DIET AND HEALTH BOOK
REVIEW AND DEFINITIONS
PAGE 4 CHAPTER 3

Diet and Health Book: Review and Definitions - Page 4

Chapter 3

[Sidenote: _This Is Dry but Important_]

FOOD: That which taken into the body builds and repairs tissue and yields energy in heat and muscular power.

[Sidenote: _Approx. %'s if Normal_]

CLASSES OF FOOD:

     1. Protein, 18% of body weight.
     2. Fats, 16% of body weight.
     3. Carbohydrates, 1% of body weight.
     4. Mineral matter, 5% of body weight.
     5. Vitamines.
     6. Water, 60% of body weight.

[Sidenote: _Nitrogenous Food Compounds_]

PROTEIN: Builds tissue, repairs waste, yields energy, and may help store fat. One-half, at least, of your protein should be from the vegetable kingdom.

A large percentage of protein is contained in

     Eggs      Meat      Fowl   Fish   Nuts
     Milk      Cheese     Gluten of Wheat
     Legumes (beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, etc.)

[Sidenote: _Protein 113 C. Per Oz._]

There is about one-fourth ounce protein in

     1 egg
     1 glass milk (skim, butter, or whole)
     1-1/2 oz. lean meat, or fish or fowl
     1 oz. (1-1/5 cu. in.) whole milk cheese
     2 slices of bread, 3-1/2 x 3-1/2 x 1/2
       (white, whole wheat, corn, etc.)
     3 heaping tablespoonfuls canned baked beans or lima beans
     17 peanuts

[Sidenote: _255 C. Per Oz._]

FATS: Yield energy and are stored as fat.

Animal Fat: Cream, Butter, Lard

Oils: Cottonseed, Olive Almonds, Peanuts, Walnuts Chocolate, etc.

[Sidenote: _113 C. Per Oz._]

CARBOHYDRATES: Yield energy and are stored as fat.

Sugars (candy, honey, syrup, sweet fruits)

Starches (breads, cereals, potatoes, corn, legumes, nuts)

Vegetable fibre, or cellulose

MINERAL MATTER: Shares in forming bones and teeth, and is necessary for proper functioning.

Carbon, Lime, Sodium, Potassium, Sulphur, Iron, Phosphorus, Etc.

[Sidenote: _Whole Grain Products Not Devitalized_]

These elements are contained largely in the outer coatings of grains, fruits, and vegetables, and in animal foods and their products. Do not pare potatoes before cooking. Cook vegetables in a small amount of water, saving the water for soups and sauces.

WATER: The universal solvent, absolutely necessary for life.

Contained in purest form in all vegetables and fruits. The average person needs, in addition, from three to five pints taken as a drink. If not sure of the purity, boil. Do not drink while food is in the mouth.

[Sidenote: _Absolutely Necessary for Growth_]

VITAMINES: Health preservers. Vital substances necessary for growth. The chemistry of these products is at present not thoroughly understood, but their importance has been demonstrated by experiments (not torture) on animals. By this work we know that diseases like beri-beri, scurvy, rickets, and probably pellagra, are due to a lack of these vital elements in the food, and from that fact these are called "deficiency" diseases.

[Sidenote: _Guinea Pigs vs. Babies_]

Of course I realize that nations can be saved from horrible diseases, and hundreds and thousands of babies saved from death, through this experimentation on a few guinea pigs and other animals; but what is the life of a baby compared with the happiness of a guinea pig? Down with animal experimentation! Let us do everything in our power to hamper scientific work of this kind. We are giving up our husbands, fathers, sons, perhaps to die, for the cause of humanity, but a guinea pig! Horrors!

It has been found that the vitamines, like the minerals, are most abundant in the outer coverings and the germ of grains, and in fruits and vegetables. They are also present in fresh milk, butter, meat and eggs. Babies fed pasteurized or boiled milk should have fruit juices and vegetable purees early. Begin with one-half teaspoonful, well diluted, and gradually increase the feeding to an ounce or more between meals once or twice daily.

Most animal fats have the vitamines, but vegetable fats are deficient in them. That is the reason cod liver oil is better for some therapeutic uses than olive oil.

[Sidenote: _Balanced Diet_]

BALANCED DIET: Should contain

     10-15% Protein
             (children may need more)
     25-30% Fat
     60-65% Carbohydrates

[Sidenote: _To Get the Elements Necessary for Health_]

For example, suppose you are a fairly active woman and need 2500
calories per day. Then for a balanced diet you would need:

     10% Protein, or               250 C.
     25% Fat, or                   625 C.
     65% Carbohydrates            1625 C.
                                  -------
                                  2500 C.

       250 C. of P. = 2-1/5 oz. dry protein
         (250 ÷ 113 = 2-1/5, approximately)
       625 C. of F. = 2-1/2 oz. of fat
         (625 ÷ 255 = 2-1/2, approximately)
     1625 C. of CH. = 14-1/2 oz. dry carbohydrates
        (1625 ÷ 113 = 14-1/2, approximately)

Two and one-fifth ounces dry protein equals the approximate amount of
protein in 10 ounces lean meat, fish, or fowl, or 9 ounces cheese, or 9
eggs. (You should not take all of your proteins in any of these single
forms.) Two and one-half ounces fat equals approximately 5 pats of
butter.

[Sidenote: _If Appetite Not Perverted_]

But listen! You don't have to bother with all this fussy stuff. _Be
careful not to over-or under-eat of the proteins_, and your tastes will
be a fair standard for the rest. You should remember that a balanced
diet contains some of all these foods, in about the proportions given,
and that, while _watery vegetables and fruits contain very few calories,
they contain very important mineral salts, vitamines, and cellulose._
The latter is good for the daily scrub of the intestinal tract.

[Sidenote: _A Pretty Nearly Universal Error_]

CONSTIPATION is many times caused by a too concentrated diet, or one
containing too little roughage. It has also been discovered that some
individuals who are troubled with faulty elimination digest this
cellulose, and only the more resistant, like bran, is not absorbed. For
those, the Japanese seaweed called agaragar in the laboratory, but more
familiarly known as agar by the layman, is excellent. The most
industrious digestive tract apparently can not digest that. It has the
further property of absorbing a large amount of water, thus increasing
its bulk.

[Sidenote: _C.S._]

[Sidenote: _Have Enough Water, Else You'll Choke to Death. I Did Once_]

Mineral oils (refined paraffine) also are not absorbable, and they act
with benefit in some cases. About the worst thing to do, in general, is
to take physics constantly. These are not physics, however; they act
mechanically. Even the C.S. (common-sense?) individual can take these.
The agar may be taken two or three heaping teaspoonfuls in a large glass
of water before retiring, or in the morning before breakfast, or in lieu
of 4 o'clock tea. Drink it down rapidly--for goodness' sake, don't try
to chew it.

Mineral oil will make fine mayonnaise dressing. It has little or no food
value, so the constipated overweight individual may indulge freely. For
faulty elimination, then--

1. Correct diet.

2. Exercise--especially brisk walking.

3. Regularity of habit.

4. Possibly the addition of bran, agar, or mineral oils.

5. Sweet disposition. Mean people are always constipated.

Review

1. Give classes of food, with examples of each.

2. What are vitamines? How importance discovered?

3. Where most abundant?

4. What is a balanced diet?

5. What should be done for faulty elimination?


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