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the precipitation of the ferments in the digestive juices, retards
digestion, and may cause constipation, particularly if taken after long
infusion.
Strong tea has an overstimulating effect on the nervous system
which reacts, producing depression and restlessness; this may lead
to insomnia, muscular twitchings, and palpitation of the heart.
Habitual users often take from ten to twenty cups of strong tea
daily; in these the evil effects of the tea habit are easily noted.
Americans, or any people whose nerves are highly stimulated,
from the stress of life, or from habitual nerve tension, should
particularly avoid all stimulating beverages.
Poor tea, because of the greater amount of tannin it contains,
produces its ill effects more quickly. From overstimulation of the
nervous system, poor tea, long stewed, has been held to be a
contributing factor in insanity.
Tea should be avoided by the dyspeptic, by those of constipated
and flatulent habit, or by the anemic.
Tannin coagulates the albumin in milk or cream and the addition
of these to tea renders it more indigestible; plain or with lemon juice
it may be well borne by those with whom it disagrees when used
with cream or sugar.
Thein, the active principle in tea, is chemically identical with
caffein in coffee.

Coffee is prepared from the seeds of the coffee

Coffee tree. The best known brands come from the Island
of Java, Mocha, Rio de Janeiro, and Mexico.
Coffee, like tea, is not a food, it is a stimulant.
 The active principle is caffein. This is an alkaloid and is a strong
stimulant to the central nervous system. It quickens the heart action,
and the stimulating effect is so apparent with many, that they cannot
sleep for several hours after drinking it. Others drink coffee to
quicken mental activity and to keep them awake.
It must be borne in mind, however, that there is a reactionary
effect from all stimulants, and while coffee is not intoxicating, as
alcohol, it has a similar effect on the nerves and heart.
Coffee has the redeeming feature of having a pleasing aroma,
which, because of the effect on the mind, may incite the flow of
gastric juice. Despite the fact that no morning beverage has quite
the same pleasing aroma, or pungency, ordinarily one is much better
without it.
Coffee stimulates the action of the heart and for this reason it is
used in collapse to restore heart action.
It removes the sense of fatigue and is thus beneficial in some
cases, as in the army, when long marches are necessary.
It is valuable as an antidote in opium poisoning or in cases of
alcoholism.
It is given to those addicted to liquor, as a milder stimulant when
they are recovering from a spell of intoxication.
The only use of coffee as a food is that its pleasant aroma
stimulates the flow of gastric juice.
Strong coffee, particularly that which has been boiled for a long
time, retards digestion, and, if much is drunk, it will produce the
same symptoms of over stimulation of the nervous system as are
manifest in the tea habit. Heartburn, constipation, dyspepsia, and
insomnia may result.
Sometimes the habit is manifested by excessive eating of the
coffee bean. Such users show marked symptoms of nervousness;
they are usually thin and their faces are drawn and anxious.
 Each person must decide for himself whether or not coffee or tea
is injurious to him and cease the habit if he finds it is interfering with
the proper functioning of the system, remembering always that the
purpose of food is to resupply body waste and produce heat and
energy.
One who knows that coffee disturbs his digestion, and yet cannot
break himself from the habit of drinking it, should have sympathy for
the one who is addicted to liquor and finds it difficult to break the
habit of depending on this so-called stimulant.
Cereal Coffee has been discussed under the heading “Cereals.”
“Crust” coffee is made by pouring boiling water on “caramelized”
bread or bread deeply toasted, allowing it to stand ten minutes, then
pouring off the liquid, which may be sweetened to taste or mixed
with cream or milk. It is also made by using crusts of bread which
have been dried in the oven without being allowed to brown.

Cocoa and Chocolate are prepared from the

Cocoa and cocoa bean.
Chocolate
Cocoa is from the shell of the bean and
chocolate from the kernel. As shown by Table VII, they are more
nutritious than the other beverages.
Cocoa butter is the fat of the cocoa bean. It has a pleasant odor
and does not easily become rancid. Its nutritive value depends on its
fat.
Most of the fat has been removed from the cocoa made for the
use of invalids, hence the nutritive value of this cocoa is lessened.
The milk and sugar used in its preparation constitute the most of its
nourishment; the cocoa simply gives a flavor.
Part of the value of chocolate is in the sugar used with it. If well
prepared it is digested with ease and forms a nutritious article of
diet. The habit of using large amounts of chocolate in candy, or as a
beverage, disorders the system because of the gastric disturbances
produced by the excess of sugar.
When food is not easily obtained, compressed cakes of chocolate
may be carried, as in traveling, for a temporary food supply.
Chocolate, as sugar, in moderation, constitutes a good food for the
growing child.
The active principle in cocoa and chocolate is theobromin and,
though milder, is similar to caffein in its stimulating effect on the
nervous system.

Lemonade and other fruit drinks, particularly

Lemonade those made from the citrus fruits, slake the thirst
more quickly than most drinks.
All fruit drinks are diuretic, and, whenever the action of the
kidneys is sluggish, they are especially desirable.

These are made by forcing carbon dioxid, under

pressure, into the bottle. As soon as the cork is Effervescing
removed the escape of the gas causes Waters
effervescence. These drinks are of no special
advantage, other than that they slake the thirst, because the
amount of salts of various minerals they contain is usually small.
When taken in excess they cause flatulence and may lead to
gastric disturbances. The indiscriminate habit of young people
drinking effervescing waters at soda fountains should be
discouraged.
These waters added to milk render it more easily digested.
 There is no beverage nor concoction devised by
man equal to water. It is to be deplored that it is Water
not used as freely as Nature demands—from eight
to ten glasses a day.
The value of water as a food and as an aid to digestion is
discussed on page 26.

CONDIMENTS

Condiments are not foods. They have no nutrition in themselves,

but by their flavor they stimulate the nerves of taste, rendering the
food more appetizing and help to make the diet more varied.
They are relishes and are to be employed in this manner
judiciously, and not used generally in the diet.
Some strong condiments, as cayenne pepper, are of use in
dyspeptic conditions to stimulate the gastric mucous membrane.
They are of value in the dietary of the invalid whose appetite must
be stimulated and careful variations in flavoring will aid in varying a
diet which otherwise would be monotonous, but the excessive use of
condiments, particularly the various peppers, salt, horseradish,
ginger, vinegar, and spices, as indulged by many, so overstimulates
the gastric and intestinal membranes, as to cause catarrhal disease
and dyspepsia. They tend to weaken digestion by calling for an
undue secretion of digestive juices, which, if prolonged, tires out the
glands.
The use of salts is discussed on pages 34-37.
A reasonable amount of condiments such as pepper, salt, nutmeg,
cloves, allspice, sage, thyme, ginger, mustard, cinnamon, mace,
horseradish, vanilla, dill, etc., may be used as appetizers, because
the pleasing thought of them may incite the flow of gastric juice; but
they should not be used to excess.
 The taste is undoubtedly a cultivated one, and should not be
encouraged in children. The child rarely cares for condiments and it
is better that he continue to relish his food in its natural flavor.
If beef tea, which so soon becomes distasteful to the sick, is
flavored with different savory or aromatic substances, as parsley,
sage, or mint, it is taken with greater relish.
Mustard, so commonly used with cold ham or other meat and in
salad dressing, is sometimes of benefit in stimulating the appetite,
but when used in large quantities, or continuously, it may irritate the
stomach. This irritant quality may be used to advantage, when it is
deemed necessary, as a counter-irritant on the skin, as in the well-
known mustard plaster. A teaspoonful of mustard to a pint of
lukewarm water is an effectual emetic in cases in which it is
necessary or advisable to empty the stomach.
Capers, the flower buds of a bush grown in the East, are put up in
vinegar and used in sauces for mutton.
Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves are useful in flavoring foods; they
take the flat taste from hot water and impart a pleasant spiciness.
Many can take milk when flavored, and the slight amount necessary
is in no way injurious.
Preserved ginger is of value for flavoring cereal foods and gruels
for invalids.
Vinegar, used in excess, reduces the alkalinity of the blood and
aids in the destruction of red blood corpuscles. It may thus produce
anemia when used in excess.
The acetic acid contained in cider vinegar aids the softening of the
muscle fiber of meat and thus facilitates its digestion. Because of its
preservative qualities it is used in pickling vegetables and various
kinds of fish.
Vinegars made from grapes or other fruits are wholesome.
Flavored vinegars, as tarragon, from the herb of the same name, are
useful as appetizers.
 Vinegars artificially made from commercial acids are sometimes
injurious.
Tomato Catsup, Worcestershire, and Tabasco sauces are not
harmful if used moderately and with due regard to enhancing not
destroying the flavor of the food with which they are used.

PRESERVATION OF FOODS

This subject is of ever-growing importance. The study of the

preservation of foods has added much to the store of human
knowledge. By this means it is possible for those living in districts
remote from the supply, those who cannot afford to buy them fresh,
and those who have no cellars in which to store them, to have
vegetables and fruits at all seasons of the year.
Nutritious foods can be prepared in such small bulk and of such
excellent keeping quality that explorers, whether to the arctics or the
tropics, can be kept in first-class physical condition, enabled to
withstand fatigue, and be removed to long distances from the base
of supplies without great hardship.
The decomposition of food is occasioned by bacterial action. Air is
necessary to the growth of bacteria. If the air is excluded the
ordinary bacteria are prevented from exerting their deleterious
action.
Heat, as in canning, prevents the formation of bacterial products.
Cold, in refrigeration, by inhibiting bacterial activity is also an
excellent preservative.
Other methods in use are smoking, salting, drying, sterilizing,
various antiseptics, and the exclusion of the air, as in coating eggs or
meat for transportation to other countries.
Eggs are preserved for a long period by excluding the air, which
otherwise penetrates the shell. A solution of water glass (silicate of
sodium), dry oats or salt are used for this purpose.
 All food intended for preservation should be kept in a clean, cool,
dry, dark place.
Drying, cooking, and sealing from the air will preserve some meats
and fruits, while others require such preservatives as sugar, vinegar,
and salt. The preservative in cider vinegar is acetic acid, in wine
vinegar tartaric acid.
All preservatives which are actual foods, such as sugar, salt, and
vinegar, are to be recommended, but the use of antiseptic
preservatives, such as salicylic acid, formaldehyd, boracic acid, alum,
sulphur, and benzoate of soda, all of which have been used by many
canning merchants, is fraught with danger. By the efforts of the
United States Department of Agriculture the use of such
preservatives has been largely done away with by the most reliable
packers and canners. However, unscrupulous dealers may use this
means of disguising fruits and vegetables not in good condition.
There can be no doubt, that, whenever possible, the best method
is for the housewife to preserve her own food by drying, canning,
preserving, and pickling, with fruits and vegetables which she knows
are fresh. This, however, is not always practicable.
Since economy in food lies in obtaining the greatest amount of
nutriment for the least money, the preparation of simple foods in the
home, with care that no more is furnished for consumption than the
system requires, is the truest economy.
More brands of prepared food are not so much needed as purity of
elements in their natural state.
In the effort to emphasize the importance of pure food in amount
and quality, pure air and pure water must not be overlooked. Much
infection is carried by these two elements.

POISONING FROM FOOD

Owing to the careful inspection given to various preparations of

foods and the education of the people on the dangers attending the
eating of underripe, overripe, or fermenting fruits and vegetables, or
decomposing canned meats or other foods, cases of poisoning from
food are not so numerous as formerly.
One still reads, however, of illnesses and even fatalities in those
who have, at some gathering, partaken of potted or canned meats,
or ice-cream made from impure milk.
Imperfect sterilization allows the micro-organisms, everywhere
present in the atmosphere, to multiply and produce their toxins.
Any food contained in a can which shows a suspicious bulging in
top or sides (not a dent caused by handling) should be
unhesitatingly rejected, for fermentation has developed gases,
which, in trying to escape, have caused the bulging. Though the
practice is less common than formerly, some grocers offer these
bulging cans for sale at less prices and they are thus purchased by
those who look for bargains in foods instead of for quality.
Sometimes the foods have not advanced to a stage in which the
poisonous products are manifested; but in the intestinal canal the
germs contained in these foods manufacture toxins which are readily
absorbed and produce the severe disturbances noted in cases of
ptomain poisoning.
The liver, which has been styled the “watchdog of the body,” has a
special power to destroy many of the toxins contained in the food
material passing through it, and it is due to this fact that many
deleterious substances, taken with the food, are neutralized and
their poisons rendered harmless to the system. When the liver is
disordered, this important function may be hindered, or cease to be
active. Therefore, the importance may be readily seen of keeping
the liver in a vigorous condition by means of exercises which will
send an active circulation through it and keep the nerves controlling
it in perfect functioning order.
Ptomain poisoning results most often from tainted meat, milk, and
fish. Putrefactive processes may have begun in meat, which is thus
rendered “high,” but if it is thoroughly cooked the poisons may be
made inert. Many enjoy the flavor of such meat. The Eskimos, as is
well known, will cache a seal or other animal against a time when
food is less plentiful and after months, perhaps, will eat it with relish
and without harm, though it cannot be touched by people with less
hearty appetites. Old eggs, eaten as a luxury by the Chinese, and
the fermented fish used by other races are familiar examples of
tainted foods.
The sale of “bob” veal, or the flesh of very young calves, has been
prohibited because in many people its ready decomposition causes
active diarrhea.
The process of smoking various meats affects materially only the
outside portion, the inner may furnish a suitable bed for the
development of germs. Great care should be exercised and thorough
inspection made of any meat which is eaten raw, as dried beef, or
any pork product.
Ice-cream, as made in the home, is usually innocuous, but when it
is made in factories, unless care is exercised to keep containers
clean and sterilized, the cream or milk may become infected from
careless handling, either before or after it reaches the factory—
particularly in warm weather. Toxins which cause serious and often
fatal poisoning develop. Many such cases have resulted from the
free eating of infected ice-cream at picnics or other social
gatherings.
One should guard against overripe cheese, though cheese of any
kind acts as a poison with some people. Cases of severe intestinal
disturbance may occur in those who are unable to eat certain
articles of food, as strawberries, lobsters, or oysters; these attacks
should be carefully distinguished from cases of true poisoning.
Sometimes, however, particularly in the case of fish or oysters
which have been frozen, unless they are eaten immediately after
they have been thawed, toxins develop which cause severe
constitutional disturbance, particularly of the nervous system. These
toxins do not seem to affect the gastro-intestinal tract so markedly.
Infected shellfish, particularly mussels, have caused death in two
hours by their effect on the nervous system.
Many fish after being smoked are eaten raw, and if the ptomains
have begun to develop, poisoning follows.
Care must be taken in purchasing fish for the table that the flesh
is firm and the odor absolutely without taint.
Meat or fish may become toxic to the system through substances
eaten by the animal or by its own physical condition at the time it is
killed. Fish and oysters, therefore, are not eaten during the
spawning season.
Cow’s milk may be made obnoxious by substances on which the
cow feeds. Wild garlic when eaten by the cow imparts a nauseous
taste to the milk.
The flesh from diseased animals slaughtered and sold for food has
occasioned violent sickness. Government inspection, however, has
greatly lessened the dangers from this source.
Unripe or overripe vegetables and fruit may occasion severe
vomiting and diarrhea.
Moldy flour contains a substance which may cause poisoning.
Rye may have a parasite fungus called ergot and if flour is made
from rye contaminated with this growth, a form of poisoning called
“ergotism” may result. It takes some time and a prolonged use of
the flour to cause untoward symptoms.
Pellagra, which has been giving the southern states so much
trouble, was thought to be caused by the use of spoiled corn meal.
It is now thought to be due to the disturbed nutrition following too
monotonous and unbalanced a diet. The excessive use of corn-meal
breads with their heating qualities and the irritation of the intestinal
canal may be an accessory factor.
A food which is so universally used as milk should be surrounded
with every safeguard possible by rigid inspection from producer to
consumer, as many infective epidemics have been traced directly to
a careless or infected handler of this product. Tuberculosis and
typhoid fever germs, diphtheria and scarlet fever may all be
communicated by this means. Live typhoid bacilli have been found in
acid buttermilk. Infected water used in washing the cans will infect
the milk.
Other poisoning may occur by the tin or lead in the inside of cans
being dissolved off by the acids in fruits or vegetables. This is more
likely to occur when the cans of fruit have been kept for a long time.
Housekeepers, who use tin cans, should not put up more fruit than
will supply the family for the season.
Tomatoes, asparagus, strawberries, and apricots are especially
liable to dissolve the tin from the can.
Food should be emptied from the can as soon as it is opened, as
the action of the air hastens deterioration. No cooked fruit should be
allowed to stand in a tin saucepan or other vessel. It should be
emptied as soon as the cooking process is complete.
When a can of fruit, vegetables, or meat is opened, if the interior
of the can is even partially black, it is safe to reject the contents.
The tin in the food will be absorbed in the intestinal tract and may
cause severe disturbance.
Large canners of fruit and vegetables, of the better quality, are
now coating the inside of the can with an insoluble varnish which
prevents the acids from acting on the tin.
The best canners are exceedingly careful and everything in their
factories is scrupulously clean.

THE ADULTERATION OF FOOD

Laws against food adulteration have been enacted, but

unscrupulous manufacturers find ways to evade them. On account of
these laws, however, the practice is less general and manufacturers
are beginning to take pride in putting up goods that pass the
strictest inspection. The people, also, are being aroused, through the
efforts of the pure-food propagandists, to the ill effects of
adulterated foods both on the body and the pocketbook and are
increasingly demanding that the foods they buy shall be pure and
wholesome.
To lessen the cost of production, many foods are mixed with
various substances before being marketed in order to increase the
profits of the manufacturer or dealer. The contained substance may
not be deleterious to health, but it may lessen the value of the
article as a food.
Among foods which may be so adulterated are jellies, jams and
marmalades, catsups and pickles of all varieties, baking powder,
butter, spices, coffee, corn-starch, mincemeat, vinegar, syrups,
sugar, honey, lard, and flour.
Various adulterants which are used are: wood alcohol (a poison) in
flavoring extracts; vinegar made from various acids and colored to
imitate cider vinegar; rice flour and wheat flour used in ground
spices; kaolin and coloring matter used in candies; paraffin in gum
drops; glucose artificially flavored as maple syrup; cotton-seed oil
sold as olive oil; starch and sugar in powdered cocoa and in
chocolate; chicory, sugar, and pea meal in ground coffee; artificial
coffee beans made of starch, molasses, and chicory; alum and
ammonia in baking powders; artificial coloring of canned peas,
beans, and catsups, butter, cheese, milk, and cream.
It must be said, in justice, however, that housewives are
responsible for many of these productions. Dealers who would be
glad to sell only pure articles say that “the trade won’t have them.”
Many insist on a highly colored cheese, thinking that the color
denotes greater richness, whereas a little reasoning would show
them that the richest old cheeses are pale in color, the deeper color
of the cheese being due to the addition of coloring matter to the
curd. While the coloring matter is not deleterious, the color is no
evidence of richness.
 Highly colored green pickles, beans, and peas, should not be used.
Pickles which are hard and crisp are usually made so by alum.
Brilliant red catsup is in demand, though the pure variety is known
by its darker and not so attractive hue.
High coloring in any canned fruit or vegetable is usually an
indication that dye stuffs have been used to produce it.
Fruit jams which are of nondescript color or pale when pure are
colored artificially because the ordinary purchaser demands a pretty
product.
Through the vigilance of the food inspectors of the boards of
health, and because of some vigorous prosecutions, the adulteration
of the people’s food is, however, not so easy and profitable an
occupation as formerly.
The Bulletins of the Department of Agriculture furnish a mine of
wealth in the gaining of knowledge of various foods and their
preparation, and may be had free on application to this Department
at Washington.

HEAT AND ENERGY

The second use of foods, as mentioned before, is to furnish heat

and energy for the work of the body. Heat and energy are produced
automatically by the action of the heart, the movement of the lungs
in breathing, and by muscular activity through the digestion,
absorption, and assimilation of food elements, and through the
activity in tearing down and eliminating waste. They are produced
consciously by muscular activity in exercise.
Just as any engine requires fuel, water, and air to create the force
necessary to run the machinery, so does the human engine require
fuel, air, and water.
The fuel for an engine consists of coal, wood, or oil. As these are
brought in combination with oxygen, combustion or oxidation takes
place, liberating heat and setting the engine in motion.
 The amount of energy or force given off by an engine should
exactly equal the amount of latent energy provided in the fuel. Much
of this energy is commercially lost, since much of the latent force in
fuel is not fully liberated, some passing off in the smoke, while some
may remain in the cinders.
The amount of heat and energy generated by the body equals the
amount of latent energy released by the burning of food material
during oxidation.
The carbohydrates and fats constitute the most of the fuel.
The body cells are constantly surrounded by the lymph which
contains the food material—the protein, the carbohydrate, and the
fat.
The lymph carries all of the food elements, therefore the protein,
the fat, and the carbohydrate reach the tissues at the same time. If
the fat and carbohydrate predominate, their excess serves to keep a
portion of the protein away from the cells. The cells can use
carbohydrate more easily than fat, so the surplus amount of
carbohydrate is first used to produce energy. This spares the protein
which is held in reserve for tissue repair, and the fat, being least
readily used, is stored.
When the carbohydrates and fats are not supplied, or when the
system fails for any reason to appropriate those eaten to its use, the
protein is used for heat and energy instead of being used for tissue
building. If the demand, either in mental or physical energy, exceeds
the daily supply for long, the body becomes lean.
In order, therefore, to maintain a perfect equilibrium the supply of
protein, carbohydrate, and fat should bear the proper relation, any
excess at one time being equalized at another. If an overhearty meal
is eaten the next should be light.
Fat is harder to burn than the starches and sugars so that they are
acted on first as an economy of effort, and the fat is held in reserve
until the carbohydrates are exhausted.
 If one is cold, the quickest way to get warm is to generate more
heat within by “turning on the draught,” or, in other words, by
breathing in more oxygen. If cold, one should depend more on the
oxygen within than on extra clothing. So many people put on more
clothing to conserve the body heat and forget to generate more heat
by arousing the fires within. This is like covering a dying fire, instead
of turning on the draught to create more combustion.
The carbon in the body is burned by being brought into contact
with oxygen in the blood through exercise and full breathing, just as
a fire is fanned to flame by bringing oxygen in contact with the fuel,
by means of a draught of air. Keep all air away from a fire and it
“dies out,” it has exhausted the oxygen and no heat is produced;
keep all air from within the body, by cessation of breathing, and it
also dies.
A room is heated with difficulty if the air in it does not contain
sufficient oxygen. Just so the body which is not constantly supplied
with pure air generates very little heat. The effect of oxygen in the
creation of heat is practically demonstrated by voluntary, rapid, deep
breathing, completely filling the lungs with air, while out in the cold.
The body will become quickly warmed on the coldest day by this
practice.
Ten to twelve deep breaths in succession “turn on the draught”
inside and create combustion (heat), just as opening the draught to
a stove by causing more air to circulate within it increases
combustion or heat.
Remember that heat is the result of combustion—the more rapid
the combustion in the body, caused by oxygen breathed in through
the lungs, the greater the heat.
Just as much heat is created when fat is burned in the body as
when it is burned outside of the body.
The heat from “burning” wood is produced by the union of the
oxygen from the air with hydrogen and carbon, forming carbon
dioxid and water.
 The light in the burning of wood is caused by the rapid
combustion. Combustion occurs within the body more slowly, hence
no light is produced.
The exact process by which the potential energy latent in food is
converted into heat and energy is not known. It is partly released
during the digestive process, through the chemical action produced
when the elements of the food come into contact with oxygen and
with the digestive juices. This combustion gives to the digestive
organs the necessary warmth to enable them to do effective work. A
certain amount of heat is necessary for the chemical changes, and
digestive juices flow more freely when the body is warm. Heat is
necessary, also, to aid the peristaltic movements of the digestive
organs.
It has been estimated that about one-sixth of the heat liberated
evaporates through the skin, the lungs, and the excreta, while five-
sixths is required to maintain the body heat.
If the digestive forces are not working perfectly and if the food is
not properly prepared, some of the fuel is not utilized. But, in normal
conditions, if the food is supplied in proportion to the energy
required, the heat and energy given off should exactly equal the
latent heat and energy consumed. If more food is taken than is
necessary to produce heat and energy, the excess of material is
stored and if the excess continues the bodily machinery may be
clogged. The relief lies in consuming the excess through exercise.
More oxygen is required to put the excess in condition for use, and
the extra amount of oxygen is gained by means of the deep
breathing occasioned by exercise.
It is to be noted, also, that no force within the body is lost. In the
very process of the removal of waste, heat and energy are created,
so that the parts no longer needed are utilized by the system, while
they are being removed from it. Here is a lesson in economy of
force.
 A small portion of the heat of the body is gained from the sun or
from artificial heat, but by far the greater part is generated within
the body.
As mentioned before, the fuel for the body consists of fats,
starches, and sugars, which, in combination with oxygen, create
force.
From the foregoing, it follows that the fuel value of any food
depends on the amount of fats, starches, and sugars it contains.
The chemical combination of oxygen with food elements and with
the body tissue is known as oxidation. It is this chemical action of
the oxygen on the food and on the tissues which produces heat and
energy, either in muscle, gland, or nerve. This energy, in the muscle,
expresses itself in movement; in the gland, in chemical action, and
in the nervous system, by activity of brain or nerve centers. The
nervous energy is closely allied to electrical force.
Nature provides for a reserve of heat and energy, above the
immediate needs, by storing a supply of heat-producing material
which is utilized whenever the daily supply is insufficient or is
lacking. Many hibernating animals store up sufficient fat in summer
to provide heat for the entire winter. This fat would not last
throughout the winter, however, were the animal active. Many
individuals carry sufficient fat to supply all of their needs for months,
even though all fat-building elements were omitted from the diet.
The fact that more oxygen is required for combustion of fat than
of starches and sugars is important for those who wish to call on the
fats stored within the body for daily heat and energy and thus
reduce in weight.
If sufficient starches, sugars, and fats are not consumed in the
body to supply the daily heat and energy released by exercise, the
body calls on the reserve store in the tissues. If much fat or
carbohydrates are consumed in the daily food this will be oxidized
before the fat stored in the muscular tissue is called on.
 The scientific reduction of weight, therefore, lies in the regulation
of the daily consumption of starches, sugars, and fats, and the
oxidation of more of these substances through an increase in the
daily exercise.
Deep breathing of pure air should accompany all exercises to
supply sufficient oxygen for combustion or oxidation.
In warm weather little fat is needed for fuel, and Nature provides
fresh green vegetables to replace the root vegetables of the cold
weather, which, consisting largely of starches and sugars, are readily
converted into heat.
In cold weather, especially in high altitudes or latitudes, more fuel
foods are required to keep the body warm and more fat is eaten.
It must be remembered that anything which creates a greater
activity of the tissues, such as muscular exercise, liberates a greater
amount of heat. The reverse is also true. A decrease in the amount
of muscular movement means a decrease in the liberation of heat.
During exercise, a large amount of carbohydrates and fats are
released by the movements and oxidized; the liberated heat is
carried to all parts of the system and the temperature is raised.
Food in the alimentary canal causes an activity in the glands of the
digestive organs maintaining their temperature.
Of course, while digestion and muscular activity are at their
height, the body temperature is highest. The temperature, as a rule,
decreases from about six at night until four or five in the morning,
when it is usually at its ebb. This is a point of importance. A degree
or two of increase in temperature, above normal, if recorded about
six at night, is not, in most conditions, considered alarming by the
physician.
Anything which causes an increase in heat radiation, as
perspiration, lowers the temperature, and the open pores of the skin
are valuable aids in equalizing the body heat. A person who
perspires freely does not suffer with heat during excessive exercise,
as does one whose pores are closed.
 Diuretic foods and beverages, such as water and fruits (melons,
lemons, oranges, grapefruit, etc.), which increase the activity of the
skin and the kidneys, also tend to lower the body temperature.
One ready means of regulating the body heat is the bath. If one
takes a hot bath, the temperature is materially raised by the artificial
heat, but there is a recompense in the increase of heat radiation
from the skin and the reaction is cooling. If one takes a cold bath,
the immediate effect is cooling, but the activity set up within, to
create a reaction, soon heats the body to a greater degree than
before the bath.
The best way to increase the evaporation and thus decrease the
temperature of the body is by a tepid shower or a tepid sponge. The
tepid water will not create a strong reaction, and it will cause a
decrease in temperature. Thus, for fever patients or on a warm day,
the tepid shower or sponge is commended; for a cold day, or for the
individual whose circulation is sluggish, the cold bath, followed by
friction, is desirable. When the vitality is low, so that reaction is slow
or chilly feelings persist, the bath must be tempered and greater
friction used.
The generation of heat is also increased by solid foods that require
more than normal activity on the part of the digestive organs. For
this reason the food given fever patients should be that most easily
digested and should be reduced in quantity. Liquid or semiliquid
foods are best.
While the elements of the food are being oxidized, the latent
(potential) energy released by the oxygen creates mental and
physical force and keeps active the metabolic changing of food into
tissues and cells, also the changing of cells and tissues into waste.
Scientists have measured the energy latent in food material, also
the amount of heat given off in the oxidation of a given quantity of
waste. The unit of measurement is the calorie—the amount of heat
which will raise one pound of water 4 degrees Fahrenheit.
 The fuel value of any food denotes the total number of calories
which may be derived from a pound of that food if it be completely
oxidized in the body.
C. F. Langworthy gives the fuel value of proteins, fats, and
carbohydrates as follows:

1 pound of protein yields 1860 calories

1 ” ” fats ” 4220 ”
1 ” ” carbohydrates yields 1860 ”

That is, according to fuel value—the capacity of the nutrients for

yielding heat and mechanical power—a pound of the protein of lean
meat or egg albumen just about equals a pound of starch or sugar,
and about two pounds of these would about equal a pound of the
fat of meat or of the body fat.
The calculation has been made, based on experiments, that one
who does no muscular work needs only an amount of food which
will produce 2700 calories. One doing light muscular work needs
3000 calories. An individual doing moderately heavy work should
take 3500 calories, while heavy muscular work takes 4500 calories.
One hundred grams of protein food, however, gives only fifteen
per cent. of the amount of energy required. About 500 grams of
carbohydrate and 50 grams of fat are needed to make up the 3000
calories which must be furnished by the daily supply of food for one
doing light muscular work.
The brain worker, who is using brain tissue more rapidly than the
day laborer, should have a diet equally as rich in protein, though less
fat and carbohydrates are needed.
It has been estimated that an ordinary man on full diet excretes
about twenty grams (about five-eighths of an ounce) of nitrogen a
day. As protein material contains about sixteen per cent. of nitrogen,
such an individual needs to take about 120 grams of protein a day to
 CHAPTER V
REPAIR AND ELIMINATION OF WASTE (METABOLISM)

T HE work of the body never stops. If it is to be kept in thorough

working order its tissues must be rebuilt as incessantly as they
are torn down in the process of producing heat and energy. These
chemical changes are called collectively metabolism.
They are divided into two groups: the chemical process of building
up complex substances from simple ones is known as anabolism; the
chemical process of oxidizing and breaking down the complex
substances into simple ones, so that they are in a state to be
excreted, is called catabolism. While the process of oxidation in
catabolism is going on, heat and energy are set free. Many of the
chemical changes in the body are catabolic in character. This work
never ceases—even in sleep.
It is not enough that the proper foods be furnished the body in
kind and quantity. The essential thing is that the system be kept in
condition to assimilate the foods to its needs and to promptly
eliminate the waste. Few people assimilate all of the foods eaten.
By assimilation is meant the process by which foodstuffs are made
soluble and diffusible, so that they can pass into the blood; also, the
metabolic activity by which the food is converted into cells and
tissues.
Truly the body is a busy workshop. Think of the billions on billions
of cells being formed and destroyed every instant in the liberation of
heat and force! Think, also, of the necessity of perfect circulation to
bring sufficient blood to the lungs, that it may gather the oxygen
and carry it, without pausing for rest, to every tissue of the body!
Even in sleep this stream continues incessantly.
 There is also a great lesson here in the law of supply and demand.
When the body is at mental or muscular work, the potential energy
liberated leaves through muscle or brain, as energy, and is
expressed in the result of the work. When the body is at rest, energy
leaves it as heat (excepting such part as is necessary to carry on
metabolism, circulation, etc.).
If much muscular energy is called for, a deep, full breath is
instinctively drawn to supply the oxygen necessary for the added
force.
If strong mental work is required, attention should be given to
exercise and deep breathing, that the blood may carry off the waste
liberated by brain activity. The difficulty is that in doing close mental
work, the body is too frequently bent over a desk in such a manner
as to restrict the action of the lungs; thus, the brain worker, in order
to continue strong mental work, must often go into the open air, as
he says, “to rest his brain,” but in reality to obtain the oxygen
needed to put the waste, liberated by brain energy, in condition to
be carried away. The supply of blood has been called on for the
brain work; the poor circulation through the body has allowed an
excess of carbon dioxid to accumulate and the condition of the body
designated as “tired” has resulted. Until the necessary oxygen has
been supplied, the brain and body are not balanced, not “rested.”
In its conversion into tissue, heat, energy, and waste, the
importance of the chemical exceeds that of the mechanical action of
digestion, absorption, assimilation, and elimination; yet the chemical
changes are aided by the mechanical.
Nature provides against ignorance of the amount of supply
necessary, by enabling the system to carry off a limited amount of
surplus food above the bodily requirements. Her capacity in this
regard is limited and varies with each individual. Therefore common
sense is required in deciding for oneself the amount of food which
will aid, and not hinder Nature in her processes.
 Without doubt many eat more food than the system requires, and
when it is overloaded they do not take the pains to burn up and
eliminate the excess through exercise and oxygen.
On the other hand, this theory of overeating has been so long
discussed that many have not eaten sufficient food and their bodies
are undernourished. Many, also, from lack of exercise, hence lack of
demand of the body for food, have supposed this lack of appetite to
be Nature’s call “Enough”; inertia has resulted and waste remains in
the body. They have failed to exercise sufficiently to create a
demand for food. It is thus undernourished because sufficient new
building material has not been supplied. The relief from this
condition is exercise and deep breathing so that Nature removes the
waste and calls for fresh building material.
Many others, through mental and physical activity, burn up much
fuel and the result is the body does not store up sufficient fat for a
reserve, or for beauty and comfort. The nerves require a certain
amount of fat for their protection. People of this type should take a
more full and sometimes a more varied diet, particularly more liquid,
and should not fail in daily exercise and deep breathing.
Each individual should know, approximately, the chemical
constituents and the proportion of these constituents in normal
blood, because from the elements in the blood, the tissues are
constructed. If certain elements are lacking, the foods containing
these elements in largest proportions should be supplied until the
blood no longer shows the deficiency. This is Nature’s method of
correction. The variations in the blood can be known only by
chemical analyses and until physicians have access to chemical
laboratories the giving of drugs cannot be a science.
Each meal, or each day’s food, may not contain the amount of
protein or of fuel ingredients necessary for that day’s work and
resupply, but the body is continually storing material, and this
reserve is constantly being drawn on to provide any element which
may be lacking in that day’s supply. Thus, an excess or a deficiency
one day may be adjusted the next. Healthful nourishment requires
that the balance, as a whole, be kept and that a deficiency or
oversupply be not continued for too long.
The distinct steps in anabolism and the effect of oxygen on
assimilation are discussed in the following pages.

DIGESTION

Any discussion of the digestibility of foods must be general,

because food which agrees with one may disagree with another, and
a food which disagrees with one at a particular time may entirely
agree with him at some other time according to the condition of his
system. Therefore, before one passes on the adaptability of a food
to his system, he should know that this food agrees or disagrees
with him under various conditions.
The chances are that the food is right but that the attitude of
mind and the condition of the body are abnormal.
The digestibility of food depends largely on the physical condition
of the individual, because the amount of digestive juices poured into
the alimentary canal is influenced by this condition, particularly by
the condition of the nerves. If sufficient juices, in proper proportions,
are not poured into the digestive tract, the foodstuffs are not made
soluble for absorption.
Digestion is practically synonymous with solution—all solid foods
must be reduced to a liquid state by means of the digestive juices
and water before they can pass through the walls of the stomach
and intestines and enter the blood.
Each individual should learn to like the foods containing the
nutrient elements which experience and blood tests have shown to
be lacking in his case.
Yet while it is true that in most cases the aversion to a particular
food is largely mental, there are kinds of food which, to certain
individuals, according to the chemical composition of the body, act
as actual poisons, e. g., strawberries, cheese, or coffee.
 The question of likes and of dislikes in foods, is largely habit, and
one can learn to like almost any food, if one really has the desire to
do so.
When the habit has been formed of discriminating too much in the
food, of discarding this food or that, because at some time it has
disagreed, due to the particular condition at the time, the mind
approaches the table in a pessimistic attitude and the saliva and the
gastric juices are retarded in their flow.
When one is exercising freely, so that the muscular and mucous
coats of the digestive system are strong, the body will handle foods
which, during sedentary habits, it would not digest.
Much indigestion is due to mental apathy. The mind often needs
arousing to an interest in something.
Such an individual needs to know that one of the hardest things
for the members of his family is to live day by day with one who
maintains an attitude of mental depression, and he should stir
himself for “his stomach’s sake,” as well as for the sake of his family,
to a cheerful interest in something. He should let go his grudge and
ride a hobby, if it is a cheerful one, and ride it hard.
It may be well, here, to trace, briefly, the progress of the food
through the digestive tract and the action of the juices and the
ferments on it.[5]

The food in the mouth is mixed with saliva,

which begins the dissolution of the starches. Salivary
Digestion
The saliva consists of about 99.5 per cent. water
and 0.5 per cent. solids. The solids consist of ptyalin, sodium chlorid,
sodium carbonate, mucus, and epithelium. Ptyalin, the most
important of these, is the active digestive agent; the mucus
lubricates the masticated food; the sodium carbonate insures the
alkalinity of the food, and the water dissolves the food that the
juices may more readily reach and act on each particle.
The starches are the only foods whose chemical digestion is begun
in the mouth. They are first broken up by the ptyalin into dextrin and
then into the more simple sugar, known as maltose.[6]
It is important that sufficient saliva be mixed with the food
through mastication, because unless the digestion of the starches is
begun by the saliva, either in the mouth or after it is swallowed,
they are not acted on until they reach the small intestine,
consequently their digestion is unduly delayed. The pancreatic juice
must then do more than its normal work of digestion.
The saliva flows into the mouth, more or less, at all times, but
more copiously during mastication.
The movement of the jaws in chewing incites its flow and when
starches are not well digested, gum chewing, in moderation, though
not a refined habit, is beneficial.
The evident purpose of the saliva when food is not present is to
keep the lining of the mouth moist.
Salivary digestion is carried on in the stomach until the food
becomes thoroughly mixed with the gastric juice, which, being acid,
inhibits the action of the ptyalin.
The thorough and regular cleansing of the teeth is an important
aid to digestion. Food products allowed to remain about the teeth
ferment, rendering the mouth acid. When the mouth is acid, the
alkaline saliva does not secrete in sufficient amount and the mouth
is more or less dry.
The mouth is acid in rheumatism and allied conditions and the
saliva may be thick and ropy so that it does not moisten the food
properly. On the other hand the flow of saliva may be too free, the
ptyalin is then too much diluted to promptly act on the food. This
may result from overstimulation of the salivary glands occasioned by
the excessive chewing of gum, or tobacco. These excesses also carry
too much air into the stomach, resulting in flatulence.
The flow of saliva is controlled, largely, by nerves centering in the
medulla oblongata. The sight of food, pleasingly served, or even the
thought of food which one likes, will increase the flow. This is one
instance of the control of thought over digestion, and the importance
of forming the habit of cultivating a taste for all kinds of food is
apparent. The stronger the relish for the food, and the more
thoroughly it is masticated and mixed with the saliva, the more
perfectly will the first step in digestion be accomplished.
Thorough mastication is important, not only because the chemical
action on the starch molecules is facilitated by the softening and
mixing with the saliva, but also because thorough mastication tends
to prevent overeating—the appetite is more quickly satisfied when
the food is well masticated.
Cool water encourages the flow of saliva and for this reason
should be drunk before meals, particularly when digestion is weak. It
may be taken at rest periods during the meal. (See page 31.)

The relation of the mouth and nasal passages to

The Mouth and the digestive processes is seldom considered by
Nasal Passages the average individual. Their importance to the
growing child is being recognized by the
examination of school children which is now being made a part of
the health program in many of our cities. Their importance to the
adult is no less.
Food particles allowed to remain around the teeth, or in the
cavities of decayed teeth, incite bacterial action. With the next meal
these bacteria are swallowed and cause fermentation of the food,
occasioning indigestion, and possibly, dyspepsia.
 Decayed or missing teeth, swollen gums, or pyorrhea, interfere
with proper mastication of food, hence it does not receive the
thorough salivary moistening necessary; the starches pass practically
unchanged into the stomach and small intestine, overburdening
these organs.
Catarrh of the nasal passages, with the constant swallowing of
germ-filled secretions, carries morbid products into the stomach,
coating the glands with mucus, often infecting them; it may also
occasion a catarrhal condition of that organ.
If, from any cause, the saliva becomes acid, dryness of the mouth
results and desire for food is lessened or absent. Diseases of the
salivary glands may render these necessary secretions unfit to
perform their work.
In illness the mouth often drops open from weakness, producing
the same condition of dryness. The mouth, in illness, is too often
neglected by those in charge of the invalid.
Adenoids and enlarged turbinates in child or adult, narrowing the
nasal passages and preventing the ingress of air, cause mouth
breathing. The air dries the membranes and the tongue becomes
swollen and cracks, interfering with proper mastication.
Adenoids should be removed, and any other condition which
interferes with the proper function of the mouth should be remedied
as soon as possible.
The mouth should be properly cleansed, the gums massaged, the
teeth thoroughly brushed, back as well as front, defective teeth
repaired or removed, abnormal growths eliminated, and the
secretions kept abundant and healthy. Food well prepared in the
mouth by thorough mastication satisfies hunger, renders more easy
the work of the stomach and intestines, and aids in the general
welfare of the system.
 This too prevalent habit may aggravate the
condition which it is supposed to cure. A slight Gum-chewing
indigestion appearing, gum is often chewed to
cause a fuller flow of saliva to aid digestion. If gum-chewing is
indulged in to excess, however, the muscular movements
overstimulate the salivary glands, eventually weakening them.
Overuse of the chewing muscles and overexcitation of the nerves
fatigue them and cause them to weaken. The sticky gum, adhering
to fillings in the teeth, loosens them and furnishes a lodging place
for food particles and bacteria.
The excess of saliva may render the gastric juice alkaline,
inhibiting its action. Excess of air swallowed with the saliva may
cause flatulence or accumulation of gas in the stomach.
Lack of poise and nerve tension is increased by excessive gum-
chewing, resulting in fatigue of the entire body. This lack of poise
may be noted in any public assembly, as the “movies,” frequented by
gum-chewers.
The habit, as generally practiced, is not an inspiring sight and
should be discouraged.
Gum-chewing in moderation, for a few minutes after a meal, may
not do harm, but its indiscriminate use is to be deplored. Thorough
mastication of food will serve to supply the necessary saliva.
Exercise directed to the stomach and a more thorough circulation
and elimination will do more for any digestive derangement than the
excessive practice of chewing gum.

As the food enters the stomach, the gastric juice

Stomach pours out from the mucous lining, very much as
Digestion the saliva pours into the mouth. Like the saliva, it
consists of 99.5 per cent. water and 0.5 per cent.