| Table 8—Cost of Syrup. | ||
| Cane sugar | 4.5 | 8 |
| Karo corn syrup | 5.7 | 8 |
A British scientific commission has reported to Parliament that if the workman be undernourished he may, by grit and pluck, continue his labor for a certain time, but in the end his work is sure to fail. It makes no difference what the nutritive condition of the person is, if a certain job involving muscular effort is to be done it always requires a definite amount of extra food-fuel to do it. Rubner, the greatest German authority on nutrition, excited grossly inappropriate hilarity in the comic press of his country by showing that a poor woman who waited several hours in line in order to receive the dole of fat allowed her by the government actually consumed more of her own body fat in the effort of standing during those hours than she obtained in the fat given her when her turn to receive it came at last.
A method by which food-fuel can readily be saved with benefit to the nation and to the individual is for the overfat to reduce their weight. This has been done with drastic severity in Germany. I have heard from unquestioned sources how a man who had weighed 240 pounds lost 90 pounds since the war began; how a corpulent professor at Breslau lost greatly in weight, but during the second summer of the war regained his former corpulence during a sojourn in the Bavarian Tyrol, a joy not now tolerated; and how an American woman lost 40 pounds in weight last winter in Dresden. There is every reason why a man who is overweight at the age of fifty should reduce his weight until he reaches the weight he was when he was thirty-five. According to Dr. Fisk he is a better insurance risk if after thirty-five he is under the weight which is the average for those of his years. Reduction in weight reduces the basal requirement for food, and reduces the amount of fuel needed for moving the body in walking. The most extreme illustration of the effect of emaciation upon the food requirement is afforded by a woman who after losing nearly half of her body weight was found to need only 40 per cent. of the food-fuel formerly required. This represented a state not far from the border line of death from starvation, but it indicates how a community may long support itself on restricted rations. It must be strictly borne in mind, however, that if any external muscular work is to be accomplished it can only be effected at the expense of a given added quantity of food-fuel, whether the person be fat or thin.
It is not at all difficult to reduce the body weight. Suppose a clergyman or a physician requires 2500 calories daily in the accomplishment of his work and takes 2580 calories per day instead. The additional 80 calories is the equivalent of a butter ball weighing a third of an ounce, or an ounce of bread or half a glass of milk. It would seem to be the height of absurdity to object to such a trifle. But if this excess in food intake be continued for a year, the person will gain nine pounds and at the end of ten years ninety pounds. Such a person would find that he required a constantly increasing amount of food in order to transport his constantly increasing weight. In instances of this sort a motto may be applied which I heard the last time I was in Washington: "Do not stuff your husband, husband your stuff."
Now it is evident that, if instead of taking more than the required amount of food a little less be taken than is needed, the balance of food-fuel must be obtained from the reserves of the body's own supply of fat. By cutting down the quantity of fat taken, or by eliminating a glass of beer or a drink of whiskey, and not compensating for the loss of these by adding other food stuffs, the weight may be gradually reduced. The amusing little book entitled "Eat and Grow Thin" recommends a high protein and almost carbohydrate-free diet for the accomplishment of this purpose, but its advice has made so many of my friends so utterly miserable that I am sure in the end it will counteract its own message.
The work of the world is accomplished in largest part by the oxidation of carbohydrates, that is to say, of sugars and starches. Bread, corn, rice, macaroni, cane-sugar, these are par excellence the food-fuels of the human machine. In the dinner-pail of the laborer they testify as to the source of his power. They are convertible into glucose in the body, which glucose gives power to the human machine. They may be used for the production of work without of themselves increasing the heat production of the worker, as happens after meat ingestion. ([See p. 18.]) Fat also may be used as a source of energy, but unless carbohydrate is present a person can not work up to his fullest capacity.
Cane-sugar is a valuable condiment, and when taken in small quantities every half hour, may delay the onset of fatigue. It is more largely used in the United States than in other countries in the world. As a substitute, glucose may be used. This is found in grapes and in raisins and it is also produced in large quantities by the hydrolysis of starch and sold under the commercial name of corn syrup or Karo. This substance is entirely wholesome and may be freely employed in the place of sugar, which is scarce.
As to the use of alcoholic beverages, the question resolves itself into several factors. Alcohol gives a sham sensation of added force and in reality decreases the ability to do work. Alcohol is the greatest cause of misery in the world, and as Cushny has put it, if alcohol had been a new synthetic drug introduced from Germany, its importation would long since have been forbidden. On the other hand, good beer makes poor food taste well. It also frequently leads to overeating. The cure for bad food is to have our daughters taught how to cook a decent meal. After that we can talk about prohibition.
In some parts of the world whole nations are starving to death. In most countries of the world people are short of food. In America we have more food than in any other land, and we must, therefore, be careful in our abundance, saving it to the utmost, while, at the same time, conserving the safety of our own people.