ALBUMINOUS BEVERAGES
The following recipes were kindly contributed by Alida Frances Pattee, author of "Practical Dietetics," an invaluable book for the home.
When a large amount of nutriment is required the albuminized drinks are valuable.
The egg is a fluid food until its albumen is coagulated by heat. Often the white of egg, dissolved in water or milk, and flavored, is given when the yolk cannot be digested, as 30 per cent. of the yolk is fat. Egg-nog is very nutritious, and is extensively prescribed in certain non-febrile diseases, especially for the forced alimentation of phthisis and melancholia. There are occasional cases of bilious habit, in which eggs to be digested must be beaten in wine. But the combination of egg, milk and sugar with alcohol, which constitutes egg-nog, is apt to produce nausea and vomiting in a feeble stomach, especially in fever. For this reason whole eggs are unfit for fever patients, and the whites only should be used.
Albuminized drinks are most easily prepared cold. When a hot liquid is used, it must be poured very slowly into the well-beaten egg, stirring constantly, so that lumps of coagulated albumen do not form.
For the Diabetic. In all the albuminous drinks substitute Sweetina for the sugar. The fuel value will be 60 calories less in every recipe than when one tablespoon of sugar is used.