CEREAL, FOODS. 



121 



the digested portion of our food is believed to be proportional 

 to the heat produced when an equivalent amount of these foods 

 is burned in the laboratory under such conditions that the heat 

 can be accurately measured. We know that this is not quite 

 true of protein ; yet the difference between the physiological and 

 the physical fuel values of this class of bodies is so slight that 

 the latter, which is readily obtained by laboratory methods, 

 serves as a very useful index of the energy-producing power of 

 our foods. 



The method employed for determining the heat of combustion 

 consists in burning a carefully weighed portion of the food 

 examined and measuring the heat produced. The unit of meas- 

 urement is the calorie — the amount of heat that will raise one 

 kilogram (about two and one-fifth pounds) through one degree 

 Centigrade; or, what amounts to nearly the same thing, one 

 pound of water through four degrees Fahrenheit. Other things 

 being equal, then, the food product yielding the highest heat of 

 combustion will, if digested, yield the greatest amount of 

 energy in the body. 



Average composition of cereal breakfast preparations compared 

 with wheat Hour variously milled. 





a 







<o 



s. 



03 





^ 



Oh 



Per 



Per 



cent. 



cent. 



10.7 



8.6 



8.4 



15.6 



9.9 



12.0 



6.4 



16.7 



6.9 



13.3 



10.7 



14.8 



11.4 



14.1 



11.4 



13.9 



00 





'S 









S3 









-a 





>> 





a 





o 





^ 



• 







d 



a> 



O 



< 



Per 



Per 



cent. 



cent. 



79.7 



0.3 



66.6 



1.9 



74.8 



1.4 



69.7 



1.8 



77.0 



1.6 



70.3 



1.9 



71.5 



1.0 



72.8 



0.5 



5S a 



Corn meal and hominy* 



Rolled oatst 



Rolled wheatf 



Malted oatsf 



Malted wheatt 



Graham flonr 



Entire ■wheat flour 



Standard patent flour . . . 



Per 



cent. 

 0.7 



7.5 



1.9 



5.4 



1.2 



2.3 



2.0 



1.4 



Calor- 

 ies per 

 gram. 



3.854 



4.323 

 3.-966 

 4.318 

 4.017 

 4.029 

 3.967 

 3.959 



•Uncooked preparations only. 



t Cooked or partially cooked preparations only. 



L 



