752 Reading-Course for Farmers' Wives. 



It is hard to conceive that such simple substances as carbon, famihar 

 to us as charcoal, oxygen which we breathe in the air, calcium known to us 

 as lime, sulfur, iron, etc., can be combined to form such complex and 

 wonderful substances as those of our own bodies. Since this is so we 

 must depend upon various combinations of these same elements to act 

 as food for the body, to build and repair it and give it the power to 

 move and act. Not a single one of the elements which compose the body 

 must be omitted in the food, or soon the body will sufifer for the lack of 

 something necessary to it. The form in which the elements are made 

 available to the body is known as the foodstuffs, carbohydrate, fat, 

 protein, mineral matter and water. 



Carbohydrates and fats. — Carbon is the element that gives common 

 fuels, wood, coal, etc., their main fuel value. It has the same use in the 

 body, and those foods which are to furnish us with energy must be rich 

 in carbon. The carbon compounds that are to serve as the best source 

 of energy to the body are those known as the carbohydrates and the 

 fats. Carbohydrate is a name applied to a class of substances of which 

 the most important in this connection are the sugars and the starches, 

 hence the name in a discussion of this kind means sugar and starch 

 collectively. These two foodstuffs, carbohydrates and fats, contain 

 only three elements, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, hence their use in 

 the body must necessarily be limited since the other elements in the list 

 given are just as essential as these three and nmst also appear in our food 

 combinations if we are to be rightly fed. They are very valuable food- 

 stuffs nevertheless, since from them may be derived the main part of the 

 body's ability to do work. They serve as a fuel for the body just as coal 

 serves for the engine, and they may keep the body warm and give it the 

 energy which makes the machinery go. By themselves, they could not 

 maintain life for any length of time for they would have no power to 

 build up the body's tissue and keep it in repair. They would 

 supply the fuel for energy, but all the other needs of the body would 

 be unsatisfied, the cells would hunger for the materials needed by them 

 and starvation would soon result. It must be kept in mind, however, 

 that the main part of the food consumed daily is to supply the body's 

 need for energy, and the carbohydrates and fats are the best foodstuffs 

 to use for this purpose. , * 



Sugar, starch and fat all serve the same purpose in the body but each 

 may be used to replace the other only within certain limits. Fat is a 

 more concentrated food than either of the others and there is a limit 

 to the amount which can be digested and absorbed. On the other hand. 



