8 DEPAKTMENT BULLETIN 975. U. S. DEPT. OF AGElCULTURE. 



respect is low as compared with the juice of oranges, lemons, grape- 

 fruit, or tomatoes. 



The points to remember about foods in this group are : 



(1) Milk, eggs, cheese, flesh foods, and the others of this group are the most 



important protein foods in the diet. 



(2) Tliese are the foods that must be depended on for efficient protein, or, in 



other words, for the protein that can be used to special advantage by the 

 body. 



(3) Milk is one of the best foods for young and old, and can not be satisfac- 



torily replaced by any other food in the diet of growing children. 



(4) Some of these foods are rich in mineral substances, for example, meats and 



egg yolks in iron, milk in calcium, and peanuts in phosphorus. 



(5) Many of these protein foods, especially milk and egg yolks, are valuable 



sources of vitamines A and B. 



Group III. CEREALS AND CEREAL PREPARATIONS. 



(Charts 31-38, pp. 26-30.) 



Cereals and their products contain comparatively large amounts 

 of protein, usually associated with several times its weight of starch 

 and, if the outer coatings of the grains are included, with vitamines 

 and considerable amounts of mineral substances, particularly phos- 

 phorus. The protein, however, is not so efficient as that of the foods 

 in Group II. 



In all the charts representing cereals, the first and second lines are 

 very nearly the same length. This indicates that in eating a given 

 amount of cereal a person obtains about the same percentage of his 

 needed energy as of his needed protein. A large slice of bread (1^ 

 ounces), for example, supplies about 3 per cent of the fuel needed 

 per man per day, and also about 3 per cent of the protein. Most 

 people use more cereal foods than any other one kind. They gener- 

 ally use with the cereal foods some others, such as meat, eggs, or milk, 

 which increase the protein, and still others, such as butter or sweets, 

 which add to the energy value of the diet. Thus, in the ordinary 

 mixed diet, the protein and the energy will probably bear the same 

 proportion to each other that they do in the cereals. 



The charts representing cereal foods differ far less one from 

 another, particularly in the lines representing energy and protein, 

 than those of any other group. As a matter of fact, the cereals 

 themselves, which include wheat, oats, corn, rice, rye, and barley, 

 differ very little in food value. The foods such as flour, meal, and 

 breakfast foods that are made from cereals also differ very little, 

 provided the same method of preparation is followed. For example, 

 a whole-grain meal or breakfast food would have much the same 

 composition whether it were made of corn, rice, wheat, or rye. On 

 the other hand, a refined preparation of one cereal differs greatly, 

 particularly in mineral substances, from a whole-grain preparation, 



