hot water and hot diluent drinks are best, such as toast water,
barley water, cream of tartar, lemon and acid drinks. In acute cases
the patient is put on a milk diet of from two to three pints of milk
a day, given one-half pint every three or four hours, diluted with
one-third as much hot water. If the case be a prolonged one, broths may
be included.

Even in cases which are chronic and not acute, it is well to follow a
milk diet for a number of weeks. The quantity of milk, for an exclusive
milk diet, must depend upon the age and size of the patient as well as
upon his ability to exercise. If he is confined to his room, from five
to seven pints of milk a day are sufficient. If he is taking a great
deal of exercise, he may take from eighteen to twenty glasses of milk a
day. If he loses weight on the milk diet, bread and rice may be added.

It is unwise to begin a milk diet at once, by feeding from eighteen
to twenty glasses of milk a day, but this amount may be approximated
within a week’s time and the change in diet should be begun by cutting
down all meats and legumes and gradually eliminating starches. In
changing from a milk diet to a diet including more hearty foods, the
transition should be gradual.

A. F. Pattee gives the following diet for Brights Disease.


 =DIET: Soup.=—Vegetable or fish soup, broths with rice or barley.

 =Fish.=—Raw oysters or clams, fresh fish broiled or boiled.

 =Meats.=—Eat sparingly, chicken, game, fat bacon, fat ham.

 =Farinaceous.=—Stale bread, whole wheat bread, toast, milk toast,
 biscuits, macaroni, rice, cereals of all kinds.

 =Vegetables.=—Onion, cauliflower, mashed potatoes, mushrooms, lettuce,
 watercress, spinach, celery, cabbage.

 =Desserts.=—Ripe raw fruits, stewed fruits, rice tapioca, bread and
 milk puddings, junkets, cocoa.

 =Liquids.=—Toast water, weak tea, pure water, peptonized milk, malted
 milk, fresh buttermilk, milk with hot water, equal parts, whey,
 unfermented grape juice.

 =AVOID.=—Fried fish, corned beef, hashes, stews, pork, veal, heavy
 bread, batter cakes, lamb, mutton, beef, gravies, beans, peas, malt or
 spirituous liquors, tobacco, coffee, ice cream, cake, pastry.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Nervous Disorders]

The condition of the nerves depends upon the general condition of the
system and upon general nutrition. There is no one food or set of foods
which directly affect any nervous trouble, unless this trouble be
localized by disturbance in some particular organ. Then the effort must
be to correct the difficulty in that organ.

There is no disturbance in any part of the body requiring less medicine
than a disturbance in the nerves. The correction must come through
general hygienic treatment. Regular exercise, alternated with regular
rest periods, the formation of the habit of complete nerve relaxation,
the general regulation of an easily digested, nutritious diet, with
deep breathing exercises, are the best remedies.

In many cases of nerve debility the nerves seem to be stronger in the
latter part of the day. Where this is the case the hearty meal should
be eaten at this time.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Neurasthenia.= In cases of Neurasthenia, or “Tired Nerves,” all vital
organs are more or less affected, because the nerves do not properly
direct digestion, absorption, assimilation or elimination and, for this
reason, the diet should be light and of easily digested foods. _A free,
correct breathing of fresh air, day and night, is imperative._ It is
important also to thoroughly masticate all food and drink freely of
water. A change of thought, induced by a change of scene or companions,
is helpful.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Gout]

This difficulty is usually the result of high living. It most often
attacks people past middle age, who have indulged in rich pastries,
puddings, meat three times a day, or who have frequently indulged in
alcohol.

Being supposedly caused by an excess of uric acid and other waste
deposited in the joints, resulting from too much protein and an
insufficient elimination of the waste of the system, the dietetic
treatment must be a low protein diet. Alcohol is absolutely prohibited
and the quantity of carbohydrates and fats must be cut down as well as
the protein.

In _acute cases_ a diet of bread and milk, or toast and milk, with
light vegetable broths should be followed for one to three days.

In _chronic cases_ the diet may consist of the following:[11]

 =Soups.=—Vegetable broths.

 =Fish.=—Fresh fish, shell fish, raw oysters.

 =Meats.=—It is better to omit all meats. If meat is eaten at all, it
 should be confined to game, chicken and fat bacon.

 =Farinaceous.=—Cereals, crackers, dry toast, milk toast, macaroni,
 graham or whole wheat bread, rye bread, oatmeal and any of the
 breakfast foods.

 =Nuts.=—With salt.

 Vegetables.—Celery, lettuce, watercress, all greens, with vinegar,
 string beans, green peas, potatoes, carrots and beets.

 =Fruits.=—All fruits, stewed or fresh. Unpeeled apples are especially
 recommended. (Greens, with vinegar and unpeeled apples increase the
 action of the kidneys.)

 =Desserts.=—Plain puddings, junket, rice, stewed or fresh fruits.

 =Liquids.=—Pure water, toast water, barley water, butter milk, malted
 milk, milk.

 Eat eggs sparingly and in severe cases, not at all.

 =AVOID.=—Alcohol, coffee, tobacco, dried fruits, nuts, cheese,
 candies, pastries, pies, spices, rich puddings, fried foods, vinegar,
 pickles, lemons, rhubarb, mushrooms, asparagus, sweet potatoes,
 tomatoes, gravies, patties, rich soups, lobster, salmon, crabs,
 mackeral, eel, veal, pork, goose, duck, turkey, salted, dried, potted
 or preserved fish or meat, (except bacon).

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Rheumatism.]

Since the medical profession is unable to determine just what
rheumatism is, it is difficult to prescribe a diet. The theory so long
believed that it is an excess of uric acid in the system is no longer
held by most of the advanced physicians. Some authorities hold that it
is a nerve difficulty; others that it is an excess of lactic acid. Some
authorities put one on an entire meat diet, in case of rheumatism, and
others entirely exclude meat. Uric acid may accompany the disease.

Assuming that it is due to the failure of the system to promptly
eliminate its waste, whether this failure to eliminate be through
a weakened condition of the nerves, and the consequent failure to
properly direct the body activities, the correction of the difficulty
must lie in building up the general vitality and in aiding the system
in its elimination. Hot sweat baths, a free use of water and a free use
of fruits, particularly the citrous fruits, such as lemons, oranges,
limes, etc., are desirable, because they increase the alkalinity of
the blood. The acid unites with other acids of the body acting as
a re-agent. Often when the acids of the stomach are strong, sodium
carbonate (baking soda) produces an alkaline reaction.

The diet should be cut down in quantity. Meat may be eliminated if an
excess of uric acid exists and the above suggestions under the diet for
_Gout_ be followed.

Fruit juices should be used freely because of their alkaline reaction
and because of their diuretic effect. Lemonade, orangeade and all fresh
fruits and vegetables are diuretic.

Regular exercises, until the body is thoroughly heated, deep breathing
of pure air day and night and a copious drinking of water are necessary.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Uremia or Uremic Poisoning]

Interference in the action of the kidneys is apt to result in a
retention within the system of the elements, which the kidneys, in
normal condition, eliminate from the system, such as urea, uric acid,
urates, sulphuric acid, sulphates, sodium phosphate, xanthin bodies and
conjugated sulphates. These substances are not thrown off by the skin,
or by the lungs, and must all be eliminated through the kidneys. They
are the result of the oxidation and the breaking down of the proteins
of the body. If the kidneys do not throw these off, the result is
Uremic Poisoning, and the dietetic treatment must be to cause a free
action of the kidneys by the use of diuretics. Of these the citrous
fruits, (lemons, oranges, limes, etc.,) are the best; they neutralize
acids and produce an alkalinity of the blood. They should be used
freely.

Meats, eggs and legumes should be eliminated from the diet. A free
drinking of water, milk with limewater, cereals, buttermilk, kumyss,
barley water, toast water, lemonade, orangeade, vegetables and fruit
should constitute the diet. Exercise and free breathing of fresh air
are imperative. All food should be thoroughly masticated.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Excess of Uric Acid]

An excess of uric acid may not always cause uremic poisoning, but
it indicates an excess of protein in the system above the amount
eliminated by the kidneys and the skin. This excess is often the cause
of chronic ailments, such as bronchitis, asthma, hay-fever, severe
nerve depression, gout, rheumatism, neuralgia, tonsilitis, grippe,
influenza, colds, etc.

The natural relief is to control the diet, supplying less protein and
to increase the elimination through a free action of the kidneys, of
the pores of the skin, and of the lungs. Systematic exercise, deep
breathing, a copious drinking of water and fresh air day and night,
are the best reliefs.

One may either eliminate the proteins from the diet, or may cut down
the entire quantity of food, and, by exercise, breathing, a freedom of
the pores of the skin and a free drinking of water, so as to create an
activity of the kidneys, may continuously eliminate more uric acid than
is consumed in the food.

The regulation of the quantity of the food, rather than the cutting
down of the proteins and the feeding of a larger proportion of
starches, is the course pursued where one is inclined to an excess of
uric acid and still has an excess of fat.

In case of an excess of uric acid in thin persons, such proteins food
as meat and eggs may be eliminated and the diet consist almost wholly
of carbohydrates and fats.

The diet is the same as that given above for _Gout_.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Obesity]

All diets for obesity must be prescribed for the individual condition.
A large number of the obese are afflicted with rheumatism, sluggish
livers, sluggish action of the intestines and weak nerves, and the
diet must be governed accordingly.[12]

The regulation of food for reduction of flesh must, also, be governed
by age, sex, by the manner of breathing and by the amount of daily
exercise.

Exercise, breathing and diet are the scientific means of reduction, the
food must be regulated in accordance with the quantity of carbohydrates
and fats daily consumed in heat and energy.

       *       *       *       *       *

[Sidenote: Leanness]

No definite diet can be given for flesh building, because a lack of
sufficient fat to round out the figure is due to faulty digestion or
assimilation and the cause must first be eliminated.

It may be that the strength of the muscles and nerves of stomach, liver
and intestines must first be built up by exercises and deep breathing,
and it may be that the habit of nerve relaxation must be established.
Where one’s nerves are tense much nourishment is consumed in nervous
energy and the nerves to digestive organs and muscles being tense,
interfere with digestion and assimilation.

It is apparent that the cause must first be corrected, because to
overload the digestive organs with sugars, starches and fats, further
weakens them.


FOOTNOTES:

[10] Alida Frances Pattee; “Practical Dietetics” Mt. Vernon, N. Y.

[11] A. F. Pattee; “Practical Diatetics,” A. F. Pattee, Publisher, Mt.
Vernon, N. Y.

[12] Editor’s Note: The causes and relief of Obesity are fully
discussed in my book of this series “Poise, Obesity and Leanness, their
Causes and Relief.”




APPENDIX

MEASURES AND WEIGHTS.


A few tables of measures may be helpful here because accurate
measurements are necessary to insure success in the preparation of any
article of food.

All dry ingredients, such as flour, meal, powdered sugar, etc., should
be sifted before measuring.

The standard measuring cup contains one-half pint and is divided into
fourths and thirds.

To measure a cupful or spoonful of dry ingredients, fill the cup or
spoon and then level off with the back of a case-knife.

In measures of weight the gram is the unit.

A “heaping cupful” is a level cup with two tablespoonsful added.

A “scant cupful” is a level cup with two tablespoonsful taken out.

A “salt spoon” is one-fourth of a level teaspoon.

To measure butter, lard and other solid foods, pack solidly in spoon or
cup and measure level with a knife.


TABLE OF MEASURES AND WEIGHTS[13]

   4  saltspoons                         = 1 teaspoon, tsp.
   3  teaspoons                          = 1 tablespoon, tbsp.
   4  tablespoons                        = ¼ cup or ½ gill.
  16  tablespoons (dry ingredients)      = 1 cup, c.
  12  tablespoons (liquid)               = 1 cup.
   2  gills                              = 1 cup.
   2  cups                               = 1 pint.
   2  pints                              = 1 quart.
   4  quarts                             = 1 gallon.
   2  tablespoons butter                 = 1 ounce.
   1  tablespoon melted butter                         = 1 ounce.
   4  tablespoons flour                                = 1 ounce.
   2  tablespoons granulated sugar                     = 1 ounce.
   2  tablespoons liquid                               = 1 ounce.
   2  tablespoons powdered lime                        = 1 ounce.
   1  cup of stale bread crumbs                        = 2 ounces.
   1  square Baker’s unsweetened chocolate             = 1 ounce.
  Juice of one lemon = (about) 3 tablespoons
   5  tablespoons liquid                               = 1 wineglassful.
   4  cups of sifted flour                             = 1 pound
   2  cups of butter (packed solid)                    = 1 pound
   2  cups of finely chopped meat (packed solidly)     = 1 pound
   2  cups of granulated sugar                         = 1 pound
   2⅔  cups of powdered sugar                       = 1 pound
   2⅔  cups brown sugar                             = 1 pound
   2⅔  cups oatmeal                                 = 1 pound
   4¾  cups rolled oats                             = 1 pound
   9  to 10 eggs                                       = 1 pound
   1  cup of rice                                      = ½ pound.


APOTHECARIES WEIGHTS[13]

  20  grains                       = 1 scruple, ℈
   3  scruples                     = 1 drachm, ʒ
   8  drachms (or 480 grains)      = 1 ounce, ℥
  12  ounces                       = 1 pound, lb.


APOTHECARIES MEASURES[13]

  60  minims (M)         = 1 fluid drachm, f ʒ
   8  fluid drachms      = 1 fluid ounce, f ℥
  16  fluid ounces       = 1 pint, O or pt.
   2  pints              = 1 quart, qt.
   4  quarts             = 1 gallon, gal.


APPROXIMATE MEASURES[13]

  One teaspoonful             equals about 1 fluid drachm.
  One dessertspoonful         equals about 2 fluid drachms.
  One tablespoonful           equals about 4 fluid drachms.
  One wineglassful            equals about 2 ounces.
  One cup (one-half pint)     equals about 8 ounces.


METRIC MEASURES OF WEIGHT[13]

In measures of weight the gram is the unit.

  1  gram           1.0 gm.
  1  decigram       0.1 gm.
  1  centigram      0.01 gm.
  1  milligram      0.001 gm.


FOOTNOTES:

[13] Practical Diatetics, Alida Frances Pattee, Publisher, Mt. Vernon,
N. Y.




Classification of Diets.


The purpose is not to give below such receipts as are found in ordinary
cook books, but simply to suggest foods useful for invalids, for
semi-invalids, or for chronic, abnormal conditions of digestive organs.


BEVERAGES.

Beverages are primarily to relieve thirst; they may also contain food
elements; they may be used for their effect in heat and cold; for their
flavor which helps to increase the appetite; or for their stimulating
properties.

 =WATER.= Pure and carbonated; mineral waters contain iron, sulphur,
 lithium, etc.

 Hot drinks should be served at a temperature of from 122 to 140
 degrees F. When water is used as a hot drink it should be freshly
 drawn, brought to a boil and used at once. This sterilizes and
 develops a better flavor.

 Cold water should be thoroughly cooled, but not iced, unless ice water
 is sipped very slowly and held in the mouth until the chill is off.
 Water is best cooled by placing the receptacle on ice rather than by
 putting ice in the water.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =FRUIT JUICES.= Under fruit juices are

 Grape juice, apple juice,

 Currant juice, pineapple juice,

 Orangeade and lemonade.

 They are especially grateful to fever patients and are often used to
 stimulate the appetite. They are particularly valuable for the acids
 which they contain, which stimulate the action of the kidneys and the
 peristaltic action of the digestive tract; they also increase the
 alkalinity of the blood.

 Apples contain malic acid, lemons citric acid and grapes tartaric
 acid. The ferment in the ripe pineapple juice aids in the digestion of
 proteins.[14]

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Lemonade.= Wash and wipe a lemon. Cut a slice from the middle into
 two pieces to be used in the garnish before serving; then squeeze the
 juice of the rest of the lemon into a bowl, keeping back the seeds.
 Add sugar and boiling water; cover and put on ice to cool; strain and
 pour into a glass.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Fruit Lemonade.= To change and vary the flavor, fresh fruit of all
 kinds may be added to strong lemonade, using boiling water as directed
 above.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Egg Lemonade.= Beat an egg thoroughly, add 2 tablespoonsful of sugar,
 2 tablespoonsful of lemon juice and gradually pour in one cup of cold
 water. Stir until smooth and well mixed. Serve thoroughly cold. This
 drink is very easily digested, the lemon having partly digested the
 egg; 2 tablespoonsful of sherry or port may be added.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Bran Lemonade.= Mix ¼ cup of wheat bran with 2 cups of cold water.
 Allow this to stand over night and in the morning add the juice of a
 lemon.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Pineapple Lemonade.= Mix ½ cup of grated pineapple with the juice of
 1 lemon and 2 tablespoonsful of sugar; add ½ cup of boiling water, put
 on ice until cool, then add 1 cup of ice cold water. Strain and serve.


       *       *       *       *       *

 =Grape Lemonade.= To one cup of lemonade, made as directed above,
 rather sweet, add ½ cup of grape juice.

=Orangeade= is prepared as lemonade. The juice of one sour orange to 2
tablespoonsful of sugar and ½ cup of boiling water is about the right
proportion.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Mixed Fruit Drink.= Mix ¼ cup of grated pineapple, the juice of ½ a
lemon, the juice of ½ an orange, 1 cup of boiling water and sugar to
taste. Put on the ice until cool. Strain and add more cold water and
sugar according to taste.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Pineapple Juice.= Pour ½ cup of pineapple juice over crushed ice and
serve in a dainty glass. This is especially helpful in cases of weak
digestion and in some throat troubles—as stated above, the pineapple
aids protein digestion.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Lemon Whey.= Heat one cup of milk in a small sauce pan, over hot
water, or in a double boiler. Add two tablespoonsful of lemon juice;
cook without stirring until the whey separates. Strain through cheese
cloth and add two teaspoons of sugar. Serve hot or cold. Garnish with
small pieces of lemon.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Wine Whey= may be made in the same way, using ¼ cup of sherry wine to
1 cup of hot milk.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Grape Juice, Apple Juice and Currant Juice= are tonics and make a
dainty variety for the sick room. They should be used according to
their strength, usually about ⅓ of juice to ⅔ water. They should be
kept cold and tightly corked until ready to serve.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Grape Lithia.= Add 4 ounces of Lithia water to 1 ounce of grape juice
and two teaspoons of sugar.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Grape Nectar.= Boil together 1 pound of sugar and ½ pint of water
until it begins to thread. Remove from the fire and when cool add the
juice of 6 lemons and one quart of grape juice. Let stand over night.
Serve with ice water, Apollinaris, or plain soda water.

       *       *       *       *       *

=Tea Punch.= Pour boiling lemonade, sweetened to taste, over tea
leaves. Allow the liquid to stand until cool. Then strain and serve
with shaved ice and slices of lemon. This makes a delicious cooling
drink for hot weather.


LIQUID FOODS.

Under this heading such liquids are given as are actual foods.

 =MILK.= Milk is a complete food and a perfect food for infants, but
 not a perfect food for adults. It may be used as

 Whole or skimmed;

 Peptonized; boiled;

 Sterilized, pasteurized;

 Milk with lime water, Vichy or Apollinaris;

 With equal parts of farinaceous liquids;

 Albuminized milk with white of egg;

 Milk with egg yolk, flavored with vanilla, cinnamon or nutmeg;

 Milk flavored with coffee, cocoa, or meat broth;

 Milk punch; milk lemonade;

 Koumiss; kefir or whey, with lemon juice, as above.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =EGG PREPARATIONS=. These consist of

 Albumin water (diluted white of egg), flavored with fruit juice;

 Egg lemonade; egg orangeade;

 Egg with meat broth;

 Egg with coffee and milk;

 Chocolate eggnog.

 Often the white of egg, dissolved in water or milk, is given when the
 yolk cannot be digested, because of the amount of fat which the yolk
 contains.

 Where one is inclined to billiousness, the egg is better digested if
 beaten in wine.

 The albuminous or egg drinks are best prepared cold.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Eggnog.= To make eggnog, separate the white and the yolk, beat the
 yolk with ¾ of a tablespoonful of sugar and a speck of salt until
 creamy. Add ¾ of a cup of milk and 1 tablespoonful of brandy. Beat the
 white until foamy, add to the above mixture and serve immediately. A
 little nutmeg may be substituted for the brandy. The eggs and milk
 should be chilled before using. Eggnog is very nutritious.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Egg Broth.= Beat the yolk of 1 egg, add 1 tablespoonful of sugar
 and a speck of salt. Add 1 cup of hot milk and pour it on gradually.
 Flavor with nutmeg.

 Dried and rolled bread crumbs may be added, or beef, mutton or chicken
 broth may be used in place of the milk, and the sugar may be omitted.
 The whole egg may be used if desired.

 This is very delicious made with beef broth, instead of hot milk.
 Pineapple juice or coffee may be used.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Coffee Eggnog.= 1 egg, 1¼ teaspoons of sugar, ½ scant cup of milk or
 cream, ½ scant cup of coffee.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Egg Malted Milk.= Mix 1 tablespoonful of Horlick’s Malted Milk with
 1 tablespoonful of crushed fruit and 1 egg; beat for five minutes.
 Strain and add 20 drops of acid phosphate, 1 tablespoonful of crushed
 ice and ¾ cup of ice water. A grating of nutmeg may be used for flavor.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Grape Yolk.= Separate the white and the yolk of an egg, beat the
 yolk, add the sugar and let the yolk and sugar stand while the white
 of the egg is thoroughly whipped. Add two tablespoonsful of grape
 juice to the yolk and pour this on to the beaten white, blending
 carefully. Have all ingredients chilled before blending and serve cold.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Albuminized Milk.= Beat ½ cup of milk and the white of one egg with
 a few grains of salt. Put into a fruit jar, shake thoroughly until
 blended. Strain into a glass and serve cold.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Albumin Water.= Albumin water is used chiefly for infants in cases of
 acute stomach and intestinal disorders, in which some nutritious and
 easily assimilated food is needed. The white of 1 egg is dissolved in
 a pint of water, which has been boiled and cooled.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Albuminized Grape Juice.= Put two tablespoonsful of grape juice into
 a dainty glass with pure chopped ice. Beat the white of one egg, turn
 into the glass, sprinkle a little sugar over the top and serve.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =FARINACEOUS BEVERAGES.= These are all made by slowly adding cereals,
 such as barley, rice, oatmeal, etc., to a large quantity of boiling
 water and cooking from two to three hours and then straining off the
 liquid and seasoning to taste. They are particularly valuable when
 only a small amount of nutriment can be assimilated. Since the chief
 ingredient is starch, long cooking is necessary to make soluble the
 starch globules and to change the starch into dextrin, so that it can
 be more readily digested. Since these drinks are given only in case of
 weak digestion, it is important that they be taken slowly and held in
 the mouth until they are thoroughly mixed with the saliva.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Barley Water.= (Infant feeding). Mix 1 teaspoonful of barley flour
 with two tablespoonsful of cold water, until it is a smooth paste. Put
 in the top of a double boiler and add gradually one pint of boiling
 water. Boil over direct heat five minutes, stirring constantly; then
 put into a double boiler, over boiling water, and cook fifteen minutes
 longer. This is used as a diluent with normal infants and to check
 diarrhoea.

 For children or adults use ½ teaspoonful of barley or rice flour, 1
 cup of boiling water and ¼ teaspoonful of salt. Cream or milk and salt
 may be added for adults, or, lemon juice and sugar, according to the
 condition.

 Barley water is an astringent and used to check the bowels when they
 are too laxative.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Rice Water.= Wash two tablespoonsful of rice, add 3 cups of cold
 water and soak thirty minutes. Then heat gradually and cook one hour
 until the rice is tender. Strain through muslin, re-heat and dilute
 with boiling water or hot milk to the consistency desired. Season
 with salt; sugar may be added if desired and cinnamon, if allowed,
 may be cooked with it to assist in reducing a laxative condition.
 1 teaspoonful of stoned raisins may be added to the rice, before
 boiling, if there is no bowel trouble.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Oatmeal Water.= Mix 1 tablespoonful of oatmeal with 1 tablespoonful
 of cold water. Add a speck of salt and stir into it a quart of boiling
 water. Boil for three hours, replenishing the water as it boils away.
 Strain through a fine sieve or cheese cloth, season and serve cold.
 Sufficient water should be added to keep the drink almost as thin as
 water.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Toast Water.= Toast thin slices of stale bread in the oven; break up
 into crumbs; add 1 cup of boiling water and let it stand for an hour.
 Rub through a fine strainer, season with a little salt. Milk, or cream
 and sugar may be added if desirable. This is valuable in cases of
 fever or extreme nausea.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Crust Coffee.= Dry crusts of brown bread in the oven until they are
 hard and crisp. Pound or roll them and pour boiling water over. Let
 soak for fifteen minutes, then strain carefully through a fine sieve.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Meat Juice.= Meat juice may be prepared in three ways:

 (1) Broil quickly, or even scorch, a small piece of beef. Squeeze out
 the juice with a lemon squeezer, previously dipped in boiling water.
 Catch the juice in a hot cup. Season and serve. If desirable to heat
 it further, do so by placing the cup in hot water.

 (2) Broil quickly and put the small piece into a glass jar. Set the
 covered jar in a pan of cold water. Heat gradually for an hour,
 never allowing the water to come to a boil. Strain and press out the
 clear, red juice, season and serve. One pound of beef yields eight
 tablespoonsful of juice.

 (3) Grind raw beef in a meat grinder; place in a jar with a light
 cover and add one gill of cold water to a pound of beef. Stand it on
 ice over night, strain and squeeze through a bag. Season and serve.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Meat Tea.= Meat tea is made in the proportion of a pound of meat to a
 pint of water. Grind the meat in the meat grinder, place in a jar and
 cover with cold water. Set the jar in an open kettle of water and cook
 for two hours or more, not allowing the water to boil. Strain, squeeze
 through a bag, skim off the fat and season.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Meat Broth.= Meat broth is made from meat and bone, with and without
 vegetables. The proportion is a quart of water to a pound of meat.
 Cut the meat into small pieces, add the cold water and simmer until
 the quantity is reduced one-half. Strain, skim and season with salt.
 Chicken, veal, mutton and beef may be used in this way. They may be
 seasoned with onions, celery, bay-leaves, cloves, carrots, parsnips,
 rice, barley, tapioca; stale bread crumbs may be added.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Soups.= Clear soups are made by cooking raw meat or vegetables,
 or both together, slowly, for a long time, straining and using the
 liquid. The flavor may be changed by browning the meat or vegetables
 in butter before adding the water.

 Cream Soups are made in the proportion of one quart of vegetables,
 (such as corn, peas, beans, tomatoes, celery or asparagus) to one pint
 of water and a pint of milk. Cook the vegetables thoroughly in water
 and mash through a colander. To this water and pulp add a cream sauce
 made in the proportion of 4 tablespoonsful of flour, 4 tablespoonsful
 of butter and a pint of milk for vegetables poor in starch or protein.
 Add 2 tablespoonsful of flour, 2 tablespoonsful of butter and a pint
 of milk for those rich in protein. Season to taste.

 Tomato acid should be counteracted by the addition of one-eighth
 tablespoonful of soda before the milk is added.

 Potato soup may be flavored with onion or celery, or both.


SEMI-SOLID FOODS.

The following lists of foods are given for ready reference.[15]

 =Jellies.=

  (a) Meat Jellies and gelatin; veal, beef, chicken, mutton.

  (b) Starch Jellies, flavored with fruit; cornstarch, arrowroot, sago,
  tapioca.

  (c) Fruit jellies and gelatin.

 =Custards.=

  (a) Junkets, milk or milk and egg (rennet curdled), flavored with
  nutmeg, etc.

  (b) Egg, milk custard, boiled or baked.

  (c) Corn starch, tapioca, boiled custard.

  (d) Frozen custard (New York Ice cream.)

 =Gruels.= (Farinaceous)

  (a) Milk gruels.

  (b) Water gruels.


 =Toasts.=

  (a) Cream toast.

  (b) Milk toast.

  (c) Water toast.

 =Creams.=

  (a) Plain.

  (b) Whipped.

  (c) Ice cream.

 =Oils.=

  (a) Plain olive, cotton seed, or nut.

  (b) Butter.

  (c) Emulsion, as mayonnaise.

  (d) Cod liver oil, plain or emulsified.


SOLID FOODS.

(Suitable for Invalids.)

 =Cereals.=

  (a) Porridges and mushes—Oatmeal, cornmeal, wheat, rice, etc.

  (b) Dry preparations—Shredded wheat biscuit, corn flakes, puffed
  rice, puffed wheat, triscuit.

 =Breads.=

  (a) Plain—White, graham, nutri-meal, whole wheat, brown, rye, etc.

  (b) Toasts—Dry, buttered, zwieback.

  (c) Crackers—Soda, graham, oatmeal, Boston butter, milk.

  (d) Biscuits—Yeast biscuits (24 hours old), baking powder biscuit,
  beaten biscuit.

 =Egg Preparations.=

  (a) Boiled, poached, scrambled, baked.

  (b) Omelets.

  (c) Souffles of meat and of potatoes.

 =Meats.=

  (a) Beef or mutton—Broiled or roasted.

  (b) Chicken, turkey or game—Broiled or roasted.

  (c) Fish—Broiled, boiled or baked.

  (d) Oysters—Canned, stewed, etc.

  (e) Clams—Chowder, broiled or baked.

 =Vegetables.=

  (a) Potatoes—Baked, boiled, creamed and escalloped.

  (b) Sweet potatoes, baked and boiled.

  (c) Green peas, plain and creamed.

  (d) Lima beans, plain and creamed; string beans, plain and creamed;
  cauliflower, plain and creamed; carrots, parsnips.

 =Fruits.=

  (a) Fresh—Oranges, grapes, melons, etc. etc.

  (b) Stewed apples, plums, apricots, pears, berries, etc.

  (c) Baked apples, bananas, pears.

  (d) Canned peaches, apricots, plums, pears.

  (e) Preserved peaches, plums.


SEMI-SOLID FOODS.

=JELLIES.= =Meat Jellies= are made in two ways:

 (1) Cook soup meat (containing gristle and bone) slowly for a long
 time in just enough water to cover. Strain and set the liquid away in
 a mold to cool and set. If desired, bits of shredded meat may be added
 to the liquid before molding.

 (2) Use meat broth and gelatin in the proportion of one tablespoon
 gelatin to three quarters of a cup of hot broth. Pour into mold and
 set on ice.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Starch Jellies.=—Starch Jellies are made by cooking in a pint
 of fruit juice or water until clear, two tablespoons of tapioca,
 arrowroot, sago, cornstarch, or flour. Sweeten to taste.

 If water is used, fresh fruit may be used either in the jelly or in a
 sauce poured over the jelly.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Fruit Jellies.=—These are made:

 (1) Of fruit juice and sugar in equal quantities, cooked until it will
 set when cooled;

 (2) Of fruit juice and gelatin in the proportion of one tablespoon
 of gelatin to three fourths of a cup of fruit juice, or one half box
 gelatin to one and a half pints of juice. Sugar to taste. Made tea or
 coffee, or cocoa or lemonade may be used in the same proportion.

       *       *       *       *       *

=CUSTARDS.=—These are made with (1) milk, (2) milk and eggs, (3) milk,
egg and some farinaceous substances as rice, cornstarch, tapioca. In
the first the coagulum is produced by the addition of rennet, in the
other two by the application of heat.

 =Plain Junket.=—Dissolve in a cup of lukewarm milk (never warmer),
 a tablespoon of sugar or caramel syrup. Add a quarter of a junket
 tablet, previously dissolved in a tablespoon of cold water. Stir a
 few times, add vanilla, nuts, or nutmeg if desired. Pour into a cup
 and set aside to cool and solidify. This may be served plain or with
 whipped cream, or boiled custard.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Egg-Milk Custard.=—When eggs are used for thickening, not less than
 four eggs should be used to a quart of milk (more eggs make it richer).

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Boiled Custard.=—One pint of milk, two eggs, half cup of sugar, half
 saltspoon of salt. Scald the milk, add the salt and sugar, and stir
 until dissolved. Beat the eggs very thick and smooth. Pour the boiling
 milk on the eggs slowly, stirring all the time. Pour the mixture into
 a double boiler, set over the fire and stir for ten minutes. Add
 flavoring. As soon as a thickening of the mixture is noticed remove
 from the fire, pour into a dish and set away to cool. This custard
 makes =cup custard=, the sauce for such puddings as =snow pudding=,
 and when decorated with spoonfuls of beaten egg-white, makes =floating
 island=.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Baked Custard.=—Proceed as in boiled custard, but instead of pouring
 into a double boiler pour into a baking dish. Set the dish in a pan
 of water, place in the oven and bake until the mixture is set in the
 middle.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Farinaceous Custards.=—Make like boiled custard, using one less egg
 and adding one quarter cup of farina, tapioca, cornstarch, arrowroot,
 or cooked rice to the hot milk and egg.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Sago= should be soaked over night before using.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Tapioca= should be soaked one hour before using.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Coffee Custard.=—Scald one tablespoon of ground coffee in milk and
 strain before proceeding as for boiled custard.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Chocolate Custard.=—Add one square of grated chocolate to the milk.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Caramel Custard.=—Melt the dry sugar until golden brown, add the hot
 milk, and when dissolved proceed as before. Bake.

=GRUELS.=—Gruels are a mixture of grain or flour with either milk
or water. They require long cooking and may be flavored with sugar,
nutmeg, cinnamon, or almond.

 Take the meal or flour (oatmeal, two tablespoons, or cornmeal, one
 tablespoon, or arrowroot, one and a half tablespoons). Sift it slowly
 into one and a half cups boiling water, simmer for an hour or two.
 Strain off the liquid; add to it one teaspoon of sugar, season with
 salt, and add one cup of warm milk.

 =Water Gruel.=—If water gruel is desired, let the last cup of liquid
 added be water instead of milk.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Cream Gruel.=—A cream gruel may be made by using rich cream instead
 of milk or water.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Barley Gruel.=—Barley gruel (usually a water gruel) is prepared as
 follows: Moisten four tablespoons of barley flour in a little cold
 water and add it slowly to the boiling water. Stir and boil for twenty
 minutes.

 =TOASTS.=—=Cream Toast.=—Toast the bread slowly until brown on both
 sides. Butter and pour over each slice enough warm cream to moisten
 (the cream may be thickened slightly and the butter may be omitted.)

 =Milk Toast.=—One tablespoon of cornstarch or flour; one cup of milk,
 salt to taste, and boil. Butter the toast and pour over it the above
 white sauce.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Water Toast.=—Pour over plain or buttered toast enough boiling water
 to thoroughly moisten it.


=SOUFFLES OF FRUIT, ETC.=—The distinguishing feature of a souffle is a
pastry or pulpy foundation mixture, and the addition of stiffly beaten
egg-white. A souffle may or may not be baked.

 =Plain Souffle.=—Two tablespoons flour; one cup of liquid (water,
 milk, or fruit juice); three or four eggs; sugar to suit the fruit.
 If thick fruit pulp is used, omit the thickening. Beat the egg yolks
 until thick. Add sugar gradually and continue beating. Add the fruit
 (if lemon juice add some rind also). Fold in the well-beaten whites.
 Bake in a buttered dish (set in a pan of hot water) for thirty-five or
 forty minutes in a slow oven.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Fresh Fruit Souffle.=—Reduce the fruit to a pulp. Strawberries,
 peaches, prunes, apples, bananas, etc., may be used. Sweeten the pulp.
 Beat the egg-white to a stiff froth, add the fruit pulp slowly. Chill
 and serve with whipped cream or soft custard.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Chocolate Souffle.=—Two tablespoons flour; two tablespoons butter;
 three quarters cup of milk; one third cup of sugar: two tablespoons
 hot water. Melt the butter, add the flour and stir well. Pour the milk
 in gradually and cook until well boiled. Add the melted chocolate, to
 which the sugar and hot water have been added. Beat in the yolks and
 fold in the whites of the eggs. Bake twenty-five minutes.

       *       *       *       *       *

 =Farina Souffle.=—Cook the farina (four tablespoons) in a pint of
 boiling water. Stir this with the egg-yolks, add sugar or salt, and
 later fold in the egg-whites, flavor, and set away to cool.

The following tables are from “Food and Dietetics,” (Norton), published
by the American School of Home Economics, Chicago. They are used in
a number of schools of Domestic Science and in Dietetic kitchens in
hospitals.

These tables are exceptionally valuable in compiling diets in
various combinations. One readily determines the number of grams in
various servings of different foods. For example—a small serving of
beef (round), containing some fat, weighs 36 grams; forty per cent;
14.4 grams, is protein, and sixty per cent, 21.6 grams, is fat, (no
carbohydrates). One ordinary thick slice of white, home made bread
weighs 38 grams; thirteen per cent, 4.94 grams, is protein, six per
cent 2.28 grams is fat and eighty-one per cent, 30.78 grams, is
carbohydrate.

One can readily make up the proportions of proteins, carbohydrates and
fats required by the average individual suggested on pages 217-218 from
various combinations of foods. Each individual may make this study for
himself to know whether his system is receiving too much in quantity,
or too large a proportion of proteins or of carbohydrates or of fats.


TABLE OF 100 FOOD UNITS

  =====================================================================
                     “Portion”
                     Containing       Wt. of
   Name of Food      100 Food           100            Per cent of
                       Units          Calories                  Carbo-
                     (approx.)      Grams   Oz.   Proteid  Fat  hydrate
  —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

  COOKED MEATS

  [17]Beef, r’nd,
     boiled (fat)    Small serving      36     1.3      40     60    00
  [17]Beef, r’d,
     boiled (lean)   Large serving      62     2.2      90     10    00
  [17]Beef, r’d,
     boiled (med.)   Small serving      44     1.6      60     40    00
  [17]Beef, 5th rib,
     roasted         Half serving       18.5    .65     12     88    00
  [17]Beef, 5th rib,
     roasted         Very small s’v’g   25      .88     18     82    00
  [18]Beef, ribs
     boiled          Small serving      30     1.1      27     73    00
  [16]Calves foot
     jelly                             112     4.0      19     00    81
  [16]Chicken,
     canned          One thin slice     27      .96     23     77    00
  [16]Lamb chops,
     boiled, av      One small shop     27      .96     24     76    00
  [16]Lamb, leg,
     roasted         Ord. serving.      50     1.8      40     60    00
  [17]Mutton, leg,
     boiled          Large serving      34     1.2      35     65    00
  [17]Pork, ham,
     boiled (fat)    Small serving      20.5    .73     14     86    00
  [17]Pork, ham,
     boiled          Ord. serving       32.5   1.1      28     72    00
  [17]Pork, ham,
     r’st’d, (fat)   Small serving      27      .96     19     81    00
  [17]Pork, ham,
     r’st’d, (lean)  Small serving      34     1.2      33     67    00
  [16]Turkey, as
     pur., canned    Small serving      28      .99     23     77    00
  [17]Veal, leg,
     boiled          Large serving      67.5   2.4      73     27    00


  VEGETABLES

  [16]Artichokes,
     av. canned                        430    15        14      0    86
  [16]Asparagus,
     av. canned                        540    19        33      5    62
  [16]Asparagus,
     av. cooked                        206     7.19     18     63    19
  [16]Beans, baked,
     canned          Small side dish    75     2.66     21     18    61
  [16]Beans, Lima,
     canned          Large side dish   126     4.44     21      4    75
  [16]Beans, string,
      cooked         Five servings     480    16.66     15     48    37
  [16]Beets edible
     portion, cooked Three servings    245     8.7       2     23    75
  [16]Cabbage,
     edible portion                    310    11        20      8    72
  Carrots, cooked    Two servings      164     5.81     10     34    56
  [16]Cauliflower,
     as purchased                      312    11        23     15    62
  [16]Celery, edible
     portion                           540    19        24      5    71
  Corn, sweet,
     cooked          One side dish      99     3.5      13     10    77
  [16]Cucumbers,
     edible pt                         565    20        18     10    72
  [16]Egg plant,
     edible pt                         350    12        17     10    73
  Lentils, cooked                       89     3.15     27      1    72
  [16]Lettuce,
     edible pt.                        505    13        25     14    61
  [16]Mushrooms,
     as purchased                      215     7.6      31      8    61
  Onions, fresh,
     edible pt.                        200     7.1      13      5    82
  [16]Onions, cooked 2 large s’v’gs.   240     8.4      12     40    48
  Parsnips, cooked                     163     5.84     10     34    56
  [16]Peas, green,
     canned          Two servings      178     6.3      25      3    72
  [16]Peas, green,
     cooked          One serving        85     3        23     27    50
  Potatoes, baked    One good sized     86     3.05     11      1    88
  [16]Potatoes,
     boiled          One large sized   102     3.62     11      1    88
  [16]Potatoes,
     mashed
     (creamed)       One serving        89     3.14     10     25    65
  [16]Potatoes,
     chips           One-half s’v’g.    17      .6       4     63    33
  [16]Potatoes,
     sweet, cooked   Half av. potato    49     1.7       6      9    85
  [16]Pumpkins,
     edible pt.                        380    13        15      4    81
  Radishes, as
     purchased                         480    17        18      3    79
  Rhubarb,
     edible, pt.                       430    15        10     27    63
  [16]Spinach,
     cooked          Two ord. s’v’g.   174     6.1      15     66    19
  Squash,
     edible pt.                        210     7.4      12     10    78
  [16]Succotash,
     canned          Ord. serving      100     3.5      15      9    67
  [16]Tomatoes,
     fresh as
     purchased       Four av.          430    15        15     16    69
  Tomatoes, canned                      43    15.2      21      7    72
  [16]Turnips,
    edible pt.       2 large s’v’gs.   246     8.7      18      4    83
  Vegetable oysters                    273     9.62     10     51    39


  FRUITS (DRIED)

  [16]Apples,
     as purchased                       34     1.2       3      7    90
  Apricots,
     as purchased                       35     1.24      7      3    90
  [16]Dates,
     edible portion  Three large        28      .99      2      7    91
  [16]Dates,
     as purchased                       31     1.1       2      7    91
  [16]Figs,
     edible portion  One large          31     1.1       5      0    95
  [16]Prunes,
     edible portion  Three large        32     1.14      3      0    97
  [16]Prunes,
     as purchased                       38     1.35      3      0    97
  [16]Raisins,
     edible portion                     28     1.        3      9    88
  [16]Raisins,
     as purchased                       31     1.1       3      9    88


  FRUITS (FRESH OR COOKED)

  [16]Apples,
     as purchased    Two apples        206     7.3       3      7    90
  Apples, baked                         94     3.3       2      5    93
  Apples, sauce      Ord. serving      111     3.9       2      5    93
  Apricots, cooked   Large serving     131     4.61      6      0    94
  [16]Bananas,
     edible pt.      One large         100     3.5       5      5    90
  [16]Blackberries                     170     5.9       9     16    75
  Blueberries                          128     4.6       3      8    89
  [16]Blueberries,
     canned                            165     5.8       4      9    87
  Cantaloupe         Half or. serv’g.  243     8.6       6      0    94
  [16]Cherries,
     edible portion                    124     4.4       5     10    85
  [16]Cranberries,
     as purchased                      210     7.5       3     12    85
  [16]Grapes, as
     purchased av.                     136     4.8       5     15    80
  Grape fruit                          215     7.57      7      4    89
  Grape juice        Small glass       120     4.2       0      0   100
  Gooseberries                         261     9.2       5      0    95
  Lemons                               215     7.57      9     14    77
  [16]Lemon juice                      246     8.77      0      0   100
  Nectarines                           147     5.18      4      0    96
  Olives, ripe       About seven        37     1.31      2     91     7
  Oranges, as
     purchased, av.  One very large    270     9.4       6      3    91
  [16]Oranges,
     juice           Large glass       188     6.62      0      0   100
  Peaches, as
     purchased av.   Three ordinary    290    10.        7      2    91
  [16]Peaches,
     sauce           Ord. serving      136     4.78      4      2    94
  Peaches, juice     Ordinary glass    136     4.80      0      0   100
  Pears              One large pear    173     5.40      4      7    89
  [16]Pears, sauce                     113     3.98      3      4    93
  Pineapples,
     edible
     p’t’n, av.                        226     8.        4      6    90
  [16]Raspberries,
     black                             146     5.18     10     14    76
  Raspberries, red                     178     6.29      8      0    92
  Strawberries, av.  Two servings      260     9.1      10     15    75
  [16]Watermelon,
     av.                               760    27.        6      6    88


  DAIRY PRODUCTS

  [16]Butter         Ordinary pat       12.5    .44       .5  99.5   00
  [16]Buttermilk        1½ glass       275     9.7      34    12     54
  [16]Cheese, Am.,
     pale            1½ cubic in.       22      .77     25    73      2
  [16]Cheese,
     cottage         4 cubic in.        89     3.12     76     8     16
  [16]Cheese,
     full cream      1½ cubic in.       23      .82     25    73      2
  [16]Cheese,
     Neufchatel      1½ cubic in.       29.5   1.05     22    76      2
  [16]Cheese,
     Swiss           1½ cubic in.       23      .8      25    74      1
  [16]Cheese,
     pineapple       1½ cubic in.       20      .72     25    73      2
  [16]Cream          ¼ ord. glass       49     1.7       5    86      9
  Kumyss                               188     6.7      21    37     42
  [16]Milk,
     condensed,
     sweetened                          30     1.06     10    23     67
  [16]Milk,
     condensed,
     unsweet’d                          59     2.05     24    50     26
  [16]Milk,
     skimmed         1½ glass          255     9.4      37     7     56
  [16]Milk, whole    Small glass       140     4.9      19    52     29
  Milk, human,
     2nd week                          162     5.7      11    47     42
  Milk, human,
     3rd month                         171     6         7    46     47
  [16]Whey           Two glasses       360    13        15    10     75


  CAKES, PASTRY, PUDDINGS AND DESSERTS

  [16]Cake,
     chocolate
     layer           Half ord. sq. pc.  28      .98      7    22     71
  [16]Cake,
     gingerbread     Half ord. sq. pc.  27      .96      6    23     71
  Cake, sponge       Small piece        25      .89      7    25     68
  Custard, caramel                      71     2.51     19    10     71
  Custard, milk      Ordinary cup      122     4.29     26    56     18
  Custard, tapioca   Two-thirds ord.    69.5   2.45      9    12     79
  [16]Doughnuts      Half a doughn’t    23      .8       6    45     49
  [16]Lady fingers   Two                27      .95     10    12     78
  [16]Macaroons      Four               23      .82      6    33     61
  [16]Pie, apple     One-third piece    38     1.3       5    32     63
  [16]Pie, cream     One-fourth piece   30     1.1       5    32     63
  [16]Pie, custard   One-third piece    55     1.9       9    32     59
  [16]Pie, lemon     One-third piece    38     1.35      6    36     58
  [16]Pie, mince     One-fourth piece   35     1.2       8    38     54
  [16]Pie, squash    One-third piece    55     1.9      10    42     48
  Pudding, apple
     sago                               81     3.02      6     3     91
  Pudding, brown
     betty           Half ord. s’v’g.   56.6   2.        7    12     81
  Pudding, cream
     rice            Very small s’v’g.  75     2.65      8    13     79
  Pudding, Indian
     meal            Half ord. ser’g.   56.6   2.       12    25     63
  Pudding, apple
     tapioca         Small serving      79     2.8       1     1     98
  Tapioca, cooked    Ord. serving      108     3.85      1     1     98


  SWEETS AND PICKLES

  [16]Catsup,
     tomato, av.                       170     6.       10     3     87
  Candy, plain                          26      .9       0     0    100
  Candy, chocolate                      30     1.1       1     4     95
  [16]Honey          Four teasp’ns      30     1.05      1     0     99
  [16]Marmalade
     (orange)                           28.3   1          .5   2.5   97
  [16]Molasses,
     cane                               35     1.2        .5   0     99.5
  [16]Olives,
     green, edible
     portion         Five to seven      32     1.1       1     84    15
  [16]Olives, ripe,
     edible portion  Five to seven      38     1.3       2     91     7
  [16]Pickles, mixed                   415    14.6      18     15    67
  [16]Sugar,
     granulated      Three heaping tsp.
                     or 1½ lumps        24      .86      0      0   100
  [16]Sugar, maple   Four teaspoons     29     1.03      0      0   100
  [16]Syrup, maple   Four teaspoons     35     1.2       0      0   100


  NUTS, EDIBLE PORTION

  [16]Almonds, av.   Eight to 15        15      .53     13     77    10
  [16]Beechnuts                         14.8    .52     13     79     8
  [16]Brazil nuts    Three ord. size    14      .49     10     86     4
  [16]Butternuts                        14      .50     16     82     2
  [16]Cocoanuts                         16      .57      4     77    19
  [16]Chestnuts,
     fresh, av.                         40     1.4      10     20    70
  [16]Filberts, av.  Ten nuts           14      .48      9     84     7
  [16]Hickory nuts                      13      .47      9     85     6
  [16]Peanuts, av.   Thirteen double    18      .62     20     63    17
  [16]Pecans,
     polished        About eight        13      .46      6     87     7
  [16]Pine nuts,
     (pignolias)     About eighty       16      .56     22     74     4
  [16]Walnuts,
     California      About six          14      .48     10     83     7


  CEREALS

  [16]Bread, brown,
     average         Ord. thick slice   43     1.5       9      7    84
  [16]Bread, corn
    (johnnycake) av. Small square       38     1.3      12     16    72
  [16]Bread, white,
     home made       Ord. thick slice   38     1.3      13      6    81
  [16]Cookies, sugar Two                24      .83      7     22    71
  Corn flakes,
     toasted         Ord. cer. dish
                     f’l.               27      .97     11      1    88
  [16]Corn meal,
     granular, av.   2½ level tbsp.     27      .96     10      5    85
  Corn meal,
     unbolted, av.   Three tbsp.        26      .92      9     11    80
  [16]Crackers,
     graham          Two crackers       23      .82      9.5   20.5  70
  [16]Crackers,
     oatmeal         Two crackers       23      .81     11     24    65
  [16]Crackers, soda 3½ “Uneedas”       24      .83      9.4   20    70.6
  [16]Hominy, cooked Large serving     120     4.2      11      2    87
  [16]Macaroni, av.                     27      .96     15      2    83
  Macaroni, cooked   Ord. serving      110     3.85     14     15    71
  [16]Oatmeal,
     boiled          1½ serving        159     5.6      18      7    75
  [16]Popcorn                           24      .86     11     11    78
  [16]Rice, uncooked                    28      .98      9      1    90
  [16]Rice, boiled   Ord. cereal dish   87     3.1      10      1    89
  [16]Rice, flakes   Ord. cereal dish   27      .94      8      1    91
  [16]Rolls, Vienna,
     av.             One large roll     35     1.2      12      7    81
  [16]Shredded wheat One biscuit        27      .94     13      4.5  82.5
  [16]Spaghetti,
     average                            28      .97     12      1    87
  [16]Wafers,
     vanilla         Four               24      .84      8     13    71
  Wheat, flour,
     e’t’e w’h’t,
     av.             Four tbsp.         27      .96     15      5    80
  [16]Wheat, flour,
     graham, av.     4½ tbsp.           27      .96     15      5    80
  [16]Wheat, flour,
     patent, family
     and straight
     grade spring
     wheat, av.      Four tbsp.         27      .97     12      3    85
  [16]Zwieback       Size of thick
                     slice of bread     23      .81      9     21    70


  MISCELLANEOUS

  [16]Eggs, hen’s
     boiled          One large egg      59     2.1      32     68    00
  [16]Eggs, hen’s
     whites          Of six eggs       181     6.4     100      0    00
  [16]Eggs, hen’s
     yolks           Two yolks          27      .94     17     83    00
  [16]Omelet                            94     3.3      34     60     6
  [16]Soup, beef,
     av.                               380    13.       69     14    17
  [16]Soup, bean,
     av.             Very large plate  150     5.4      20     20    60
  [16]Soup, cream
     of celery       Two plates        180     6.3      16     47    37
  [16]Consomme                         830    29.       85     00    15
  [16]Clam chowder   Two plates        230     8.25     17     18    65
  [16]Chocolate,
     bitter          Half-a-square      16      .56      8     72    20
  [16]Cocoa                             20      .69     17     53    30
  Ice cream (Phila)  Half serving       45     1.6       5     57    38
  Ice cream
     (New York)      Half serving       48     1.7       7     47    46


Tables Showing Average Height, Weight, Skin Surface and Food Units
Required Daily With Very Light Exercise

  BOYS

  Age  Height in    Weight in    Surface in    Calories or
        Inches       Pounds     Square Feet    Food Units
   5     41.57        41.09         7.9           816.2
   6     43.75        45.17         8.3           855.9
   7     45.74        49.07         8.8           912.4
   8     47.76        53.92         9.4           981.1
   9     49.69        59.23         9.9         1,043.7
  10     51.58        65.30        10.5         1,117.5
  11     53.33        70.18        11.0         1,178.2
  12     55.11        76.92        11.6         1,254.8
  13     57.21        84.85        12.4         1,352.6
  14     59.88        94.91        13.4         1,471.3


  GIRLS

  Age  Height in   Weight in  Surface in     Calories or
         Inches     Pounds    Square Feet     Food Units
  5     41.29       39.66        7.7              784.5
  6     43.35       43.28        8.1              831.9
  7     45.52       47.46        8.5              881.7
  8     47.58       52.04        9.2              957.1
  9     49.37       57.07        9.7            1,018.5
  10    51.34       62.35       10.2            1,081.0
  11    53.42       68.84       10.7            1,148.5
  12    55.88       78.31       11.8            1,276.8


  MEN
                                                    Food Units
  Height  Weight    Surface in            Calories  Carbo-
  in In. in Pounds  Square Ft.  Proteids  or Fats   hydrates   Total
  61       131       15.92       197         591     1,182     1,970
  62       133       16.06       200         600     1,200     2,000
  63       136       16.27       204         612     1,224     2,040
  64       140       16.55       210         630     1,260     2,100
  65       143       16.76       215         645     1,290     2,150
  66       147       17.06       221         663     1,326     2,210
  67       152       17.40       228         684     1,368     2,280
  68       157       17.76       236         708     1,416     2,360
  69       162       18.12       243         729     1,458     2,430
  70       167       18.48       251         753     1,506     2,510
  71       173       18.91       260         780     1,560     2,600
  72       179       19.34       269         807     1,614     2,690
  73       185       19.89       278         834     1,668     2,780
  74       192       20.33       288         864     1,728     2,880
  75       200       20.88       300         900     1,800     3,000


  WOMEN
                                                    Food Units
  Height  Weight    Surface in            Calories  Carbo-
  in In. in Pounds  Square Ft.  Proteids  or Fats   hydrates   Total
  59        119         14.82    179         537     1,074     1,790
  60        122         15.03    183         549     1,098     1,830
  61        124         15.29    186         558     1,116     1,860
  62        127         15.50    191         573     1,146     1,910
  63        131         15.92    197         591     1,182     1,970
  64        134         16.13    201         603     1,206     2,010
  65        139         16.48    209         627     1,254     2,090
  66        143         16.76    215         645     1,290     2,150
  67        147         17.06    221         663     1,326     2,210
  68        151         17.34    227         681     1,362     2,270
  69        155         17.64    232         696     1,392     2,320
  70        159         17.92    239         717     1,434     2,390

 NOTE—With active exercise an increase of about 20 per cent total food
 units may be needed.


DIETARY CALCULATION WITH FOOD VALUES IN CALORIES PER OUNCE

      Breakfast           Proteids    Fats   Carbohydrates   Total
  Gluten Gruel 5 oz.        23.5       1.0       30.0
  Soft-Boiled Egg           26.3      41.9
  Malt Honey 1 oz.                               86.2
  Creamed Potatoes 5 oz.    15.0      40.0      104.0
  Zwieback 2 oz.            22.8      52.8      171.6
  Pecans ¾ oz.             8.4     141.0       13.4
  Apple 5 oz.                2.5       6.5       83.0
                           —————   ———————     ——————        —————
                            98.5     283.2      488.2        869.9


DIETARY CALCULATION WITH FOOD SERVED IN 100 CALORIES PORTIONS

                   Portions
    Dinner        in serving   Proteins  Fats   Carbohydrates   Total
  French Soup           ½         10      20         20
  Nut Sauce            1          29      55         16
  Macaroni, Egg        1          15      59         26
  Baked Potato         2          22       2        176
  Cream Gravy           ½          5      33         12
  Biscuit              1½         20       2        128
  Butter               1           1      99
  Honey                2                            200
  Celery                ¼          4                 21
  Apple Juice           ½                            50
                      ———        ———     ———        ———         —————
                      10¼        106     270        649         1,025


Hourly Outgo in Heat and Energy from the Human Body as Determined in
the Respiration Calorimeter by the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture

    Average (154 lbs)      Calories
  Man at rest (asleep)        65
  Sitting up (awake)         100
  Light exercise             170
  Moderate exercise          190
  Severe exercise            450
  Very severe exercise       600


FOOTNOTES:

[14] The following receipts for fruit beverages are adapted from
Practical Diatetics by Alida Frances Pattee, Publisher, Mt. Vernon, N.
Y.

[15] “Nutrition and Diatetics” by Dr. W. S. Hall, D. Appleton & Co.,
New York.

[16] Chemical Composition of American Food Materials, Atwater and
Bryant, U. S. Department of Agricultural Bull. No. 28.

[17] Experiments on Losses in Cooking Meats. (1900-03), Grindley, U. S.
Department of Agricultural Bull. No. 141.

[18] Laboratory number of specimen, as per Experiments on Losses in
Cooking Meat.




Contents


  Abnormal Conditions, diet in, 233-282

  Absorption of foods, 78-80

  Achlochlorhydria Achlorhydria, 248

  Adolescence, diet in, 228

  Aged, diet for, 231

  Albuminoids, 66, 122

  Albuminized drinks, 287-289

  Alcohol, 83-84

  Alkali, 122

  Anaemia, 49, 133, 210, 236

  Appendix, 281

  Appetite, 95-98

  Apples, 125

  Apricots, 125

  Asparagus, 120


  Bananas, 125-126

  Barley water, 90, 175, 289

  Beans, 120, 163

  Beef, 128

  Beef Extracts, 133

  Beets, 116-118

  Beverages, 183, 284-287

  Bile, Influence on Digestion, 75

  Biscuits, 146

  Blackberries, 125

  Bouillons, 133, 196

  Bran, 141

  Bread, 138, 143

  Breathing, Effect of, 104-107

  Breakfast foods, 150

  Bright’s Disease, 270

  Brussels Sprouts, 120

  Butter, 55, 172

  Buttermilk, 172


  Carbo-nitrogenous foods, 137-139

  Carbon, 20

  Carbonaceous foods, 37, 28, 51, 115, 137

  Candy, 61

  Carrots, 116, 118

  Cabbage, 120

  Caffein, 184

  Cancer of Stomach, 250

  Casein, 172

  Carbonized drinks, 186

  Catarrh of Stomach, 242-250

  Catarrh of Intestines, 254

  Celery, 120

  Cereals, 137-138

  Cereals, Cooking of 199, 201

  Cereal Coffee, 160

  Cerealin, 140

  Chemical Comp. of foods, etc., 20-24

  Chemical action of plants, 21

  Cherries, 125

  Chard, 121

  Chocolate, 161, 185

  Cheese, 172

  Citrates, 123, 125

  Citrous fruits, 123, 125

  Classification of foodstuffs, 37

  Classification of foods, 115

  Cod Liver Oil, 56

  Cotton Seed Oil, 56

  Corn, 138, 148

  Cornstarch, 115-116

  Coffee 161, 184

  Coffee Eggnog, 287

  Cocoa 161, 185

  Condiments, 187

  Cooking, 191

  Constipation, 253

  Cream, 55, 172

  Cranberries, 123, 125

  Creatin, 132-133

  Crackers, 138

  Cracked wheat, 155

  Crust Coffee, 290

  Cucumbers, 120

  Currants, 123, 125

  Custards (receipts), 295-296


  Dates, 125

  Dandelions, 121

  Dextrin, 57, 153

  Dextrose, 63, 74

  Diabetes, 264

  Diets, 207

  Diets, Classification of, 284-292

  Diet, vegetable, 219-222

  Dilation of Stomach, 248

  Digestion, 67-80
    Intestines, 74-77
    Stomach, 69-71

  Drinking at meals, 43

  Dyspepsia, 239

  Dysentery, 256


  Economy in food, 99-101

  Eggs, 133

  Eggs, ways of serving, 287-288

  Egg broth, 287

  Egg lemonade, 135, 285

  Eggnog, 135, 287

  Egg malted milk, 287

  Enteritis, 254

  Exercise, Effects of, 104-107

  Extractives, 132


  Farinaceous beverages, 289

  Fat, 52, 75-76

  Figs, 125

  Fish, 129-130

  Flours, 138, 141-143

  Food Supply, 19

  Food Values, 211-218, 299

  Fruits, 122

  Fruit juices, receipts for, 285-287

  Fruit drinks, 286

  Frequency of meals, 102-104


  Gall stones, 75-76, 263

  Gastric juice, 71-74

  Gastritis, 242-250

  Gelatin, 132

  Gelatinoids, 132

  Glycogen, 81-82

  Gluten, 140-142

  Gout, 273

  Gooseberries, 123-125

  Greens, 121

  Green Vegetables, 119-122

  Grapes, 125

  Grape fruit, 123

  Grape juice, 286

  Grape nectar, 286

  Grape lithia, 286

  Grape yolk, 288

  Gruels, receipts for, 297


  Habit and regularity of eating, 101-102

  Heat and energy, 24

  Hydrochloric acid, 71, 123, 175

  Hydrogen, 20

  Hyperchlorhydria, 246

  Hypochlorhydria, 247


  Indigestion, 239-254

  Intestinal disorders, 251-255

  Intestines, Work of, 89-91

  Intestines, Inflammation of, 256

  Iron, 48


  Jellies, Receipts for, 295

  Junket, Receipts for, 296


  Kidneys, 87-93

  Kidneys, derangement of, 268


  Legumes, 163

  Lemons, 123-125

  Lemonades, 186, 285-286

  Lemon Whey, 286

  Lentils, 168

  Lettuce, 120

  Limes, 123

  Limewater, Proportions of, 176

  Limewater, How to prepare, 175

  Liver, Work of, 81-84, 92

  Liver, Derangements of, 258

  Lobsters, 129-130

  Lungs, 87-93


  Macaroni, 147

  Magnesium, 122

  Malted Milk, 178

  Malates, 122

  Maltose, 63, 69, 74

  Meat, 127, 192, 199

  Meat juice, how prepared, 290-291

  Meat tea, how prepared, 291

  Meat broth, how prepared, 291

  Measures and Weights, 281-283, 299

  Menus, 223-282

  Milk, 170

  Milk, clabbered, 180

  Milk, skimmed, 161

  Milk, condensed, 180

  Milk, ways of serving, 287

  Milk, tests, 176

  Milk, sugar, 180

  Milk junket, 186

  Mind, Influence of, 110, 113

  Mixed diet, 219-222

  Mould, 146

  Muscles, Work of, 84-86, 93

  Mulberries, 125

  Mutton, 128


  Nerves, work of, 86-87, 93

  Nervous disorders, 272

  Neurasthenia, 273

  Nephritis, 269

  Nitrogen, 20

  Nitrogenous foods, 38-39, 65-66, 127

  Nutrition, 13, 14

  Nutri-meal, 143

  Nut Oil, 57

  Nuts, 169


  Oatmeals, 156

  Oatmeal water, 175, 290

  Oats, 138

  Obesity, 278

  Olive Oil, 57

  Onions, 117

  Oranges, 123-125

  Orangeade, 286

  Oxidation, 26

  Oxygen, 20

  Oysters, 129-130


  Pancreatic trypsin, 259

  Pancreatin, 245

  Pastry, 201

  Pasteurized milk, 177

  Parsnips, 119

  Peas, 120, 163-165-166

  Peaches, 125

  Peanuts, 163-164

  Pears, 125

  Peristalsis, 73, 76

  Peptone, 72, 74

  Pepsin, 71

  Peptonized Milk, 244

  Phosphorous, 20, 21

  Pineapples, 123, 125

  Pineapple juice, 286

  Plums, 125

  Pork, 128-131

  Poultry, 128-131

  Potatoes, 116-117

  Potassium, 122

  Predigested Foods, 153

  Preservation of Foods, 189

  Proteins, 21, 22, 39

  Prunes, 125

  Puffed Rice, 158

  Puffed Wheat, 159

  Purpose of Food, 19


  Raisins, 125

  Raspberries, 125

  Rectal Feeding, 256

  Rennin, 71

  Rennet, 175

  Rheumatism, 275

  Rhubarb, 120, 123

  Rice, 138, 147

  Rice Water, 290

  Roots and Tubers, 115-119

  Rye, 138


  Salt, 47

  Sago, 115-116

  Saliva, office of, 69, 91

  Salivary Digestion, 69, 71

  Sardines, 129, 130

  Sedentary Occupation, diet for, 225

  Semi Solid Foods, 292

  Skin, work of, 89

  Skimmed milk, 179

  Smierkase, 179

  Soups, 133, 193

  Soups, receipts, 291-292

  Sodium, 122

  Souffles, receipts, 298

  Spinach, 120

  Spaghetti, 147

  Starch, 63

  Sterilized milk, 178

  Stomach Digestion, 71, 74, 91

  Strawberries, 125

  Sugar, 57

  Sulphur, 134

  Sweet potatoes, 116, 117


  Tapioca, 115-116

  Tannic Acid, 126

  Tartrates, 122

  Tasty Meal Service, 112

  Tea, 183

  Tea Punch, 287

  Thein, 184

  Tired, Disturbed balance, 107-110

  Toast Water, 290

  Tomatoes, 120

  Torpid Liver, 261-263

  Turnips, 119


  Ulcer of Stomach, 250

  Uremic Poisoning, 276

  Uric Acid, 209

  Uric Acid, Excess of, 277


  Veal, 128-131

  Vegetables, 202

  Vegetable Marrow, 120


  Water, 41, 186

  Watercress, 120

  Watermelons, 125

  Wheat, 138, 140

  Whortleberries, 123-125

  Whole Wheat Flour, 143

  Wild Rice, 148

  Wine Whey, 286


  Yeast, 144

  Young Child, diet for, 225




  Transcriber’s Notes

  pg 53 Changed: change is produced in the convertion
             to: change is produced in the conversion

  pg 85 Changed: by forcing one to breath more rapidly
             to: by forcing one to breathe more rapidly

  pg 89 Changed: bile salts, mucus, animo acids
             to: bile salts, mucus, amino acids

  pg 126 Changed: his green apples, excrutiating pains
              to: his green apples, excruciating pains

  pg 127 Changed: are not easly broken
              to: are not easily broken

  pg 137 Changed: while the herbiverous animals live upon cereals
              to: while the herbivorous animals live upon cereals

  pg 174 Changed: milk seems to make some people billious
              to: milk seems to make some people bilious

  pg 191 Changed: resultant happinees of every family
              to: resultant happiness of every family

  pg 194 Changed: retain the moisure
              to: retain the moisture

  pg 215 Changed: retain hody heat and furnish energy
              to: retain body heat and furnish energy

  pg 247 Changed: the secretion of hydrodiloric acid
              to: the secretion of hydrochloric acid

  pg 287 Changed: Petonized; boiled;
              to: Peptonized; boiled;

  pg 299 Changed: 30.78 grams, is corbohydrate
              to: 30.78 grams, is carbohydrate

  pg 305 Changed: Achlochlorhydria, 248
              to: Achlorhydria, 248





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