HOW FOODS MEET BODY NEEDS. 5 



ARRANGEMENT OF THE CHARTS. 



The charts of the foods that resemble each other in certain im- 

 portant ^particulars are arranged in the five following gi'oups : Vege- 

 tables and fruits; milk, eggs, cheese, and flesh foods; cereals and 

 cereal preparations ; sugar and sugary foods ; and fats and fat foods. 



Group I. VEGETABLES AND FRUITS. 



(Charts l-ls, pp. ll-:.'0.) 



Vegetables and fruits are characterized by large percentages of 

 mineral substances as compared with fuel and protein, and are 

 important as furnishing bulk in the diet. Fruits that have been 

 preserved by the addition of a large amount of sugar, whether in 

 the form of rich preserves, jellies, jams, or marmalades, are not 

 included in this group but with the sweets, for in such foods the 

 mineral value is subordinated to the fuel value. The vegetables 

 and fruits differ greatly among themselves in respect to the vitamines 

 they supply, but the exact quantities supplied by each are not known. 

 They also vary considerably with reference to the amount of water 

 and inedible material in the pound as purchased and consequently 

 in the amount of energy supplied. 



The charts of vegetables and fruits are notable for the length 

 of the lines representing mineral constituents as compared with those 

 representing energy and protein. These lines show the basis for the 

 familiar statement that vegetables and fruits are a good source of 

 mineral substances in the diet. The reason for this is not that they 

 contain more mineral substances per pound than other foods. In 

 fact, as the charts show, they contain less in many cases. It is rather 

 that these foods can be eaten in large amounts without danger of 

 overloading the diet with protein and fuel. As an example of this, 

 Irish potatoes (chart 1) may be compared with another starchy food, 

 such as rice (chart 35). It takes only about 3-J poimds, or 10 me- 

 dium-sized, potatoes to furnish all the iron needed per man per day, 

 and this amount of potatoes would supply only about 30 per cent of 

 the needed fuel, learning 70 per cent to be furnished by other com- 

 mon foods of the diet. Of rice, on the other hand, it would take 

 nearly 4 pounds to supply the required amount of iron, and this 

 quantity when boiled would measure at least 6 quarts and would 

 alone furnish about twice the needed fuel. 



A pound of the least watery kind in the fresh vegetable group, 

 namely, sweet potatoes, as shown on page 12 (chart 2) , would furnish 

 about 13 per cent of the needed energy, and a pound of the one with 

 the most water and inedible material, namely, nniskmelon (cliart 15). 

 would furnish 3 per cent. Of the foods in Group II. on the other 



