Transcriber's Note: Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals.
Minor typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected
without note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have
been retained as printed.
The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the
transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
* * * * *
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
DIET
_A Treatise on the Food Question_
IN FIVE VOLUMES
EXPLAINING, IN PLAIN LANGUAGE, THE
CHEMISTRY OF FOOD AND THE CHEMISTRY OF
THE HUMAN BODY, TOGETHER WITH THE ART OF
UNITING THESE TWO BRANCHES OF SCIENCE IN THE
PROCESS OF EATING SO AS TO ESTABLISH NORMAL
DIGESTION AND ASSIMILATION OF FOOD AND
NORMAL ELIMINATION OF WASTE, THEREBY
REMOVING THE CAUSES OF STOMACH,
INTESTINAL, AND ALL OTHER
DIGESTIVE DISORDERS
BY
EUGENE CHRISTIAN, F. S. D.
VOLUME II
NEW YORK CITY
CORRECTIVE EATING SOCIETY, INC.
1917
COPYRIGHT 1914
BY
EUGENE CHRISTIAN
ENTERED AT
STATIONERS HALL, LONDON
SEPTEMBER, 1914
BY
EUGENE CHRISTIAN, F. S. D.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
PUBLISHED AUGUST, 1914
CONTENTS
VOLUME II
_Lesson VIII_ _Page_
FOODS OF VEGETABLE ORIGIN 287
Grains 289
Uses of Grains:
(1) Grain as a Source of Energy 295
(2) Grain as a Source of Nitrogen 297
(3) Grain as a Remedial Food 298
Nuts 300
Peanuts 306
Legumes 307
Fruits 308
Classification of Fruits according to acidity 313
Vegetables 317
Classification of Vegetables 319
Sugars and Sirups 324
Beet-Sugar 325
Honey 330
Confections 332
Vegetable Oils 335
_Lesson IX_
DRUGS, STIMULANTS, AND NARCOTICS 341
Alkaloids and Narcotics 349
Opium 350
Cocain 353
Nux Vomica and Strychnin 356
Quinin 356
Acetanilid 357
Tobacco 361
Coffee 363
Tea 365
Cocoa and Chocolate 366
Alcohols and Related Compounds 367
Alcohol 367
Chloroform, Ether, and Chloral 372
Poisonous Mineral Salts and Acids 373
Mercury 373
Potassium Iodid 374
Lead and Copper 375
Purgatives and Cathartics 375
_Lesson X_
IMPORTANCE OF CORRECT DIAGNOSIS AND CORRECT TREATMENT 379
_Lesson XI_
COMMON DISORDERS--THEIR CAUSE AND CURE 403
Health and Dis-ease Defined 405
Overeating 413
Superacidity 418
The Cause 420
The Symptoms 421
The Remedy 423
Fermentation (Superacidity) 424
The Cause 425
The Symptoms 426
The Remedy 428
Gas Dilatation 431
The Symptoms 432
Importance of Water-drinking 434
Constipation 434
The Cause 434
The Remedy 436
Foods that May Be Substituted for One
Another 439
Constipating and Laxative Foods 446
Constipating and Laxative Beverages 446
Gastritis 447
The Cause 449
The Symptoms 449
The Remedy 450
Nervous Indigestion 453
The Cause 454
The Symptoms 455
The Remedy 458
Subacidity 460
The Cause 461
The Symptoms 462
The Remedy 463
Biliousness 465
The Cause 466
The Symptoms 466
The Remedy 466
Cirrhosis of the Liver 467
The Cause 467
The Symptoms 468
The Treatment 469
Piles or Hemorrhoids 471
The Cause 471
The Symptoms 472
The Treatment 472
Diarrhea 474
The Cause 474
The Treatment 476
Emaciation or Underweight 477
The Cause 478
The Symptoms 481
The Remedy 482
Obesity or Overweight 491
The Cause 493
The Remedy 495
Neurasthenia 503
The Cause 505
The Symptoms 506
The Remedy 506
Malnutrition 511
Cause and Remedy 511
Locomotor Ataxia 511
The Cause 511
The Symptoms 514
The Remedy 515
Colds, Catarrh, Hay Fever, Asthma, Influenza 519
Colds--The Cause 520
The Symptoms 521
The Remedy 523
Catarrh--The Cause 527
The Symptoms 528
The Remedy 528
Hay Fever--The Cause 530
The Symptoms 531
The Remedy 531
Asthma--The Cause 533
The Symptoms 533
The Remedy 534
Influenza--The Cause 536
The Symptoms 537
The Remedy 537
Insomnia 538
The Cause 538
The Remedy 539
Rheumatism--Gout 543
Rheumatism--The Cause 544
The Symptoms 545
Gout--The Cause 546
The Symptoms 547
Rheumatism, Gout--The Remedy 547
Bright's Dis-ease 550
The Cause 551
The Symptoms 551
The Remedy 552
Diabetes 556
The Cause 556
The Symptoms 557
The Remedy 557
Consumption 560
The Treatment 564
Heart Trouble 569
The Cause 571
The Remedy 573
Dis-eases of the Skin 574
The Cause 575
The Treatment 578
Appendicitis 580
The Symptoms 582
The Treatment 583
Chronic or Severe Cases of Appendicitis 586
LESSON VIII
FOODS OF VEGETABLE ORIGIN
GRAINS
Grains constitute the most important article of human food, not so
much on account of their superior nutritive, curative or remedial
value, but chiefly because of their prolific growth and abundant
production in all civilized countries throughout the world.
The variety of grain produced in the various countries depends
largely upon the climate and the habits of the people.
The predominant use of rice by the Asiatics, wheat by the Europeans,
and maize by the aboriginal American, shows how people adapt
themselves to the foods of prodigal growth. It also shows the
effect different foods have upon the physical development of the
various tribes that inhabit these remote countries.
[Sidenote: Wheat]
Wheat is said by some writers to be a complete food. This is not
strictly true. Wheat contains a very small percentage of fat, and
while fat can be made in the body from carbohydrates, it is more
natural, and entails less work upon the digestive organs and the
liver if the diet is balanced so as to contain the required amount
of fat, and all other nutritive elements in the right or natural
proportions.
[Sidenote: Results of eating too much starch]
A diet composed of wheat alone would contain 70 per cent of
carbohydrates, chiefly in the form of starch. While this would be
perfectly wholesome, it would give the body an excess of starch
which would ultimately result in intestinal congestion, gout,
rheumatism, hardening of the arteries, and premature old age. Wheat
contains a larger quantity, and a greater variety of proteids than
any other grain, but wheat proteids are more difficult to digest
than the proteids of milk, eggs, or nuts.
[Sidenote: Composition of wheat]
Wheat varies greatly in composition, according to the soil and the
climate in which it is produced. This fact is not recognized or
considered by the average writer on dietetics, who eulogizes wheat
as the wonderful "staff of life," because certain food tables show
that wheat contains 13 per cent, while corn contains only 10 per
cent of proteids. It is neither the proteid nor the carbohydrate
content that determines the value of any grain as food, but rather
the proportions of the different elements of nutrition it contains,
that being the best which is more nearly balanced to meet the
requirements of the human organism.
[Sidenote: Rye]
Rye may be considered in the same class as wheat. Chemically, the
contents are very similar, and the effects upon the body are very
much the same. It contains a larger per cent of cellulose, and less
gluten than wheat, therefore as a remedial food it is superior
to all other grains for exciting intestinal peristalsis, thereby
removing the causes of constipation.
[Sidenote: Barley]
The nutritive elements of barley are similar to those of wheat and
rye. It contains less cellulose fiber, and therefore a larger per
cent of digestible nutrients than any one of the cereal group except
rice. It has never become popular as a bread-making grain because--
1 The nitrogenous or gluten substances are not tenacious enough
to make the conventional "raised" bread
2 The flour is dark in color
3 The grain is so hard and "flinty" that it is very difficult to
mill it down to the required fineness
For these reasons barley has been greatly neglected as a food
commodity. From a chemical standpoint it deserves a much higher
place in our dietaries than it has hitherto been given.
[Sidenote: Oats]
The composition of oats varies somewhat from that of wheat, rye and
barley. They contain a larger proportion of both fat and proteids,
and form a desirable food if correctly prepared. The objection
to oats as an article of diet is the hasty manner in which they
are usually prepared, which converts them into a gummy mass of
gelatinized starch, entangled with the peculiar gummy proteid of
the oat grain. Thus prepared the oat is a most prolific source of
disturbed digestion.
[Sidenote: Corn]
Corn is the cheapest material capable of nourishing the human body
that is produced in the temperate zone. It is less digestible,
and more deficient in the salts than the group of grains thus far
mentioned. It is very wholesome, however, but in no way superior to
other grains. In the future corn will probably play an increasing
part in the problem of feeding the world, as a cheap source of
carbohydrates, and for the purpose of manufacturing glucose.
[Sidenote: Rice]
In all tropical and semi-tropical countries rice occupies the same
position that corn does in the temperate zone. It is more deficient
in proteids and in fat than any other food grain, while the starch
of rice is more easily digested than any other form of cereal
starch. This grain, however, is almost entirely devoid of mineral
constituents, and for this reason it is productive of serious
nutritive derangements when indulged in too freely. This deficiency
can be overcome by taking a liberal quantity of green salads, or
fresh vegetables, whenever rice is eaten.
[Sidenote: Buckwheat]
Buckwheat is a grain whose consumption is very limited, owing to the
fact that it is dark in color. It compares favorably with wheat and
corn as to nutritive elements, and is now much used as a winter food
by the northern people.
USES OF GRAINS
The use of grains as an article of food may be considered under
three headings:
1 As a source of energy
2 As a source of nitrogen
3 Grain as a remedial food; that is, as a source of cellulose or
roughness, for the regulation of intestinal action
(1) GRAIN AS A SOURCE OF ENERGY
[Sidenote: Too much grain consumed]
All grains are composed largely of starch, therefore the question
of energy to be derived from this source is one of assimilation
and use. The use of grains in the diet deserves the most careful
consideration, and the study should not be confined to any
particular grain, but to the entire group, and especially to the
method of preparation, and the quantity that should be consumed
under the varying conditions of age, temperature of environment, and
work or activity. The conventional American diet contains such an
abnormal quantity of grain-starch, and the methods of preparation
are so unnatural, that the Food Scientist, in practise, will find
many people whose digestive organs have become so deranged that he
may deem it necessary to prohibit grain-starch almost entirely.
The grown person, pursuing the ordinary sedative occupation, should
not eat more than three or four ounces of cereal food a day, while
the manual laborer should not consume more than five or six ounces
each twenty-four hours. This quantity contemplates cool, or winter
weather. In summer this quantity should be reduced according to work
or activity.
(2) GRAIN AS A SOURCE OF NITROGEN
Grain as a source of proteid has received undue consideration in
hygienic works. Upon an allowance of one-fourth of a pound of grain
per day, which would make four vienos, with a nitrogen factor of
six, we see that 24 decigrams of nitrogen would be supplied from
the grain. The variations between the proteids contained in two
varieties of breakfast food is seldom more than two or three per
cent. This would amount to a variation in the daily intake of
nitrogen of about five decigrams, an amount too little to be worth
consideration.
[Sidenote: Digestibility of grain proteids]
Grain proteids are not so easily digested as are the proteids
of eggs, milk and nuts. The following list of grains and grain
products is given in the order of the digestible nitrogen they
contain:
1 Gluten or dietetic foods
2 Barley
3 Macaroni
4 White flour
5 Whole wheat--Graham flour
6 Rye
7 Oatmeal
8 Corn products
9 Buckwheat
10 Rice
11 Pure starches
(3) GRAIN AS A REMEDIAL FOOD
[Sidenote: Remedial value of the whole grain]
[Sidenote: Wheat bran a natural remedy for constipation]
Grain is constipating or laxative in effect according to the way it
is prepared and eaten. Whole grain, especially wheat and rye, will
normalize intestinal action, and in some cases act as a laxative,
while the same grains made into flour, and milled in the usual way,
are constipating. Ordinary wheat bran is one of the most effective
remedies known for intestinal congestion, and it can be administered
or regulated with much accuracy, according to the severity of the
case. An intelligent understanding of the use of bran in treating
constipation is quite necessary. The object should be to employ
bran as a remedy in chronic cases, and to vary the quantity, the
quality, and the cellulose content of the meals. In rare cases,
bran may produce irritation; in such cases it should be cooked
three or hours, and eaten only with hot water. In other cases the
mechanical stimulation of the peristaltic action is not effective.
The practitioner can usually determine these questions on the third
or the fourth day.
Bran should be administered about as follows: In cases of severe
constipation, one rounding tablespoonful in water, just after
rising; one-half teacupful, cooked, taken at each meal, and a
heaping tablespoonful in water just before retiring.
The following table gives, in the order of their laxative effects, a
few of the principal grains:
1 Flaked or whole rye
2 Flaked or whole wheat
3 Flaked or whole barley
4 Flaked or whole oats
NUTS
[Sidenote: Nuts as heat producers]
The true nut is the seed of trees and shrubs which stores the
greater proportion of food material for nourishing the seedling in
the form of vegetable oil. The nut is very largely a fuel food or
heat producer, therefore among the primitive races, along the warmer
belts of the earth's surface, the nut was not of so much importance,
but in the northern or colder countries, where the body-heat meets
with such powerful resistance from climatic environment, the nut is
of equal, if not of more importance than fruits.
There are a few miscellaneous articles of food that are classed as
nuts, which do not belong primarily to this group.
In the following discussion I will take up the several varieties
of nuts in the order of their general value as articles of human
nutrition:
[Sidenote: Pine nuts]
[Sidenote: Composition of the pine nut]
[Sidenote: The nitrogen factor in nuts]
There are several species of pine seeds from many varieties of
trees, and from many different countries. The Italian pine seed or
nut, called in Italy "Pignon," and in this country "Pignolia," is
the refined or cleansed nut, called by the writer "protoid" nut.
This is a coined word given to it because it contains the highest
percentage of protein of any other food that has yet been analyzed.
The "protoid" nut contains 34 per cent protein, 47 per cent oil,
9 per cent carbohydrates, 4 per cent ash, and 6 per cent water.
The relative proportion of nitrogen to energy is not so great as
in some other food products, such as eggs, or skimmed milk. These
contain a large per cent of water, so that the protoid nut, while
containing pound for pound more nitrogen than any other known food,
has a lower nitrogen factor than foods which do not contain so large
a percentage of fat. This same rule will apply to all nuts. They
are rich in protein, but because of the large amount of fat which
supplies energy in its most condensed form, the nitrogen factor,
which is the relation between nitrogen and energy, is often lower in
many nuts than in grain. The chief advantage of protoid nuts over
other varieties is in their softness, consequently they are more
digestible, and more assimilable than any other specimen of the nut
family.
The pine nuts which grow prodigally in the western part of the
United States are not so rich in protein as the protoid nuts, but
in other respects are very excellent food. The annual crop of these
is about one million pounds, but is variable, a full crop being
produced only about every third year. They are harvested in a very
crude way, chiefly by Indians, from the remote districts of New
Mexico, Utah and California.
[Sidenote: Almonds]
The almond is a most desirable food. It contains 17 per cent
nitrogen, and 54 per cent fat. The flavor is very agreeable, and
the nuts, in digestibility, rank next to protoid nuts. They may be
substituted for each other in many dietaries.
[Sidenote: Pecans]
The pecan, which is a species of hickory-nut, contains 13 per
cent protein, and 70 per cent fat. It is a very delicious article
of food, though somewhat inferior to pine nuts and almonds, in
digestibility, and as a source of nitrogen.
[Sidenote: Brazil-nuts]
Brazil-nuts contain 18 per cent protein and 66 per cent fat, and
rank high as an article of body-heat and energy.
[Sidenote: White walnuts]
Soft-shelled or white walnuts are commonly known as "English
walnuts," though they are chiefly grown in France and in California.
These nuts contain 24 per cent protein, 63 per cent fat, and form
one of the staple nut foods of both Europe and America.
[Sidenote: Hazelnuts]
Filberts or hazelnuts contain 15 per cent protein, and 65 per cent
fat. They differ widely from the varieties hitherto named, and are
less digestible. They should be masticated exceedingly fine, and
should not be taken by one whose digestion is particularly weak.
[Sidenote: Butternuts]
Butternuts are a species of walnut. They contain 27 per cent
protein, 61 per cent fat, and rank in the dietary along with English
walnuts and Brazil-nuts.
[Sidenote: Beechnuts]
Beechnuts contain 22 per cent protein and 57 per cent fat. Owing to
the difficulty of gathering or harvesting, these nuts have never
become popular as an article of human food. They are in the grain
class, therefore rank high as an energy-producing material.
[Sidenote: Cocoanuts]
The cocoanut is a product of the palm tree, and, while quite
distinct from our nuts of the temperate climate, is a very valuable
and abundant food, deserving more extended use. Cocoanut is
about one-half fat, contains 6 per cent protein and 28 per cent
carbohydrates. The milk of the cocoanut is an excellent article of
food, and used by the natives in the tropics in many remedial and
medicinal ways.
PEANUTS
[Sidenote: Value of pea-nuts and soy-beans]
Peanuts, which are so widely used as food, are on the boundary line
between nuts and legumes. They were classed as peas by some of the
early botanists, and as nuts by others. The name indicates the
compromise that was made between the two theories. Another legume,
which is largely used in Japan and China is the soy-bean. Both the
peanut and the soy-bean are better balanced, and more nutritious
than common beans and peas. They are similar in composition, and
contain about equal quantities of protein and fat, some peanuts
yielding as much as 48 or 50 per cent oil. Neither are palatable in
their natural state, but both are very delicious when their starch
content is converted into dextrin by roasting. The Japanese have a
method of preparing the soy-bean by a process of fermenting, which
renders the proteid material very digestible. Soy-beans have not
yet been introduced into this country, hence there will be little
opportunity to use them, and they will, therefore, not be discussed
here at length.
LEGUMES
Legumes are the seeds of a certain group of plants grown in pods.
The term comes from a very ancient word, "legere," meaning _to
gather_. Beans and peas are the most familiar types of this group.
[Sidenote: Legumes rich in nitrogen]
Legumes are rich in nitrogen, and some varieties are also very rich
in oil. They are not equal to nuts in fuel or food value, however,
because in the natural state they are hard, somewhat indigestible,
and unpalatable. These qualities are due to the fact that the
nitrogenous material of legumes are radically different from the
nitrogen found in nuts, and belong to a class not so desirable as
food. Meat may be omitted from the diet and legumes adopted as the
chief source of nitrogen, but this change requires some knowledge
and careful feeding in the beginning. Meat is digested wholly in
the stomach and does not require mastication (only enough to be
swallowed), while dried or mature legumes require much mastication,
owing to the carbohydrates they contain. The best form in which
legumes can be taken is in their green or immature state, owing to
the fact that the immature starch they contain is readily soluble,
while mature legume starch is rather difficult to digest.
FRUITS
The term "fruit" in a strictly botanical sense includes a very wide
range of vegetable articles--the reproductive product of trees,
or other plants, such as grains, legumes, nuts, berries, apples,
peaches, plums, etc. In this lesson, however, I will apply the
popular meaning to the term.
[Sidenote: General composition of fruit]
The common succulent or juicy fruits, including both tree fruits and
berries, have many properties in common. The chemical composition
of these typical fruits consists of from 80 to 85 per cent water, 5
to 15 per cent sugar, 1 to 5 per cent organic or fruit-acids, and
small quantities of protein, cellulose, and the numerous salts, a
portion of which may be combined with the fruit-acids. Some unripe
fruits contain starch and various other carbohydrate substances,
many of which are distasteful and unwholesome. On the other hand,
when fruits become over-ripe, and decay sets in, the sugar is
changed into carbon dioxid, alcohol, and acetic acid, and the fruit
rapidly deteriorates in nutritive value and unwholesomeness. These
changes, together with the loss of water, account for the sponginess
and the tastelessness of cold storage and other long-kept fruits.
All varieties of fruit are best when they have been allowed to ripen
naturally on the trees, but modern commercial conditions demand
that fruits for shipping purposes be picked slightly immature, and
allowed to ripen in transit to the markets.
[Sidenote: Dietetic value of fruits]
The fruit-acids are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and
are burned in the body the same as sugar, or fats. The actual
energy-producing content of fruit is not large, and depends almost
entirely upon the sugar content. The nutrient elements of fruit
consist of fruit-sugar, combinations of salts, organic acids, and
various flavoring or aromatic substances. These same salts, acids,
etc., purchased at the drug store, and administered separately,
would be of no particular value, and might produce harmful results,
but in the various combinations of fruits they have very important
places in the diet.
[Sidenote: Fruit as an aid to digestion]
One of the most important functions that fruit performs in the
body is that of an artificial solvent, or an aid to digestion. To
make food serve this purpose well would require some knowledge in
regard to chemical harmonies, quantity, etc. To illustrate: If the
stomach does not secrete a sufficient quantity of hydrochloric
acid, fruit-acid should be absolutely omitted, as any acid, except
hydrochloric acid itself, tends to inhibit the formation of the
normal stomach acid. And this in turn tends to fermentation of the
sugars and starches--causing acid fermentation and all the symptoms
that accompany this condition.
[Sidenote: Effect of acid fruits]
So it is very important to prevent all the causes and sources of
fermentation if we would prevent the development of all the various
diseases that arise from acid conditions of the stomach, and
autointoxication. This explains why people of rheumatic tendency
cannot take acid fruit. Citrus fruits, however, and limes, lemons,
oranges, grape-fruit, etc., are beneficial in rheumatism and
conditions of lowered blood alkalinity, because they are changed to
alkalis in the system, and reinforce the blood alkalinity. People of
rheumatic tendency, therefore, should confine the diet as nearly as
possible to starchless foods, omitting all but the citrus fruits.
[Sidenote: Classification of fruit according to acidity]
In the lesson on "Vieno System of Food Measurement" I give the
energy value of various fruits, and also the nitrogen factor. These
tables consider fruits in the same light with other foods; that is,
as sources of energy and nitrogen. In the table which follows, the
more important fruits are grouped according to their total acidity.
The _figures_ represent the _volume_ of _acidity_, not strength:
ACID FRUITS SUBACID FRUITS SWEET AND
NON-ACID FRUITS
Limes 95 Raspberries 16 Grapes 8
Lemons 78 Plums 14 Prunes 7
Grapefruit 39 Cherries 13 Raisins 6
Cranberries 37 Peaches 12 Bananas 6
Pineapples 22 Blackberries 12 Persimmons 4
Oranges 20 Apples 11 Figs 4
Apricots 18 Pears 3
Strawberries 18 Dates 3
The fruits in the above table are all reasonably wholesome, and the
particular fruits to be used depend as much upon convenience as upon
the nature of the food substances. The above groups, however, will
be given much attention in dietetic prescriptions, and the food
scientist should become thoroughly familiar with this classification.
Of the acid fruits, oranges are the best and most desirable, and
cranberries perhaps the least.
Acid fruits are responsible for much stomach and intestinal trouble.
Food was prior to life. Animal life on this globe has been fitted
into, and is the net result of food; therefore, in the wonderful
adaptations of Nature, it is evident that life will develop higher
and better by subsisting upon the food that grows in its respective
country.
Acid fruits, such as lemons, limes, grapefruit, pineapples, and
oranges, are grown in the tropical and semi-tropical countries,
where the climate is warm, and where people subsist largely
upon native vegetables. These fruits supply the acids and the
fruit-sugars which the system requires in a warm climate.
In the tropics the people live out of doors, the pores of the skin
are kept open, and the effete matter produced by acids can be cast
out of the body.
[Sidenote: Evils of acid fruit in northern countries]
In northern countries people live largely indoors, and are heavily
clad except during a very short term in midsummer, therefore they
do not eliminate freely. They subsist largely upon the heavier
foods, such as flesh and grains, both of which require a large
amount of hydrochloric acid for digestion, hence when the acid of
fruits is added to the hydrochloric acid, of which most people have
a deficiency, serious acid fermentation may result.
Acid fermentation is the beginning of nearly all stomach trouble,
and is the primary cause of many other ills. (See "Fermentation," p.
424.)
[Sidenote: Value of subacid fruits]
Practically all the fruits of the subacid group are excellent;
however, on account of the mechanical irritation of the seeds,
berries should not be used in cases in which the stomach and the
intestines are irritated or catarrhal. In such cases the juice
should be pressed from the fruit and the seeds discarded.
[Sidenote: Value of non-acid fruits]
Of the non-acid fruits, raisins, figs, and dates are excellent
foods from the standpoint of furnishing a large amount of sugar in
its very best form. _Very ripe_ bananas and _ripe_ persimmons,
especially the large Japanese variety, are fruits which have
a distinct nature, and are suited to a particular purpose in
dietetics. These pulpy fruits are especially desirable in all cases
of digestive irritations and disorders, because of the amount of
nourishment contained in them, which is greater than that contained
in the juicy fruits. In my practice I seldom, if ever, find a
stomach so weak that it cannot digest ripe persimmons and very ripe
bananas. I attribute much of my success in treating such cases to
the skillful use of these products. The persimmon and the banana as
remedial and nutritive articles, are the most valuable fruits grown.
[Sidenote: Canned and evaporated fruits]
Raisins, prunes, figs, dates, apricots and peaches are common
types of fruit preserved by the process of evaporation, and when
soaked in clear water may be restored to almost their original
condition. Evaporated fruit should not be cooked. This is perhaps
the most palatable and wholesome method of preserving fruit. Next
in purity and importance are the methods of canning, as practised
by the housewife. The ordinary commercial preparations of canned
fruits, together with the many jams, marmalades and jellies, are
generally of doubtful, if not inferior quality. The Pure Food Law
has accomplished much to establish honesty in the preserving and
the labeling of food, but these products are still far from ideal,
and are not to be considered where fresh or evaporated fruits are
obtainable.
VEGETABLES
In this group we may conveniently class all food products not
elsewhere discussed.
[Sidenote: Composition of lettuce]
Beans, peas, and corn, when taken in the immature state, are classed
as vegetables. The importance of this group of food products
is not their great food value per pound (succulent vegetables
contain anywhere from 75 to 95 per cent of water); it is the
great variety of nutritive substances which they contain. Lettuce
contains cellulose, proteids, active chlorophyl, pentoses, sugars
and starches, representing carbohydrates in various processes of
transformation; small quantities of fat, and a relatively large per
cent of mineral salts, besides numerous flavoring materials. All
other edible plants contain many of the same elements in different
proportions.
Edible vegetables may be conveniently grouped according to that
portion of the plant which we consume. These groups are:
a Above ground
b Roots and tubers
c Leafy or succulent
d Cucurbita family
Melons, cantaloups, and tomatoes are on the border line between
vegetables and fruits. The following groups of vegetables are made
up according to these classifications:
VEGETABLES
_(a) Above Ground_
Beans--
Dried
Green
Beets
Brussels sprouts
Cauliflower
Corn
Eggplant
Lentils (dried)
Okra
Peas
Dried
Green
_(b) Roots and Tubers_
Artichokes
Asparagus
Carrots
Onions
Potatoes--
Sweet
White
Parsnips
Radishes
Turnips
_(c) Leafy or Succulent Vegetables_
Beet-tops
Cabbage
Celery
Dandelion
Kale
Lettuce
Parsley
Romaine
Radish-tops
Spinach
Turnip-tops
Watercress
_(d) Miscellaneous Vegetables (of the cucurbita family)_
Cantaloup
Muskmelon
Pumpkin
Squash
Watermelon
[Sidenote: Value of succulent vegetables]
Succulent vegetables are very essential in a well-rounded bill
of fare, and the neglect of their use is one of the errors in
dietetics. The most important function of succulent or leafy
vegetables is in the supply of pure water and mineral salts. They
give to the body that which cannot be obtained elsewhere.
[Sidenote: Vegetable juices aid the digestion of all food]
The diet of the average person is composed of too many solids,
especially of the carbohydrate class. Cereal products compose a
very large proportion of the civilized diet, especially in America,
yet the starch of cereals is the most difficult of all starches to
digest and to assimilate. The water and solvent juices in fresh
vegetables and succulent plants are important factors in the
digestion and the assimilation of cereal starches. The relative
importance of salads and succulent plants in the diet may be graded
according to the following table:
1 Spinach
2 Turnip-tops
3 Dandelion
4 Lettuce
5 Romaine
6 Endive
7 Celery
8 Cabbage
9 Kale
10 Watercress
11 Parsley
12 Beet-tops
[Sidenote: The white potato]
The Irish or white potato is the only true tuber that is used very
extensively as an article of food. It is formed chiefly of starch
and water. The starch of this tuber is very coarse and much softer,
more soluble, and hence much more digestible than the starch of
cereals or legumes. Baking is the best method of preparing the white
potato. The skins or peeling should be eaten in order to balance
the diet as to cellulose, which is a most important article in the
excitation of peristalsis of both the stomach and the intestines.
[Sidenote: The sweet potato]
The sweet potato is a root, and differs chiefly from the Irish
potato in that it contains more sugar and less starch. The sweet
potato is more wholesome than the Irish variety. Measured by its
chemical contents, it is one of the best foods of all the tuber
group.
[Sidenote: Root vegetables]
The root vegetables given in the order of my preference are:
Carrots, parsnips, turnips and beets. Carrots are exceedingly
nutritious and palatable in an uncooked state, eaten with nuts.
Tomatoes may be considered upon the border line between vegetables
and fruits. They are exceedingly useful in cases of intestinal
congestion and torpidity of the liver.
[Sidenote: The melon]
The watermelon is very wholesome. The water is rich in sugar, while
the pulp is composed of a soft fiber, which is a mild stimulant to
the digestive and the excretory organs. Muskmelons and cantaloups
are rich in natural sugar. They are non-acid, hence in harmony with
nearly every known article of food. Considering their chemical
neutrality and food value, they are about the best articles of diet
in the watery or juicy class.
The pumpkin and the squash, which are closely related to the melon,
are of the genus cucurbita, and are divided into three species:
1 Pepo or pumpkin
2 Maxima or winter squash
3 Moschata, the pear-shaped squash
With a slight variation of the water content, all of these varieties
contain much the same elements of nutrition. However, the pumpkin is
most important to the student of dietetics--(1) because of its food
value, and (2) because of its prolific and universal growth.
SUGARS AND SIRUPS
It will aid the student greatly in comprehending this subject if he
will review the chemical composition of sugars as given in Lesson IV
under "Carbohydrates," Vol. I, p. 107.)
Sugar in its various forms is a very prolific food product. It is
the principal substance contained in nearly all fruits, but we shall
confine our discussion here to the various sugars and sirups as they
appear in commerce, freed from the other materials with which they
are associated in nature.
BEET-SUGAR
[Sidenote: Origin of beet-sugar]
Contrary to common belief, the greatest proportion of the world's
supply of sugar comes from the sugar-beet. Sugar, which was once
manufactured solely from the maple-sap and the sugar-cane, was
discovered about one hundred years ago, to be present in beets. A
very interesting historical fact is that the sugar-beet industry
owes its origin to the efforts of Napoleon to supply France with
home-produced sugar, because of the tariff or embargo laid upon
foreign commerce. As a result of this effort all of Central Europe
is now a heavy sugar-producing region.
The method of production and the quantity of sugar contained in the
sugar-beet have been so greatly improved that the present industry
is quite able to compete with the production of sugar from cane
in the tropical regions. Crude sugar from sugar-beets is very
unpalatable, but the refined or crystallized form of beet sugar is
chemically identical with cane-sugar.
[Sidenote: Cane-sugar]
Sugar-cane, though not so important as formerly, is still grown very
extensively in several of the Southern states--Cuba, Porto Rico,
and many semi-tropical countries. The chief distinction between
cane-sugar and beet-sugar is that the crude cane-sugar, before it is
refined, is a very wholesome and palatable product. The brown sugar
of commerce is uncrystallized, or unrefined cane-sugar, and is fully
as wholesome, and to most tastes more palatable than the granulated
product. It is to be regretted that fashion has decreed we should
use white sugar.
[Sidenote: Refined sugar]
Refined sugar, whether produced from beets or cane, is sometimes
slightly contaminated with sulfurous acid and indigo, which are used
for bleaching purposes, and if present in any quantity are very
objectionable.
[Sidenote: Maple-sugar]
Maple-sugar, which is made by boiling or evaporating the sap of the
sugar-maple, is a product decidedly superior in natural flavor to
either beet or cane-sugar. Maple-sugar contains a small proportion
of glucose and levulose, but its chief distinction from other sugars
is a matter of flavor. The hickory tree contains flavors somewhat
similar to the maple. A cheap substitute for maple-sugar has been
manufactured by flavoring common sugar with the extract of hickory
bark.
The other forms of dry sugar obtainable in the market are milk-sugar
and crystallized glucose. The chief use of milk-sugar as an article
of diet is in humanizing cow's milk for infant feeding. The dry
glucose, or, as it is sometimes called, grape-sugar, is not
commonly seen in the market for the reason that it is difficult to
crystallize, hence it is much cheaper to market glucose in the form
of sirups.
[Sidenote: The manufacture, composition and uses of glucose]
Commercial glucose, as was explained in Lesson IV, is made by
treating starch with dilute acids, and its wholesomeness depends
entirely upon the care with which this is done. Theoretically,
glucose is a very good food. In practise it is somewhat risky
because cheap chemicals used in its manufacture may leave harmful
and poisonous substances in the finished product. The manufacture of
glucose is an excellent illustration of the objections to man-made
foods as compared with natural foods. When we eat grapes we know
that we are taking one of the most important substances required in
the life-processes in a perfectly pure, unadulterated and wholesome
form. Science has taught man to manufacture the identical substance
that is found in the grape from corn, which is a much cheaper
product, but the temptation to economize for the sake of dividends,
and to allow the commercial spirit to control in the manufacture of
food products is always present. For this reason the manufactured
article comes under suspicion, while the natural form we know to
be "exactly as represented." The principal uses of glucose are for
table sirups and confectionery. Pure glucose as an article of food
lacks flavor; for this reason the usual method of manufacturing
sirups is to mix glucose and some other form of sirup or molasses.
[Sidenote: Sirups and molasses]
The original sources of sirups, besides commercial glucose,
are cane-sirup, made directly by evaporating the juice of
the sugar-cane; maple-sirup, made from the pure maple-sap;
sorghum-sirup, or molasses, from the juice of the sorghum-cane,
which is grown extensively in the South and Central West; and
last, yet perhaps most common, "New Orleans" molasses, which is
the residue from the manufacture of cane-sugar. This may be very
wholesome if taken from the first drippings of the crystallized
sugar, but if taken from sugar refineries it contains chemicals that
have been used in the refining and the bleaching processes, and is a
very doubtful product. An excellent quality of sirup can be made in
the home by adding to the brown sugar a certain quantity of water,
and boiling down to the desired consistency.
HONEY
[Sidenote: Honey, man's only food from the insect world]
Honey occupies a very unique place, as it is practically the only
food substance which man utilizes from the insect world. Honey
cannot be strictly compared with milk and eggs as a food product,
as the latter are complete foods for the nourishment of young and
growing animals, hence must contain all food material necessary
to construct the animal body. Honey, which is a carbohydrate,
is gathered and used as a food for the adult bee. Pollen, or
bee-bread, a nitrogenous substance, is the food of the larvae
or young bees. This illustrates a very interesting fact in
physiological chemistry. The insect differs radically from higher
animals in that its life is divided into three complete stages.
When the adult insect, with its wings, emerges from the cocoon or
pupa, its growth is complete. Some insects never take any food in
the adult stage; but the adult bee takes food, which is practically
pure carbohydrates, and which would not maintain the life of a young
animal.
Honey is composed chiefly of glucose and levulose, with perhaps 10
per cent of cane-sugar, depending upon the flowers from which it
is gathered. Honey is extensively adulterated with glucose, and
sometimes with cane-sugar; thus the natural flavors are impaired and
the product cheapened.
CONFECTIONS
[Sidenote: Evil effect of confections]
Under the general term of confections are included all products
manufactured for the purpose of appealing chiefly to the sense
of taste rather than to serve any special purpose as food. The
chief products that enter into confections are the various forms
of sugars, chiefly glucose, because of its cheapness; fruits,
nut-kernels, flavoring extracts, and coloring materials. Many of
the substances used are very wholesome, yet the habit of eating
confections as a general rule should be discouraged, if not
condemned, the reasons being--
1 That the material from which they are made is usually unknown
to the public, and the temptation of manufacturers to use cheap
or adulterated material too often controls, therefore quality is
sacrificed to profits.
2 Confections are usually eaten without regard to appetite, or
the physical need of food.
3 The combination of things from which confections are made
shows that they are put together not for their food value, or
nutritive virtue, but wholly for the purpose of appealing to an
artificial sense of taste, rather than natural appetite. This
destroys the appetite for similar products in simpler forms.
The following are the best forms in which sugar can be found, given
in the order of their importance:
1 Sweet fruits
2 Honey
3 Sorghum
4 Maple-sugar or sirup
5 Unrefined cane-sugar
6 Refined cane-sugar
Even glucose sirups are perfectly wholesome when free from
adulterants. The mixing, fixing, refining and manufacturing all go
to make our sugar supply more expensive and less wholesome than the
plain fruit-sugars, honey and sorghum.
[Sidenote: Application of the term "sweets" as herein used]
In order to avoid repetition, all articles containing sugar are
referred to throughout this work as _sweets_. By "sweets" I mean
sugar, sirups, honey, and all foods containing sugars, such as
desserts, soda-fountain drinks, and the limitless number of
confections. While carbohydrates rank second in importance in the
human diet, yet Nature has made no provision for sugar being taken
in its concentrated form. In this form it is the most severe article
of human diet, and to its use can be traced the origin of a vast
number of stomach, intestinal, and other disorders. Superacidity,
fermentation, intestinal gas, and the large number of sympathetic
disorders that follow these conditions are caused largely by the
overconsumption of sugars. It would be equally as important for the
Federal Government, or the States, to regulate the manufacture and
the sale of confections as to regulate the manufacture and the sale
of intoxicating liquors.
VEGETABLE OILS
[Sidenote: Value of vegetable oils]
Vegetable oils form too small a portion of the modern bill of fare.
Oils of vegetable origin, whether taken in their natural form or
pressed out, and used with other foods, are the most valuable
nutrients known for the production of heat and energy. By this
statement I mean to convey the idea that a given quantity of fat
will produce more heat and energy than any other article of human
nutrition, and that vegetable fats are more valuable than animal
fats, because they are more adapted to the fat metabolism of the
human body, and less likely to contain harmful substances. Vegetable
oils contain a larger per cent of olein, which is considered the
most palatable and the most valuable fat known.
[Sidenote: Olives and olive-oil]
The olive is a unique plant, standing along the border line between
fruits and nuts. Ripe olives contain from 40 to 60 per cent oil, the
best quality of which is extracted by cold pressure, the cheaper
grades being pressed out at higher temperature. The superiority
of olive-oil is due to the fact that it is composed almost wholly
of olein; that it contains very little fatty acids and other
impurities, and has a mild, sweet, and agreeable flavor.
The adulteration of olive-oil has been extensively practised, but
the agitation of pure food, and the demand for same are improving
the quality of this excellent article of food.
[Sidenote: Cottonseed-oil]
Cottonseed-oil is the largest vegetable oil industry in America. It
is also the cheapest of vegetable oils. The cottonseed-kernel from
which the oil is taken is not an edible product. Though used as
cattle feed, it contains alkaloid substances which sometimes have a
poisonous effect when fed too generously.
The methods of cottonseed-oil manufacture are more complex than
those of olive-oil. The oil must be heated and bleached with certain
chemical agents, and if designed for salad-oils, frequently a
portion of the stearin is removed to make the oil more liquid.
When the cottonseed-oil is carefully manufactured, it is considered
to be entirely free from harmful substances. However, as the
original material contains poisonous combinations, and as chemical
agents are used in refining and bleaching, cottonseed-oil products
are open to the same criticism as glucose and refined sirups; that
is, they are wholesome when properly made, but cheap and careless
production renders the product undesirable as food. Manufactured
under careful Government supervision, cottonseed-oil will, no doubt,
be one of the great foods of the future. I recommend the purer
brands of cottonseed-oils, when pure olive-oil cannot be obtained or
afforded.
[Sidenote: Peanut-oil]
Peanut-oil is an excellent food substance which is almost entirely
neglected in this country. It contains the best portion of the
peanut. Other vegetable oils, valuable as foods, and the use of
which is to be recommended, are sesame-oil and sunflower-oil. These
products are not produced extensively in this country.
[Sidenote: Cocoa-butter]
The cocoa-butter is pressed from the beans from which cocoa and
chocolate are made. The butter has a flavor similar to these
articles. Cocoa-butter should not be confused with cocoanut-butter.
These products are very different in origin.
[Sidenote: Cocoanut-butter]
Cocoanut-butter is not extensively used in America as a food
product, owing to the fact that the exposed fat globules oxidize
very rapidly. It is extensively used in Germany, however, and with
the introduction of better methods of preservation, we expect to see
cocoanut-butter more generally used in this country, as the source
from which it is derived is almost unlimited.
[Sidenote: Palm-oil]
Palm-oil comes from a different species of the palm plant than that
which produces the cocoanut. It is a very inexpensive product and
one which is chiefly used in the production of soap and candles,
although it is perfectly wholesome as a food. Such products have
not been utilized in this country as food, because our boundless
prairies and corn-fields have made the production of cattle and
swine cheap, and our fat supply has swung toward points of least
resistance.
Not all vegetable oils are edible or wholesome. Some contain, in
addition to olein, stearin and palmitin, and other fats quite as
undesirable. Castor-oil, for example, contains ricinolein, which is
a poison, and to which its purgative action is due. Croton-oil is
the most powerful laxative known to medicine, owing to the fact that
Nature abhors a poison.
[Sidenote: Linseed-oil]
Linseed-oil contains large quantities of linolein, which is the
substance that oxidizes, forming the stiff, rubbery coat on
the surface of linseed-oil when exposed to the air. This makes
linseed-oil valuable matter to the painter, but objectionable as a
food.
LESSON IX
DRUGS, STIMULANTS, AND NARCOTICS
With the origin and the use of drugs in the treatment of dis-ease,
most people are familiar. The purpose of this lesson, however, is to
give brief but accurate information concerning the various chemical
elements and compounds termed drugs or medicines.