FATS OR OILS. 125 



flavored with sugar rather than heavily sweetened is considered 

 easy of digestion ; but when more sugar is used, with the addition 

 of eggs and fat, we have, as the result, highly concentrated forms 

 of food which can be utilized by the system only in moderate 

 quantities and which are always forbidden to children and in- 

 valids. 



" It is true that the harvester, lumberman, and others who do 

 hard work in the open air consume great amounts of food contain- 

 ing considerable quantities of sugar, such as pie and doughnuts, 

 and apparently with impunity ; but it is equally true that people 

 living an indoor life find that undue amounts of pie, cake, and 

 pudding, with highly sweetened preserved fruit, and sugar in large 

 amounts on cooked cereals, bring indigestion sooner or later. 



" From a gastronomic point of view it would seem also that in 

 the American cuisine sugar is used with too many kinds of food, 

 with a consequent loss in variety and piquancy of flavor in the 

 different dishes. The nutty flavor of grains and the natural taste 

 of wild fruits is concealed by the addition of large quantities of 

 sugar. 



" In the diet of the under-nourished large amounts of sugar 

 would doubtless help to full nutrition. This point is often urged 

 by European hygienists. In the food of the well-to-do it is often 

 the case, however, that starch is not diminished in proportion as 

 sugar is added. That sugar on account of its agreeable flavor is 

 a temptation to take more carbohydrate food than the system needs 

 cannot be denied. The vigor of digestion in each particular case 

 would seem to suggest the limit. A lump of sugar represents 

 about as much nutriment as an ounce of potato, but while the 

 potato will be eaten only because hunger prompts, the sugar, be- 

 cause of its taste, may be taken when the appetite has been fully 

 satisfied. 



"Sugar is a useful and valuable food. It must, however, be 

 remembered that it is a concentrated food, and therefore should be 

 eaten in moderate quantities. Further, like other concentrated 

 foods, sugar seems best fitted for assimilation by the body when 

 supplied with other materials which dilute it or give it the neces- 

 sary bulk. 



" Persons of active habit and good digestion will add sugar to 

 their food almost at pleasure without inconvenience, while those of 

 sedentary life, of delicate digestion, or of a tendency to corpulency 

 would do better to use sugar very moderately. It is generally 

 assumed that four or five ounces of sugar per day are as much as it 

 is well for the average adult to eat under ordinary conditions. " 



Fats or Oils. These food-stuffs are found in milk, in butter, 

 in cheese, in the fatty tissues of meat, and also in some vegetables, 

 such as nuts. The following table shows the amount in some of 

 the ordinary foods : 



