Volume III
| [Lesson XII] | Page |
|---|---|
| Harmonious Combinations of Food and Tables | |
| of Digestive Harmonies and Disharmonies | [591] |
| Chemical Changes Produced by Cooking | [593] |
| Starch Digestion--Cooked and Uncooked | [597] |
| Excuses for Cooking Our Food | [599] |
| Experiment upon Animals | [601] |
| Food Combinations | [603] |
| How to Interpret the Tables | [607] |
| Tables of Digestive Harmonies and Disharmonies | [609] |
| [Lesson XIII] | |
| Classification of Foods and Food Tables | [619] |
| Simple Classification of Foods Based on | |
| Principal Nutritive Substances | [621] |
| Purposes which the Different Classes of Food | |
| Serve in the Human Body | [625] |
| Purpose of Carbohydrates | [625] |
| Purpose of Fats | [626] |
| Purpose of Proteids | [626] |
| Purpose of Mineral Salts | [629] |
| Difference between Digestibility and Assimilability | [630] |
| Table showing Comparative Assimilability and | |
| Carbohydrate and Water Content of Cereals, | |
| Legumes, and Vegetables | [632] |
| [Lesson XIV] | |
| Vieno System of Food Measurement | [637] |
| Energy | [639] |
| Nitrogen | [641] |
| Systems of Food Measurements Compared | [642] |
| The "Old" System | [642] |
| The New or "Vieno" System | [645] |
| Necessity for a Simple System | [646] |
| Explanation of Table | [648] |
| Table of Food Measurements | [655] |
| [Lesson XV] | |
| Curative and Remedial Menus | [665] |
| Introduction | [667] |
| Cooking | [669] |
| Grains | [669] |
| Vegetables | [670] |
| Cooking en casserole | [671] |
| Rice and Macaroni | [672] |
| Fruits | [672] |
| Canned Goods | [673] |
| Buttermilk | [674] |
| Home-made Butter | [674] |
| The Banana | [675] |
| How to Select and Ripen Bananas | [676] |
| Baked Bananas | [677] |
| Recipes: | |
| For Coddled Egg | [677] |
| For Uncooked Eggs | [678] |
| For Baked Omelet | [678] |
| For Fish and Fowl | [678] |
| For Green Peas in the Pod | [679] |
| For Pumpkin | [680] |
| For Vegetable Juice | [680] |
| For Sassafras Tea | [681] |
| Wheat Bran | [681] |
| Bran Meal | [683] |
| Choice of Menus | [683] |
| Normal Menus | [685] |
| Introduction to Normal Menus | [685] |
| For Normal Child, 2 to 5 years | [687] |
| For Normal Youth, 5 to 10 years | [692] |
| For Normal Youth, 10 to 15 years | [696] |
| For Normal Person, 15 to 20 years | [700] |
| For Normal Person, 20 to 33 years | [704] |
| For Normal Person, 33 to 50 years | [708] |
| For Normal Person, 50 to 65 years | [712] |
| For Normal Person, 65 to 80 years | [716] |
| For Normal Person, 85 to 100 years | [720] |
| Introduction to Curative Menus | [724] |
| Curative Menus: | |
| Superacidity | [726] |
| Fermentation | [753] |
| Constipation | [761] |
| Gastritis | [763] |
| Nervous Indigestion | [784] |
| Nervousness | [789] |
| Subacidity | [801] |
| Biliousness | [809] |
| Cirrhosis of the Liver | [822] |
| Diarrhea | [832] |
| Emaciation | [845] |
LESSON XII
Harmonious Combinations of Food and
Tables of Digestive Harmonies
and Disharmonies
CHEMICAL CHANGES PRODUCED BY COOKING
The application of heat to food is comparatively of recent origin in the evolution of mankind. The use of fire involves a certain amount of mental ingenuity, and could not be practised by man's anthropoid ancestors. Anthropoid animals, whether human or ape, have a great amount of curiosity for the unusual and the new.
Man probably began his cooking experiments by soaking hard foods in warm water, then in hot water, or by warming cold foods at his camp-fire. As heat volatilizes the pleasant odorous substance present in many foods, the custom of heating them probably became popular. The habit of cooking spread, as many other novel and interesting customs have spread, from this primitive process to the French chef, regardless of whether the results were beneficial or harmful.
The question whether foods should be eaten cooked or uncooked can best be answered by examining the chemical and mechanical changes produced in the process of cooking, and their consequent physiological effects.
Cooking may be divided into two classes, namely, Moist Heat and Dry Heat. To illustrate:
Effect of heat on sugars
Sugars are not chemically affected by boiling with water, while starch, cooked with boiling water, or steam, absorbs from three to five times its bulk of moisture, and changes into a soft, pasty, or semi-dissolved mass. Under dry heat, sugars are converted into a brown substance, known as caramel, while starch cooked under a temperature of 300° to 400° of dry heat, is changed into a dextrin, of which toast and zwieback are examples.
Effect of heat on fats
Fats are not changed chemically by moist heat; that is, by being boiled in water, but the globules are melted and the hot fat spreads in a film over other material which may be present. In dry heat, fats are chemically decomposed, forming irritating vapors. The odors of frying fat are due to the presence of small quantities of these decomposition products. In larger quantities, and with greater heat, these substances are exceedingly irritating to the mucous membrane of the stomach and the intestines.
Effect of heat on proteids
The chemical changes produced by heating proteids are of much more importance than are those which take place in other foods. Simple proteids, such as albumin and globulin, are coagulated at a temperature of about 160°. This change is familiar in the coagulation of egg whites under low temperature. Other proteids undergo similar changes, governed by the degree and kind of heat (dry or moist), to which they are subjected. This change in proteid material continues with the application of prolonged heat, until the proteid, under dry heat, is converted into a dark brittle mass, wholly insoluble and indigestible.
If the student will take the white of an egg, and bake it for some time in an oven, he will observe the coagulation or hardening of the proteid. The chemical nature of this change is one of great complexity. The molecules combine with each other, forming almost indestructible substances. The combined or coagulated forms of proteid are represented in nature by horns, hoofs, finger nails, and hair.
STARCH DIGESTION—COOKED AND UNCOOKED
Comparative digestion of cooked and uncooked grain
The student will remember the reference made in Lesson V to experiments concerning the digestibility of starch when taken in various forms. In these experiments, though conducted for the purpose of demonstrating the supposed advantage of excessive cooking, the results showed that at the time the contents of the stomach were removed, all the proteids of the uncooked grain had been digested, while the percentage of proteid digested from the various forms of cooked grain grew less as the cooking was increased. As the chief function of the gastric juice is the digestion of proteids, the real significance of the above experiments was exactly the opposite from that which was intended to be proved.
Reasons given for cooking starch
The statement is frequently made that the starch of grain cannot be digested without cooking, because the cells enclosing the starch grains have indigestible or insoluble cellulose walls. The old theory is that cooking expands the starch and ruptures or tears down these walls, freeing the contents so that the digestive juices may act upon the enclosed starch granules. This is a theory unsupported by facts. The cell walls on the interior of the grain kernel are very filmy, and in the mature grain scarcely exist at all. The analysis of wheat flour shows only a trace of cellulose fiber. Were these cellulose walls within the wheat grain, as this theory commonly teaches, flour would show a liberal quantity of cellulose. The cellulose wall theory, as a necessity for cooking starch, is an excellent illustration of the ease with which a groundless statement or theory may be used to prove or to explain some popular prejudice.
In the process of cooking, the tendency is to render the organic salts contained in food entirely inorganic. This change from organic to inorganic salts is measured by the temperature to which the foods are subjected. Many of these salts are combined with the nitrogenous constituents of food, therefore when subjected to certain degrees of heat they are of little value in the construction of the proteid molecules within the body. This is especially true of fresh or green vegetables.
EXCUSES FOR COOKING OUR FOOD
Ancestral habits not inherited
Inasmuch as the majority of people favor cooking, probably forgetting that about half of the food consumed in the world at the present time is taken in its natural or uncooked state, it may be well to mention some of the views advanced by those who believe that the present diet of cooked grain is better for modern man than an elementary diet, and who attempt to give a natural explanation. One theory is that man has subsisted so long upon cooked foods that his organs have become fitted for a cooked diet, and a cooked diet only. Another view sometimes advanced is, that while cooked foods were originally detrimental, yet by continued use man has become fitted for such a diet and unfitted for a natural diet. These are but other forms of the old belief in the inheritance of acquired characteristics. This belief, however, is steadily losing ground among evolutionists. There is no more reason to believe that a modified function of the stomach would be inherited, than there is to believe that small feet would be inherited among the Chinese women just because these organs are mutilated by local custom.
The best light of scientific knowledge now leads us to believe that the healthy child of today is, in its capacity for nutrition, essentially like the primitive child, and would thrive best upon a varied diet of natural foods.
EXPERIMENT UPON ANIMALS
While I do not claim that the methods of animal feeding apply accurately to man, yet the digestive and the assimilative processes of animals are so closely related to the human processes, that the results obtained in animal nutrition are very instructive to the student of human food science.
About thirty years ago, when the scientific study of agriculture first became prevalent, an experiment was made in cooked food for animals, upon an extensive basis. At that time it was the universal belief that man owed much of his superiority over other animals to the use of cooked food. This argument was put forth with great force and appeared quite reasonable. It was asked whether animals other than man would be benefited by changing to a cooked bill of fare.
Governmental experiments on cooked food for animals
During this agitation numerous western farmers put their hogs, chickens, cows, horses, and sheep upon a cooked bill of fare, and many enthusiastic feeders claimed beneficial results. Later the various Governmental Experimental Stations took up the subject and made many careful, complete, and comparative tests of the effects of cooked and uncooked food for animals. The result did not show the expected thing. The cooking experiments in the majority of cases proved injurious, and the general decision of the Government investigators was that cooking food for animals was useless and detrimental to the great live stock industry. Stock food cookery has now become entirely obsolete.
Cooking a habit of civilization
Man is the only animal that cooks his food, and has made great progress in civilization while subsisting on a cooked diet, but cooking is no more the cause of his advancement than silk hats and swallow-tailed coats. He has advanced only according to the degree that he has thought, studied, and experimented. Cooking has undoubtedly enabled man to utilize many things as food, that he could not and would not have used otherwise, but whether this has aided or retarded in his material progress is yet an unsolved question.
FOOD COMBINATIONS
The following tables are designed to convey, in the most condensed and simplified form, the results of my investigations in regard to food combinations.
It is somewhat difficult to give in any one table exact information concerning food combinations under the varying conditions of the body and its ever-changing requirements. The best that can be done is to lay out such groups as are fundamentally harmonious from a chemical point of view.
Quantity an important factor
The particular condition of the patient often reveals certain special requirements which must be dealt with according to the symptoms given off by the body. Many of these combinations, when taken under certain conditions, may appear disagreeable, but this can be overcome by leveling the proportions and limiting the quantity. Quantity is of very great importance for the reason that the most perfect selections of food can be made and blended into perfect chemical harmony, and still disagree with the normal stomach if a quantity is taken in excess of physical demands.
The use of these tables will serve to bring to the student's attention the advantage to be gained from a health-giving and curative point of view, as well as from simplicity in diet.
In considering the chemical harmony of foods, the student should keep in mind the time required for digestion, which involves not only the question of combining foods at the same meal, but also the taking, within a few hours after eating, of other articles that may produce chemical inharmony. For example: Milk, cereals, and sweet fruits are in chemical harmony, but a lemonade introduced into the stomach an hour or two later would produce inharmony, and be almost as harmful as if it had been taken with the meal.
Instinct a safe guide, if cultivated
There are many injurious combinations which the student will learn to omit from a sense of taste and instinct, and while our instincts have in many cases ceased to guide us aright, they will rapidly return and assume command if given a fair opportunity.
The perfect meal can be made from three or four articles, and the entire menu can be changed three times a day, but to take eight, ten, or a dozen things at the same meal, puts the quantity, as well as every article composing the meal, into jeopardy.
After one has eaten a sufficient quantity of food, and the taste has signalled "ENOUGH," something sweet or pungent is introduced. This puts into activity another set of taste buds which will accept a given quantity of another food. However, the stomach has already given off one signal of "enough," hence every pennyweight taken in excess of that amount is that much more than should be eaten.
In order to simplify the making of harmonious combinations, I have grouped the foods whose use I recommend in nine different divisions. A further subdivision of vegetables and fruits might have been made, but this would have increased the number of groups, making them more complicated and less practical.
HOW TO INTERPRET THE TABLES
In order to ascertain the articles with which any special food will combine, the student should turn to the table headed with the desired article of that group. If foods from three groups are to be considered, the student will look for two of them in the first vertical column on the left-hand side of the page, and will then follow across to the vertical column for the third article.
Figure (1) means especially beneficial
Figure (2) means good combinations
Figure (3) means somewhat undesirable
Figure (4) means particularly harmful
(a) "Fats with" figure (1), under the heading Grains, first table, page 609, means that the combination of "fats with grains" would be "especially beneficial."
(b) "Fats and eggs with" figure (2), under the heading Milk, page 609, means that "fats and eggs with milk" make a good combination.
(c) "Fats and milk with" figure (3), page 609, under column headed Nuts, means a "somewhat undesirable" combination.
(d) "Fats and acid fruits with" figure (4), under heading Milk, page 609, means that this combination would be "particularly harmful," etc.
It is impractical to print ready reference tables showing the harmony of more than three articles, but the student can judge this sufficiently well for himself by comparing the respective harmonies of the several foods of the group.
TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES
| 1 Especially beneficial | 3 Somewhat undesirable |
| 2 Good combinations | 4 Particularly harmful |
Fats
(Such as Butter, Salad Oils, Cream, etc.)
| Eggs | Milk | Nuts | Grains | Vegetables | Acid Fruits | Sweet Fruits | Sugars | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fats with | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Fats and Eggs with | — | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Fats and Milk with | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | |
| Fats and Nuts with | 3 | 3 | — | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Fats and Grains with | 2 | 2 | 2 | — | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Fats and Veget. with | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Fats and acid fruits with | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | — | 2 | 3 |
| Fats and sweet fruits with | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | — | 3 |
| Fats and Sugars with | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | — |
TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES
| 1 Especially beneficial | 3 Somewhat undesirable |
| 2 Good combinations | 4 Particularly harmful |
Eggs
| Fats | Milk | Nuts | Grains | Vegetables | Acid Fruits | Sweet Fruits | Sugars | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eggs with | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Eggs and Fats with | — | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Eggs and Milk with | 2 | — | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Eggs and Nuts with | 3 | 2 | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Eggs and Grains with | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Eggs and Veget. with | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | — | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Eggs and acid fruits with | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | — | 4 | 2 |
| Eggs and sweet fruits with | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | — | 3 |
| Eggs and Sugars with | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | — |
TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES
| 1 Especially beneficial | 3 Somewhat undesirable |
| 2 Good combinations | 4 Particularly harmful |
Milk
(Including skimmed and clabbered milk, buttermilk and fresh cheese)
| Fats | Eggs | Nuts | Grains | Vegetables | Acid Fruits | Sweet Fruits | Sugars | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milk with | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| Milk and Fats with | — | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Milk and Eggs with | 2 | — | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Milk and Nuts with | 3 | 2 | — | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Milk and Grains with | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Milk and Veget. with | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | — | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| Milk and acid fruits with | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | — | 4 | 4 |
| Milk and sweet fruits with | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | — | 2 |
| Milk and Sugars with | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | — |
TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES
| 1 Especially beneficial | 3 Somewhat undesirable |
| 2 Good combinations | 4 Particularly harmful |
Nuts
(All common nuts except chestnuts and peanuts)
| Fats | Eggs | Milk | Grains | Vegetables | Acid Fruits | Sweet Fruits | Sugars | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nuts with | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Nuts and Fats with | — | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Nuts and Eggs with | 3 | — | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Nuts and Milk with | 3 | 3 | — | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Nuts and Grains with | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Nuts and Veget. with | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Nuts and acid fruits with | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | — | 2 | 3 |
| Nuts and sweet fruits with | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | 2 |
| Nuts and Sugars with | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | — |
TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES
| 1 Especially beneficial | 3 Somewhat undesirable |
| 2 Good combinations | 4 Particularly harmful |
Grains
(All cereal and starchy products)
| Fats | Eggs | Milk | Nuts | Vegetables | Acid Fruits | Sweet Fruits | Sugars | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grains with | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Grains and Fats with | — | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Grains and Eggs with | 2 | — | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Grains and Milk with | 2 | 1 | — | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Grains and Nuts with | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Grains and Vege. with | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | — | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Grains and acid fruits with | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | — | 2 | 3 |
| Grains and sweet fruits with | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | 2 |
| Grains and Sugars with | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | — |
TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES
| 1 Especially beneficial | 3 Somewhat undesirable |
| 2 Good combinations | 4 Particularly harmful |
Vegetables
(Leafy or succulent vegetables as lettuce, spinach).
Fresh peas, carrots, parsnips, etc.—Potatoes being starchy, not included.
| Fats | Eggs | Milk | Nuts | Grains | Acid Fruits | Sweet Fruits | Sugars | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veget. with | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Veget. and Fats with | — | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Veget. and Eggs with | 2 | — | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Veget. and Milk with | 2 | 3 | — | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Veget. and Nuts with | 1 | 1 | 3 | — | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Veget. and Grains with | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Veget. and acid fruits with | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | — | 3 | 2 |
| Veget. and sweet fruits with | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | — | 2 |
| Veget. and Sugars with | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | — |
TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES
| 1 Especially beneficial | 3 Somewhat undesirable |
| 2 Good combinations | 4 Particularly harmful |
Acid Fruits
(All acid and subacid fruits as listed in Lesson VIII)
| Fats | Eggs | Milk | Nuts | Grains | Vegetables | Sweet Fruits | Sugars | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acid fruits with | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Acid fruits and Fats with | — | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Acid fruits and Eggs with | 2 | — | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Acid fruits and Milk with | 4 | 4 | — | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Acid fruits and Nuts with | 3 | 1 | 4 | — | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Acid fruits and Grains with | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | — | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Acid fruits and Veget. with | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | 3 | 3 |
| Acid and sweet fruits with | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | — | 3 |
| Acid fruits and Sugars with | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | — |
TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES
| 1 Especially beneficial | 3 Somewhat undesirable |
| 2 Good combinations | 4 Particularly harmful |
Sweet Fruits
(All non-acid fruits as listed in Lesson VIII)
| Fats | Eggs | Milk | Nuts | Grains | Vegetables | Acid Fruits | Sugars | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sweet fruits with | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Sweet fruits and Fats with | — | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Sweet fruits and Eggs with | 2 | — | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| Sweet fruits and Milk with | 2 | 1 | — | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Sweet fruits and Nuts with | 3 | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Sweet fruits and Grains with | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | — | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Sweet fruits and Veget. with; | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | — | 3 | 2 |
| Sweet and acid fruits with | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | — | 3 |
| Sweet fruits and Sugars with | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | — |
TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES
| 1 Especially beneficial | 3 Somewhat undesirable |
| 2 Good combinations | 4 Particularly harmful |
Sugars
(Cane and maple-sugars, sirup, and honey)
| Fats | Eggs | Milk | Nuts | Grains | Vegetables | Acid Fruits | Sweet Fruits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sugars with | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Sugars and Fats with | — | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Sugars and Eggs with | 2 | — | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Sugars and Milk with | 2 | 2 | — | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Sugars and Nuts with | 2 | 2 | 2 | — | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Sugars and Grains with | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | — | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Sugars and Veget. with | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | — | 3 | 2 |
| Sugar and acid fruits with | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | 3 |
| Sugar and sweet fruits with | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | — |
Lesson XIII
CLASSIFICATION OF FOODS
AND
FOOD TABLES
LESSON XIII
Simple Classification of Foods
While there is a dominating substance in all foods, yet they usually contain many compounds which render them, from a chemical standpoint, very difficult to classify accurately. For example, the principal nutrients in wheat are carbohydrates (starch and sugar), yet wheat contains mineral salts, fat, and protein, the latter being a compound consisting of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. Wheat would, therefore, be placed in the carbohydrate class, but it would overlap into several other classes. What is true of wheat, is true of nearly all other articles of food. Furthermore, foods do not chemically reproduce themselves when taken into the body, but in the process of metabolism they are converted either into other elements or into other compounds. From this it will be understood that the articles listed under the following headings are classified according to the nutritive substance which predominates in them, and are given for the purpose of guiding the practitioner in the selection of such foods as will supply the various chemical constituents of the body.
Foods which contain two or more substances in generous proportions may appear under two or more of the following headings, as in the case of peanuts. This humble article of food contains 19 per cent carbohydrates, 20 per cent protein, and 29 per cent fat, hence it is listed under the three headings—carbohydrates, proteids, and fats.
The tables comprise the best selections of food available in all countries and at all seasons of the year. They contain everything the body needs under the varying conditions of age, climate, and activity, except, perhaps, in some parts of the frigid zone.
In compiling these tables I have selected only such articles of food as experience has proved most useful.
SIMPLE CLASSIFICATION OF FOODS BASED ON PRINCIPAL NUTRITIVE SUBSTANCES
| /——————Carbohydrates——————\ | Fats | Proteids | Foods rich in Mineral Salts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chocolate | Honey | Vegetables— | Butter | Cheese | Vegetables— |
| Fruits— | Nuts— | Asparagus | Cheese | Eggs | Asparagus |
| Dates | Chestnuts | Bananas | Chocolate | Fish | Beet-tops |
| Figs | Peanuts | Beets | Cream | Legumes— | Cabbage |
| Grapes | Pignolia or | Cabbage | Nuts— | Beans—dried | Carrots |
| Persimmons | pine nuts | Carrots | Almonds | Lentils—dried | Celery |
| Raisins | Sirups | Celery | Brazil-nuts | Peas—dried | Dandelion |
| Grains— | Sugar | Lettuce | Cocoanuts | Milk | Green peas |
| Barley | Tapioca | Onions | Hickory-nuts | Nuts— | Lettuce |
| Corn | Parsnips | Peanuts | Peanuts | Onions | |
| Oats | Potatoes—sweet | Pecans | Pignolia or | Radish-tops | |
| Rice | Potatoes—white | Pignolia or | pine nuts | Romaine | |
| Rye | Pumpkin | pine nuts | Poultry | Spinach | |
| Wheat | Spinach | Walnuts | Vegetables— | String beans | |
| Squash | Oils— | Cabbage | Turnip-tops | ||
| Turnips | Cottonseed | Lettuce | Watercress | ||
| Nut-oil | Onions | Wheat bran | |||
| Olive-oil | Spinach | ||||
| Turnips | |||||
| Wheat bran | |||||
PURPOSES WHICH THE DIFFERENT CLASSES OF FOOD SERVE IN THE HUMAN BODY
While all the articles of food in the four above-named classifications contain other elements than the one under which heading they appear, yet the body uses or appropriates them for the following purposes:
PURPOSE OF CARBOHYDRATES
The carbohydrate substance in food is used by the body chiefly for the purpose of keeping up body-weight; that is, for the purpose of supplying the various fluids which fill the cell-structure. If one is suffering from emaciation, the carbohydrate element in food should predominate. While some of the more soluble proteids, especially milk and eggs, will give a rapid gain in weight, the weight will not be permanent unless sufficient carbohydrates are taken to supply the blood with all the required elements of nutrition, or, in other words, to level or to balance the body requirements.
PURPOSE OF FATS
Fats are used by the animal body primarily for the purpose of producing heat. Food is burned or oxidized in the blood, undergoing very much the same action as does the combustion of coal in a grate. The heat thus generated is delegated to the blood, and the blood, by its circulation, distributes this heat throughout the body. The carbon dioxid or waste matter formed during the circulation, is carried to the lungs, where it reunites with the oxygen which we breathe, and thereby again passes back into the atmosphere.
PURPOSE OF PROTEIDS
Proteid is a compound containing chiefly nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon. Its purpose is to form the muscular and the tissue structure of the body. To use a homely illustration, proteid may be compared to the material which makes the honeycomb, while the carbohydrate substance may be compared to the honey; that is, to the fluids which fill the cells.
Those performing heavy or active muscular labor should eat liberally of the proteid class of foods.
Under normal conditions, natural hunger will call for the quantity of proteid needed. The tendency, however, should be toward the minimum; that is, one should take the lowest quantity of proteid that the body requires to keep up the cell-structure. (See Lesson VI, p. 216.) Modern investigations have shown that, in many cases of extreme athletic tests, a low proteid diet has given the greatest endurance. This is accounted for by the fact that nearly all carbohydrates, especially of the grain family, contain from 8 to 12 per cent of proteids, which is quite sufficient, in many instances, to supply the body with all the tissue-building material necessary.
Inasmuch as the several nutritive elements found in a single article of food are better proportioned by Nature, than man can usually proportion them, the relation of one substance to another will be better divided if the entire meal be made to consist of only one kind of food, and both digestion and assimilation will therefore be more perfect. Under these conditions the blood will be laden with very little waste matter, which is the thing that reduces our powers of endurance. Therefore, when it is possible to secure the carbohydrate, the proteid, and the fatty substances from a single article of food which will give to the body greater strength and endurance than when we secure these substances from several sources, we should confine our menus to single articles of well-proportioned food. This thought, carried to its logical end, leads one more and more, as experience progresses, toward the mono-diet system.
PURPOSE OF MINERAL SALTS
Mineral salts serve two distinct purposes in the body:
1 They assist in building up the cartilage and the body-structure
2 They assist in the digestion, and in the dissolution of other foods, especially of the carbohydrate group, and more especially of the grain family
Grains are very difficult to subdivide into their constituent elements; that is, to reduce to a solution so fine that assimilation will be perfect. A liberal use of the foods containing mineral salts aids very materially in this process of solution.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DIGESTIBILITY AND ASSIMILABILITY
The true interpretation of the word "digestion" is the preparation of food by the action of:
1 The saliva
2 The gastric juice
3 The bile, and
4 The pancreatic juice
When food is properly prepared by mastication by the time it reaches the pancreas, it should be thoroughly split up or subdivided, in which state it is ready for assimilation.
The true interpretation of the word "assimilation" is the absorption of all food substances through the walls of the intestinal tract, and the final passing of them into the circulation.
It is nothing unusual, however, for a person to become afflicted with predigestion, and, at the same time, with poor or faulty assimilation; in other words, digestion being too rapid, and assimilation being too slow. This condition frequently occurs in cases of superacidity. On account of the excess of acid, the food digests or passes from the stomach prematurely; that is, before it has been dissolved by the action of the hydrochloric acid. The food, thus super-charged with acid, passes from the stomach into the lower intestines, and sets up a condition of irritation. This irritation or swelling of the mucous surface (lining) of the intestines, closes the small canals, or winking valves, as they are sometimes called, thus seriously interfering with the passing of the dissolved food matter into the circulation.
The following table is designed to show the comparative assimilability of the leading articles of food, together with their starch, sugar, and water content:
TABLE SHOWING COMPARATIVE ASSIMILABILITY AND CARBOHYDRATE AND WATER CONTENT OF CEREALS, LEGUMES, AND VEGETABLES
FOOD | Assimilability | Percentage of | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starch | Sugar | Water | ||||
| CEREALS | ||||||
| Barley | Somewhat Difficult | 61.6 | 1.5 | 13.7 | ||
| Buckwheat | Difficult | 48.0 | 6.0 | 12.0 | ||
| Corn | Difficult | 60.5 | 3.0 | 12.2 | ||
| Oats | Difficult | 54.0 | 2.0 | 12.0 | ||
| Rice | Medium | 79.1 | 0.4 | 13.0 | ||
| Rye | Somewhat Difficult | 62.0 | 0.95 | 15.06 | ||
| Wheat | Medium | 62.0 | 0.95 | 15.08 | ||
| LEGUMES | ||||||
| Beans—dried | Good | 53.0 | 3.0 | 12.0 | ||
| Lentils—dried | Good | 50.0 | 2.0 | 11.0 | ||
| Peas—dried | Good | 57.0 | 4.0 | 11.0 | ||
| * VEGETABLES | ||||||
| Banana—very ripe | Very good | 8.0 | 11.0 | 48.0 | ||
| Beets | Good | 1.7 | 7.8 | 68.0 | ||
| Cabbage | Medium | 4.3 | — | 78.0 | ||
| Carrots | Very good | 1.0 | 6.1 | 83.0 | ||
| Parsnips | Very good | 1.5 | 6.0 | 82.0 | ||
| Potatoes { Sweet | Good | 24.4 | 5.6 | 69.0 | ||
| { White | Very good | 19.8 | .7 | 72.0 | ||
| Pumpkin | Very good | 3.9 | 2.0 | 74.3 | ||
| Squash | Very good | 4.1 | 1.2 | 83.0 | ||
| Turnips | Good | 5.1 | 2.1 | 91.0 | ||
* While all the vegetables mentioned in the above table belong to the carbohydrate class, yet the starch element contained in them is very much more assimilable than the starch contained in grains or legumes, therefore these vegetables may be eaten freely by those having rheumatic or gouty tendencies.
The starch and the sugar content in fresh vegetables appears low owing to the fact that they contain a large percentage of water. Eliminating the water, these foods rank in their starch and sugar content with cereals and legumes, and are much more easily digested and assimilated. In other words, if the chemist should reduce the water content to the same per cent as that of cereals, the carbohydrate content would rise in the same ratio as the water content is reduced. Both the starch and the sugar content of these vegetables is more digestible, and more readily assimilated than the starch and the sugar found in cereals and legumes.
PURPOSE OF THE VIENO TABLE
The student should remember that not only the quantity but the quality of food must be considered. The vieno system of food measurement, as herein explained, is the simplest system of food measurement that has ever been published. It is amply complete, and accurate enough for the purpose for which it is intended, and that is the calculation of the energy and the available nitrogen contained in natural dietaries.
This measurement is really a quantitative measurement; that is, it measures the quantity, not the quality. In order to have a full knowledge of a bill of fare, it is necessary to know, in addition to the quantity, the exact chemical nature of each particular food, and also to know the other foods with which that food will combine.
This food table tells accurately the amount of energy that may be derived from food by chemical analysis, but it does not tell the amount of energy that the body must expend in the work of assimilation. This cannot be given in a table, because it varies with the individual and the condition of his digestive organs.
LESSON XIV
VIENO SYSTEM OF FOOD MEASUREMENT
The amount of nutrition contained in a given quantity of food is often a determining factor in curative dietetics.
The two most important things to be considered in prescribing foods are:
1 The amount of energy contained in a given quantity
2 The amount of available nitrogen or tissue-building material in a given quantity
ENERGY
Energy is the power to do work. That form of energy with which we are most familiar is mechanical energy, as raising a stone or turning a wheel.
Heat is another form of energy. Heat and work can be converted into each other. The steam-engine turns heat into work, while a "hot box" on a car-wheel is a case of work being turned back into heat.
Amount of heat a food produces determines its energy
Experience shows that a definite amount of heat will yield a definite amount of work, so that the amount of heat produced by a given amount of food, when combined with oxygen, is taken as a measure of its energy. This is ordinarily expressed in calories, a calorie being the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one thousand grams of water one degree on the centigrade thermometer scale.
The use of these terms need not concern the student. Instead of using the calorie I will use a unit which is equal to one hundred calories. I have selected a unit of this size because it gives about the ordinary service of food at meals which is easily measured and remembered.
NITROGEN
Nitrogen is the chemical element that is most concerned with the function of life. All animal tissue contains nitrogen, which forms about one-sixth part, by weight, of all the nitrogenous or protein substances.
Proportion of Nitrogen in lean meat
If we were to take a hundred pounds of lean meat, or muscle, and evaporate from it all the water, we would have about eighteen pounds of dry material left. If we should analyze this dry substance, we would find that about one-sixth, or three pounds, would be the element nitrogen. Thus we say that muscle contains eighteen per cent of protein, or three per cent of nitrogen. In ordinary practise the protein is mixed with fats and salts, and cannot be measured by simply drying out the water, so the chemist finds the amount of nitrogen present and multiplies by 6.25, which gives about the correct per cent of protein. This method is not exact because the per cent of nitrogen in various proteids is not always the same, but it will give an intelligent average. I will discard the use of the term protein, and refer to the amount of nitrogen directly.
All compounds of the element nitrogen are not available as food. For example: The nitrogen of the air, of ammonia gas, or gunpowder cannot be utilized in the animal body. The nitrogen in foods only refers to available nitrogen. Compounds containing other forms of nitrogen are not foods, but are frequently poisons.
SYSTEMS OF FOOD MEASUREMENTS COMPARED
THE "OLD" SYSTEM
Under the old system of food measurement, feeding the human body cannot be made a practical science for the masses, therefore a new system becomes necessary. That we may more fully appreciate the value of a new system, let us consider the methods hitherto available.
Suppose a man is using two quarts of milk a day, and wishes to determine the amount of available nitrogen or tissue-building material and energy it contains. Under the old system he must get a book on food analysis, or send to Washington for a Government bulletin. If he does not understand the meaning of the terms and figures used, the tables would be useless to him until he goes to a chemist to have them explained. He is now ready to work out the nutritive value of his milk, and proceeds as follows:
First, he gets the number of cu cm in the milk, thus—952.8 (number cu cm in 1 quart) x 2 = 1905.6, number of cu cm in 2 quarts of milk. Second, he gets the weight of his milk in grams—1.032 (number grams in 1 cu cm of milk) x 1905.6 = 1966.57, number of grams in 2 quarts of milk.
He now turns to a table of analysis which tells him that milk contains 3 per cent of protein, 3½ per cent of fat, and 4½ per cent of sugar. As the amount of nitrogen in milk is approximately one-sixth of its entire protein, he would now get 16 per cent of the 3 per cent (.16 x .03 = .0048), which is the percentage of nitrogen contained in milk.
His next step would be—1966.57 (number grams in 2 quarts of milk) x .0048 = 9.44, the number of grams of nitrogen in 2 quarts of milk.
I will not explain the way in which the energy would have to be figured, but will merely give the arithmetical processes by which the result is obtained:
3 × 4.1 = 12.3
3.5 × 9.3 = 32.55
4.5 × 4.1 = 18.45
12.3 + 32.55 + 18.45 = 63.30
1966.57 × 63.30 = 124483.88
124483.88 ÷ 100 = 1244, the No. of calories or energy (heat units) contained in two quarts of milk.
THE NEW OR "VIENO" SYSTEM
Derivation of the word Vieno
To a unit of food-energy which is equal to one hundred calories (see last paragraph on "Energy"), I have given the name of Vieno, derived from "vital" and "energy," and pronounced vi-eń-o. The Vieno system, therefore, will measure all foods by vi-en-os, or units of energy equal to one hundred of the chemist's calories. One vieno of milk is one-sixth of a quart, or two-thirds of an ordinary glass. From this it is readily seen that two quarts of milk will give twelve vienos of energy, or, if we wish to express it in the chemist's term, twelve hundred calories.
How to compute amount of nitrogen in food
The table also states that milk has a nitrogen factor of .8. Therefore, if we wish to know the amount of nitrogen in the two quarts of milk, all we need do is to multiply the number of vienos by the nitrogen factor; 12 x .8 = 9.6, which figure represents the nitrogen consumption expressed in grams. (See explanation of fourth column of table.) These results are practically the same as those obtained by the old system of computation, but expressed in simpler terms. Thus we see that the vieno system of computing food values is unique in its simplicity, and will be a very material aid in putting Food Science on a practical basis.
NECESSITY FOR A SIMPLE SYSTEM
Neither volume nor weight are correct standards for measuring food values
Things are commonly measured by volume, or by weight. That volume could not be made sufficiently accurate in the measurement of food values is evident. A bushel of lettuce leaves would contain much less food value than a bushel of wheat. Weight would seem to be a fairer way to compare foods, but all foods contain water, which may vary from five to ninety-five per cent. A pound of turnips, which is nine-tenths water, would not be comparable with sugar, which has scarcely any water.
Even if it were not for the water, weight would not be a fair method of comparison because some foods are of more value per pound than others, owing to their difference in chemical composition. For instance, a pound of butter gives about two and one-fourth times as much heat to the body as sugar.
As before mentioned, the two chief food factors which we ought to measure are energy-producing and tissue-building power.
What constitutes a true food
All true foods when assimilated in the body produce some energy. In fact, only such substances as produce bodily energy, when combined with the oxygen taken in through the lungs, can be correctly termed food.
I have taken this energy-producing power of food as the best basis for measurement and comparison. The nitrogen could have been taken as a unit, and the energy figured by a table, but it is simpler to use energy as a unit (as given in column 3, p. [655]), and figure the nitrogen in the various foods by means of a table which gives the amount of nitrogen per unit of energy. (Column 4, p. [655].)
Multiplication of units of energy (column 3) by the nitrogen factor (column 4) is necessary because the ratio of nitrogen to energy is different in each food.
EXPLANATION OF TABLE
In the table that follows, I have attempted to give in the simplest way the amount of each particular food that one vieno equals.
The second column shows, in the plainest language possible, what one vieno of food equals—as, one vieno of barley equals one ounce; or, one vieno of nuts equals one rounded tablespoonful, etc. This method is, of course, only approximate, as in some foods it is impossible to find a simple term to express the amount of one vieno. This is especially true of cooked foods because of the varied amounts of water contained. In such cases the way for the student to become familiar with a vieno is to weigh one pound of the raw material, and, after it is cooked, weigh it again, and then calculate the water content.
The definition given in the second column in the case of milk, butter, eggs, and cheese is fairly accurate. The description given in the case of cereals and bread is also fairly accurate. In the list of fresh vegetables, no attempt has been made to describe one vieno by volume, as, vegetables being loose and bulky, it is practical to measure them only by weight.
Only the edible portion of food considered
In the case of fresh fruits, one vieno has been defined as "one large orange" or "six plums," etc. In such cases allowance for the non-edible portion has been made; all weights given in the table consider only the edible portion.
In the case of nuts, the definition of a vieno in so many spoonfuls is fairly accurate. This is done only as an illustration, and not continued throughout the table. The student should use only the second column of the table for rough work, and to help him figure the approximate amount of one vieno.
The third column of the table, which gives the number of vienos or the amount of heat-energy in one pound, is the column to which the student should refer in his work. A pound of food referred to in this column invariably means one pound of the edible portion.
Simple method of reducing food to vienos
The way for the student to calculate the amount of food in one vieno is to take a pound of the food that he is to use and divide it equally into as many portions as the number in the third column. For example: If one pound of wheat is given as equal to sixteen vienos, the student should weigh a pound of wheat and divide it into sixteen portions, and each of these portions will equal one vieno.
The nitrogen factor simplified
The fourth column of the table gives the approximate nitrogen factor; that is, the percentage of nitrogen by weight in one vieno. This column is to be used for computing the amount of nitrogen in the diet under all ordinary circumstances. The student should take the total number of vienos of each food and multiply this number by the nitrogen factor. The product will be the approximate amount of the nitrogen consumed, expressed in grams. This is the direct method of ascertaining the amount of available nitrogen in food.
Grams reduced to vienos
If in reading other works, the student finds the amount of nitrogen given in decigrams, he needs only to divide by ten in order to reduce it to this system, as a decigram is one-tenth of a gram. Likewise, protein can be reduced to grams, or decigrams, by a simple process of multiplication and division, as follows: Sixty grams of protein contains practically ten grams (one hundred decigrams) of nitrogen. Divide the amount of protein by six to change protein to the nitrogen unit. That is (Protein ÷ 6) = amount of nitrogen in grams.
The old-fashioned food table gave the amount of protein in per cent by weight, making it necessary to weigh the food, figure the amount of protein by multiplying the weight by the per cent, and then reducing this according to the rule given above. I explain this so that the student may be able to compare results expressed in the old table, with the vieno method, but in all practical work the student should use only this direct method which is much more simple and accurate.
The fifth column of the table gives the weight of one vieno in grams. This adds no new information, but only gives the weight of one vieno in the metric system. It should be used by those who wish to be accurate in their work, or by those who take a scientific interest in their dietary.
Examples for the student who desires to be exact
The last column of the table gives the actual amount of nitrogen in one vieno of food expressed in grams. This is the accurate figure from which the approximate nitrogen factor for ordinary use has been derived. For example: The actual amount of nitrogen in one vieno of chestnuts is .396. If this number is multiplied by the number of vienos of chestnuts eaten, we would have the actual number of grams of nitrogen consumed. Suppose ten vienos of chestnuts are eaten; we would multiply .396 by ten, which would give us 3.96 grams of nitrogen. For ordinary purposes, I use the nearest decimal, which is .4, and which I give in the fourth column as the nitrogen factor. Those who wish to figure the nitrogen with scientific accuracy should use the figures given in the last column of the table, as in the example I have given.
The Vieno system of food measurement is new, and is intended to give to the practitioner and to the housewife the greatest aid in balancing or proportioning the diet. I have therefore included in the following tables, all classes of foods, many of which I do not recommend or use in my scientific work.
TABLE OF FOOD MEASUREMENTS
DIRECT METHOD OF CALCULATING AVAILABLE NITROGEN IN FOOD
Multiplying the number of vienos (column 3) by the nitrogen factor (column 4) will give the amount of available nitrogen in the various foods, expressed in grams
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name of Food | Quantity equaling one vieno *(100 calories) | No. vienos or amount of heat energy in one pound | Nitrogen factor | Weight of one vieno in grams | Grams of nitrogen in one vieno |
| Cereal Foods | |||||
| Barley, pearled | One ounce | 16 | .4 | 27.5 | .37 |
| Bread— | |||||
| Graham | Loaf size,¾ in. thick | 12 | .6 | 37.5 | .59 |
| White | Loaf size, ¾ in. thick | 12 | .6 | 39.3 | .58 |
TABLE OF FOOD MEASUREMENTS—(Continued)
HANDY TABLE
| One pound | = | 16 ounces |
| One pound | = | 453.57 grams |
| One ounce | = | 28.35 grams |
The weight of such foods as meat, fruit, etc., is so nearly equal to that of water that the weight may be calculated from the size, if that is known.
| One cubic inch | = | 16.5 grams |
| One cubic inch | = | about a half ounce |
| One cubic foot | = | 62 pounds |
| One gallon | = | 8 pounds |
| One pint | = | 476.4 grams |
Milk is slightly heavier than water, while oils or fats are lighter.
| One quart of milk | = | 980 grams |
| One quart of olive-oil | = | 876 grams |
| One average egg | = | 50 grams |
| One average olive | = | 6 grams |
| One Vieno | = | 100 calories |
| One decigram nitrogen | = | 13/5 of a gram of protein |
Lesson XV
CURATIVE
AND
REMEDIAL MENUS
CONCLUDED
LESSON XV
Curative and Remedial Menus
INTRODUCTION
Scientific eating leads toward simplicity
Scientific eating consists in selecting the food the body requires according to age, occupation, and climate. These requirements can be supplied with a very few articles. The necessary changes in diet can always be made by varying the proportions. It is possible to select, for each of the four seasons of the year, three or four articles that will contain all the elements of nourishment the body needs, therefore true food science leads one inevitably toward the mono-diet plan; that is, making a meal of only one kind of food. Owing to our inherent desire to sit at the "groaning table" we may yet be a long distance from the mono-diet plan, but the science of human nutrition points with unerring certainty toward simplicity. It should be remembered, however, that one may eat, under nearly all conditions except extreme superacidity all he desires of one or two things—one preferred.
How foods become curative
In the light of modern medicine, no food has any specific curative property. Foods become curative only as they remove abnormal conditions, and they will remove abnormal conditions just to the extent that they can be perfectly digested and assimilated, and to the extent that waste matter is thoroughly eliminated from the body. In this way all possible resistance is removed, and Nature will build up the dis-eased and broken-down tissue in obedience to the law of animal evolution. This constructive process we call "curing."
While the menus for each season of the year may seem to vary but little, especially when compared with the conventional omnivorous diet, yet experience has proved that the fewer the articles composing the meal, the better will be the results.
COOKING
SOME IMPORTANT FACTS REVEALED BY MODERN SCIENCE
The object of cooking is to tear down the cell-structure of foods, and to make them more digestible. After the cell-structure is demolished, every degree of heat to which foods are subjected injures the foods instead of improving them.
GRAINS
Grains should be cooked whole. They should be cleansed, well covered with water, and boiled until the grains burst open as in making old-fashioned corn hominy. This will often take from three to four hours' constant boiling.
Cereals prepared in this way are more delicious, more nourishing, and far more healthful than any of the prepared or patented "breakfast foods," while the cost is perhaps about one-eighth or one-tenth of that of the popular patented products.
VEGETABLES
The old or popular method of cooking vegetables is to cover them generously with water and to boil them much longer than is necessary, then to drain off the water, season, and serve. By this process the mineral salts, in many cases the most valuable part of the food, are dissolved, passed into the water, and lost. In this way many excellent articles of food are greatly impoverished and reduced perhaps 50 per cent in nutritive value.
The time vegetables are cooked should be measured by their solidity. As an example, spinach can be thoroughly cooked in about fifteen minutes. In this way some of its elements are volatilized, giving it a delicious flavor and taste, while if cooked in an abundance of water, from half to three-quarters of an hour, which is the customary way, its best nutritive elements are lost by draining away the water, and it is rendered almost tasteless.
COOKING EN CASSEROLE
All succulent and watery vegetables such as cabbage and spinach, beans, carrots, onions, parsnips, peas, squash, turnips, etc., should be cooked in a casserole dish.
Prepare vegetables in the usual manner as for boiling. A few tablespoonfuls of water may be added to such articles as green beans and peas, beets, carrots, cauliflower, onions, parsnips, etc. Cover, and place in an ordinary baking oven until the vegetable is thoroughly cooked or softened. In this way vegetables in reality are cooked in their own juices, rendered much softer, more digestible, more delicious, and all their mineral salts and other nutritive elements are preserved, making them also more nutritious.
RICE AND MACARONI
Rice, macaroni, and spaghetti are exceptions to the above rules. They should be cooked in an abundance of water and thoroughly drained. In this way the excess of starch which they contain is disposed of, and their nutritive elements are better balanced. They are also rendered much more palatable and digestible.
FRUITS
If fruits can be obtained thoroughly ripe, they should never be cooked.
Dried or evaporated fruits can be prepared for the table by soaking them thoroughly in plain water for a few hours, or over night. In this way the green and inferior pieces are exposed and can be discarded. The excess of water can be boiled down to a sirup and poured over the fruit. In this way the fruit-sugar is developed, and sweetening with cane-sugar becomes unnecessary.
Soaking as above described is merely a process of putting back into the fruit the water that was taken out of it by evaporation or dehydration.
It is evident that that part of the fruit which will not soften sufficiently by soaking, to become palatable, was not ripe enough for food.
CANNED FOODS
The average table, especially hotels and restaurants, are supplied largely from canned foods. A process of perfect preservation of foods has never been invented and probably never will be. No matter how well foods may taste, they undergo constant chemical changes from the time they leave the ground or parent stalk until they are thoroughly decomposed. All vegetables, therefore, should be used fresh, if possible.
BUTTERMILK
An excellent quality of buttermilk may be made as follows: Allow sweet milk to stand (well covered) in a warm room until it thickens or coagulates; whip with an ordinary rotary egg beater without removing the cream.
HOME-MADE BUTTER
Sweet butter may be made in a few minutes from ordinary cream by placing it in a deep bowl and whipping with a rotary egg beater.
SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING THE SELECTION
AND THE PREPARATION OF CERTAIN
ARTICLES MENTIONED IN
THE MENUS
THE BANANA
The banana is a vegetable. It is one of our most valuable foods, as well as the most prolific. It will produce more food per acre, with less care and labor, than any other plant that grows.
While the banana grows only in the tropical countries, it is equally as good and useful to people of the northern zones.
Bananas that are transported to the North are cut green, and often immature; that is, before they have attained their full growth. This latter variety should never be used. In their green and unripened state, they are wholly unfit for food, and for these reasons there has arisen a broadcast prejudice against this most excellent article of diet.
HOW TO SELECT AND RIPEN BANANAS
Care should be exercised to select the largest variety—only those that have attained their full growth on the parent tree. If bananas cannot be procured "dead ripe" from the dealer, they should be purchased, if possible, by the bunch, or a few of the lower "hands" can be purchased and left on the stalk. They should be kept in the open air (that is, uncovered), in an even, warm temperature, and the end of the stalk covered with a clean white cloth, or immersed in water, kept fresh by changing daily. In this way the banana will mature, ripen slowly, and be almost as delicious as if obtained ripe from its native tree.
Bananas should not be eaten until they are "dead ripe"—black spotted. In this state, the carbohydrates which they contain are as readily digestible as fresh milk.
BAKED BANANAS
Peel large ripe bananas; bake in an open pan in a very hot oven from ten to fifteen minutes, or until slightly brown.
Baked bananas make a delicious dessert served with either of the following:
a Cream
b Nut Butter
c Dairy Butter
d Both dairy butter and a sauce made by
gradually diluting nut butter with a
little water, until a smooth paste is
formed
Bananas need much mastication, not for the purpose of reduction, but for the purpose of insalivation.