COMPOSITION AND FOOD VALUE 169 



these three drinks cocoa alone can be considered as a 

 food, and just as there are people whose digestion is 

 deranged by tea, and some who sleep not a wink after 

 drinking coffee, so there are some who find cocoa too 

 feeding, especially in the summer-time. These sufferers 

 from biliousness will think it curious that cocoa is 

 habitually drunk in many hot climates, thus, in Spanish- 

 speaking countries, it is the custom for the priest, after 

 saying mass, to take a cup of chocolate. The pure cocoa 

 powder is, as we saw above, a very rich foodstuff, but 

 it must always be remembered that in a pint of cocoa 

 only a small quantity, about half an ounce, is usually 

 taken. In this connection the following comparison 

 between tea, coffee and cocoa is not without interest. It is 

 taken from the Farmer *s Bulletin 249, an official public- 

 ation of the United States Department of Agriculture : 



COMPARISON OF ENERGY- GIVING POWER OF A PINT OF TEA, 

 COFFEE AND COCOA. 



These figures place cocoa, as a food, head and shoulders 

 above tea and coffee. The figures are for the beverages 

 made without the addition of milk and sugar, both of 

 which are almost invariably present. A pint of cocoa 

 made with one-third milk, half an ounce of cocoa, and 

 one ounce of sugar would have a fuel value of 320 

 calories, and is therefore equivalent in energy-giving 

 power to a quarter of a pound of beef or four eggs. 

 Cocoa is stimulating, but its action is not so marked 



