Foods of Vegetable Origin
GRAINS
Grains constitute the most important article of human food, not so much on account of their superior nutritive, curative or remedial value, but chiefly because of their prolific growth and abundant production in all civilized countries throughout the world.
The variety of grain produced in the various countries depends largely upon the climate and the habits of the people.
The predominant use of rice by the Asiatics, wheat by the Europeans, and maize by the aboriginal American, shows how people adapt themselves to the foods of prodigal growth. It also shows the effect different foods have upon the physical development of the various tribes that inhabit these remote countries.
Wheat
Wheat is said by some writers to be a complete food. This is not strictly true. Wheat contains a very small percentage of fat, and while fat can be made in the body from carbohydrates, it is more natural, and entails less work upon the digestive organs and the liver if the diet is balanced so as to contain the required amount of fat, and all other nutritive elements in the right or natural proportions.
Results of eating too much starch
A diet composed of wheat alone would contain 70 per cent of carbohydrates, chiefly in the form of starch. While this would be perfectly wholesome, it would give the body an excess of starch which would ultimately result in intestinal congestion, gout, rheumatism, hardening of the arteries, and premature old age. Wheat contains a larger quantity, and a greater variety of proteids than any other grain, but wheat proteids are more difficult to digest than the proteids of milk, eggs, or nuts.
Composition of wheat
Wheat varies greatly in composition, according to the soil and the climate in which it is produced. This fact is not recognized or considered by the average writer on dietetics, who eulogizes wheat as the wonderful "staff of life," because certain food tables show that wheat contains 13 per cent, while corn contains only 10 per cent of proteids. It is neither the proteid nor the carbohydrate content that determines the value of any grain as food, but rather the proportions of the different elements of nutrition it contains, that being the best which is more nearly balanced to meet the requirements of the human organism.
Rye
Rye may be considered in the same class as wheat. Chemically, the contents are very similar, and the effects upon the body are very much the same. It contains a larger per cent of cellulose, and less gluten than wheat, therefore as a remedial food it is superior to all other grains for exciting intestinal peristalsis, thereby removing the causes of constipation.
Barley
The nutritive elements of barley are similar to those of wheat and rye. It contains less cellulose fiber, and therefore a larger per cent of digestible nutrients than any one of the cereal group except rice. It has never become popular as a bread-making grain because—
1 The nitrogenous or gluten substances are not tenacious enough to make the conventional "raised" bread
2 The flour is dark in color
3 The grain is so hard and "flinty" that it is very difficult to mill it down to the required fineness
For these reasons barley has been greatly neglected as a food commodity. From a chemical standpoint it deserves a much higher place in our dietaries than it has hitherto been given.
Oats
The composition of oats varies somewhat from that of wheat, rye and barley. They contain a larger proportion of both fat and proteids, and form a desirable food if correctly prepared. The objection to oats as an article of diet is the hasty manner in which they are usually prepared, which converts them into a gummy mass of gelatinized starch, entangled with the peculiar gummy proteid of the oat grain. Thus prepared the oat is a most prolific source of disturbed digestion.
Corn
Corn is the cheapest material capable of nourishing the human body that is produced in the temperate zone. It is less digestible, and more deficient in the salts than the group of grains thus far mentioned. It is very wholesome, however, but in no way superior to other grains. In the future corn will probably play an increasing part in the problem of feeding the world, as a cheap source of carbohydrates, and for the purpose of manufacturing glucose.
Rice
In all tropical and semi-tropical countries rice occupies the same position that corn does in the temperate zone. It is more deficient in proteids and in fat than any other food grain, while the starch of rice is more easily digested than any other form of cereal starch. This grain, however, is almost entirely devoid of mineral constituents, and for this reason it is productive of serious nutritive derangements when indulged in too freely. This deficiency can be overcome by taking a liberal quantity of green salads, or fresh vegetables, whenever rice is eaten.
Buckwheat
Buckwheat is a grain whose consumption is very limited, owing to the fact that it is dark in color. It compares favorably with wheat and corn as to nutritive elements, and is now much used as a winter food by the northern people.
USES OF GRAINS
The use of grains as an article of food may be considered under three headings:
1 As a source of energy
2 As a source of nitrogen
3 Grain as a remedial food; that is, as a source of cellulose or roughness, for the regulation of intestinal action
(1) GRAIN AS A SOURCE OF ENERGY
Too much grain consumed
All grains are composed largely of starch, therefore the question of energy to be derived from this source is one of assimilation and use. The use of grains in the diet deserves the most careful consideration, and the study should not be confined to any particular grain, but to the entire group, and especially to the method of preparation, and the quantity that should be consumed under the varying conditions of age, temperature of environment, and work or activity. The conventional American diet contains such an abnormal quantity of grain-starch, and the methods of preparation are so unnatural, that the Food Scientist, in practise, will find many people whose digestive organs have become so deranged that he may deem it necessary to prohibit grain-starch almost entirely.
The grown person, pursuing the ordinary sedative occupation, should not eat more than three or four ounces of cereal food a day, while the manual laborer should not consume more than five or six ounces each twenty-four hours. This quantity contemplates cool, or winter weather. In summer this quantity should be reduced according to work or activity.
(2) GRAIN AS A SOURCE OF NITROGEN
Grain as a source of proteid has received undue consideration in hygienic works. Upon an allowance of one-fourth of a pound of grain per day, which would make four vienos, with a nitrogen factor of six, we see that 24 decigrams of nitrogen would be supplied from the grain. The variations between the proteids contained in two varieties of breakfast food is seldom more than two or three per cent. This would amount to a variation in the daily intake of nitrogen of about five decigrams, an amount too little to be worth consideration.
Digestibility of grain proteids
Grain proteids are not so easily digested as are the proteids of eggs, milk and nuts. The following list of grains and grain products is given in the order of the digestible nitrogen they contain:
1 Gluten or dietetic foods
2 Barley
3 Macaroni
4 White flour
5 Whole wheat—Graham flour
6 Rye
7 Oatmeal
8 Corn products
9 Buckwheat
10 Rice
11 Pure starches
(3) GRAIN AS A REMEDIAL FOOD
Remedial value of the whole grain
Wheat bran a natural remedy for constipation
Grain is constipating or laxative in effect according to the way it is prepared and eaten. Whole grain, especially wheat and rye, will normalize intestinal action, and in some cases act as a laxative, while the same grains made into flour, and milled in the usual way, are constipating. Ordinary wheat bran is one of the most effective remedies known for intestinal congestion, and it can be administered or regulated with much accuracy, according to the severity of the case. An intelligent understanding of the use of bran in treating constipation is quite necessary. The object should be to employ bran as a remedy in chronic cases, and to vary the quantity, the quality, and the cellulose content of the meals. In rare cases, bran may produce irritation; in such cases it should be cooked three or hours, and eaten only with hot water. In other cases the mechanical stimulation of the peristaltic action is not effective. The practitioner can usually determine these questions on the third or the fourth day.
Bran should be administered about as follows: In cases of severe constipation, one rounding tablespoonful in water, just after rising; one-half teacupful, cooked, taken at each meal, and a heaping tablespoonful in water just before retiring.
The following table gives, in the order of their laxative effects, a few of the principal grains:
1 Flaked or whole rye
2 Flaked or whole wheat
3 Flaked or whole barley
4 Flaked or whole oats
NUTS
Nuts as heat producers
The true nut is the seed of trees and shrubs which stores the greater proportion of food material for nourishing the seedling in the form of vegetable oil. The nut is very largely a fuel food or heat producer, therefore among the primitive races, along the warmer belts of the earth's surface, the nut was not of so much importance, but in the northern or colder countries, where the body-heat meets with such powerful resistance from climatic environment, the nut is of equal, if not of more importance than fruits.
There are a few miscellaneous articles of food that are classed as nuts, which do not belong primarily to this group.
In the following discussion I will take up the several varieties of nuts in the order of their general value as articles of human nutrition:
Pine nuts
Composition of the pine nut
The nitrogen factor in nuts
There are several species of pine seeds from many varieties of trees, and from many different countries. The Italian pine seed or nut, called in Italy "Pignon," and in this country "Pignolia," is the refined or cleansed nut, called by the writer "protoid" nut. This is a coined word given to it because it contains the highest percentage of protein of any other food that has yet been analyzed. The "protoid" nut contains 34 per cent protein, 47 per cent oil, 9 per cent carbohydrates, 4 per cent ash, and 6 per cent water. The relative proportion of nitrogen to energy is not so great as in some other food products, such as eggs, or skimmed milk. These contain a large per cent of water, so that the protoid nut, while containing pound for pound more nitrogen than any other known food, has a lower nitrogen factor than foods which do not contain so large a percentage of fat. This same rule will apply to all nuts. They are rich in protein, but because of the large amount of fat which supplies energy in its most condensed form, the nitrogen factor, which is the relation between nitrogen and energy, is often lower in many nuts than in grain. The chief advantage of protoid nuts over other varieties is in their softness, consequently they are more digestible, and more assimilable than any other specimen of the nut family.
The pine nuts which grow prodigally in the western part of the United States are not so rich in protein as the protoid nuts, but in other respects are very excellent food. The annual crop of these is about one million pounds, but is variable, a full crop being produced only about every third year. They are harvested in a very crude way, chiefly by Indians, from the remote districts of New Mexico, Utah and California.
Almonds
The almond is a most desirable food. It contains 17 per cent nitrogen, and 54 per cent fat. The flavor is very agreeable, and the nuts, in digestibility, rank next to protoid nuts. They may be substituted for each other in many dietaries.
Pecans
The pecan, which is a species of hickory-nut, contains 13 per cent protein, and 70 per cent fat. It is a very delicious article of food, though somewhat inferior to pine nuts and almonds, in digestibility, and as a source of nitrogen.
Brazil-nuts
Brazil-nuts contain 18 per cent protein and 66 per cent fat, and rank high as an article of body-heat and energy.
White walnuts
Soft-shelled or white walnuts are commonly known as "English walnuts," though they are chiefly grown in France and in California. These nuts contain 24 per cent protein, 63 per cent fat, and form one of the staple nut foods of both Europe and America.
Hazelnuts
Filberts or hazelnuts contain 15 per cent protein, and 65 per cent fat. They differ widely from the varieties hitherto named, and are less digestible. They should be masticated exceedingly fine, and should not be taken by one whose digestion is particularly weak.
Butternuts
Butternuts are a species of walnut. They contain 27 per cent protein, 61 per cent fat, and rank in the dietary along with English walnuts and Brazil-nuts.
Beechnuts
Beechnuts contain 22 per cent protein and 57 per cent fat. Owing to the difficulty of gathering or harvesting, these nuts have never become popular as an article of human food. They are in the grain class, therefore rank high as an energy-producing material.
Cocoanuts
The cocoanut is a product of the palm tree, and, while quite distinct from our nuts of the temperate climate, is a very valuable and abundant food, deserving more extended use. Cocoanut is about one-half fat, contains 6 per cent protein and 28 per cent carbohydrates. The milk of the cocoanut is an excellent article of food, and used by the natives in the tropics in many remedial and medicinal ways.
PEANUTS
Value of pea-nuts and soy-beans
Peanuts, which are so widely used as food, are on the boundary line between nuts and legumes. They were classed as peas by some of the early botanists, and as nuts by others. The name indicates the compromise that was made between the two theories. Another legume, which is largely used in Japan and China is the soy-bean. Both the peanut and the soy-bean are better balanced, and more nutritious than common beans and peas. They are similar in composition, and contain about equal quantities of protein and fat, some peanuts yielding as much as 48 or 50 per cent oil. Neither are palatable in their natural state, but both are very delicious when their starch content is converted into dextrin by roasting. The Japanese have a method of preparing the soy-bean by a process of fermenting, which renders the proteid material very digestible. Soy-beans have not yet been introduced into this country, hence there will be little opportunity to use them, and they will, therefore, not be discussed here at length.
LEGUMES
Legumes are the seeds of a certain group of plants grown in pods. The term comes from a very ancient word, "legere," meaning to gather. Beans and peas are the most familiar types of this group.
Legumes rich in nitrogen
Legumes are rich in nitrogen, and some varieties are also very rich in oil. They are not equal to nuts in fuel or food value, however, because in the natural state they are hard, somewhat indigestible, and unpalatable. These qualities are due to the fact that the nitrogenous material of legumes are radically different from the nitrogen found in nuts, and belong to a class not so desirable as food. Meat may be omitted from the diet and legumes adopted as the chief source of nitrogen, but this change requires some knowledge and careful feeding in the beginning. Meat is digested wholly in the stomach and does not require mastication (only enough to be swallowed), while dried or mature legumes require much mastication, owing to the carbohydrates they contain. The best form in which legumes can be taken is in their green or immature state, owing to the fact that the immature starch they contain is readily soluble, while mature legume starch is rather difficult to digest.
FRUITS
The term "fruit" in a strictly botanical sense includes a very wide range of vegetable articles—the reproductive product of trees, or other plants, such as grains, legumes, nuts, berries, apples, peaches, plums, etc. In this lesson, however, I will apply the popular meaning to the term.
General composition of fruit
The common succulent or juicy fruits, including both tree fruits and berries, have many properties in common. The chemical composition of these typical fruits consists of from 80 to 85 per cent water, 5 to 15 per cent sugar, 1 to 5 per cent organic or fruit-acids, and small quantities of protein, cellulose, and the numerous salts, a portion of which may be combined with the fruit-acids. Some unripe fruits contain starch and various other carbohydrate substances, many of which are distasteful and unwholesome. On the other hand, when fruits become over-ripe, and decay sets in, the sugar is changed into carbon dioxid, alcohol, and acetic acid, and the fruit rapidly deteriorates in nutritive value and unwholesomeness. These changes, together with the loss of water, account for the sponginess and the tastelessness of cold storage and other long-kept fruits. All varieties of fruit are best when they have been allowed to ripen naturally on the trees, but modern commercial conditions demand that fruits for shipping purposes be picked slightly immature, and allowed to ripen in transit to the markets.
Dietetic value of fruits
The fruit-acids are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and are burned in the body the same as sugar, or fats. The actual energy-producing content of fruit is not large, and depends almost entirely upon the sugar content. The nutrient elements of fruit consist of fruit-sugar, combinations of salts, organic acids, and various flavoring or aromatic substances. These same salts, acids, etc., purchased at the drug store, and administered separately, would be of no particular value, and might produce harmful results, but in the various combinations of fruits they have very important places in the diet.
Fruit as an aid to digestion
One of the most important functions that fruit performs in the body is that of an artificial solvent, or an aid to digestion. To make food serve this purpose well would require some knowledge in regard to chemical harmonies, quantity, etc. To illustrate: If the stomach does not secrete a sufficient quantity of hydrochloric acid, fruit-acid should be absolutely omitted, as any acid, except hydrochloric acid itself, tends to inhibit the formation of the normal stomach acid. And this in turn tends to fermentation of the sugars and starches—causing acid fermentation and all the symptoms that accompany this condition.
Effect of acid fruits
So it is very important to prevent all the causes and sources of fermentation if we would prevent the development of all the various diseases that arise from acid conditions of the stomach, and autointoxication. This explains why people of rheumatic tendency cannot take acid fruit. Citrus fruits, however, and limes, lemons, oranges, grape-fruit, etc., are beneficial in rheumatism and conditions of lowered blood alkalinity, because they are changed to alkalis in the system, and reinforce the blood alkalinity. People of rheumatic tendency, therefore, should confine the diet as nearly as possible to starchless foods, omitting all but the citrus fruits.
Classification of fruit according to acidity
In the lesson on "Vieno System of Food Measurement" I give the energy value of various fruits, and also the nitrogen factor. These tables consider fruits in the same light with other foods; that is, as sources of energy and nitrogen. In the table which follows, the more important fruits are grouped according to their total acidity. The figures represent the volume of acidity, not strength:
| ACID FRUITS | SUBACID FRUITS | SWEET AND | |||
| NON-ACID FRUITS | |||||
| Limes | 95 | Raspberries | 16 | Grapes | 8 |
| Lemons | 78 | Plums | 14 | Prunes | 7 |
| Grapefruit | 39 | Cherries | 13 | Raisins | 6 |
| Cranberries | 37 | Peaches | 12 | Bananas | 6 |
| Pineapples | 22 | Blackberries | 12 | Persimmons | 4 |
| Oranges | 20 | Apples | 11 | Figs | 4 |
| Apricots | 18 | Pears | 3 | ||
| Strawberries | 18 | Dates | 3 | ||
The fruits in the above table are all reasonably wholesome, and the particular fruits to be used depend as much upon convenience as upon the nature of the food substances. The above groups, however, will be given much attention in dietetic prescriptions, and the food scientist should become thoroughly familiar with this classification.
Of the acid fruits, oranges are the best and most desirable, and cranberries perhaps the least.
Acid fruits are responsible for much stomach and intestinal trouble. Food was prior to life. Animal life on this globe has been fitted into, and is the net result of food; therefore, in the wonderful adaptations of Nature, it is evident that life will develop higher and better by subsisting upon the food that grows in its respective country.
Acid fruits, such as lemons, limes, grapefruit, pineapples, and oranges, are grown in the tropical and semi-tropical countries, where the climate is warm, and where people subsist largely upon native vegetables. These fruits supply the acids and the fruit-sugars which the system requires in a warm climate.
In the tropics the people live out of doors, the pores of the skin are kept open, and the effete matter produced by acids can be cast out of the body.
Evils of acid fruit in northern countries
In northern countries people live largely indoors, and are heavily clad except during a very short term in midsummer, therefore they do not eliminate freely. They subsist largely upon the heavier foods, such as flesh and grains, both of which require a large amount of hydrochloric acid for digestion, hence when the acid of fruits is added to the hydrochloric acid, of which most people have a deficiency, serious acid fermentation may result.
Acid fermentation is the beginning of nearly all stomach trouble, and is the primary cause of many other ills. (See "Fermentation," p. 424.)
Value of subacid fruits
Practically all the fruits of the subacid group are excellent; however, on account of the mechanical irritation of the seeds, berries should not be used in cases in which the stomach and the intestines are irritated or catarrhal. In such cases the juice should be pressed from the fruit and the seeds discarded.
Value of non-acid fruits
Of the non-acid fruits, raisins, figs, and dates are excellent foods from the standpoint of furnishing a large amount of sugar in its very best form. Very ripe bananas and ripe persimmons, especially the large Japanese variety, are fruits which have a distinct nature, and are suited to a particular purpose in dietetics. These pulpy fruits are especially desirable in all cases of digestive irritations and disorders, because of the amount of nourishment contained in them, which is greater than that contained in the juicy fruits. In my practice I seldom, if ever, find a stomach so weak that it cannot digest ripe persimmons and very ripe bananas. I attribute much of my success in treating such cases to the skillful use of these products. The persimmon and the banana as remedial and nutritive articles, are the most valuable fruits grown.
Canned and evaporated fruits
Raisins, prunes, figs, dates, apricots and peaches are common types of fruit preserved by the process of evaporation, and when soaked in clear water may be restored to almost their original condition. Evaporated fruit should not be cooked. This is perhaps the most palatable and wholesome method of preserving fruit. Next in purity and importance are the methods of canning, as practised by the housewife. The ordinary commercial preparations of canned fruits, together with the many jams, marmalades and jellies, are generally of doubtful, if not inferior quality. The Pure Food Law has accomplished much to establish honesty in the preserving and the labeling of food, but these products are still far from ideal, and are not to be considered where fresh or evaporated fruits are obtainable.
VEGETABLES
In this group we may conveniently class all food products not elsewhere discussed.
Composition of lettuce
Beans, peas, and corn, when taken in the immature state, are classed as vegetables. The importance of this group of food products is not their great food value per pound (succulent vegetables contain anywhere from 75 to 95 per cent of water); it is the great variety of nutritive substances which they contain. Lettuce contains cellulose, proteids, active chlorophyl, pentoses, sugars and starches, representing carbohydrates in various processes of transformation; small quantities of fat, and a relatively large per cent of mineral salts, besides numerous flavoring materials. All other edible plants contain many of the same elements in different proportions.
Edible vegetables may be conveniently grouped according to that portion of the plant which we consume. These groups are:
a Above ground
b Roots and tubers
c Leafy or succulent
d Cucurbita family
Melons, cantaloups, and tomatoes are on the border line between vegetables and fruits. The following groups of vegetables are made up according to these classifications:
VEGETABLES
(a) Above Ground
Beans—
Dried
Green
Beets
Brussels sprouts
Cauliflower
Corn
Eggplant
Lentils (dried)
Okra
Peas
Dried
Green
(b) Roots and Tubers
Artichokes
Asparagus
Carrots
Onions
Potatoes—
Sweet
White
Parsnips
Radishes
Turnips
(c) Leafy or Succulent Vegetables
Beet-tops
Cabbage
Celery
Dandelion
Kale
Lettuce
Parsley
Romaine
Radish-tops
Spinach
Turnip-tops
Watercress
(d) Miscellaneous Vegetables (of the cucurbita family)
Cantaloup
Muskmelon
Pumpkin
Squash
Watermelon
Value of succulent vegetables
Succulent vegetables are very essential in a well-rounded bill of fare, and the neglect of their use is one of the errors in dietetics. The most important function of succulent or leafy vegetables is in the supply of pure water and mineral salts. They give to the body that which cannot be obtained elsewhere.
Vegetable juices aid the digestion of all food
The diet of the average person is composed of too many solids, especially of the carbohydrate class. Cereal products compose a very large proportion of the civilized diet, especially in America, yet the starch of cereals is the most difficult of all starches to digest and to assimilate. The water and solvent juices in fresh vegetables and succulent plants are important factors in the digestion and the assimilation of cereal starches. The relative importance of salads and succulent plants in the diet may be graded according to the following table:
1 Spinach
2 Turnip-tops
3 Dandelion
4 Lettuce
5 Romaine
6 Endive
7 Celery
8 Cabbage
9 Kale
10 Watercress
11 Parsley
12 Beet-tops
The white potato
The Irish or white potato is the only true tuber that is used very extensively as an article of food. It is formed chiefly of starch and water. The starch of this tuber is very coarse and much softer, more soluble, and hence much more digestible than the starch of cereals or legumes. Baking is the best method of preparing the white potato. The skins or peeling should be eaten in order to balance the diet as to cellulose, which is a most important article in the excitation of peristalsis of both the stomach and the intestines.
The sweet potato
The sweet potato is a root, and differs chiefly from the Irish potato in that it contains more sugar and less starch. The sweet potato is more wholesome than the Irish variety. Measured by its chemical contents, it is one of the best foods of all the tuber group.
Root vegetables
The root vegetables given in the order of my preference are: Carrots, parsnips, turnips and beets. Carrots are exceedingly nutritious and palatable in an uncooked state, eaten with nuts.
Tomatoes may be considered upon the border line between vegetables and fruits. They are exceedingly useful in cases of intestinal congestion and torpidity of the liver.
The melon
The watermelon is very wholesome. The water is rich in sugar, while the pulp is composed of a soft fiber, which is a mild stimulant to the digestive and the excretory organs. Muskmelons and cantaloups are rich in natural sugar. They are non-acid, hence in harmony with nearly every known article of food. Considering their chemical neutrality and food value, they are about the best articles of diet in the watery or juicy class.
The pumpkin and the squash, which are closely related to the melon, are of the genus cucurbita, and are divided into three species:
1 Pepo or pumpkin
2 Maxima or winter squash
3 Moschata, the pear-shaped squash
With a slight variation of the water content, all of these varieties contain much the same elements of nutrition. However, the pumpkin is most important to the student of dietetics—(1) because of its food value, and (2) because of its prolific and universal growth.
SUGARS AND SIRUPS
It will aid the student greatly in comprehending this subject if he will review the chemical composition of sugars as given in Lesson IV under "Carbohydrates," Vol. I, p. 107.)
Sugar in its various forms is a very prolific food product. It is the principal substance contained in nearly all fruits, but we shall confine our discussion here to the various sugars and sirups as they appear in commerce, freed from the other materials with which they are associated in nature.
BEET-SUGAR
Origin of beet-sugar
Contrary to common belief, the greatest proportion of the world's supply of sugar comes from the sugar-beet. Sugar, which was once manufactured solely from the maple-sap and the sugar-cane, was discovered about one hundred years ago, to be present in beets. A very interesting historical fact is that the sugar-beet industry owes its origin to the efforts of Napoleon to supply France with home-produced sugar, because of the tariff or embargo laid upon foreign commerce. As a result of this effort all of Central Europe is now a heavy sugar-producing region.
The method of production and the quantity of sugar contained in the sugar-beet have been so greatly improved that the present industry is quite able to compete with the production of sugar from cane in the tropical regions. Crude sugar from sugar-beets is very unpalatable, but the refined or crystallized form of beet sugar is chemically identical with cane-sugar.
Cane-sugar
Sugar-cane, though not so important as formerly, is still grown very extensively in several of the Southern states—Cuba, Porto Rico, and many semi-tropical countries. The chief distinction between cane-sugar and beet-sugar is that the crude cane-sugar, before it is refined, is a very wholesome and palatable product. The brown sugar of commerce is uncrystallized, or unrefined cane-sugar, and is fully as wholesome, and to most tastes more palatable than the granulated product. It is to be regretted that fashion has decreed we should use white sugar.
Refined sugar
Refined sugar, whether produced from beets or cane, is sometimes slightly contaminated with sulfurous acid and indigo, which are used for bleaching purposes, and if present in any quantity are very objectionable.
Maple-sugar
Maple-sugar, which is made by boiling or evaporating the sap of the sugar-maple, is a product decidedly superior in natural flavor to either beet or cane-sugar. Maple-sugar contains a small proportion of glucose and levulose, but its chief distinction from other sugars is a matter of flavor. The hickory tree contains flavors somewhat similar to the maple. A cheap substitute for maple-sugar has been manufactured by flavoring common sugar with the extract of hickory bark.
The other forms of dry sugar obtainable in the market are milk-sugar and crystallized glucose. The chief use of milk-sugar as an article of diet is in humanizing cow's milk for infant feeding. The dry glucose, or, as it is sometimes called, grape-sugar, is not commonly seen in the market for the reason that it is difficult to crystallize, hence it is much cheaper to market glucose in the form of sirups.
The manufacture, composition and uses of glucose
Commercial glucose, as was explained in Lesson IV, is made by treating starch with dilute acids, and its wholesomeness depends entirely upon the care with which this is done. Theoretically, glucose is a very good food. In practise it is somewhat risky because cheap chemicals used in its manufacture may leave harmful and poisonous substances in the finished product. The manufacture of glucose is an excellent illustration of the objections to man-made foods as compared with natural foods. When we eat grapes we know that we are taking one of the most important substances required in the life-processes in a perfectly pure, unadulterated and wholesome form. Science has taught man to manufacture the identical substance that is found in the grape from corn, which is a much cheaper product, but the temptation to economize for the sake of dividends, and to allow the commercial spirit to control in the manufacture of food products is always present. For this reason the manufactured article comes under suspicion, while the natural form we know to be "exactly as represented." The principal uses of glucose are for table sirups and confectionery. Pure glucose as an article of food lacks flavor; for this reason the usual method of manufacturing sirups is to mix glucose and some other form of sirup or molasses.
Sirups and molasses
The original sources of sirups, besides commercial glucose, are cane-sirup, made directly by evaporating the juice of the sugar-cane; maple-sirup, made from the pure maple-sap; sorghum-sirup, or molasses, from the juice of the sorghum-cane, which is grown extensively in the South and Central West; and last, yet perhaps most common, "New Orleans" molasses, which is the residue from the manufacture of cane-sugar. This may be very wholesome if taken from the first drippings of the crystallized sugar, but if taken from sugar refineries it contains chemicals that have been used in the refining and the bleaching processes, and is a very doubtful product. An excellent quality of sirup can be made in the home by adding to the brown sugar a certain quantity of water, and boiling down to the desired consistency.
HONEY
Honey, man's only food from the insect world
Honey occupies a very unique place, as it is practically the only food substance which man utilizes from the insect world. Honey cannot be strictly compared with milk and eggs as a food product, as the latter are complete foods for the nourishment of young and growing animals, hence must contain all food material necessary to construct the animal body. Honey, which is a carbohydrate, is gathered and used as a food for the adult bee. Pollen, or bee-bread, a nitrogenous substance, is the food of the larvae or young bees. This illustrates a very interesting fact in physiological chemistry. The insect differs radically from higher animals in that its life is divided into three complete stages. When the adult insect, with its wings, emerges from the cocoon or pupa, its growth is complete. Some insects never take any food in the adult stage; but the adult bee takes food, which is practically pure carbohydrates, and which would not maintain the life of a young animal.
Honey is composed chiefly of glucose and levulose, with perhaps 10 per cent of cane-sugar, depending upon the flowers from which it is gathered. Honey is extensively adulterated with glucose, and sometimes with cane-sugar; thus the natural flavors are impaired and the product cheapened.
CONFECTIONS
Evil effect of confections
Under the general term of confections are included all products manufactured for the purpose of appealing chiefly to the sense of taste rather than to serve any special purpose as food. The chief products that enter into confections are the various forms of sugars, chiefly glucose, because of its cheapness; fruits, nut-kernels, flavoring extracts, and coloring materials. Many of the substances used are very wholesome, yet the habit of eating confections as a general rule should be discouraged, if not condemned, the reasons being—
1 That the material from which they are made is usually unknown to the public, and the temptation of manufacturers to use cheap or adulterated material too often controls, therefore quality is sacrificed to profits.
2 Confections are usually eaten without regard to appetite, or the physical need of food.
3 The combination of things from which confections are made shows that they are put together not for their food value, or nutritive virtue, but wholly for the purpose of appealing to an artificial sense of taste, rather than natural appetite. This destroys the appetite for similar products in simpler forms.
The following are the best forms in which sugar can be found, given in the order of their importance:
1 Sweet fruits
2 Honey
3 Sorghum
4 Maple-sugar or sirup
5 Unrefined cane-sugar
6 Refined cane-sugar
Even glucose sirups are perfectly wholesome when free from adulterants. The mixing, fixing, refining and manufacturing all go to make our sugar supply more expensive and less wholesome than the plain fruit-sugars, honey and sorghum.
Application of the term "sweets" as herein used
In order to avoid repetition, all articles containing sugar are referred to throughout this work as sweets. By "sweets" I mean sugar, sirups, honey, and all foods containing sugars, such as desserts, soda-fountain drinks, and the limitless number of confections. While carbohydrates rank second in importance in the human diet, yet Nature has made no provision for sugar being taken in its concentrated form. In this form it is the most severe article of human diet, and to its use can be traced the origin of a vast number of stomach, intestinal, and other disorders. Superacidity, fermentation, intestinal gas, and the large number of sympathetic disorders that follow these conditions are caused largely by the overconsumption of sugars. It would be equally as important for the Federal Government, or the States, to regulate the manufacture and the sale of confections as to regulate the manufacture and the sale of intoxicating liquors.
VEGETABLE OILS
Value of vegetable oils
Vegetable oils form too small a portion of the modern bill of fare. Oils of vegetable origin, whether taken in their natural form or pressed out, and used with other foods, are the most valuable nutrients known for the production of heat and energy. By this statement I mean to convey the idea that a given quantity of fat will produce more heat and energy than any other article of human nutrition, and that vegetable fats are more valuable than animal fats, because they are more adapted to the fat metabolism of the human body, and less likely to contain harmful substances. Vegetable oils contain a larger per cent of olein, which is considered the most palatable and the most valuable fat known.
Olives and olive-oil
The olive is a unique plant, standing along the border line between fruits and nuts. Ripe olives contain from 40 to 60 per cent oil, the best quality of which is extracted by cold pressure, the cheaper grades being pressed out at higher temperature. The superiority of olive-oil is due to the fact that it is composed almost wholly of olein; that it contains very little fatty acids and other impurities, and has a mild, sweet, and agreeable flavor.
The adulteration of olive-oil has been extensively practised, but the agitation of pure food, and the demand for same are improving the quality of this excellent article of food.
Cottonseed-oil
Cottonseed-oil is the largest vegetable oil industry in America. It is also the cheapest of vegetable oils. The cottonseed-kernel from which the oil is taken is not an edible product. Though used as cattle feed, it contains alkaloid substances which sometimes have a poisonous effect when fed too generously.
The methods of cottonseed-oil manufacture are more complex than those of olive-oil. The oil must be heated and bleached with certain chemical agents, and if designed for salad-oils, frequently a portion of the stearin is removed to make the oil more liquid.
When the cottonseed-oil is carefully manufactured, it is considered to be entirely free from harmful substances. However, as the original material contains poisonous combinations, and as chemical agents are used in refining and bleaching, cottonseed-oil products are open to the same criticism as glucose and refined sirups; that is, they are wholesome when properly made, but cheap and careless production renders the product undesirable as food. Manufactured under careful Government supervision, cottonseed-oil will, no doubt, be one of the great foods of the future. I recommend the purer brands of cottonseed-oils, when pure olive-oil cannot be obtained or afforded.
Peanut-oil
Peanut-oil is an excellent food substance which is almost entirely neglected in this country. It contains the best portion of the peanut. Other vegetable oils, valuable as foods, and the use of which is to be recommended, are sesame-oil and sunflower-oil. These products are not produced extensively in this country.
Cocoa-butter
The cocoa-butter is pressed from the beans from which cocoa and chocolate are made. The butter has a flavor similar to these articles. Cocoa-butter should not be confused with cocoanut-butter. These products are very different in origin.
Cocoanut-butter
Cocoanut-butter is not extensively used in America as a food product, owing to the fact that the exposed fat globules oxidize very rapidly. It is extensively used in Germany, however, and with the introduction of better methods of preservation, we expect to see cocoanut-butter more generally used in this country, as the source from which it is derived is almost unlimited.
Palm-oil
Palm-oil comes from a different species of the palm plant than that which produces the cocoanut. It is a very inexpensive product and one which is chiefly used in the production of soap and candles, although it is perfectly wholesome as a food. Such products have not been utilized in this country as food, because our boundless prairies and corn-fields have made the production of cattle and swine cheap, and our fat supply has swung toward points of least resistance.
Not all vegetable oils are edible or wholesome. Some contain, in addition to olein, stearin and palmitin, and other fats quite as undesirable. Castor-oil, for example, contains ricinolein, which is a poison, and to which its purgative action is due. Croton-oil is the most powerful laxative known to medicine, owing to the fact that Nature abhors a poison.
Linseed-oil
Linseed-oil contains large quantities of linolein, which is the substance that oxidizes, forming the stiff, rubbery coat on the surface of linseed-oil when exposed to the air. This makes linseed-oil valuable matter to the painter, but objectionable as a food.