PREPARATION OF FOODS 433 



opinion about its effect upon fully matured adults, there 

 is no such difference of opinion in regard to its effect upon 

 those who have not stopped growing and are not yet fully 

 matured. 



Measurements and comparisons made in regard to the 

 physical development, endurance, and mental ability of 

 a large number of college men have shown conclusively that 

 those who have not used tobacco, as a rule, have better 

 physiques, are better students, and can stand more physical 

 exercise than those who have used it. In the competition 

 for athletic teams it is found that only about half as many 

 of those who have used tobacco make good, as of those who 

 have not used it. 



Preparation of Foods. When foods are appetizing, 

 look good, smell good, and taste good, both the saliva and 

 the gastric juice are secreted in larger quantities, so that 

 this sort of food, when taken into the system, is more read- 

 ily digested than food which is not attractive. One of the 

 reasons for cooking food is to render it appetizing, and 

 this should never be lost sight of by the cook. Cooking 

 also softens and loosens the fibers of meats and causes the 

 cell walls of the starch granules to burst, thus rendering 

 it possible for the digestive juices to attack the food more 

 readily. In addition, cooking kills the germs and other 

 parasites that are sometimes found in foods. 



To cook food properly is a fine art and requires most 

 careful study and great skill. The science of providing 

 economically the kinds of food necessary and of cooking 

 these properly so that they will be attractive, easily digested 

 and will lose none of their nutritive value, is one that is at 

 present in its infancy. Human beings, like other animals, 



