76 FOOD 



An examination of your food for two days will show you whether 

 you are eating wisely, and if not, in what respect your meals 

 are deficient. You can see whether you are getting 2400 Calories 

 per day, and whether you are eating the proper proportion of 

 proteins to fats and carbohydrates. The Table of Food Values 

 on page 80 states the number of Calories of proteins, fats, and 

 carbohydrates given to the body by a single serving of the 

 various foods, and you can calculate the Calories obtained at a 

 meal. If you eat I fresh apple, it yields you 2.3 Calories from 

 protein, 5.1 Calories from fats, and 88.9 Calories from carbohy- 

 drates; one piece of roast beef, 65.0 Calories from protein, 10.1 

 Calories from fats, and none from carbohydrates ; I serving of 

 potato, 9.1 Calories from protein, 2.5 Calories from fats, and 

 83.2 Calories from carbohydrates. If you are getting less than 

 the standard number of Calories per day and if proteins 

 are yielding less than one seventh of that amount, your meals 

 must be more carefully planned or you must eat more. Girls 

 and women are apt to eat too little protein and boys and men 

 too much. 



We need some bulky foods. Not all of the food that we 

 eat is digested and used by the body for heat and energy ; cer- 

 tain parts, such as skin, gristle, tough cell walls, are indigestible, 

 and are rejected and pass from the body by means of the bowels, 

 as waste matter. The digestible part of the food, that is, the 

 part that can be transformed into tissue, and used for heat and 

 energy, is made ready for use in the alimentary canal, which 

 consists of mouth, throat, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, 

 and large intestine. The alimentary canal is about 25 feet 

 long, and food moves slowly through it, particularly through 

 the long coiled small intestine. If the food is bulky, its large 

 mass stimulates motion of the stomach and intestines, and 

 hastens the movement through the alimentary canal. Because 

 the stomach and intestines work best when they contain enough 



