316 THE FOODS WE EAT 



or fish. You know the fat will burn best. Fats release 

 about twice as much heat as do either carbohydrates or 

 proteins. But the carbohydrates do make excellent 

 fuels, and in addition, they are much easier to digest than 

 the fats. So we say that carbohydrates and the fats 

 and oils are the heat- and energy-producing foods. 



How about Alcohol ? A number of years ago a very fa- 

 mous scientist in this country made a series of experiments 

 to see whether alcohol could be used in the body as a food. 

 He reasoned that because it had the same chemical ele- 

 ments (CHO) as did other carbohydrates, that it ought 

 to be oxidized like other foods. After these experiments 

 he found that some of the alcohol was oxidized and ap- 

 parently in small amounts it was used as a food. But he 

 also found that it was a very poor food, for it acted like a 

 poison as well. Glycerine, iodine, and many other poisons 

 are oxydized in the body, but they cannot be said to be 

 good foods. As one doctor puts it, the inedible mush- 

 room called the deadly amanita contains a poison. It is 

 made up of almost exactly the same amounts of food ma- 

 terials as is found in the edible mushroom, but you would 

 not eat the deadly amanita. Why should you take al- 

 cohol if the case is parallel ? 



How about Candy? Since sugar is a fuel food, we 

 might well ask if candy eating would not be a good way to 

 release energy in the human body. But pure sugar, 

 although it is a good fuel, does not contain any of the 

 mineral and regulative materials found in fruits or cereals. 

 If we would take candy as a dessert along with other 

 fuel foods, it would be useful. But unfortunately candy 

 eating becomes a habit, and not only do we eat it between 

 meals, thus spoiling our appetite, but many boys or girls 

 substitute it for their school lunch, thus depriving the 

 body of better fuels. In one large high school it was esti- 

 mated that the members of one class were eating enough 



