Encyclopedia of Diet: A Treatise on the Food Question, Vol. 3

Chapter I: Part 1

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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DIET

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF

DIET

_A Treatise on the Food Question_

IN FIVE VOLUMES

EXPLAINING, IN PLAIN LANGUAGE, THE
CHEMISTRY OF FOOD AND THE CHEMISTRY OF
THE HUMAN BODY, TOGETHER WITH THE ART OF
UNITING THESE TWO BRANCHES OF SCIENCE IN THE
PROCESS OF EATING, SO AS TO ESTABLISH NORMAL
DIGESTION AND ASSIMILATION OF FOOD AND
NORMAL ELIMINATION OF WASTE, THEREBY
REMOVING THE CAUSES OF STOMACH,
INTESTINAL, AND ALL OTHER
DIGESTIVE DISORDERS

BY
EUGENE CHRISTIAN, F. S. D.

VOLUME III

NEW YORK
THE CHRISTIAN DIETETIC SOCIETY
1914

EUGENE CHRISTIAN

PUBLISHED AUGUST, 1914

CONTENTS

VOLUME III

_Lesson XII_ _Page_

HARMONIOUS COMBINATIONS OF FOOD AND TABLES
OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES 591

Chemical Changes Produced by Cooking 593

Starch Digestion--Cooked and Uncooked 597

Excuses for Cooking Our Food 599

Experiment upon Animals 601

Food Combinations 603

How to Interpret the Tables 607

Tables of Digestive Harmonies and Disharmonies 609

_Lesson XIII_

CLASSIFICATION OF FOODS AND FOOD TABLES 619

Simple Classification of Foods Based on
Principal Nutritive Substances 621

Purposes which the Different Classes of Food
Serve in the Human Body 625

Purpose of Carbohydrates 625

Purpose of Fats 626

Purpose of Proteids 626

Purpose of Mineral Salts 629

Difference between Digestibility and Assimilability 630

Table showing Comparative Assimilability and
Carbohydrate and Water Content of Cereals,
Legumes, and Vegetables 632

_Lesson XIV_ _ Page_

VIENO SYSTEM OF FOOD MEASUREMENT 637

Energy 639

Nitrogen 641

Systems of Food Measurements Compared 642

The "Old" System 642

The New or "Vieno" System 645

Necessity for a Simple System 646

Explanation of Table 648

Table of Food Measurements 655

_Lesson XV_

CURATIVE AND REMEDIAL MENUS 665

Introduction 667

Cooking 669

Grains 669

Vegetables 670

Cooking en casserole 671

Rice and Macaroni 672

Fruits 672

Canned Goods 673

Buttermilk 674

Home-made Butter 674

The Banana 675

How to Select and Ripen Bananas 676

Baked Bananas 677

Recipes:

For Coddled Egg 677

For Uncooked Eggs 678

For Baked Omelet 678

For Fish and Fowl 678

For Green Peas in the Pod 679

For Pumpkin 680

For Vegetable Juice 680

For Sassafras Tea 681

Wheat Bran 681

Bran Meal 683

Choice of Menus 683

Normal Menus 685

Introduction to Normal Menus 685

For Normal Child, 2 to 5 years 687

For Normal Youth, 5 to 10 years 692

For Normal Youth, 10 to 15 years 696

For Normal Person, 15 to 20 years 700

For Normal Person, 20 to 33 years 704

For Normal Person, 33 to 50 years 708

For Normal Person, 50 to 65 years 712

For Normal Person, 65 to 80 years 716

For Normal Person, 85 to 100 years 720

Introduction to Curative Menus 724

Curative Menus:

Superacidity 726

Fermentation 753

Constipation 761

Gastritis 763

Nervous Indigestion 784

Nervousness 789

Subacidity 801

Biliousness 809

Cirrhosis of the Liver 822

Diarrhea 832

Emaciation 845

LESSON XII

HARMONIOUS COMBINATIONS OF FOOD

AND

TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES

AND DISHARMONIES

LESSON XII

HARMONIOUS COMBINATIONS OF FOOD AND TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES

CHEMICAL CHANGES PRODUCED BY COOKING

The application of heat to food is comparatively of recent origin in the evolution of mankind. The use of fire involves a certain amount of mental ingenuity, and could not be practised by man's anthropoid ancestors. Anthropoid animals, whether human or ape, have a great amount of curiosity for the unusual and the new.

Man probably began his cooking experiments by soaking hard foods in warm water, then in hot water, or by warming cold foods at his camp-fire. As heat volatilizes the pleasant odorous substance present in many foods, the custom of heating them probably became popular. The habit of cooking spread, as many other novel and interesting customs have spread, from this primitive process to the French chef, regardless of whether the results were beneficial or harmful.

The question whether foods should be eaten cooked or uncooked can best be answered by examining the chemical and mechanical changes produced in the process of cooking, and their consequent physiological effects.

Cooking may be divided into two classes, namely, MOIST HEAT and DRY HEAT. To illustrate:

[Sidenote: Effect of heat on sugars]

Sugars are not chemically affected by boiling with water, while starch, cooked with boiling water, or steam, absorbs from three to five times its bulk of moisture, and changes into a soft, pasty, or semi-dissolved mass. Under dry heat, sugars are converted into a brown substance, known as caramel, while starch cooked under a temperature of 300° to 400° of dry heat, is changed into a dextrin, of which toast and zwieback are examples.

[Sidenote: Effect of heat on fats]

Fats are not changed chemically by moist heat; that is, by being boiled in water, but the globules are melted and the hot fat spreads in a film over other material which may be present. In dry heat, fats are chemically decomposed, forming irritating vapors. The odors of frying fat are due to the presence of small quantities of these decomposition products. In larger quantities, and with greater heat, these substances are exceedingly irritating to the mucous membrane of the stomach and the intestines.

[Sidenote: Effect of heat on proteids]

The chemical changes produced by heating proteids are of much more importance than are those which take place in other foods. Simple proteids, such as albumin and globulin, are coagulated at a temperature of about 160°. This change is familiar in the coagulation of egg whites under low temperature. Other proteids undergo similar changes, governed by the degree and kind of heat (dry or moist), to which they are subjected. This change in proteid material continues with the application of prolonged heat, until the proteid, under dry heat, is converted into a dark brittle mass, wholly insoluble and indigestible.

If the student will take the white of an egg, and bake it for some time in an oven, he will observe the coagulation or hardening of the proteid. The chemical nature of this change is one of great complexity. The molecules combine with each other, forming almost indestructible substances. The combined or coagulated forms of proteid are represented in nature by horns, hoofs, finger nails, and hair.

STARCH DIGESTION--COOKED AND UNCOOKED

[Sidenote: Comparative digestion of cooked and uncooked grain]

The student will remember the reference made in Lesson V to experiments concerning the digestibility of starch when taken in various forms. In these experiments, though conducted for the purpose of demonstrating the supposed advantage of excessive cooking, the results showed that at the time the contents of the stomach were removed, all the proteids of the uncooked grain had been digested, while the percentage of proteid digested from the various forms of cooked grain grew less as the cooking was increased. As the chief function of the gastric juice is the digestion of proteids, the real significance of the above experiments was exactly the opposite from that which was intended to be proved.

[Sidenote: Reasons given for cooking starch]

The statement is frequently made that the starch of grain cannot be digested without cooking, because the cells enclosing the starch grains have indigestible or insoluble cellulose walls. The old theory is that cooking expands the starch and ruptures or tears down these walls, freeing the contents so that the digestive juices may act upon the enclosed starch granules. This is a theory unsupported by facts. The cell walls on the interior of the grain kernel are very filmy, and in the mature grain scarcely exist at all. The analysis of wheat flour shows only a trace of cellulose fiber. Were these cellulose walls within the wheat grain, as this theory commonly teaches, flour would show a liberal quantity of cellulose. The cellulose wall theory, as a necessity for cooking starch, is an excellent illustration of the ease with which a groundless statement or theory may be used to prove or to explain some popular prejudice.

In the process of cooking, the tendency is to render the organic salts contained in food entirely inorganic. This change from organic to inorganic salts is measured by the temperature to which the foods are subjected. Many of these salts are combined with the nitrogenous constituents of food, therefore when subjected to certain degrees of heat they are of little value in the construction of the proteid molecules within the body. This is especially true of fresh or green vegetables.

EXCUSES FOR COOKING OUR FOOD

[Sidenote: Ancestral habits not inherited]

Inasmuch as the majority of people favor cooking, probably forgetting that about half of the food consumed in the world at the present time is taken in its natural or uncooked state, it may be well to mention some of the views advanced by those who believe that the present diet of cooked grain is better for modern man than an elementary diet, and who attempt to give a natural explanation. One theory is that man has subsisted so long upon cooked foods that his organs have become fitted for a cooked diet, and a cooked diet only. Another view sometimes advanced is, that while cooked foods were originally detrimental, yet by continued use man has become fitted for such a diet and unfitted for a natural diet. These are but other forms of the old belief in the inheritance of acquired characteristics. This belief, however, is steadily losing ground among evolutionists. There is no more reason to believe that a modified function of the stomach would be inherited, than there is to believe that small feet would be inherited among the Chinese women just because these organs are mutilated by local custom.

The best light of scientific knowledge now leads us to believe that the healthy child of today is, in its capacity for nutrition, essentially like the primitive child, and would thrive best upon a varied diet of natural foods.

EXPERIMENT UPON ANIMALS

While I do not claim that the methods of animal feeding apply accurately to man, yet the digestive and the assimilative processes of animals are so closely related to the human processes, that the results obtained in animal nutrition are very instructive to the student of human food science.

About thirty years ago, when the scientific study of agriculture first became prevalent, an experiment was made in cooked food for animals, upon an extensive basis. At that time it was the universal belief that man owed much of his superiority over other animals to the use of cooked food. This argument was put forth with great force and appeared quite reasonable. It was asked whether animals other than man would be benefited by changing to a cooked bill of fare.

[Sidenote: Governmental experiments on cooked food for animals]

During this agitation numerous western farmers put their hogs, chickens, cows, horses, and sheep upon a cooked bill of fare, and many enthusiastic feeders claimed beneficial results. Later the various Governmental Experimental Stations took up the subject and made many careful, complete, and comparative tests of the effects of cooked and uncooked food for animals. The result did not show the expected thing. The cooking experiments in the majority of cases proved injurious, and the general decision of the Government investigators was that cooking food for animals was useless and detrimental to the great live stock industry. Stock food cookery has now become entirely obsolete.

[Sidenote: Cooking a habit of civilization]

Man is the only animal that cooks his food, and has made great progress in civilization while subsisting on a cooked diet, but cooking is no more the cause of his advancement than silk hats and swallow-tailed coats. He has advanced only according to the degree that he has thought, studied, and experimented. Cooking has undoubtedly enabled man to utilize many things as food, that he could not and would not have used otherwise, but whether this has aided or retarded in his material progress is yet an unsolved question.

FOOD COMBINATIONS

The following tables are designed to convey, in the most condensed and simplified form, the results of my investigations in regard to food combinations.

It is somewhat difficult to give in any one table exact information concerning food combinations under the varying conditions of the body and its ever-changing requirements. The best that can be done is to lay out such groups as are fundamentally harmonious from a chemical point of view.

[Sidenote: Quantity an important factor]

The particular condition of the patient often reveals certain special requirements which must be dealt with according to the symptoms given off by the body. Many of these combinations, when taken under certain conditions, may appear disagreeable, but this can be overcome by leveling the proportions and limiting the quantity. Quantity is of very great importance for the reason that the most perfect selections of food can be made and blended into perfect chemical harmony, and still disagree with the normal stomach if a quantity is taken in excess of physical demands.

The use of these tables will serve to bring to the student's attention the advantage to be gained from a health-giving and curative point of view, as well as from simplicity in diet.

In considering the chemical harmony of foods, the student should keep in mind the time required for digestion, which involves not only the question of combining foods at the same meal, but also the taking, within a few hours after eating, of other articles that may produce chemical inharmony. For example: Milk, cereals, and sweet fruits are in chemical harmony, but a lemonade introduced into the stomach an hour or two later would produce inharmony, and be almost as harmful as if it had been taken with the meal.

[Sidenote: Instinct a safe guide, if cultivated]

There are many injurious combinations which the student will learn to omit from a sense of taste and instinct, and while our instincts have in many cases ceased to guide us aright, they will rapidly return and assume command if given a fair opportunity.

The perfect meal can be made from three or four articles, and the entire menu can be changed three times a day, but to take eight, ten, or a dozen things at the same meal, puts the quantity, as well as every article composing the meal, into jeopardy.

After one has eaten a sufficient quantity of food, and the taste has signalled "ENOUGH," something sweet or pungent is introduced. This puts into activity another set of taste buds which will accept a given quantity of another food. However, the stomach has already given off one signal of "enough," hence every pennyweight taken in excess of that amount is that much more than should be eaten.

In order to simplify the making of harmonious combinations, I have grouped the foods whose use I recommend in nine different divisions. A further subdivision of vegetables and fruits might have been made, but this would have increased the number of groups, making them more complicated and less practical.

HOW TO INTERPRET THE TABLES

In order to ascertain the articles with which any special food will combine, the student should turn to the table headed with the desired article of that group. If foods from three groups are to be considered, the student will look for two of them in the first vertical column on the left-hand side of the page, and will then follow across to the vertical column for the third article.

Figure (1) means especially beneficial
Figure (2) means good combinations
Figure (3) means somewhat undesirable
Figure (4) means particularly harmful

(a) "Fats with" figure (1), under the heading _Grains_, first table, page 609, means that the combination of "fats with grains" would be "especially beneficial."

(b) "Fats and eggs with" figure (2), under the heading _Milk_, page 609, means that "fats and eggs with milk" make a good combination.

(d) "Fats and acid fruits with" figure (4), under heading _Milk_, page 609, means that this combination would be "particularly harmful," etc.

It is impractical to print ready reference tables showing the harmony of more than three articles, but the student can judge this sufficiently well for himself by comparing the respective harmonies of the several foods of the group.

TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES

1 Especially beneficial 3 Somewhat undesirable
2 Good combinations 4 Particularly harmful

FATS

(Such as Butter, Salad Oils, Cream, etc.)

Acid Sweet
Eggs Milk Nuts Grains Vegetables Fruits Fruits Sugars

Fats with 2 2 3 1 1 2 2 2

Fats and
Eggs with -- 2 3 2 2 2 2 2

Fats and
Milk with 2 -- 3 2 2 4 2 2

Fats and
Nuts with 3 3 -- 2 2 3 3 2

Fats and
Grains with 2 2 2 -- 1 2 2 2

Fats and
Veget. with 2 2 1 1 -- 3 2 2

Fats and acid
fruits with 2 4 2 2 3 -- 2 3

Fats and sweet
fruits with 2 2 2 2 2 3 -- 3

Fats and
Sugars with 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 --

TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES

1 Especially beneficial 3 Somewhat undesirable
2 Good combinations 4 Particularly harmful

EGGS

Acid Sweet
Fats Milk Nuts Grains Vegetables Fruits Fruits Sugars

Eggs with 2 1 3 2 2 2 1 2

Eggs and
Fats with -- 2 3 2 2 2 2 3

Eggs and
Milk with 2 -- 2 1 3 4 1 2

Eggs and
Nuts with 3 2 -- 1 1 1 1 2

Eggs and
Grains with 2 1 1 -- 2 2 2 2

Eggs and
Veget. with 2 2 1 2 -- 3 1 2

Eggs and acid
fruits with 2 4 1 2 3 -- 4 2

Eggs and sweet
fruits with 2 1 1 2 2 2 -- 3

Eggs and
Sugars with 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 --

TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES

1 Especially beneficial 3 Somewhat undesirable
2 Good combinations 4 Particularly harmful

MILK

(Including skimmed and clabbered milk, buttermilk and fresh cheese)

Acid Sweet
Fats Eggs Nuts Grains Vegetables Fruits Fruits Sugars

Milk with 2 1 2 1 4 4 1 3

Milk and
Fats with -- 2 3 2 2 4 2 2

Milk and
Eggs with 2 -- 2 1 2 4 1 2

Milk and
Nuts with 3 2 -- 1 3 4 1 2

Milk and
Grains with 2 1 1 -- 3 4 2 2

Milk and
Veget. with 2 2 2 3 -- 4 2 3

Milk and acid
fruits with 4 4 4 4 4 -- 4 4

Milk and sweet
fruits with 2 1 1 2 3 4 -- 2

Milk and
Sugars with 2 2 2 2 3 4 2 --

TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES

1 Especially beneficial 3 Somewhat undesirable
2 Good combinations 4 Particularly harmful

NUTS

(All common nuts except chestnuts and peanuts)

Acid Sweet
Fats Eggs Milk Grains Vegetables Fruits Fruits Sugars

Nuts with 3 3 2 1 1 2 1 2

Nuts and
Fats with -- 3 3 2 2 2 2 3

Nuts and
Eggs with 3 -- 2 1 2 2 1 2

Nuts and
Milk with 3 3 -- 1 2 4 1 2

Nuts and
Grains with 2 1 1 -- 1 3 1 1

Nuts and
Veget. with 1 1 2 1 -- 3 1 2

Nuts and acid
fruits with 2 1 4 2 2 -- 2 3

Nuts and sweet
fruits with 2 1 1 1 1 2 -- 2

Nuts and
Sugars with 3 2 2 1 2 2 2 --

TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES

1 Especially beneficial 3 Somewhat undesirable
2 Good combinations 4 Particularly harmful

GRAINS

(All cereal and starchy products)

Acid Sweet
Fats Eggs Milk Nuts Vegetables Fruits Fruits Sugars

Grains with 1 2 1 1 2 3 2 2

Grains and
Fats with -- 2 2 2 1 3 2 2

Grains and
Eggs with 2 -- 1 1 2 3 2 2

Grains and
Milk with 2 1 -- 1 3 4 2 2

Grains and
Nuts with 2 1 1 -- 1 3 1 1

Grains and
Vege. with 1 2 2 1 -- 3 1 2

Grains and acid
fruits with 2 2 4 2 2 -- 2 3

Grains and sweet
fruits with 2 2 2 1 1 2 -- 2

Grains and
Sugars with 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 --

TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES

1 Especially beneficial 3 Somewhat undesirable
2 Good combinations 4 Particularly harmful

VEGETABLES

(Leafy or succulent vegetables as lettuce, spinach). Fresh peas,
carrots, parsnips, etc.--Potatoes being starchy, not included.

Acid Sweet
Fats Eggs Milk Nuts Grains Fruits Fruits Sugars

Veget. with 1 2 4 1 2 3 2 3

Veget. and
Fats with -- 2 2 2 1 3 2 3

Veget. and
Eggs with 2 -- 2 2 2 3 2 3

Veget. and
Milk with 2 3 -- 2 3 4 3 3

Veget. and
Nuts with 1 1 3 -- 1 3 1 2

Veget. and
Grains with 1 2 3 1 -- 3 1 2

Veget. and acid
fruits with 3 3 4 2 3 -- 3 2

Veget. and sweet
fruits with 2 2 3 1 1 3 -- 2

Veget. and
Sugars with 2 2 4 2 2 3 2 --

TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES

1 Especially beneficial 3 Somewhat undesirable
2 Good combinations 4 Particularly harmful

ACID FRUITS

(All acid and subacid fruits as listed in Lesson VIII)

Sweet
Fats Eggs Milk Nuts Grains Vegetables Fruits Sugars

Acid fruits with 2 2 4 2 3 3 3 2

Acid fruits and
Fats with -- 2 4 2 3 3 2 2

Acid fruits and
Eggs with 2 -- 4 2 3 3 4 2

Acid fruits and
Milk with 4 4 -- 4 4 4 4 4

Acid fruits and
Nuts with 3 1 4 -- 3 3 2 3

Acid fruits and
Grains with 2 2 4 3 -- 3 2 3

Acid fruits and
Veget. with 3 2 4 3 2 -- 3 3

Acid and sweet
fruits with 3 2 4 2 2 3 -- 3

Acid fruits and
Sugars with 2 2 4 2 2 3 4 --

TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES

1 Especially beneficial 3 Somewhat undesirable
2 Good combinations 4 Particularly harmful

SWEET FRUITS

(All non-acid fruits as listed in Lesson VIII)

Acid
Fats Eggs Milk Nuts Grains Vegetables Fruits Sugars

Sweet fruits with 2 1 1 1 2 2 3 2

Sweet fruits and
Fats with -- 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Sweet fruits and
Eggs with 2 -- 1 1 2 2 4 3

Sweet fruits and
Milk with 2 1 -- 1 2 3 4 2

Sweet fruits and
Nuts with 3 1 1 -- 1 1 3 2

Sweet fruits and
Grains with 2 2 2 1 -- 1 3 2

Sweet fruits and
Veget. with 2 1 2 2 1 -- 3 2

Sweet and acid
fruits with 2 2 4 2 2 3 -- 3

Sweet fruits and
Sugars with 3 3 2 2 2 2 4 --

TABLES OF DIGESTIVE HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES

1 Especially beneficial 3 Somewhat undesirable
2 Good combinations 4 Particularly harmful

SUGARS

(Cane and maple-sugars, sirup, and honey)

Acid Sweet
Fats Eggs Milk Nuts Grains Vegetables Fruits Fruits

Sugars with 2 2 3 2 2 3 2 2

Sugars and
Fats with -- 3 2 3 2 3 2 2

Sugars and
Eggs with 2 -- 2 2 2 3 3 3

Sugars and
Milk with 2 2 -- 2 2 3 4 2

Sugars and
Nuts with 2 2 2 -- 1 2 3 2

Sugars and
Grains with 2 2 2 1 -- 2 3 2

Sugars and
Veget. with 2 2 3 2 2 -- 3 2

Sugar and acid
fruits with 3 2 4 3 3 2 -- 3

Sugar and sweet
fruits with 3 3 2 2 2 2 4 --

LESSON XIII

CLASSIFICATION OF FOODS
AND
FOOD TABLES

LESSON XIII

SIMPLE CLASSIFICATION OF FOODS

While there is a dominating substance in all foods, yet they usually contain many compounds which render them, from a chemical standpoint, very difficult to classify accurately. For example, the principal nutrients in wheat are carbohydrates (starch and sugar), yet wheat contains mineral salts, fat, and protein, the latter being a compound consisting of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. Wheat would, therefore, be placed in the carbohydrate class, but it would overlap into several other classes. What is true of wheat, is true of nearly all other articles of food. Furthermore, foods do not chemically reproduce themselves when taken into the body, but in the process of metabolism they are converted either into other elements or into other compounds. From this it will be understood that the articles listed under the following headings are classified according to the nutritive substance which predominates in them, and are given for the purpose of guiding the practitioner in the selection of such foods as will supply the various chemical constituents of the body.

Foods which contain two or more substances in generous proportions may appear under two or more of the following headings, as in the case of peanuts. This humble article of food contains 19 per cent carbohydrates, 20 per cent protein, and 29 per cent fat, hence it is listed under the three headings--carbohydrates, proteids, and fats.

The tables comprise the best selections of food available in all countries and at all seasons of the year. They contain everything the body needs under the varying conditions of age, climate, and activity, except, perhaps, in some parts of the frigid zone.

In compiling these tables I have selected only such articles of food as experience has proved most useful.

SIMPLE CLASSIFICATION OF FOODS BASED ON PRINCIPAL NUTRITIVE SUBSTANCES

/----------------_Carbohydrates_----------------\

Chocolate Honey VEGETABLES--
FRUITS-- NUTS-- Asparagus
Dates Chestnuts Bananas
Figs Peanuts Beets
Grapes Pignolia or Cabbage
Persimmons pine nuts Carrots
Raisins Sirups Celery
GRAINS-- Sugar Lettuce
Barley Tapioca Onions
Corn Parsnips
Oats Potatoes--
Rice sweet
Rye Potatoes--
Wheat white
Pumpkin
Spinach
Squash
Turnips

_Foods rich in
_Fats_ _Proteids_ Mineral Salts_

Butter Cheese VEGETABLES--
Cheese Eggs Asparagus
Chocolate Fish Beet-tops
Cream LEGUMES-- Cabbage
NUTS-- Beans--dried Carrots
Almonds Lentils--dried Celery
Brazil-nuts Peas--dried Dandelion
Cocoanuts Milk Green peas
Hickory- NUTS-- Lettuce
nuts Peanuts Onions
Peanuts Pignolia or Radish-tops
Pecans pine nuts Romaine
Pignolia or Poultry Spinach
pine nuts VEGETABLES-- String beans
Walnuts Cabbage Turnip-tops
OILS-- Lettuce Watercress
Cottonseed Onions Wheat bran
Nut-oil Spinach
Olive-oil Turnips
Wheat bran

PURPOSES WHICH THE DIFFERENT CLASSES OF FOOD SERVE IN THE HUMAN BODY

While all the articles of food in the four above-named classifications contain other elements than the one under which heading they appear, yet the body uses or appropriates them for the following purposes:

PURPOSE OF CARBOHYDRATES

The carbohydrate substance in food is used by the body chiefly for the purpose of keeping up body-weight; that is, for the purpose of supplying the various fluids which fill the cell-structure. If one is suffering from emaciation, the carbohydrate element in food should predominate. While some of the more soluble proteids, especially milk and eggs, will give a rapid gain in weight, the weight will not be permanent unless sufficient carbohydrates are taken to supply the blood with all the required elements of nutrition, or, in other words, to level or to balance the body requirements.

PURPOSE OF FATS

Fats are used by the animal body primarily for the purpose of producing heat. Food is burned or oxidized in the blood, undergoing very much the same action as does the combustion of coal in a grate. The heat thus generated is delegated to the blood, and the blood, by its circulation, distributes this heat throughout the body. The carbon dioxid or waste matter formed during the circulation, is carried to the lungs, where it reunites with the oxygen which we breathe, and thereby again passes back into the atmosphere.

PURPOSE OF PROTEIDS

Proteid is a compound containing chiefly nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon. Its purpose is to form the muscular and the tissue structure of the body. To use a homely illustration, proteid may be compared to the material which makes the honeycomb, while the carbohydrate substance may be compared to the honey; that is, to the fluids which fill the cells.

Those performing heavy or active muscular labor should eat liberally of the proteid class of foods.

Under normal conditions, natural hunger will call for the quantity of proteid needed. The tendency, however, should be toward the minimum; that is, one should take the lowest quantity of proteid that the body requires to keep up the cell-structure. (See Lesson VI, p. 216.) Modern investigations have shown that, in many cases of extreme athletic tests, a low proteid diet has given the greatest endurance. This is accounted for by the fact that nearly all carbohydrates, especially of the grain family, contain from 8 to 12 per cent of proteids, which is quite sufficient, in many instances, to supply the body with all the tissue-building material necessary.

Inasmuch as the several nutritive elements found in a single article of food are better proportioned by Nature, than man can usually proportion them, the relation of one substance to another will be better divided if the entire meal be made to consist of only one kind of food, and both digestion and assimilation will therefore be more perfect. Under these conditions the blood will be laden with very little waste matter, which is the thing that reduces our powers of endurance. Therefore, when it is possible to secure the carbohydrate, the proteid, and the fatty substances from a single article of food which will give to the body greater strength and endurance than when we secure these substances from several sources, we should confine our menus to single articles of well-proportioned food. This thought, carried to its logical end, leads one more and more, as experience progresses, toward the mono-diet system.

PURPOSE OF MINERAL SALTS

Mineral salts serve two distinct purposes in the body:

1 They assist in building up the cartilage and the body-structure

2 They assist in the digestion, and in the dissolution of other
foods, especially of the carbohydrate group, and more especially
of the grain family

Grains are very difficult to subdivide into their constituent elements; that is, to reduce to a solution so fine that assimilation will be perfect. A liberal use of the foods containing mineral salts aids very materially in this process of solution.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DIGESTIBILITY AND ASSIMILABILITY

The true interpretation of the word "digestion" is the preparation of food by the action of:

1 The saliva
2 The gastric juice
3 The bile, and
4 The pancreatic juice

When food is properly prepared by mastication by the time it reaches the pancreas, it should be thoroughly split up or subdivided, in which state it is ready for assimilation.

The true interpretation of the word "assimilation" is the absorption of all food substances through the walls of the intestinal tract, and the final passing of them into the circulation.

It is nothing unusual, however, for a person to become afflicted with predigestion, and, at the same time, with poor or faulty assimilation; in other words, digestion being too rapid, and assimilation being too slow. This condition frequently occurs in cases of superacidity. On account of the excess of acid, the food digests or passes from the stomach prematurely; that is, before it has been dissolved by the action of the hydrochloric acid. The food, thus super-charged with acid, passes from the stomach into the lower intestines, and sets up a condition of irritation. This irritation or swelling of the mucous surface (lining) of the intestines, closes the small canals, or winking valves, as they are sometimes called, thus seriously interfering with the passing of the dissolved food matter into the circulation.

* * * * *

The following table is designed to show the comparative assimilability of the leading articles of food, together with their starch, sugar, and water content:

TABLE SHOWING COMPARATIVE ASSIMILABILITY AND CARBOHYDRATE AND WATER CONTENT OF CEREALS, LEGUMES, AND VEGETABLES

------------------+----------------+---------------------
| | Percentage of
FOOD | Assimilability +------+-------+------
| |Starch| Sugar |Water
------------------+----------------+------+-------+------
CEREALS | | | |
| | | |
Barley | Somewhat | 61.6 | 1.5 | 13.7
| Difficult | | |
Buckwheat | Difficult | 48.0 | 6.0 | 12.0
Corn | Difficult | 60.5 | 3.0 | 12.2
Oats | Difficult | 54.0 | 2.0 | 12.0
Rice | Medium | 79.1 | 0.4 | 13.0
Rye | Somewhat | 62.0 | 0.95 | 15.06
| Difficult | | |
Wheat | Medium | 62.0 | 0.95 | 15.08
| | | |
LEGUMES | | | |
| | | |
Beans--dried | Good | 53.0 | 3.0 | 12.0
Lentils--dried | Good | 50.0 | 2.0 | 11.0
Peas--dried | Good | 57.0 | 4.0 | 11.0
| | | |
[A]VEGETABLES | | | |
| | | |
Banana--very ripe | Very good | 8.0 | 11.0 | 48.0
Beets | Good | 1.7 | 7.8 | 68.0
Cabbage | Medium | 4.3 | -- | 78.0
Carrots | Very good | 1.0 | 6.1 | 83.0
Parsnips | Very good | 1.5 | 6.0 | 82.0
Potatoes { Sweet | Good | 24.4 | 5.6 | 69.0
{ White | Very good | 19.8 | .7 | 72.0
Pumpkin | Very good | 3.9 | 2.0 | 74.3
Squash | Very good | 4.1 | 1.2 | 83.0
Turnips | Good | 5.1 | 2.1 | 91.0
------------------+----------------+------+-------+------

[A] While all the vegetables mentioned in the above table belong to the carbohydrate class, yet the starch element contained in them is very much more assimilable than the starch contained in grains or legumes, therefore these vegetables may be eaten freely by those having rheumatic or gouty tendencies.

The starch and the sugar content in fresh vegetables appears low owing to the fact that they contain a large percentage of water. Eliminating the water, these foods rank in their starch and sugar content with cereals and legumes, and are much more easily digested and assimilated. In other words, if the chemist should reduce the water content to the same per cent as that of cereals, the carbohydrate content would rise in the same ratio as the water content is reduced. Both the starch and the sugar content of these vegetables is more digestible, and more readily assimilated than the starch and the sugar found in cereals and legumes.

PURPOSE OF THE VIENO TABLE

The student should remember that not only the quantity but the quality of food must be considered. The vieno system of food measurement, as herein explained, is the simplest system of food measurement that has ever been published. It is amply complete, and accurate enough for the purpose for which it is intended, and that is the calculation of the energy and the available nitrogen contained in natural dietaries.

This measurement is really a quantitative measurement; that is, it measures the quantity, not the quality. In order to have a full knowledge of a bill of fare, it is necessary to know, in addition to the quantity, the exact chemical nature of each particular food, and also to know the other foods with which that food will combine.

This food table tells accurately the amount of energy that may be derived from food by chemical analysis, but it does not tell the amount of energy that the body must expend in the work of assimilation. This cannot be given in a table, because it varies with the individual and the condition of his digestive organs.

LESSON XIV

VIENO SYSTEM
OF
FOOD MEASUREMENT

LESSON XIV

VIENO SYSTEM OF FOOD MEASUREMENT

The amount of nutrition contained in a given quantity of food is often a determining factor in curative dietetics.

The two most important things to be considered in prescribing foods are:

1 The amount of energy contained in a given quantity

2 The amount of available nitrogen or tissue-building material in
a given quantity

ENERGY

Energy is the power to do work. That form of energy with which we are most familiar is mechanical energy, as raising a stone or turning a wheel.

Heat is another form of energy. Heat and work can be converted into each other. The steam-engine turns heat into work, while a "hot box" on a car-wheel is a case of work being turned back into heat.

[Sidenote: Amount of heat a food produces determines its energy]

Experience shows that a definite amount of heat will yield a definite amount of work, so that the amount of heat produced by a given amount of food, when combined with oxygen, is taken as a measure of its energy. This is ordinarily expressed in calories, a calorie being the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one thousand grams of water one degree on the centigrade thermometer scale.

The use of these terms need not concern the student. Instead of using the calorie I will use a unit which is equal to one hundred calories. I have selected a unit of this size because it gives about the ordinary service of food at meals which is easily measured and remembered.

NITROGEN

Nitrogen is the chemical element that is most concerned with the function of life. All animal tissue contains nitrogen, which forms about one-sixth part, by weight, of all the nitrogenous or protein substances.

[Sidenote: Proportion of Nitrogen in lean meat]

If we were to take a hundred pounds of lean meat, or muscle, and evaporate from it all the water, we would have about eighteen pounds of dry material left. If we should analyze this dry substance, we would find that about one-sixth, or three pounds, would be the element nitrogen. Thus we say that muscle contains eighteen per cent of protein, or three per cent of nitrogen. In ordinary practise the protein is mixed with fats and salts, and cannot be measured by simply drying out the water, so the chemist finds the amount of nitrogen present and multiplies by 6.25, which gives about the correct per cent of protein. This method is not exact because the per cent of nitrogen in various proteids is not always the same, but it will give an intelligent average. I will discard the use of the term protein, and refer to the amount of nitrogen directly.

All compounds of the element nitrogen are not available as food. For example: The nitrogen of the air, of ammonia gas, or gunpowder cannot be utilized in the animal body. The nitrogen in foods only refers to available nitrogen. Compounds containing other forms of nitrogen are not foods, but are frequently poisons.

SYSTEMS OF FOOD MEASUREMENTS COMPARED

THE "OLD" SYSTEM

Under the old system of food measurement, feeding the human body cannot be made a practical science for the masses, therefore a new system becomes necessary. That we may more fully appreciate the value of a new system, let us consider the methods hitherto available.

Suppose a man is using two quarts of milk a day, and wishes to determine the amount of available nitrogen or tissue-building material and energy it contains. Under the old system he must get a book on food analysis, or send to Washington for a Government bulletin. If he does not understand the meaning of the terms and figures used, the tables would be useless to him until he goes to a chemist to have them explained. He is now ready to work out the nutritive value of his milk, and proceeds as follows:

First, he gets the number of cu cm in the milk, thus--952.8 (number cu cm in 1 quart) x 2 = 1905.6, number of cu cm in 2 quarts of milk. Second, he gets the weight of his milk in grams--1.032 (number grams in 1 cu cm of milk) x 1905.6 = 1966.57, number of grams in 2 quarts of milk.

He now turns to a table of analysis which tells him that milk contains 3 per cent of protein, 3-1/2 per cent of fat, and 4-1/2 per cent of sugar. As the amount of nitrogen in milk is approximately one-sixth of its entire protein, he would now get 16 per cent of the 3 per cent (.16 x .03 = .0048), which is the percentage of nitrogen contained in milk.

His next step would be--1966.57 (number grams in 2 quarts of milk) x .0048 = 9.44, the number of grams of nitrogen in 2 quarts of milk.

I will not explain the way in which the energy would have to be figured, but will merely give the arithmetical processes by which the result is obtained:

3 × 4.1 = 12.3
3.5 × 9.3 = 32.55
4.5 × 4.1 = 18.45
12.3 + 32.55 + 18.45 = 63.30
1966.57 × 63.30 = 124483.88
124483.88 ÷ 100 = 1244, the No. of calories or
energy (heat units) contained in two quarts of milk.

THE NEW OR "VIENO" SYSTEM

[Sidenote: Derivation of the word Vieno]

To a unit of food-energy which is equal to one hundred calories (see last paragraph on "Energy"), I have given the name of _Vieno_, derived from "vital" and "energy," and pronounced _vi-eń-o_. The Vieno system, therefore, will measure all foods by vi-en-os, or units of energy equal to one hundred of the chemist's calories. One vieno of milk is one-sixth of a quart, or two-thirds of an ordinary glass. From this it is readily seen that two quarts of milk will give twelve vienos of energy, or, if we wish to express it in the chemist's term, twelve hundred calories.

[Sidenote: How to compute amount of nitrogen in food]

The table also states that milk has a nitrogen factor of .8. Therefore, if we wish to know the amount of nitrogen in the two quarts of milk, all we need do is to multiply the number =of= vienos by the nitrogen factor; 12 x .8 = 9.6, which figure represents the nitrogen consumption expressed in grams. (See explanation of fourth column of table.) These results are practically the same as those obtained by the old system of computation, but expressed in simpler terms. Thus we see that the vieno system of computing food values is unique in its simplicity, and will be a very material aid in putting Food Science on a practical basis.

NECESSITY FOR A SIMPLE SYSTEM

[Sidenote: Neither volume nor weight are correct standards for measuring food values]

Things are commonly measured by volume, or by weight. That volume could not be made sufficiently accurate in the measurement of food values is evident. A bushel of lettuce leaves would contain much less food value than a bushel of wheat. Weight would seem to be a fairer way to compare foods, but all foods contain water, which may vary from five to ninety-five per cent. A pound of turnips, which is nine-tenths water, would not be comparable with sugar, which has scarcely any water.

Even if it were not for the water, weight would not be a fair method of comparison because some foods are of more value per pound than others, owing to their difference in chemical composition. For instance, a pound of butter gives about two and one-fourth times as much heat to the body as sugar.

As before mentioned, the two chief food factors which we ought to measure are energy-producing and tissue-building power.

[Sidenote: What constitutes a true food]

All true foods when assimilated in the body produce some energy. In fact, only such substances as produce bodily energy, when combined with the oxygen taken in through the lungs, can be correctly termed food.

I have taken this energy-producing power of food as the best basis for measurement and comparison. The nitrogen could have been taken as a unit, and the energy figured by a table, but it is simpler to use energy as a unit (as given in column 3, p. 655), and figure the nitrogen in the various foods by means of a table which gives the amount of nitrogen per unit of energy. (Column 4, p. 655.)

Multiplication of units of energy (column 3) by the nitrogen factor (column 4) is necessary because the ratio of nitrogen to energy is different in each food.

EXPLANATION OF TABLE

In the table that follows, I have attempted to give in the simplest way the amount of each particular food that one vieno equals.

The second column shows, in the plainest language possible, what one vieno of food equals--as, one vieno of barley equals one ounce; or, one vieno of nuts equals one rounded tablespoonful, etc. This method is, of course, only approximate, as in some foods it is impossible to find a simple term to express the amount of one vieno. This is especially true of cooked foods because of the varied amounts of water contained. In such cases the way for the student to become familiar with a vieno is to weigh one pound of the raw material, and, after it is cooked, weigh it again, and then calculate the water content.

The definition given in the second column in the case of milk, butter, eggs, and cheese is fairly accurate. The description given in the case of cereals and bread is also fairly accurate. In the list of fresh vegetables, no attempt has been made to describe one vieno by volume, as, vegetables being loose and bulky, it is practical to measure them only by weight.

[Sidenote: Only the edible portion of food considered]

In the case of fresh fruits, one vieno has been defined as "one large orange" or "six plums," etc. In such cases allowance for the non-edible portion has been made; all weights given in the table consider only the edible portion.

In the case of nuts, the definition of a vieno in so many spoonfuls is fairly accurate. This is done only as an illustration, and not continued throughout the table. The student should use only the second column of the table for rough work, and to help him figure the approximate amount of one vieno.

The third column of the table, which gives the number of vienos or the amount of heat-energy in one pound, is the column to which the student should refer in his work. A pound of food referred to in this column invariably means one pound of the edible portion.

[Sidenote: Simple method of reducing food to vienos]

The way for the student to calculate the amount of food in one vieno is to take a pound of the food that he is to use and divide it equally into as many portions as the number in the third column. For example: If one pound of wheat is given as equal to sixteen vienos, the student should weigh a pound of wheat and divide it into sixteen portions, and each of these portions will equal one vieno.

[Sidenote: The nitrogen factor simplified]

The fourth column of the table gives the approximate nitrogen factor; that is, the percentage of nitrogen by weight in one vieno. This column is to be used for computing the amount of nitrogen in the diet under all ordinary circumstances. The student should take the total number of vienos of each food and multiply this number by the nitrogen factor. The product will be the approximate amount of the nitrogen consumed, expressed in grams. _This is the direct method of ascertaining the amount of available nitrogen in food._

[Sidenote: Grams reduced to vienos]

If in reading other works, the student finds the amount of nitrogen given in decigrams, he needs only to divide by ten in order to reduce it to this system, as a decigram is one-tenth of a gram. Likewise, protein can be reduced to grams, or decigrams, by a simple process of multiplication and division, as follows: Sixty grams of protein contains practically ten grams (one hundred decigrams) of nitrogen. Divide the amount of protein by six to change protein to the nitrogen unit. That is (Protein ÷ 6) = amount of nitrogen in grams.

The old-fashioned food table gave the amount of protein in per cent by weight, making it necessary to weigh the food, figure the amount of protein by multiplying the weight by the per cent, and then reducing this according to the rule given above. I explain this so that the student may be able to compare results expressed in the old table, with the vieno method, but in all practical work the student should use only this _direct_ method which is much more simple and accurate.

The fifth column of the table gives the weight of one vieno in grams. This adds no new information, but only gives the weight of one vieno in the metric system. It should be used by those who wish to be accurate in their work, or by those who take a scientific interest in their dietary.

[Sidenote: Examples for the student who desires to be exact]

The last column of the table gives the actual amount of nitrogen in one vieno of food expressed in grams. This is the accurate figure from which the approximate nitrogen factor for ordinary use has been derived. For example: The actual amount of nitrogen in one vieno of chestnuts is .396. If this number is multiplied by the number of vienos of chestnuts eaten, we would have the actual number of grams of nitrogen consumed. Suppose ten vienos of chestnuts are eaten; we would multiply .396 by ten, which would give us 3.96 grams of nitrogen. For ordinary purposes, I use the nearest decimal, which is .4, and which I give in the fourth column as the nitrogen factor. Those who wish to figure the nitrogen with scientific accuracy should use the figures given in the last column of the table, as in the example I have given.

The Vieno system of food measurement is new, and is intended to give to the practitioner and to the housewife the greatest aid in balancing or proportioning the diet. I have therefore included in the following tables, all classes of foods, many of which I do not recommend or use in my scientific work.

TABLE OF FOOD MEASUREMENTS

DIRECT METHOD OF CALCULATING AVAILABLE NITROGEN IN FOOD

Multiplying the number of vienos (column 3) by the nitrogen factor
(column 4) will give the amount of available nitrogen in the
various foods, expressed in grams

CEREAL FOODS
Barley, pearled One ounce 16 .4 27.5 .37

BREAD--
Graham Loaf size,
3/4 in. thick 12 .6 37.5 .59
White Loaf size,
3/4 in. thick 12 .6 39.3 .58

TABLE OF FOOD MEASUREMENTS--(Continued)

Christian's
Vieno bran Two ounces 8 .3 21.2 .30
Christian's Vieno
self-raising
bran meal 1-1/2 ounces 12 .4 33.5 .55
Corn-meal One ounce 16 .4 27.4 .41
Corn-starch One ounce, scant 17 .0 27.1 .00
Crackers Four, average size 19 .4 23.8 .39
Hominy One ounce 16 .4 27.5 .36
Macaroni or
spaghetti One ounce 16 .6 27.2 .58
Oatmeal or
rolled oats Scant ounce 15 .6 24.4 .63
Rice One ounce 16 .4 27.8 .36
Rye flour One ounce 16 .3 27.8 .30
White flour One ounce 16 .5 27.9 .49
Whole wheat or
graham flour One ounce 16 .6 27.8 .61
Whole wheat One ounce 16 .6 27.8 .61

DAIRY PRODUCTS

Butter Not quite an inch
cube 36 .0 12.6 .00

CHEESE--
Cottage Three ounces 5 3.0 89.0 2.97
Full cream Portion size of
walnut 20 1.0 22.0 1.01
Cream (20% fat) Five tablespoonfuls 10 .2 45.0 .17

MILK--
Buttermilk One full glass 2 1.3 274.0 1.32
Condensed Three
tablespoonfuls 15 .4 30.0 .42
Skimmed One full glass 2 1.5 267.0 .46
Whole Two-thirds of a
glass 3 .8 140.0 .78

FISH

Fresh fish
(Run of the
market) Quarter of a lb. 6 3.1 102.0 3.13

TABLE OF FOOD MEASUREMENTS--(Continued)

FRUIT
Apples One, 2-1/2 in. 3 .1 156.4 .10
thick
Apricots Six of moderate 3 .3 168.0 .29
size
Bananas One large 5 .2 98.6 .21

Comments

Encyclopedia of Diet: A Treatise on the Food Question, Vol. 3Chapter I: Part 1

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