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| Composition | Total |Food Value|
|-------------------| Food | per Pound|
Edible Portion | Protein | Fat | Value | Due to |
|Per Cent.|Per Cent.|per Pound | Protein |
| | | Calories | Calories |
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_Fish_: | | | | |
Bass, black........| 20.6 | 1.7 | 443 | 373 |
Bluefish...........| 19.4 | 1.2 | 401 | 352 |
Carp...............| 17.4 | 2.6 | 421 | 315 |
Catfish............| 14.4 | 20.6 | 1,102 | 262 |
Halibut steak......| 18.6 | 5.2 | 550 | 337 |
Lake trout.........| 17.8 | 1.0 | 363 | 323 |
Red snapper........| 19.2 | 1.0 | 389 | 348 |
Salmon (canned)....| 21.8 | 12.1 | 888 | 396 |
Whitefish..........| 22.9 | 6.5 | 680 | 415 |
| | | | |
_Meat_: | | | | |
Beef, round, | | | | |
medium fat.......| 20.3 | 13.6 | 895 | 368 |
Chicken, broilers..| 21.5 | 2.5 | 492 | 390 |
Fowl...............| 19.3 | 16.3 | 1,016 | 350 |
Lamb, leg..........| 19.2 | 16.5 | 870 | 348 |
Pork chops.........| 16.6 | 30.1 | 1,455 | 301 |
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12. A study of this table will show that on the whole the percentage of
protein in the various kinds of fish is as much as that in meat, while
in a few instances, it is greater. This proves that so far as the
quantity of protein is concerned, these two foods are equally valuable
in their tissue-forming and tissue-building qualities. It will be seen
also that the percentage of fat in fish varies greatly, some varieties
containing more than meat, but most of them containing less.
Furthermore, the total food value per pound, in calories, is for the
most part greater in meat than in fish, whereas the food value per pound
due to protein is equivalent in most cases, but higher in some of the
fish than in the meat.
13. It must also be remembered that the drying or preserving of fish
does not in any way decrease its food value. In fact, pound for pound,
dried fish, both smoked and salt, contains more nutritive value than
fresh fish, because the water, which decreases the food value of fresh
fish, is driven off in drying. However, when prepared for eating, dried
fish in all probability has more food value than fresh fish, because
water or moisture of some sort must be supplied in its preparation.
14. The method of preparing dried or preserved fish, as well as fresh
fish, has much to do with the food value obtained from it. Just as
nutritive value is lost in the cooking of meat by certain methods, so it
may be lost in the preparation of fish if the proper methods are not
applied. To obtain as much food value from fish as possible, the various
points that are involved in its cookery must be thoroughly understood.
Certain facts concerning the buying of fish must also be kept in mind.
For instance, in canned fish, almost all the bones, skin, and other
inedible parts, except the tails, heads, and fins of very small fish,
have been removed before packing, indicating that practically all the
material purchased is edible. In the case of fresh fish, a large
percentage of what is bought must be wasted in preparation and in
eating, the percentage of waste varying from 5 to 45 per cent.
15. DIGESTIBILITY OF FISH.--The food value of any food is an important
item when its usefulness as a food is taken into account, but of equal
importance is the manner in which the body uses the food; that is,
whether it digests the food with ease or with difficulty. Therefore,
when the value of fish as a food is to be determined, its digestibility
must receive definite consideration. As has already been explained, much
depends on the cooking of the food in question. On the whole, fish is
found to be more easily digested than meat, with the exception perhaps
of a few kinds or certain cuts. That physicians recognize this
characteristic is evidenced by the fact that fish is often used in the
feeding of invalids or sick people when meat is not permitted.
16. The ease with which fish is digested is influenced largely by the
quantity of fat it contains, for this fat, acting in identically the
same way as the fat of meat, has the effect of slowing the digestion
that is carried on in the stomach. It follows, then, that with possibly
one or two exceptions the kinds of fish most easily digested are those
which are lean.
17. In addition to the correct cooking of fish and the presence of fat,
a factor that largely influences the digestibility of this food is the
length of the fibers of the flesh. It will be remembered that the parts
of an animal having long fibers are tougher and less easily digested
than those having short fibers. This applies with equal force in the
case of fish. Its truth is evident when it is known that cod, a lean
fish, is digested with greater difficulty than some of the fat fish
because of the length and toughness of its fibers. This, however, is
comparative, and it must not be thought that fish on the whole is
digested with difficulty.
18. Another factor that influences the digestibility of fish is the
salting of it. Whether fish is salted dry or in brine, the salt hardens
the fibers and tissues. While the salt acts as a preservative in causing
this hardening, it, at the same time, makes the fish preserved in this
manner a little more difficult to digest. This slight difference need
scarcely be considered so far as the normal adult is concerned, but in
case of children or persons whose digestion is not entirely normal its
effect is likely to be felt.