NUTS AS FOOD. 



89 



in shelled almonds is 55 per cent and in filbert and walnut meats 

 about 65 per cent and in pecans it makes up 70 per cent of the 

 whole. The carbohydrates, which usually predominate in vege- 

 table foods, occur in only small amounts. A pound of mixed 

 nuts would contain about the following amounts of nutrients and 

 potential energy. 



APPROXIMATE COMPOSITION OF ONE POUND OF SIX COMMON NUTS. 













i 













3 







^ 









•^ 





V 







c'S 



> 





3 













i*-i 

















^ 



a 



0: >> 



3 





K 



'"' 



^ 



O.C 



Ek 





Pounds. 



Pounds. 



Pounds. 



Pounds. 



Calories. 



As purcbased 



.56 



.07 



.28 



.06 



1520 







.16 



.64 



.13 



324 









A pound of good wheat flour contains about .13 pounds pro- 

 tein, .013 pounds of fat, and .72 pounds of carbohydrates, and 

 has a fuel value of 1,600 calories. The meat of the nuts con- 

 tains nearly fifty times as much fat, less than one-fifth as much 

 carbohydrates, and has double the fuel value. A pound 

 of unshelled nuts would furnish about half as much protein and 

 about the same amount of potential energy as a pound of flour. 

 The potential energy of the nuts is largely from the fats and that 

 of the flour from carboh3^drates. For each .01 pound of protein, 

 flour has 123 calories of potential energy or in nearly the same 

 proportions as that demanded by Atwater's standard for a man 

 at medium work. The nuts have 202 calories for each .01 pound 

 of protein and would not make a well balanced food when eaten 

 by themselves. This unsuitableness for a food by themselves is 

 also increased by the potential energy being stored in the con- 

 centrated form of fat. This is no reason, however, why nuts 

 should not fill an increasingly large place in dietaries. Very 

 few foods supply the needed nutrients in the proper proportion 

 to form a well balanced ration. Foods rich in fuel con- 

 stituents need to be combined with other foods of relatively 

 high protein content. The low per cent of carbohydrates in 

 nuts would seem to fit them as one of the sources of food for 

 diebetic and other persons who find it needful to avoid foods 



containing much starch or sue:ar. 



6 ^ • 



