The Bulletin. 35 



family — another way of saying "If you will tell me what you eat, I will tell 

 you what you are." It behooves us, therefore, to prepare for this great respon- 

 sibility. 



First, we will look for food materials that are body builders. Protein is the 

 only food element that can do this important work. It can also yield heat and 

 energy, but at too great a tax on the organs of digestion and also on the 

 purse. Lean meat, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, peas, beans and nuts are examples 

 of food rich in protein. 



Fats are supplied by butter, cream, fat of meats, olive oil and cotton-seed 

 products. 



The vegetable kingdom largely furnishes the carbohydrates (starches, sugars 

 and gums). Milk (containing sugar) is an exception. The cereals, rice, corn, 

 potatoes, tapioca, fruits, beets, honey and syrups are some of the food materials 

 which give us the carbohydrates. Such vegetables as cabbage, turnips, celery, 

 lettuce, spinach, asparagus, green beans, egg-plant, squash, tomatoes, cucum- 

 bers, etc., supply the much-needed minerals and acids and a part of the water. 

 Small quantities of mineral water are found in all food materials. Salt is the 

 only mineral substance that man adds to his food. 



A pure form of water comes from the fruits and melons, but this is not suffi- 

 cient to supply the body. Rain water, deep and shallow wells, springs, rivers 

 and lakes form the other sources of the body's gx*eat "carrier." Water forms 

 about three-fourths of the weight of the body ; it is not, however, considered a 

 nutrient. It dissolves foods and helps carry them through the body. 



We do not eat as food pure starch, fat, protein, etc. ; neither do we as adults 

 find it advisable to live on one article of diet. By so doing we would get too 

 much of some food substances and not enough of others. It is not well, for 

 most of us at least, to live on one class of food materials and be strict vegeta- 

 rians. The arrangement of our digestive organs verifies the latter statement. 

 All things being considered, a "mixed diet" is best for the normal adult. 



There are few food materials that do not contain a little of each of the five 

 food substances; so that without much thought or planning we get a certain 

 amount of all in our daily food. 



Green vegetables have not the nutriment found in the grains and most of the 

 tubers, but they are valuable because of the phosphates and salts they contain 

 and which our bodies demand. They dilute the more highly concentrated 

 foods, as meats, eggs, etc., and give variety. 



Fruits are refreshing, stimulating and sometimes nourishing. They help to 

 keep the blood in good condition. 



The fats and carbohydrates (starches, sugars and gums), besides being fuel 

 foods, give needed bulk and help to keep the organs of digestion in good order. 

 Vegetable foods take a longer time to be digested and require a more active 

 outdoor life, and in that way are also greatly beneficial. The excess of fats, 

 and starches and sugars, too, is stored as fatty tissue, to be used in "hard 

 times" and drawn on when the food supply is low. 



The foods supplying protein are essential to life itself. Upon these alone we 

 could live, but by so doing our diet would be too highly concentrated and 

 stimulating. 



From the above we have seen something of what is called the "relative nutri- 

 tive value" of foods in the raw state. The preparation, combination, cooking, 

 serving and digestibility all help to determine the nutritive value of foods. 



Food is largely affected by cooking. As an instance, we might have a nice 

 piece of juicy, tender steak, which in its raw state is an unfailing source of 

 strength-giving material. If this is badly cooked, overcooked, we'll say, and 

 rendered tough and indigestible, its strength-giving property or nutritive value 

 is greatly reduced. Again, the best of flour and other ingredients are at hand 

 for making bread. If this is not properly made and baked, if it is sad and 

 heavy, instead of giving the body its valuable force it may become what a 

 famous teacher of cookery calls "the staff of death." 



The housekeeper may so combine her articles of food that she will greatly 

 lessen their value, if not entirely destroy it. For example, the mixing of fruits 

 with pastry in pies, dumplings, etc. Then, if these are poorly cooked, the 



