What to eat and when

by Susanna Cocroft

The fuel for an engine consists of coal, wood, or oil. As these are brought in combination with oxygen, combustion or oxidation takes place, liberating heat and setting the engine in motion.

The amount of energy or force given off by an engine should exactly equal the amount of latent energy provided in the fuel. Much of this energy is commercially lost, since much of the latent force in fuel is not fully liberated, some passing off in the smoke, while some may remain in the cinders.

The amount of heat and energy generated by the body equals the amount of latent energy released by the burning of food material during oxidation.

The carbohydrates and fats constitute the most of the fuel.

The body cells are constantly surrounded by the lymph which contains the food material—the protein, the carbohydrate, and the fat.

The lymph carries all of the food elements, therefore the protein, the fat, and the carbohydrate reach the tissues at the same time. If the fat and carbohydrate predominate, their excess serves to keep a portion of the protein away from the cells. The cells can use carbohydrate more easily than fat, so the surplus amount of carbohydrate is first used to produce energy. This spares the protein which is held in reserve for tissue repair, and the fat, being least readily used, is stored.

When the carbohydrates and fats are not supplied, or when the system fails for any reason to appropriate those eaten to its use, the protein is used for heat and energy instead of being used for tissue building. If the demand, either in mental or physical energy, exceeds the daily supply for long, the body becomes lean.

In order, therefore, to maintain a perfect equilibrium the supply of protein, carbohydrate, and fat should bear the proper relation, any excess at one time being equalized at another. If an overhearty meal is eaten the next should be light.

Fat is harder to burn than the starches and sugars so that they are acted on first as an economy of effort, and the fat is held in reserve until the carbohydrates are exhausted.

If one is cold, the quickest way to get warm is to generate more heat within by “turning on the draught,” or, in other words, by breathing in more oxygen. If cold, one should depend more on the oxygen within than on extra clothing. So many people put on more clothing to conserve the body heat and forget to generate more heat by arousing the fires within. This is like covering a dying fire, instead of turning on the draught to create more combustion.