THE FOOD QUESTION
[Illustration: _Letter from Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur, president of
Stanford University, and first assistant to Herbert Hoover, in Food
Administration, to the chairman of the Pacific Press Publishing
Committee, after reading the proofs of this book._]
_The_
FOOD QUESTION
Health and Economy
BY EIGHT SPECIALISTS
[Illustration]
"Eat ye that which is good."
"That thou mayest prosper and be in health."
"Eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness."
"Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost."
Copyright 1917 by
Pacific Press Publishing Association
Mountain View, California
Kansas City, Missouri Portland, Oregon Brookfield, Illinois
Calgary, Alberta, Canada Cristobal, Canal Zone
CONTENTS
FRONTISPIECE 2
_Letter from Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur_
PUBLISHERS' FOREWORD 5
HOOVER AND WHAT HE AND WILSON SAY 6
FOOD ECONOMY 7-15
_By E. A. Sutherland, M. D._
LOAF OF WAR BREAD ON FIELD OF GETTYSBURG 16
FOOD ELEMENTS AND SIMPLICITY OF DIET 17-34
_By E. H. Risley, M. D._
FOOD TABLES--Cereals, Legumes, Fruits, Nuts,
Vegetables, Miscellaneous 23-27
NECESSARY KNOWLEDGE TO CAREFUL PLANNING 34
_Ladies' Home Journal_
VITAMINES AND CALORIES 35-46
_By D. D. Comstock, M. D._
A WORD OF ADVICE TO WOMEN 46
_By Lord Northcliffe_
FRUITS AND THEIR DIETETIC VALUE 47-52
_By George A. Thomason, M. D.,
L. R. C. S., L. R. C. P._
TEN REASONS FOR A FLESHLESS DIET 53-66
_By A. W. Truman, M. D._
PHYSICAL BENEFITS OF JOY 66
_By George A. Thomason, M. D._
STIMULANTS AND CONDIMENTS 67-72
_By Arthur N. Donaldson, M. D._
SIMPLE MENUS AND RECIPES 73-92
_By H. S. Anderson, Food Expert_
THE USE OF LEFT-OVERS 93-96
_By Lavina Baxter-Herzer, M. D._
THE CALL TO YOU 96
_By Dr. Anna Howard Shaw_
Publishers' Foreword
This book was planned before Food Conservation was by the mass
considered seriously. The writers of the various articles are
thoroughly qualified to speak where they have spoken. They are
practical, conscientious, Christian, and have at heart the best in
the needs of humanity. Every one strikes a major chord in the song
of healthful, economical living. The recipes are from the author
of "Food and Cookery," who has had a score of years' experience in
every station and phase of the preparation of food, under French,
English, German, and Spanish chefs. He has been second cook in the
Calumet Club of Chicago, the California Club, Los Angeles, and in many
leading hotels in various cities. For ten years, he has given his best
thought and study to the preparation of the best in food, scientific,
palatable, wholesome, and economic, most of this time in the Sanitarium
and College of Medical Missionaries, Loma Linda, California. Special
attention is called to the valuable tables of Food Elements, and to the
newly demonstrated values of vitamines and the substances which destroy
them.
We are grateful for the kind word spoken by Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur,
president of Stanford University, and first assistant to Mr. Hoover
in the Federal Food Administration Department; also for the help and
suggestions of Dr. Newton Evans, president of the College of Medical
Evangelists, of Loma Linda, California.
The little book will, we believe, not only meet present needs, but be a
safe counselor in the years to come.
_Hoover says_--
"Let the American woman stop, before anything is thrown away;
and let her ask herself, 'Can it be used in my home, in some other
home, or in the production of further food supply by feeding it to
animals used also for food?'
"Let her order her meals so that there will be plenty--for there
is plenty--but not too much.
[Illustration:
© _International Film_]
"The intelligent woman of America must make a proper study of food
ratios, so that the most nutritious foods will appear in their proper
proportions on the home table.
"The man who complains at the result of his wife's efforts to conserve
food is doing her an inexcusable injury. He should never hesitate to
coöperate in her wise conservation plans."
_Wilson says_--
"In no direction can they [the women of America] so greatly assist as
by enlisting in the service of the food administration and cheerfully
accepting its direction and advice. By so doing, they will increase
the surplus of food available for our own army and for exports to
the allies. To provide adequate supplies for the coming year is of
absolutely vital importance to the conduct of the war; and without a
very conscientious elimination of waste and very strict economy in our
food consumption, we cannot hope to fulfill this primary duty."
[Illustration]
FOOD ECONOMY
_by E. A. SUTHERLAND, A. B., M. D._
of the State Bureau of Food Conservation of Tennessee
From the days of ancient Egypt, when Joseph, who stood at the head of
the great food conservation movement of the time, called the attention
of the world to the need of food economy, down through history to the
present time, the human race has passed through numerous crises when
the questions of food production and food economy have been vital. That
Hebrew, promoted to the first place in the Egyptian empire because
of his wonderful grasp of a world problem and his executive ability,
enabled that kingdom to feed the world. America to-day, as Egypt of
old, is an international granary, and is asked to feed the nations;
and her population--every man, woman, and child--must coöperate with
America's Joseph to-day in meeting the situation by proper production,
proper conservation, and strict economy. "This war is a food war even
more than it is a gun war." Let us fight to save lives. That is the
battle to be won through food economy.
It was when the Roman world was running riot that, on the shores of
the Sea of Galilee, Christ gave His wonderful lesson on the subject
of food conservation. We call it a miracle when with five thousand
men, besides the women and the children, seated about Him, He fed the
multitudes. That same power is to-day, and always has been, feeding
the men of earth. From a basket of seed, each recurring harvest puts
thousands of loaves of bread into the hands of the world's hungry; the
two small fishes continue to multiply; rich and poor alike are fed by
the great Provider. And now as then, after human wants are met, the
mandate goes forth, "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing
be lost." Economy is again being preached as it was once taught on the
shores of Galilee. There has been started a great educational movement
for increased food production. But that is only a part of the message.
"Gather up the fragments," prevent waste, utilize the scraps, the
gospel of a clean plate,--these are all familiar phrases in the great
conservation movement of to-day. By many, food conservation and food
economy are deemed not only national problems, but a part of the divine
message taught by Christ and His disciples.
The great world war which began in 1914 has compelled every nation to
halt and consider its national habits.
Undoubtedly the United States is the most prodigal of nations.
Approximately sixty per cent of its population is now urban. Simple
rural life is practically gone; and those artificial and extravagant
standards of the city which destroy body, mind, and soul have taken
its place. "Fullness of bread and abundance of idleness," two of the
reasons assigned by the Scriptures for the downfall of Sodom, are
conditions which to-day are ruining American civilization. No other
nation has ever indulged such extravagance and prodigality as has the
United States. We search the world over for table delicacies. American
inventive genius has made it possible to have foods from all parts of
the world, both in season and out of season. The arts of canning and
preserving and the making of factory foods have loaded our cupboard
shelves with eatables of which our fathers never dreamed.
While this interchange has its advantages, and we should appreciate
the privilege of eating the wholesome products of other countries,
yet when easy methods of transportation lead people to limit their
productions to money crops, forsaking the raising of their own food,
a wrong principle has been introduced. The benefit to be derived from
this variety of imported food is neutralized by the extravagant habits
and tastes thus cultivated.
_Economy of Food Elements_
Man is made from the dust of the earth; and by divine law, his body
continues to build and rebuild from chemically organized soil. To be
intelligent, food economists require a knowledge of the four food
elements,--proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and minerals,--and the
relation each sustains to the human body. Later chapters contain
valuable instruction in these respects.
It is poor economy to allow valuable mineral salts to be removed from
flour by milling, from rice by polishing, and from vegetables by wrong
methods of cooking. These minerals are necessary for the development of
the child, for the preservation of teeth and bones, for high efficiency
in the nervous system, and for a proper functioning of the various
organs in the body. There is no economy in buying denatured grain, even
though it is put up in cartons, at ten times the price of the natural
grain.
"Put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite." Stop
the immense waste of strength, energy, money, and time due to mere
gratification of appetite. Stop preparing food that is intended simply
to coax the appetite to the point where eating becomes gluttony. In the
words of an eminent authority, "Most men would attain better health and
greater efficiency if they would reduce their rations by twenty-five
per cent or more." The celebrated Dr. Osler tells us that "we eat
too much after forty years of age," and he advises every wise man to
restrict his eating as he grows older, "and at last descend out of life
as he ascended into it, even into a child's diet."
_Overeating_
Food economy is not a call to a starvation diet, but to a balanced
ration of wholesome, well prepared food. Overeating of even the best
food produces poisons that injure the tissues, overwork the organs
of digestion, and in time may bring the body to actual starvation
conditions.
A man's appetite is not always a safe guide. Artificial surroundings
in childhood make the normal appetite the exception rather than the
rule. Few children are taught, by parents, teachers, or preachers,
the importance of restricting the appetite. The seeds of intemperance
sown by those who prepare food for the family table bring a larger
harvest than does the work of all the devil's agencies in saloons and
tobacco shops combined. Millions of dollars are worse than wasted
by the conversion of food materials into strong drinks to satisfy
appetites perverted by wrong habits of eating. Why are our schools and
churches more interested in the maintenance of a worn-out, traditional
educational system, and an abstract, impractical religion, than in some
of these vital teachings? We look to legislation to cure degenerate
appetites for which we are largely responsible through false education
in home and school and church. Starving ones of earth are deprived
of food when we convert it into strong drink; the process requires
the time and strength of a great army of workers; and transportation
facilities now used for carrying whisky, tobacco, and other body- and
mind-destroying substances, might be used in transporting the foods we
waste. It is estimated that we waste enough in our kitchens to feed ten
million people. "Blessed art thou, O land, when ... thy princes eat in
due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!"
_Some Economies_
Dr. Osler has said that "pie north of the Mason and Dixon line, and hot
bread south of it, have done more harm than alcohol." The best breads
contain the whole grain; they are well baked, require considerable
chewing, resist the pressure of the teeth, and save dental bills.
Thorough mastication neutralizes an abnormal appetite.
Rich pastries, harmful condiments, tea and coffee,--narcotics
recognized as extravagant, harmful, and useless beverages,--are being
discarded for the sake of both health and economy. Remove the cream and
the sugar from tea and coffee, and they have no food value.
Use the coffee mill to grind wheat, rye, and corn, that you may enjoy
the vitamines, the mineral salts, and other elements often removed by
the manufacturer.
Many people prominent in social circles are eliminating all lunches
served between regular meals and eaten for merely social purposes.
Such lunches impose a burden on the body and the purse. Wealthy and
influential women are setting a good example by going to market in
person, in order to make intelligent and economical purchases for their
tables, and by carrying their supplies home, in order to save the added
cost of the delivery system. People are beginning to realize that by
such economical methods, they can serve their country, the world, and
themselves.
Some have thought it necessary to eat from three to five meals a day.
The war is helping them to appreciate a physiological truth taught for
years by a few reformers,--that two meals a day are better even than
three.
Many countries, for economy's sake, now prohibit the use, for food,
of young and undeveloped animals. They discourage the extensive use
of immature plant foods. The world war is terrible, yet there is some
compensation in the fact that present conditions are making minds more
susceptible to the principles of right living. For years, some earnest
men and women have been teaching that God intended that man should
live on a meatless diet. To-day, not only are nations asking that men
eat less meat, but they are having their meatless days. Because of
the impossibility of securing flesh foods in some countries, millions
of earth's inhabitants have learned that the body can be kept in
splendid condition without the use of animal proteins and fats. No
strong arguments are necessary to convince people that flesh foods are
expensive when it is known that ten pounds of grain suitable for human
food are required to produce in the animal one pound of flesh food.
_Meat Substitutes_
The high cost of flesh foods is turning attention to meat substitutes.
Proteins and fats of the vegetable world are not only cheaper, but they
are more wholesome than flesh. For example: The soy bean, recently
introduced to the American table, contains, pound for pound, and at
one fifth the cost, almost twice as much available protein and fat as
the best beefsteak. Besides that, it offers the eater a good supply of
starch.
"We have got to learn to buy wisely, cook wisely, eat wisely, and waste
nothing." The great countries of Europe are utilizing the best talent
of their statesmen and scientists in teaching the people these ideas.
This should be a most impressive lesson to home, to church, and to
school, since these agencies have so far forgotten their mission that
it is necessary for this great war to arouse us.
Let religious and educational leaders redeem the time. Let them
coöperate with national economists who now are urging the people--
To use more home-ground flour and meal.
To use the natural rice with its vitamines instead of the polished
product.
To substitute vegetable oils for dairy butter in cooking.
To have a simpler variety of food at each meal.
To serve a dessert, when one is deemed necessary, for its food value
and as a part of a balanced ration.
To bake or boil potatoes in the skins, in order to preserve the mineral
salts.
To utilize for soups and gravies the water in which vegetables,
macaroni, and rice are boiled.
To serve only one food of high protein value at a meal.
To feed to animals nothing that can be utilized by the human body.
To allow vegetables, grains, and legumes to ripen, that their full food
value may be obtained, and that the expense of canning may be avoided.
To can or dry all fruits and vegetables that cannot be preserved in any
other way.
To substitute other cereals for wheat, which can be shipped abroad.
A wheatless meal every day will drive many to appreciate the value
of other grains, whose use heretofore has been largely perverted.
Corn, rye, barley, and oats are not appreciated as they should be.
They have been used largely in the manufacture of intoxicating drinks
and for feeding animals to procure meat. It has been said that the
Revolutionary War was won by men fed on hasty pudding--in other words,
corn meal mush. Learn to eat bread made from corn, rye, or oats, or a
mixture of these grains. Form the habit of eating these more economical
breads; then continue the practice. Such breads are far superior to the
ordinary denatured white bread. If a dog is fed only white bread, death
will result sooner than if it is fed nothing.
_The Call of the Country_
Land in Europe that for centuries was used to gratify the abnormal
tastes of plutocrats and the aristocracy, is now being made to produce
wholesome food to meet the world's needs. In America, people are still
deprived of their divine right to a simple home, because millions of
acres of land are held in a similar manner.
Schools and churches should encourage the cultivation of vacant city
lots. City people may thus learn the secret of intensive farming. It
may give some courage to make a home on a few acres of land and to
raise the food for their own tables. Every turn in a congested center
calls for an outlay of means. Modern methods of living are unnatural
and extravagant. In the city, every article of food costs in proportion
to its distance from the base of supplies. Transportation must be added
to the original cost of production; the jobber, the wholesaler, the
commission merchant, the retailer, the delivery man, and the baker must
all have their profits.
Get out of the cities; get onto the land! Why not preach this part of
the gospel? Help people to understand that the unnatural appetites and
the desires for artificial food are penalties paid very largely by
those who seek to maintain themselves by their wits. One mighty step
has been taken toward the prevention of waste and in economy's favor
when men learn to earn their bread in the sweat of their face while
tilling the soil.
Late hours, business worry, nerve-wrecking noises, the hurry, the wear
and tear of living in a crowd, the dust and filth of the city air,
the struggle of competition,--these would be replaced by purer, saner
surroundings if parents settled in some country place where children
are born with a heritage of fresh air, grassy playgrounds, wholesome
daily tasks in the house and out of doors, and are fed in a simple
manner befitting their surroundings. But do not transfer the evils of
the city to some country site. Not much need to urge "the gospel of the
clean plate" to the healthy country child! A good appetite is the best
seasoning for plain food.
_Permanent Reforms_
The world has been roughly awakened, and forcibly compelled to study
food economy. This upheaval should result in permanent good to every
individual. We have not fully appreciated the fact that our sinful
indulgence and our careless waste of time, money, and food is a
violation of the great commandment, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself." By our extravagant ways, multitudes have been robbed of
the necessities of life. But our horizon is broadening. We begin to
understand why we should eat and drink to the glory of God. Provision
is now being made for the bread we save to reach the hungry in distant
parts of the earth. We can now prove that he who gives even a cup of
cold water shall in no wise lose his reward. To-day, as truly as on the
shores of Galilee, the great Master is saying, "Gather up the fragments
that remain, that nothing be lost." And if we enter whole-heartedly
into this food conservation movement, we may expect the blessing of the
Lord to rest so greatly upon the fragments saved that the wide world
will be fed.
[Illustration:
© _Underwood, N. Y._
_A ten-pound loaf of war bread baked on the old Gettysburg battle
field. This bread keeps in good condition three weeks._]
[Illustration]
FOOD ELEMENTS _and_ SIMPLICITY of DIET
_by E. H. RISLEY, M.D._
Chair of Chemistry, College of Medical Evangelists, Loma Linda,
California
"Food is any substance that, being taken into the body of animal or
plant, serves, through organic action, to build up normal structure or
supply waste of tissue."
Food principles or elements are commonly grouped into the following
classes:
1. Proteins
2. Fats
3. Carbohydrates
4. Inorganic salts
5. Vitamines
6. Water
A brief discussion of these food elements will help our readers to
select their food supply more intelligently.
_Proteins_
The first class of food substances mentioned above are of very great
importance to the body. The term "protein" really means, "of first
importance." These compounds are represented by such foods as
the white of egg, lean meat, gluten of wheat, and casein of milk.
Chemically, proteins are very complex, more so than any other class
of food materials. They have in their structure the chemical elements
carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, often sulphur and phosphorus,
and, less commonly, iron. The nitrogenous element seems to be the
most important, since the others mentioned can be obtained from other
classes of food; but as these classes of food cannot take the place of
protein, it seems clear that the nitrogen is the important constituent.
Most proteins coagulate on heating. An illustration of this property
is the coagulation of the white of an egg when the egg is cooked. The
proteins all undergo decomposition quite easily. This is evidenced by
the ease with which eggs and meat spoil.
Protein molecules are made up of smaller molecules called amino acids.
These are the "building stones" from which the working tissues of the
body are formed. There are on the average about fifteen different kinds
of these amino acids in the proteins, which are especially valuable in
supplying building material for the tissues of the human body. These
amino acids are united in long chains to form the protein molecule,
and in this respect can be compared to cars in a train. By the work of
digestion, the proteins are broken down into these comparatively simple
building stones, which, when absorbed into the circulation, are used by
the body in building working tissues as they are needed.
There are a number of classes of proteins; but since the classification
is rather complicated, it will not be given here. To group the various
foods as to their relative amounts of protein is often of interest. For
example, foods very rich in protein, such as the gluten preparations,
lean beef, and white of egg, may be regarded as the first class; a
second class might be formed of those which are moderately high in
protein, such as peas, beans, lentils, and walnuts; a third class
having a moderate amount of protein, represented by the cereals
and breads; and still a fourth class very low in protein, such as
vegetables and fruits.
Protein is the tissue builder of the body; but the actual amount of
tissue built new each day is very small, therefore the need for a
large supply of protein for this purpose is not apparent. Protein not
only supplies tissue-building material, but it can also supply heat
and energy in a manner similar to the other classes of food elements,
carbohydrate and fat, one ounce of the protein yielding one hundred
sixteen calories of energy. The excess taken in may be used in this
way, as there is no storage of this material in the body. However, to
use this kind of fuel takes more work on the part of the body as a
whole, as the nitrogenous wastes must be eliminated by the kidneys.
One can see, then, that a certain amount of protein is needed to keep
the tissues in good repair, but that it is better to get most of the
heat and energy from the food elements specially designed for that
purpose; that is, carbohydrate and fat.
The Chittenden standard of diet gives ten per cent of the total fuel
value in the form of protein. On the basis of two thousand five hundred
total calories a day, two hundred fifty calories of protein would
be required. This is equal to two and one seventh ounces actual dry
protein. This amount is thought by some to be low, but experimental
evidence seems clearly to prove its adequacy in keeping up nutrition.
_Fats_
The second group of food elements in our classification are substances
having a greasy feeling and taste. They are lighter than water, leave
a grease spot upon paper, are insoluble in water, and soluble in such
chemicals as gasoline and ether.
Fats have in their molecules the chemical elements carbon, hydrogen,
and oxygen. These elements are put together into two groups,
or compounds, glycerin and fatty acids, which, when chemically
united, form a fat. When fats are exposed to the open air, and thus
contaminated with bacteria, they are likely to become rancid; that is,
some of the glycerin and fatty acids are set free from each other.
If butter is the fat so decomposed, it becomes very disagreeable, on
account of the volatile butyric acid that is set free.
Fatty bodies are usually grouped under a general heading called lipins,
but the consideration of the other classes is not essential in this
study.
The vegetable kingdom offers a large list of products containing fats,
many of which are suitable for food. Following are a few examples, with
the percentage of fat in each case: coconuts, sixty-eight per cent;
olives, fifty-six per cent; peanuts, forty-one per cent; cotton seed,
twenty per cent; oatmeal, six per cent; corn, four per cent.
The animal kingdom is also rich in fat products, illustrated by the
following substances used as foods: butter, eighty-five per cent;
bacon, sixty-five per cent; cheese, thirty per cent; eggs, eleven per
cent; cow's milk, four per cent.
The function of fat in the body is to yield heat and energy primarily.
Each ounce of fat yields two hundred sixty-four calories of heat,
making the group two and one fourth times as active as either protein
or carbohydrate in this respect.
Fats ordinarily supply from twenty-five to thirty per cent of the total
calories of a well balanced dietary. On the basis of two thousand five
hundred total calories a day, about seven hundred fifty should be fat.
At two hundred sixty-four calories to an ounce, we have about three
ounces as our daily need of this food element.
Fats are also stored in the body as a reserve of energy. Every one has
more or less of this sort of reserve, unless he has been starving for
some time, or is suffering from a wasting disease. This reserve of fat
also acts as a protection, and gives shape and symmetry to the body.
Recently methods have been devised for changing the unstable vegetable
oils into stable, lardlike, solid fats. This process is called
hydrogenation, so named because the process is really one of adding
hydrogen until the fat becomes saturated and less likely to undergo
decomposition into fatty acid and glycerin. The fats thus formed seem
to be equal to the animal fats so far as digestion and utilization are
concerned, and hence are of considerable economic value at the present
time.
Certain fats, including those of butter and milk, are rich in the
so-called vitamines, and have been shown, by recent experiments upon
animals, to be efficient growth stimulants.
_Carbohydrates_
The carbohydrates are made up of the chemical elements carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen. By noticing the name, one readily sees that the
first part stands for the carbon. The latter half, "hydrate," indicates
that water might be present; and in fact, nearly all of these bodies
have hydrogen and oxygen present in the proportion to form water, that
is, two parts hydrogen to one of oxygen. Carbohydrates ordinarily make
up about sixty to sixty-five per cent of the total number of calories
of our diet. Most carbohydrates, when pure, are either white powders
or white crystalline solids. Many of them are sweet to the taste. The
starches and the celluloses are not soluble in cold water, but the
sugars are readily soluble.
The classification of the carbohydrates is comparatively simple; and
part of it is given here, as it will help in our discussion of the
properties of the group:
/ 1. Cellulose
/ 1. Starch Group | 2. Starch
| \ 3. Dextrin
| / 1. Cane Sugar
Carbohydrates | 2. Cane Sugar Group | 2. Malt Sugar
| \ 3. Milk Sugar
| / 1. Glucose
\ 3. Glucose Group | 2. Levulose
\ 3. Invert Sugar
_Cellulose_ is the coarse woody fiber found in the stems of all plants
and in the outer coating of the various grains. Unless cellulose is
very young and tender, it is not digested by the human digestive
system. However, some forms of it are of value, as they give bulk
to the food residue in the digestive tract, and thus stimulate the
activity of the intestinal muscle. In this way, cellulose acts as a
natural laxative, and in some cases is a very desirable substance to
have in the food eaten. The bran of wheat and other cereals is an
especially valuable form to use.
_Starch_ is found in all cereals, in many vegetables, in some fruits,
and in nuts. It occurs in these different foods in the form of a white,
granular substance. The granules have characteristic forms for the
different grains, fruits, etc., which can be recognized by the aid of
the microscope. Raw starch is insoluble in cold water; hence to be most
readily digested, it should be cooked. The cooking process ruptures the
granules, and makes the starch itself partially soluble; and in this
form, it is more easily attacked by the digestive juices.
_Dextrin_ is formed by heating starch to about 350° F., as in an oven.
This degree of heat changes the starch chemically to dextrin. In this
dextrin form, it is soluble, and is in reality one step along in the
process of digestion.
TABLE A--CEREALS AND LEGUMES
A. Per cent Water
B. Per cent Protein
C. Per cent Fat
D. Per cent Carbohydrate
E. Per cent Ash
F. Calories per oz. Protein
G. Calories per oz. Fat
H. Calories per oz. Carbohydrate
I. Calories per oz. Total
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOD A B C D E F G H I
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Beans, baked 68.9 6.9 2.5 19.6 2.1 8.0 6.6 22.7 37.3
Bread, white 35.3 9.2 1.3 53.1 1.1 10.7 3.4 61.6 75.7
Bread, whole wheat 38.4 9.7 .9 49.7 1.3 11.3 2.4 57.7 71.4
Corn bread 38.9 7.9 4.7 46.3 2.2 9.2 12.4 53.7 75.3
Corn flakes 8.5 9.3 .5 78.7 2.6 10.8 1.3 91.3 103.4
Hominy, cooked 79.3 2.2 .2 17.8 .5 2.6 .5 20.6 23.7
Macaroni, cooked 78.4 3.0 1.5 15.8 1.3 3.5 4.0 18.3 25.8
Oatmeal, boiled 84.5 2.8 .5 11.5 .7 3.2 1.3 13.3 17.8
Peas, green, cooked 73.8 6.7 3.4 14.6 1.5 7.8 9.0 16.9 33.7
Rice, boiled 72.5 2.8 .1 24.4 .2 3.2 .3 28.3 31.8
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE B--FRUITS
A. Per cent Water
B. Per cent Protein
C. Per cent Fat
D. Per cent Carbohydrate
E. Per cent Ash
F. Calories per oz. Protein
G. Calories per oz. Fat
H. Calories per oz. Carbohydrate
I. Calories per oz. Total
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOD A B C D E F G H I
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Apples 84.6 .4 .5 14.2 .3 .5 1.3 16.5 18.3
Bananas 75.3 1.3 .6 22.0 .8 1.5 1.6 25.6 28.7
Blackberries 86.3 1.3 1.0 10.9 .5 1.5 2.6 12.6 16.7
Dates 15.4 2.1 2.8 78.4 1.3 2.4 7.4 90.9 100.7
Figs 18.8 4.3 .3 74.2 2.4 5.0 .8 86.1 91.9
Grapes 77.4 1.3 1.6 19.2 .5 1.5 4.2 22.3 28.0
Oranges 86.9 .8 .2 11.6 .5 .9 .5 13.5 14.9
Peaches 89.4 .7 .1 9.4 .4 .8 .3 10.9 12.0
Raisins 14.6 2.6 3.3 76.1 3.4 3.0 8.7 88.3 100.0
Strawberries 90.4 1.0 .6 7.4 .6 1.2 1.6 8.6 11.4
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE C--NUTS
A. Per cent Water
B. Per cent Protein
C. Per cent Fat
D. Per cent Carbohydrate
E. Per cent Ash
F. Calories per oz. Protein
G. Calories per oz. Fat
H. Calories per oz. Carbohydrate
I. Calories per oz. Total
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOD A B C D E F G H I
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Almonds 4.8 21.0 54.9 17.4 2.0 24.4 144.9 20.2 189.5
Brazil nuts 5.3 17.0 66.8 7.0 3.9 19.7 176.4 8.1 204.2
Chestnuts 5.9 10.7 7.0 74.2 2.2 12.4 18.5 86.1 117.0
Coconuts 14.1 5.7 50.6 27.9 1.7 6.5 133.6 32.4 172.5
Hickory nuts 3.7 15.4 67.4 11.4 2.1 17.9 177.9 13.2 209.0
Peanuts 9.2 25.8 38.6 24.4 2.0 29.9 101.9 28.3 160.1
Pecans 3.0 11.0 71.2 13.3 1.5 12.8 188.0 15.4 216.2
Pine nuts 6.4 33.9 49.4 6.9 3.4 39.3 130.4 8.0 177.7
Walnuts, black 2.5 27.6 56.3 11.7 1.9 32.0 149.6 13.6 195.2
Walnuts, English 2.5 16.6 63.4 16.1 1.4 19.3 167.4 18.7 205.4
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE D--VEGETABLES
A. Per cent Water
B. Per cent Protein
C. Per cent Fat
D. Per cent Carbohydrate
E. Per cent Ash
F. Calories per oz. Protein
G. Calories per oz. Fat
H. Calories per oz. Carbohydrate
I. Calories per oz. Total
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOD A B C D E F G H I
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Asparagus, cooked 91.6 2.1 3.3 2.2 .8 2.4 8.7 2.6 13.7
Beets, cooked 88.6 2.3 .1 7.4 1.6 2.7 .3 8.6 11.6
Cabbage 91.5 1.6 .3 5.6 1.0 1.9 .8 6.5 9.2
Carrots 88.2 1.1 .4 9.3 1.0 1.3 1.1 10.8 13.2
Lettuce 94.7 1.2 .3 2.9 .9 1.4 .8 7.7 9.9
Onions 87.6 1.6 .3 9.9 .6 1.9 .8 11.5 14.2
Potatoes, boiled 75.5 2.5 .1 20.9 1.0 2.9 .3 24.2 27.4
Spinach, cooked 89.8 2.1 4.1 2.6 1.4 2.4 4.8 3.0 10.2
Tomatoes 94.3 .9 .4 3.9 .5 1.0 1.1 4.5 6.6
Turnips 89.6 1.3 .2 8.1 .8 1.5 .5 9.4 11.4
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE E--MISCELLANEOUS FOODS
A. Per cent Water
B. Per cent Protein
C. Per cent Fat
D. Per cent Carbohydrate
E. Per cent Ash
F. Calories per oz. Protein
G. Calories per oz. Fat
H. Calories per oz. Carbohydrate
I. Calories per oz. Total
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOD A B C D E F G H I
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Butter 11.0 1.0 85.0 3.0 1.2 224.4 225.6
Cane sugar 100.0 116.0 116.0
Cream 74.0 2.5 18.5 4.5 .5 2.9 48.8 5.2 56.9
Cottage cheese 72.0 20.9 1.0 4.3 1.8 24.2 2.6 5.0 31.8
Eggs 73.7 13.4 10.5 1.0 15.5 27.7 43.2
Honey 18.2 .4 81.2 .2 .5 94.2 94.7
Milk 87.0 3.3 4.0 5.0 .7 3.8 10.6 5.8 20.2
Milk, condensed 68.2 9.6 9.3 11.2 1.7 11.1 24.6 13.0 48.7
Milk, skimmed 90.5 3.4 .3 5.1 .7 3.9 .8 5.9 10.6
Olives, ripe 64.7 1.7 25.0 4.3 3.4 2.0 66.0 5.0 73.0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Thoroughly toasted bread is quite well dextrinized. It is more easily
digested, has a sweeter taste than ordinary bread, and in some cases,
is more desirable.
_Sugar Group_
_Cane sugar_ is probably the most important member of the sugar
groups. It is obtained from the sugar cane and the sugar beet, the two
forms being identical chemically. It can be obtained in a high state
of purity, often up to ninety-nine and eight tenths per cent. The
English-speaking races use the largest amount of this sugar, in some
countries averaging as high as eighty-five pounds per capita a year.
Cane sugar is white, crystalline, soluble in water, and has a very
sweet taste.
_Malt sugar_ is obtained from grains, such as barley or wheat, by
allowing them to sprout. During the sprouting process, there is
developed in the grain a ferment that is capable of changing starch to
malt sugar. After the malt diastase, as the ferment is called, has had
a chance to convert the starch to malt sugar, the sugar is extracted
with water, and the resulting solution evaporated to a sirup. This
sirup can be evaporated further and the malt sugar or maltose taken out
as a solid; but it is usually used in the form of a sirup. This maltose
is a natural product to the body, as it is formed by the saliva and the
pancreatic juice when they act upon starch.
_Milk sugar_ is found to the extent of about five per cent in cow's
milk. It is obtained as a by-product in the manufacture of cheese. The
whey, or watery fluid left after the removal of the curd, is evaporated
and purified until a fine, white, rather gritty powder, or in some
cases a crystalline solid, is obtained. This milk sugar, or lactose,
is soluble in water, and has a fairly sweet taste. Lactose is one of
the essential food elements for the normal growth of a child or a young
animal. Hence one can see why children cannot be reared easily without
milk.
_Glucose_ is the most important sugar in the third group of
carbohydrates as given above. It is found naturally in many fruits,
and is here called grape sugar. It is the normal sugar of human blood,
and in this connection, is usually called dextrose. Glucose is made
commercially by boiling starch, most frequently cornstarch, in water,
to which sulphuric acid has been added up to one to one and one half
per cent. After sufficient boiling, the acid is neutralized with lime,
and the sugar separated by chemical methods. If the process is carried
out carefully, and reasonably pure reagents are used in the process,
the result will be a sirup of fair purity and one of value as a food.
Impure and poorly made samples of glucose have given this otherwise
wholesome sugar a bad name.
Glucose can also be obtained in solid form by continuing the process
of purification a few steps beyond the sirup stage. But let it not be
forgotten that any of the sugars, taken in large amounts, may overload
the digestive system and the liver, and hence they should be used in
reasonable amounts.
_Levulose_, called also fruit sugar, is found in some of the sweet
fruits and in bees' honey. The chief sugar of honey is called invert
sugar, and is really made up of equal parts of dextrose and levulose.
It is present up to seventy-five per cent in good samples of honey.
These sugars, properly used, are excellent foods.
_Importance of Carbohydrates_
The carbohydrates are our chief source of heat and energy, and as
previously stated, furnish sixty to sixty-five per cent of the total
fuel value of our food. Each ounce of pure carbohydrate yields one
hundred sixteen calories of heat when burned. In caloric yield, they
are equal to the proteins gram for gram, but yield less than one half
that of the fats. If two thousand five hundred calories are again taken
as our standard, then sixty per cent would make one thousand five
hundred calories to be furnished by the carbohydrates. At one hundred
sixteen calories an ounce, we find that it would require thirteen
ounces of pure carbohydrate a day to balance this part of our diet.
_Other Essential Elements_
The inorganic salts or ash of food are just as essential to the body
as the other groups of food elements. These essential salts consist
of the most common chemical elements, such as soda, potash, lime,
magnesia, iron, phosphorus, sulphur, etc. One might expect to find
some rare elements in a piece of mechanism as complicated as the human
body, but such is not the case. The body salts are of the most common
kinds. These salts are found in proper amounts in foods as produced by
nature. We cannot take these salts as they are found in the chemical
laboratory and use them to good advantage, but we should make sure that
we are taking foods that will supply them in the proper amounts. Our
best sources of supply are the grains, the fruits, and the vegetables.
It is interesting to note that these mineral elements are generally
found most abundantly, in the grains at least, in or near the outer
coating, and that our high-grade flours are partially robbed of them
when the bran and the middlings are removed. The same seems to be true
of potatoes. In peeling, a large part of these salts is removed, and
thus the real value of this splendid food product is lessened. This is
one of the strong arguments for the use of whole wheat flours and other
whole grain products. These inorganic salts are needed in the body
to keep the various tissues up to their normal in composition. For
example, the blood constantly needs some iron to build the red cells.
Though the actual amount needed is very small, yet that small amount is
exceedingly important to have at hand.
As some of these salts are constantly being eliminated from the body,
there must be a constant supply to keep the tissues in equilibrium.
_Vitamines_
Vitamines are elsewhere considered in this booklet, hence only a very
brief summary here. The chemistry of these products is very little
understood at present. They were so named by Funk because of their
nitrogen content and similarity to ammonia, the name really meaning
_vital ammonias_. The term "vital" carries with it the idea of their
importance to life. Some persons have questioned this name; but up to
the present, it seems to be the best suggested.
The importance of the vitamines in nutrition has been very clearly
demonstrated in experiments upon animals, and these experiments have
been repeated a sufficient number of times to be conclusive. Animals
have been fed upon pure protein, fat, carbohydrate, and salts, but with
vitamine removed or destroyed; and although receiving calories enough,
they fail to keep up their nutrition. With a simple change of dietary
to include a small amount of food containing the vitamine, without any
change in the total calories eaten, their nutrition improves quickly,
and they come back to a normal state.
Foods rich in vitamine are represented by milk, fresh vegetables, fresh
fruits, and whole grain products. Foods poor in these substances are
represented by sterilized and preserved milks, dried fruits, dried
vegetables, white flour, and polished rice.
Vitamines are reduced or lost by the following processes in the
preparation of foods: taking off the coating of grain, overheating,
washing out in cooking, and drying.
_Importance of Water_
Water, although not a food in the sense of yielding fuel value to the
body, is a most important agent in all the various chemical processes
taking place in the tissues.
Water is the universal solvent; and because of this property, it
carries both food and waste to and from the tissues. The average person
needs from three to five quarts a day, a part of which is taken as a
portion of the food eaten. This leaves from three to five pints to be
taken as a drink. Good drinking water should be colorless, odorless,
and of an agreeable taste; should be free from organic matter,
poisonous metals, and the bacteria of disease; and should be low in
nonpoisonous mineral salts--that is, should be reasonably soft.
There are three common classes of water that are used for drinking
purposes; namely, rain water, surface water, and ground water. Rain
water is the purest if properly collected. Surface water--water from
lakes, streams, etc.--is most likely to be contaminated with organic
matter and bacteria. Ground water--that is, water from springs and
wells--is likely to be the hardest, but is usually free from bacteria
of disease unless there is some contamination from the surface. To take
a fairly good quantity of water between meals is better than to drink
too freely at the meal hour.
Great care should be taken in selecting the supply of drinking water,
as when contaminated, it is a very fruitful means for the transmission
of diseases, particularly such diseases as typhoid fever. If not
certain of the purity of a water supply, one can be sure to destroy
all the disease-producing bacteria by boiling the water for a few
minutes, then cooling, and drinking as usual.
_Simple Dietetic Principles_
1. Food should be pleasant to the sight and the taste.
2. Eat slowly. Masticate thoroughly.
3. Do not wash down your food with water or any kind of beverage.
4. Cheerfulness is an important aid to digestion. The mind should be
free from care, and the surroundings pleasant.
5. Avoid overeating.
6. There should be between five and six hours' interval between
meals, and no food should be taken during this interval.
7. Make your list of foods balance up with about ten per cent
protein, twenty-five to thirty per cent fat, and sixty to sixty-five
per cent carbohydrate.
8. Eat few kinds of food at a meal, but vary the menu from day to
day.
9. Food should be properly cooked to get the best results.
10. Do not eat late at night. The evening meal should be the lightest.
11. Eat green vegetables frequently in season.
12. Fresh fruits are very helpful in the diet.
13. Combine fruits, grains, and nuts.
14. Fruits and coarse vegetables are not a good combination.
15. It is better not to take large quantities of cane sugar and milk
together.
16. Do not eat rich and complicated mixtures of food.
17. Flesh meats are expensive, they make the protein high, and are
second-hand foods. Their place may easily be supplied by other foods.
18. Avoid excessive amounts of salt.
19. Do not use pepper or other irritating condiments and spices in
seasoning your food.
20. Tea and coffee are not foods, and should be entirely dispensed
with.
21. Alcohol is a poison, and should be entirely eliminated from the
menu.
[Illustration]
Necessary Knowledge to Careful Planning
To thousands of home-keepers the requirements are new: a correct
knowledge of proteids, of carbohydrates, of calories is unfamiliar
to them. They cannot grasp what is asked of them, in a day or a week
or a month. Suddenly has housekeeping been transformed from a daily
round to a science and a business.... It all calls for intelligent
study and the most careful planning. It is not a small "bit," it is a
full-sized job: never has the American woman faced a bigger job. As she
does it or fails of doing it, will this great country win or lose the
war.--_Ladies' Home Journal._
[Illustration]
VITAMINES _and_ CALORIES
_by_
_D. D. COMSTOCK, M.D._
for years Medical Superintendent of Glendale
Sanitarium, Glendale, California
The body is a machine, intricate, complicated, "fearfully and
wonderfully" constructed. In one way, it is simple in its operations;
but in another, so ultrascientific in the detail of its automatic
control, and so deep in the mysteries of its chemical processes, that
the investigation of ages has not been able to fathom its greater
scientific depths, and bring to the surface a knowledge of its ultimate
structure and its wonderful workings. The Master Designer of the living
machine so adjusted its mechanism that in its original environment and
relationship, its care would be easy, and the laws of its preservation
few and exceedingly simple.
Like most machines, the human machine requires the impartation of
energy. Similarly, also, this is supplied by the combustion of certain
carbonaceous substances. It needs constant repair. These and its other
needs are all furnished in the daily food supply.
The life of this machine can be greatly lengthened by intelligent care,
or shortened by neglect and abuse. Its efficiency may be similarly
affected. While one cannot hear the pounding of the engine or the
rattling of the machinery, yet the machine is damaged if run under too
high a pressure and at too great speed.