84 Life and Health 



125. Fish. Fish forms an important and most nutri- 

 tious article of diet, as it contains almost as much nour- 

 ishment as meat. The fish-eating races and classes are 

 remarkably strong and healthy. As a rule, shellfish, except 

 oysters, are not very digestible. Some persons are unable 

 to eat certain kinds of fish, especially shellfish, without 

 producing eruptions on the skin and other symptoms of 

 mild poisoning. 



126. Vegetable Foods. This is a large and important 

 group of foods, and embraces a remarkable number of dif- 

 ferent kinds of diet. Vegetable foods include the cereals, 

 garden vegetables, the fruits, and other less important 

 articles. These foods supply a certain quantity of proteid 

 and fat, but their chief use is to furnish starches, sugars, 

 acids, and salts. 



The vegetable foods, especially the cereals, indirectly supply 

 the body with water, a great deal of which is absorbed by 

 them in the process of cooking. 



127. Proteid Vegetable Foods. The most important pro- 

 teid vegetable foods are those derived from the grains of 

 cereals and certain leguminous seeds, as peas and beans. 

 The grains when ground make the various flours or meals. 

 They contain a large quantity of starch, a proteid sub- 

 stance peculiar to them called gluten, and mineral salts, 

 especially phosphate of lime. Wheat, oatmeal, and corn 

 are most important articles of diet. Wheat flour contains 

 starch, sugar, and gluten nearly everything to support 

 life except fat, in which it is very poor. Oatmeal is rich in 

 proteids. 



Corn meal is not only rich in proteid, but also in fat ; 

 hence it is a most important and nutritious article of food. 

 Rice, on the other hand, contains less proteid than any 

 other cereal grain, and is the least nutritious. Peas and 



