We have spoken thus far only of the needed proportion of protein. The remainder of the diet, say 90 per cent. of the calories, may be divided according to personal preference between fats and carbohydrates in almost any proportion, provided some amount of each is used. A good proportion is 30 per cent. fat and 60 per cent. carbohydrate.
Section III—Hard, Bulky, and Uncooked Foods
The wise choice of foods does not consist entirely in balancing the ration as to protein, fat, and carbohydrate.
Hard Foods
Hard foods, that is, foods that resist the pressure of the teeth, like crusts, toast, hard biscuits or crackers, hard fruits, fibrous vegetables and nuts, are an extremely important feature of a hygienic diet. Hard foods require chewing. This exercises and so preserves the teeth, and insures the flow of saliva and gastric juice. If the food is not only hard, but also dry, it still further invites the flow of saliva. Stale and crusty bread is preferable to soft fresh bread and rolls on which so many people insist. The Igorots of the Philippines have perfect teeth so long as they live on hard, coarse foods. But civilization ruins their teeth when they change to our soft foods.
Bulk Versus Concentrated Foods
Most of the ordinary foods lack bulk; they are too concentrated. For this purpose it is found that we need daily, at the very least, an ounce of cellulose, or “woody fiber.” This is contained in largest measure in fibrous fruits and vegetables—lettuce, celery, spinach, asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, corn, beets, onions, parsnips, squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, cucumbers, berries, etc.
Until recently would-be food reformers have made the mistake of seeking to secure concentrated dietaries, especially for army rations. It was this tendency that caused Kipling to say, “compressed vegetables and meat biscuits may be nourishing, but what Tommy Atkins needs is bulk in his inside.”
Raw Foods
Vitamins