| Food Materials | Water Per Cent | Protein Per Cent | Fat Per Cent | Carbohydrates Per Cent | Ash Per Cent | Fuel Value Per Pound Calories | |
| Beef, Fresh | 54.0 | 17.0 | 19.0 | ...... | O.7 | 1,105 | |
| Flank | 54.0 | 17.0 | 19.0 | ...... | 0.7 | 1,105 | |
| Porterhouse | 52.4 | 19.1 | 17.9 | ...... | 0.8 | 1,100 | |
| Sirloin steak | 54.0 | 16.5 | 16.1 | ...... | 0.9 | 975 | |
| Round | 60.7 | 19.0 | 12.8 | ...... | 1.0 | 890 | |
| Rump | 45.0 | 13.8 | 20.2 | ...... | 0.7 | 1,090 | |
| Corned beef | 49.2 | 14.3 | 23.8 | ...... | 4.6 | 1,245 | |
| Veal: | |||||||
| Leg cutlets | 68.3 | 20.1 | 7.5 | ...... | 1.0 | 695 | |
| Fore quarter | 54.2 | 15.1 | 6.0 | ...... | 0.7 | 535 | |
| Mutton: | |||||||
| Leg, hind | 51.2 | 15.1 | 14.7 | ...... | 0.8 | 890 | |
| Loin Chops | 42.0 | 13.5 | 28.3 | ...... | 0.7 | 1,415 | |
| Lamb | 49.2 | 15.6 | 16.3 | ...... | 0.85 | 967 | |
| Ham: | |||||||
| Loin chops | 41.8 | 13.4 | 24.2 | ...... | 0.8 | 1,245 | |
| Ham, smoked | 34.8 | 14.2 | 33.4 | ...... | 4.2 | 1,635 | |
| Sausage: | |||||||
| Frankfurter | 57.2 | 19.6 | 18.6 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 1,155 | |
| Fowls | 47.1 | 13.7 | 12.3 | ...... | O.7 | 765 | |
| Poultry: | |||||||
| Goose | 38.5 | 13.4 | 29.8 | ...... | 0.7 | 1,475 | |
| Turkey | 42.4 | 16.1 | 18.4 | ...... | 0.8 | 1,060 | |
| Animal Viscera: | |||||||
| Liver (sheep) | 61.2 | 23.1 | 9.0 | 5.0 | ...... | ...... | |
| Sweetbreads | 70.9 | 16.8 | 12.1 | ...... | 1.6 | ...... | |
| Tongue, smoked and salted | 35.7 | 24.3 | 31.6 | ...... | 8.5 | ...... | |
| Brain: | 80.6 | 8.8 | 9.3 | ...... | 1.1 | ...... | |
| Fresh Fish | |||||||
| Bass large-mouthed Black, dressed | 41.9 | 10.3 | 0.5 | ...... | 0.6 | 215 | |
| Cod steaks | 72.4 | 16.9 | 0.5 | ...... | 1.0 | 335 | |
| Shad roe | 71.2 | 23.4 | 3.8 | ...... | 1.6 | 595 | |
| Whitefish, dressed | 46.1 | 10.2 | 1.3 | ...... | 0.7 | 245 | |
| Preserved Fish: | |||||||
| Halibut, salted, smoked and dried | 46.0 | 19.1 | 14.0 | ...... | 1.9 | 945 | |
| Sardines, canned | 53.6 | 24.0 | 12.1 | ...... | 5.3 | 955 | |
| Salmon, canned | 59.3 | 19.3 | 15.3 | ...... | 1.2 | 1,005 | |
| Mollusks: | |||||||
| Oysters, solid | 88.3 | 6.1 | 1.4 | 3.3 | 0.9 | 235 | |
| Round clams removed from shell | 80.8 | 10.6 | 1.1 | 5.1 | 2.3 | 340 | |
| Mussels | 42.7 | 4.4 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 140 | |
| Crustaceans: | |||||||
| Lobster, in shell | 31.1 | 5.5 | 0.7 | ...... | 0.6 | 130 | |
| Crab, in shell | 34.1 | 7.3 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 185 | |
| Shrimp, canned | 70.8 | 25.4 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 2.6 | 520 | |
| Terrapin, turtle, etc. | 17.4 | 4.2 | 0.7 | ...... | 0.2 | 105 | |
In the composition of meat, of course there is more or less fat, varying from two to forty per cent, according to the animal and to the condition at the time of killing.
It is possible to combine the fat and the lean of meat so as to meet the requirements of the body without waste. About ninety-seven per cent of the meat consumed is assimilated by the system, while a large part of the vegetable matter consumed is excreted as refuse. The compounds contained in the animal foods are much like those of the body, therefore, they require comparatively little digestion to prepare them for assimilation—this work having been done by the animal—while the vegetable compounds require much change by the digestive system before they can be used in the body.
Fish and sea foods are, many of them, rich in protein, as seen by the above table. Note that sardines contain the largest proportion of protein and next to these, shad roe.
There is a prevalent idea that fish is brain food. In so far as fish is easily digested, it builds brain tissue, but no more so than beef, or any food containing a goodly proportion of protein, easily digested, absorbed, and assimilated.
Lobsters are difficult of digestion and they contain little nutrition, so they are not valuable as a food.
Oysters, raw, are easier to digest than when cooked. Oysters should not be eaten during the spawning season from May to September.
Roasted flesh seems to be more completely digested than boiled meat, but raw meat is more easily digested than cooked. Roasted chicken and veal are tender, easily masticated, and easily and rapidly digested in the stomach. This is one reason why the white meats are considered a good diet for the sick-room, especially in the case of stomach difficulty. Fat meats remain in the stomach a much longer time than lean meats; thus, gastric digestion of pork, which is largely fat, is especially difficult. Fried pork, in which the fat is heated to a very high degree, is very difficult of digestion. (See page [197]).
The chief objection to pork, however, is that hogs are scavengers and live upon all sorts of refuse. Another objection is that in preparing hogs for the market, the effort of the farmer is to force the feeding and get them as fat as possible. This excess of fat may result in degeneration of the meat tissue. The latter objection does not hold, however, for hogs carefully fatted for home consumption, or for hogs which run in the forests and live upon nuts, as do the beech fed hogs of the south.
The best meats are from young animals which have been kept fat and have not been subjected to any work to toughen the muscles.