CHAPTER V 



FOODS AS BUILDING MATERIALS FATS, CARBO- 

 HYDRATES, MINERALS 



WHO would ever suppose that fat could be of 

 any particular use to our bodies? It surely is not 

 interesting to look at, and is so distasteful to some, 

 in certain forms, that they do not eat the fat they see 

 in meat served to them at meals. They even say, 

 perhaps with more or less pride, that they never eat 

 fat. Nevertheless, if they use meat as food at all, 

 they must eat some fat, for between the fibers of lean 

 meat there is much of this substance that is not usually 

 seen. 



It is also present in many other foods. There 

 is much fat in the cream of milk. Fish are liberally 

 supplied with it, and so are the yolks of eggs. Butter 

 is largely fat and olive oil has a great deal. The 

 various grains have some, and even nuts are rich in 

 this element. It certainly seems odd that anything 

 so hard and dry as grains and nuts should contain 

 fat. Yet chemists, by careful analyses, have dis- 

 covered these facts. 



How fortunate it is that so many different foods, 



some of which almost every one can relish, are well 



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