COMPARISON OF ALCOHOL "WITH ORDINARY FOODS 79 



nerve affecting substances that unless the amount be reg- 

 ularly increased the nerves fail to respond after a time, 

 and hence more must be taken, or the object sought fails of 

 accomplishment, the taker ' must increase his amount or 

 lose the pleasing effect on himself. In this way the moder- 

 ate drinker is often unable to remain moderate. Further, 

 the safe amount is not the same for all individuals. It 

 varies with the individual, the time of taking, the physical 

 health, the presence of other foods, and all these influences 

 • make it almost impossible to prescribe a safe amount for 

 even single individuals except for limited times, as in 

 sickness. 



In fine, all that we learn of the value of alcohol as a food 

 and its action on the nerves unites to make more clear the 

 uselessness and danger of this substance to the ordinary 

 healthy individual. 



Comparison of alcohol with ordinary foods. — Like fats 

 and carbohydrates, alcohol contains no nitrogen. In com- 

 parison with other foods, therefore, it is associated with 

 the above named nutrients as a fuel food as distinct from 

 proteid or tissue building food. A comparison with fats 

 and carbohydrates shows many similarities and differ- 

 ences. Some of the most important follow. 

 . Before ordinary food can be used by the tissues it must 

 be changed by digestion. Alcohol is a fermented product, 

 and the process by which it is made fits it to be directly 

 absorbed by the blood and used by the tissues without 

 change. A food of this form is said to be predigested. 

 The speed with which this absorption takes place and the 

 alcohol reaches the tissues is one of its most valuable prop- 

 erties as a medicine. 



Fats and carbohydrates can be transformed into body 



