72 THE WONDERFUL HOUSE THAT JACK HAS 



In regard to soda water, ginger ale, pop, and the 

 numerous so-called soft-drinks, the value of the little 

 nutriment they may possess is usually lessened by 

 the presence of some flavoring extracts that are diffi- 

 cult to digest. Unless made from pure fruit juice, 

 such drinks are, from the standpoint of the good of 

 the body, poor investments. The popular ice-cream 

 soda furnishes much better value, though plain ice- 

 cream is probably more readily digested. The habit of 

 taking any of these after a hearty meal, when the 

 digestive organs are already occupied with sufficient 

 food, is not a wise one. By chilling the stomach they 

 check its activity. Such drinks may also cause sour 

 stomach. 



As to beer, ale, wine, whisky, and other alcoholic 

 drinks, the claim cannot be made that they furnish 

 any building material to our bodies. Besides water, 

 their most important ingredient is alcohol, which is 

 a stimulant and in no important degree a food. 

 People who select their diet wisely use any food or 

 drink for one of two good reasons. First, that it 

 furnishes the necessary tissue-building or energy- 

 producing materials. Second, that it helps the diges- 

 tive organs to make better use of nutritious foods 

 that have been eaten. 



Do alcoholic drinks serve either of these purposes? 

 Wine is made from grapes, beer from barley, and 

 whisky from rye. No one can dispute that grapes, 

 barley, and rye contain helpful building materials. 



