Dietetics for Nurses

by Fairfax T. Proudfit

Meats

Beef, Lamb, Veal, Poultry, Fish and Shellfish

Meats.—The flesh of animals, poultry, and fish comes under the head of meat. These food materials form one of the most important sources of protein in the diet, the foodstuff being in concentrated form easily handled by the digestive apparatus and absorbed almost completely, leaving little residue in the intestinal tract. The chemical composition of different meats is very much alike, as will be seen in the table, the bulk of the weight being water, while the proteins range from 18.3% (E.P.)[40] in beef to 9.9% in bacon. The fats range from 17.9% in beef to 64.8% in smoked bacon.

The mineral salts or ash, as they are found in meat: “Sodium occurs in the animal body chiefly as chlorid in the fluids and blood, and to a less extent in the other tissues.” “Potassium, on the other hand, is much more abundant in the soft solid tissues, in the corpuscles of the blood and the protoplasm of the muscles and other organs.” “Potassium sulphate in the blood reacts to some extent with sodium chlorid, forming potassium chlorid and sodium sulphate, both of which are rapidly eliminated by the kidneys.” The greater part of the sulphur with which we are concerned in nutrition enters the body by way of the protein, the percentage in lean beef being from 0.95% to 1.00%.[41] Phosphorus in meat occurs as phosphoprotein in the nucleoproteins of cell nuclei, and lecithoproteins in the brain and to a less extent in other tissues as phosphorized fats. Meat is poor in calcium, containing only about 0.01 gram per hundred grams of substance. Meat with eggs yields a considerable amount of what is known as acids in the body.

Quality of Meats.—The quality of meat depends upon several factors: age, sex, care, feeding, and the length of time it is hung. Cold storage beef is much more apt to be tender than that cut from a freshly killed animal. Animals that are not allowed to run over a large area, but are kept in a small inclosure and fed on fattening foods, produce meat of a high quality. This is because the muscular tissue has not been hardened with exercise. The worked muscle is always tougher than the quiet one. For this reason the tenderloin of beef is more tender than the flank. It is situated in the part of the animal that is exercised the least. The tough parts, however, are not lacking in flavor or nourishment, but the manner in which they must be cooked to assure them of being tender deprives them of much of their original flavor. This is demonstrated in broths and soups made from the tough cuts of meat. The extractives from which meat derives its flavor and the soluble albumens are drawn out by the water, and if it is to be used as hash, croquettes, etc., needs to be seasoned, since the broth, while it has taken very little of the actual nourishment from the meat, has deprived it of practically all of its flavor. In making broth or soup, if the meat is covered with cold water instead of hot, more of the extractives will be drawn out and the broth will be more highly flavored and much more stimulating. The color, odor, and freshness of the muscular and fatty tissues of meat are all indicative of their quality. Fresh meat is firm in texture and free from offensive odor. Stale beef and that cut from an old steer exhales a pungent odor of butyric acid. The color of beef should be dark purplish when fresh cut but this changes quickly to a bright red; it should contain preservatives of no kind and must be cut from animals free from all disease. The fat should be of a yellowish white and be crumbly, and should be distributed throughout the muscular tissue and around the organs.

Veal, being the flesh of an immature creature, is not so highly flavored as the flesh of older animals, but the bones and cartilages are softer, and when this meat is used for broth, more of the gelatin (collagen and elastin from the bones and connective tissue) is dissolved out, giving a slightly higher percentage of nutriment in the broth.

Selecting of Chicken and Turkey.—In selecting chicken for the diet of invalids, use only the young birds for broiling, those a few months older for baking and roasting, and the fowls for soup and broth. To test a chicken for broiling and roasting, select one in which the cartilage at the end of the breastbone is soft and pliable; the pinions (lower part of the wings) and the feet should be soft and readily bent. The breastbone of a fowl is firmer and the wings and feet harder than those of the younger chicken. The young chicken has an abundance of pin feathers while the old fowl has not. In fact, one of the means of differentiating between the old chicken and the young, even if they are practically of the same weight, is the presence of the long hairs instead of pin feathers. The fowl selected for broth should not be very fat, as this fat will melt into the broth, causing it to be greasy and unpalatable. Turkey, even when it is young, is not quite so digestible as young chicken; the fibers are longer and the connective tissue more abundant. Goose and duck are richer in fat and not so desirable as chicken in the invalid dietary. Squab, quail, and young squirrel are all palatable and readily digested. The squirrel must, however, be young, or the flesh will be tough and more difficult of digestion.

Fish.—Fish should be given consideration in the dietary of the invalid since it is a valuable source of protein and readily digested in the majority of cases. As a rule fish is not so well liked as meat, but since it contains a smaller percentage of extractives and purin bases it is exceedingly valuable in certain pathological conditions. The lean varieties of fish, halibut, flounder, trout, perch, haddock, turbot, whitefish, are more readily digested than the dark fish, which contain a higher percentage of fat. To this latter class belong the bluefish, mackerel, salmon, shad, and herring.

Shellfish.—Of the shellfish, the oyster and the clam are exceedingly useful. The soft parts of the oyster are palatable and easily digested. They are not highly nutritious, but give a nice variety to the diet. When used in broth or for the juice, clams are particularly useful. Many cases of nausea are relieved by the taking of iced or very hot clam juice when they resist other remedies. The necessity of having both oysters and clams absolutely fresh is of the greatest importance, since a type of poison results from tainted shellfish which is exceedingly dangerous.

Pork in the Diet.—Fresh pork is rarely ever included in the invalid dietary save in diabetic diets. Meat from this animal must always be thoroughly cooked, not only because underdone pork is exceedingly indigestible but because there is an infectious bacterium sometimes found in pork which is only destroyed by thorough cooking of the meat. Well-cooked bacon is digestible if the surplus fat is poured off instead of allowed to soak into the cooked bacon. The most efficient method of cooking bacon is to place the strips upon a broiler under the flame. In this way the hot fat drips down into the pan beneath, leaving the bacon crisp and delicate.

The meats to be used for the invalid must be selected with care. The quality of this item of food is most important. It is not always necessary to purchase the most expensive cut. If it is to be broiled or roasted then it is necessary to select parts of the animal which are tender, but for broths, soups, scraped or ground meat, or the meat to be used for the juice only, it is wasteful to buy these tender, expensive pieces when those costing less will serve the purpose equally well. The names given to the different cuts vary slightly in different parts of the country, but those in general use only will be mentioned here. The following table shows the manner in which the beef is cut and the method in which it is generally used: