8 



Why is this combination of food so generally chosen and en joyed f Well, 

 lean meat builds up and repairs the bodies of those who have been spending 

 several hours in various forms of activity, physical or mental. 



Fat meat supplies fuel for the furnaces of their bodies, which need to be 

 stoked periodically, as the reservoir of a lamp needs to be refilled with oil. 



Potatoes, bread, and a light pudding (if that form part of the menu) 

 provide fuel also, but of a somewhat different kind from the fat of meat, or 

 cream. It can be turned to account more quickly as a source of heat or 

 energy in the body. It might be compared to the kindling, useful to start a 

 fire or to revive it, whereas fat resembles more nearly the coal subsequently 

 employed to keep the fire in over many hours. Or, to use another simile, 

 fat taken as a fuel-food resembles the money lying at our account at the 

 bank, to be drawn upon when the money in our purse (which we spend daily. 

 and to which we can compare the fuel supplied by cereals, vegetables, and 

 fruits) needs to be replenished or supplemented. 



Finally, the cabbage and stewed fruit eaten at this dinner consist almost 

 entirely of water, of which the body requires a very large amount. They 

 also contain what are known as "salts," mineral sui .stances which are 

 necessary to the building-up and well-being of the body. 



Many people add condiments (i.e.. pepper, mustard, vinegar) to their 

 food as they eat it; and some form of beverage is taken with every meal to 

 satisfy the body's need for fluid. This review of the 



CONSTITUENTS OF THE FOOD TAKEN AT AN ORDINARY MEAL 



shows that they may be separated into five kinds or classes, to which 

 attention must now be given. 



It is advisable from the beginning of our study to assign the correct name 

 to each class of food, so that future references to this subject may be easily 

 understood. Indeed, there is no difficulty in remembering either these names 

 or the particular work each does in the body, for, of the five names, three 

 are quite familiar, viz. : fat, salts, and water; and the other two act as 

 reminders of their functions in the body. 



By far the most important class of foodstuff is the first, known as pr/< ///. 

 a word which signifies to be of the first importance, to be pre-aiiinrnt . 

 because only the foods found in this class contain the building material 

 indispensable to life. Were they banished from the diet, death would 

 inevitably ensue. Meat, fish, game, poultry, eggs, milk, and cheese, all 

 contain this vital "protein." It is present also in corn, wheat, oats, peas, 

 beans, and lentils, but in less digestible form than in animal foods. 



In the second class viz., /afs are included animal fats, such as suet. 

 dripping, lard, butter, and cream; as well as vegetable fats, olive-oil, for 

 instance, and the oil contained in nuts. These fats are all sources of heat 

 and energy to the body, whence they are distinguished as fuel or warmth- 

 giving foods. 



It has already been pointed out that the third class, called carboliii<lr<it<s. 

 consists also of energy-producing or fuel foods. Its very name suggests this 

 office, for it is composed of two Latin words meaning coal and water. That 

 the name accurately describes the composition of the foods found in this class 

 becomes apparent when it is understood that they consist chiefly of water 

 and of solid substances, which serve the body much as coal, oil, or wood serve 

 an engine. These solid substances are forms of starch and sugar, and are 

 present in flour, cornstarch, rice, sago, tapioca, potatoes, oatmeal, and other 

 farinaceous foods and cereals; while sugar is found in all fruits. 



