58 NEW HAMPSHIRE EXPERIMENT STATION [Bull. 242 



cents. Although economics is not one of the first considerations of 

 the average individual, there are nevertheless in every college com- 

 munity many students who must work their way and obtain their 

 education with a minimum expenditure of money. Any information 

 which will enable them to make a more intelligent selection of food, 

 be it only from the economic standpoint, is worthy of emphasis. The 

 variability in the daily energy intake of an individual is determined 

 in large part by his free choice of food. But when it is possible for 

 a student earning his way through college to select a 40-cent meal at 

 a cafeteria and secure therefrom only 334 calories (see Table 19, 

 Sample 156), he should be aware of that fact. 



If digestibility and practicability were left out of consideration, 

 one could obtain the total number of calories required for the day 

 in ten or twelve cents' worth of cane sugar. Obviously a diet ex- 

 clusively of cane sugar is impracticable, because the vitamines, salts, 

 and protein are absent and because the digestive tract of man cannot 

 take care of this amount of sugar per day. The second objection 

 could be removed by substituting potatoes or rice or some other in- 

 expensive vegetable which will furnish the requisite number of 

 calories at a low price. But these would not supply an adequate 

 amount of protein. The wise selection of food is, therefore, not 

 simply a question of calories. Some consideration must be given to 

 the protein intake, to the digestibility of the food, and to a certain ex- 

 tent to the palatability of the food. The cafeterias and restaurants 

 now offer such a wide variety of foods that it should be possible to 

 make selections which are at the same time digestible, reasonably 

 palatable, and economical. It is still a question whether the rela- 

 tively inexpensive milk furnished in a college community is used 

 widely enough. A quart of milk at 12 cents affords 33 grams of 

 protein and 687 calories. One cannot of course exist exclusively upon 

 milk, but milk should enter more generally into the diet than it ap- 

 parently does, judging from the restaurant menus and our impres- 

 sions of students' eating habits obtained during the progress of this 

 research. 



In emphasizing the important part which energy intake plays in 

 nutrition, we would not have the student overlook the value of the 

 vitamines, salts, and proteins; yet we believe that for a short period 

 these could be safely disregarded. It is not necessary, for example, 

 that the food intake each day should contain exactly the correct pro- 

 portions of protein, vitamines, and salts. The adaptability of the 

 human body is such that there may easily be large variations in the 

 intake of vitamines and salts from day to day without the slightest 

 harm to the body. The source of vitamines is frequently an expen- 

 sive one. Those obtained in milk are ideal, and this is another quality 

 of milk which makes it such a valuable food. On the other hand, 

 when one relies for vitamines and salts upon leafy, green vegetables 

 and fruits eaten out of season, the expense is considerable. 



