FOODS AND THEIR VALUES. I7I 



FOODS AND THEIR VALUES. 



DR. MARY SNODDY WHETSTONE, MINNEAPOLIS 



The best food is that which builds up the body and furnishes the 

 most energy for the least amount of money. Specialists inform us 

 there are about 1,000 material products known as food; about ten 

 of them form nine-tenths of the food of the world. With this 

 multiplicity, the buyer unless guided by knowledge in selection is 

 swayed by caprice or the condition of the purse. The fact that 

 adulterated material is put on the market makes the choice still 

 more difficult. 



The art and science of cooking involves a large and thorough 

 knowledge of nutritive value of foods, and the laws of physiology 

 and hygiene. As a science it verges on preventative medicine, in 

 practice it is a prolific source of disease. What progress we have 

 made in scientific cooking has been acquired largely by studying the 

 work of the chemist. 



In recent years there has been a trend of thought and investiga- 

 tion toward a better understanding of how to nourish the body with 

 the least expenditure of energy and money. To this end the De- 

 partment of Agriculture at Washington has caused analyses of foods 

 and dietetic studies to be made among various classes of people 

 in different parts of the country, including vegetable and fruit diet- 

 ary in California. Among these have been the interesting bread 

 studies of Prof. Harry Snyder, of the Minnesota Experiment Sta- 

 tion. He has demonstrated that a second grade of patent flour is 

 most nutritious because more easily digested than whole wheat 

 products. 



Every bill of fare should have four essential ingredients, protein, 

 fats, carbo-hydrates and mineral matter. Protein is present in the 

 albumen of eggs, curd of milk, lean meat, gluten of wheat and 

 nuts. Fats are found in meat, butter, oils, corn and nuts. Carbo- 

 hydrates are sugar and starch, all found in plants, fruits and cereals. 

 Mineral matter is found largely in vegetable substances, in a form 

 that is readily assimilated. 



What of the physical effects from eating the different classes 

 of food? People partaking largely of meats have nervous excita- 

 bility and intensity but not endurance. An excess appears to over- 

 load the system, producing an accumulation of uric acid, to which 

 may be attributed a long list of diseases, most common of which 

 are rheumatism, appendicitis, diseases of the throat, respiratory 

 organs and kidneys. 



