Part 23

=Lentils= are not commonly used in this country, but they were one of the earliest vegetables to be cultivated in Asia and the Mediterranean countries. They are imported and are found only in the best markets of large cities. They are used in the menu like dried peas and are fully as nourishing, but the flavor of the lentil is pronounced and they are not as agreeable to the average person as peas or beans.

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Nuts are classed with the carbo-nitrogenous foods, because of the more nearly equal proportion of proteins and carbonaceous substances.

TABLE IX.—NUTS ——————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+—————————— Food Materials |Water|Protein|Fat |Carbo- | | | | | |hydrates|Ash |Fuel Value |Per |Per |Per |Per |Per |per pound |Cent |Cent |Cent |Cent |Cent |Calories ——————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+—————————— Almonds | 4.8| 21.0 |54.90| 17.3 | 2.0| 3,030 Brazil nuts | 5.3| 17.0 |66.80| 7.0 | 3.9| 3,329 Filberts | 3.7| 15.6 |65.30| 13.0 | 2.4| 3,342 Hickory nuts | 3.7| 15.4 |67.40| 11.4 | 2.1| 3,495 Pecans | 3.0| 16.7 |71.20| 13.3 | 1.5| 3,633 English walnuts | 2.8| 16.7 |64.40| 14.8 | 1.3| 3,305 Chestnuts, fresh | 45.0| 6.2 | 5.40| 42.1 | 1.3| 1,125 Walnuts, black | 2.5| 27.6 |56.30| 11.7 | 1.9| 3,105 Cocoanut, shredded| 3.5| 6.3 |57.30| 31.6 | 1.3| 3,125 Peanuts, roasted | 1.6| 30.5 |49.20| 16.2 | 2.5| 3,177 ——————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+——————————

It will be noted, by reference to the table, that nuts contain a much larger proportion of fats and less starch than the legumes. Chestnuts contain the largest amount of starch, pecans the most fat, and roasted peanuts the most protein.

Nuts are a valuable food, but they should be made a part of a meal and may well take the place of meat, because of the large percentage of protein, rather than to be eaten as a dessert. They are too hearty to eat at the end of a meal, after one has eaten as much other food as the system requires. In planning a meal, if the dietary is rich in starches and lacking in protein, a side dish of nuts may be served.

Too great stress cannot be laid upon the importance of the thorough mastication of nuts; otherwise they are difficult of digestion. When thoroughly chewed, however, they are as easily digested as cereals or legumes. If ground fine in a meat grinder or through a sieve, they digest more readily, but this grinding does not take the place of the grinding with the teeth and the mixing with saliva. They are best ground for salads, cake or croquettes.

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Milk is called a complete food. It is a perfect food for the sustenance of its own species,—the milk of the cow for the calf, the mother’s milk for the infant; yet the milk of the cow is not perfect for the child,—it is lacking in the proper proportion of sugar, and when fed to the child a little sugar is added.

There has been a tendency among certain classes, to recommend an all-milk diet, because the proteins, carbohydrates and fats are in proportion to sustain life indefinitely, but experiments have shown that healthy, digestive organs do their work better when a part of the food is solid. Moreover, if an all-milk diet were followed, the adult, in order to get sufficient nutriment, would be compelled to take a larger proportion of water than necessary, the proportion of water required by the system being about sixty-seven per cent, while milk contains eighty-seven per cent.

In order for the adult to get the proper quantity of carbohydrates and fat, from an all-milk diet, it would be necessary to drink from four to five quarts of milk a day (sixteen to twenty glasses). Therefore, although an exceedingly valuable food, containing nutriment elements for repair and to supply heat and energy for an indefinite time, milk is not a desirable, perfect food for an adult.

If the mother’s milk contains eighty-seven per cent water it seems not too much for the infant. Young babies, on a milk diet, are almost always fat. This is not because the fats, sugars and starches are in too large a proportion to the protein, but it bears out the theory, which is fully demonstrated in actual experiments of the writer with over twenty thousand women, that the free drinking of liquid at a meal aids digestion and a better absorption and assimilation of food.

One advantage of drinking milk with the meal, is that it is not taken as cold as water and it supplies a portion of actual food.

TABLE X.

Milk and Milk Products.

——————————————+———————+————————+——————+———————+———————+——————— Food Materials| Water |Proteins| Fats | Sugar | Salts |Lactic | | | | | |Acid ——————————————+———————+————————+——————+———————+———————+——————— Milk | 86.8 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 4.8 | 0.7 | ...... Skimmed milk | 88.0 | 4.0 | 1.8 | 5.4 | 0.8 | ...... Buttermilk | 90.6 | 3.8 | 1.2 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 Cream | 66.0 | 2.7 | 26.7 | 2.8 | 1.8 | ...... Cheese | 36.8 | 33.5 | 24.3 | ......| 5.4 | ...... Butter | 6.0 | 0.3 | 91.0 | ......| 2.7 | ...... ——————————————+———————+————————+——————+———————+———————+———————

Reference to the above table shows that the thirteen per cent of organic foods are about equally divided between fat, sugar and protein. The protein is casein. There is no starch in milk. The digestive ferment, which acts upon starch, has not developed in the young babe and the infant cannot digest starch. The salts promote the growth of bone.

The fat in milk is in small emulsified droplets within a thin albuminous sheath. When allowed to stand in a cool place it rises to the top.

Besides casein, there is a certain amount of albumen in milk,—about one-seventh of the total amount. This is called lactalbumin.

A part of the digestion of the casein is performed by pepsin in the stomach and a part by the trypsin of the pancreatic juice.

Digestion of Milk. The larger part of the digestion of the milk sugar is performed by the pancreatic juice; yet it is partly acted upon by the saliva. There is little chance for the saliva to act upon the milk sugar in the mouth, however, as very little saliva is mixed with the milk. This constitutes another objection to the diet of all milk, and is an argument in favor of drinking milk slowly and holding it in the mouth until it is mixed with saliva. It is one reason, also, why children should be given bread broken in the milk, instead of a piece of bread and a glass of milk. By swallowing the milk slowly, the curds formed in the stomach are smaller and the milk is more thoroughly digested.

When the fat (cream) is removed milk digests more readily, so that in case of delicate stomachs skimmed milk, clabbered milk or buttermilk are often prescribed instead of sweet milk. Boiled milk is also more easily digested by some because of the lactalbumin which is separated and rises to the top in a crinky skum. The casein is also more readily digested in boiled milk, forming in small flakes in the stomach instead of in curds.

When one takes from two to three glasses of milk at a meal, less solid food is needed, because the required nutriment is partially supplied with the milk. One reason why milk seemingly disagrees with many people, is because they lose sight of the fact that milk is an actual food, as well as a beverage and they eat the same quantity of food in addition to the milk that they eat if drinking water. This is the reason that milk seems to make some people bilious and causes constipation. It is due to too much food rather than to any quality in the milk.

Constipation may be occasioned by drinking milk rapidly so that large curds are formed by the acids in the stomach, rendering it difficult of digestion. The constipating effect will be overcome by lessening the quantity of food and by the addition of limewater to the milk.

To prepare limewater put a heaping teaspoon of slaked lime into a quart of boiled or distilled water; put into a corked bottle and shake thoroughly two or three times during the first hour. Then allow the lime to settle, and after twenty-four hours pour or siphon off the clear fluid.

Barley water or oatmeal water added to milk also prevent the formation of curds.

In young babes the milk is curdled, or the casein separated from the water and sugar, not by hydrochloric acid, but by a ferment in the gastric juice, known as rennin. It is the rennin, or rennet, from the stomachs of young calves and young pigs, which is used to coagulate the casein in cheese factories.

Milk is coagulated or curdled by many fruit and vegetable acids, as the housewife well knows, using milk in pies containing certain acid fruits, such as lemons, or in soup containing tomatoes. The hydrochloric acid of the stomach at once causes a similar coagulation, though the curds are tougher and more leathery. The milk forms into curds immediately upon entering the stomach. This is the natural process of milk digestion and is the chief reason why it should be drunk slowly, otherwise the curds will form in too large sizes, thus pressing upon the entrance to the stomach and causing distress. The tough, large curds formed by the hydrochloric acid, are difficult for invalids or for very delicate stomachs to digest.