Part 28

FOOTNOTES:

C. F. Langworthy, Ph. D.—In charge of Nutritive Investigations of the United States Experiment Station.

DIETS

As previously stated, the object of foods is to supply the needs of the body in building new tissue in the growing child; in repairing tissue which the catabolic activity of the body is constantly tearing down and eliminating; and in supplying heat and energy. This heat and energy is not alone for muscular activity in exercise or movement; it must be borne in mind that the body is a busy work-shop, or chemical laboratory, and heat and energy are needed in the constant metabolism of tearing down and rebuilding tissue and in the work of digestion and elimination.

In this chapter, a few points given in the preceding pages are repeated for emphasis. The proteins, represented in purest form in lean meat, build tissue and the carbonaceous foods, starches, sugars and fats, supply the heat and energy. An excess of proteins, that is more than is needed for building and repair, is also used for heat and energy; the waste products of the nitrogenous foods are broken down into carbon dioxid, sulphates, phosphates, and other nitrogenous compounds and excreted through the kidneys, skin, and the bile, while the waste product of carbonaceous foods is carbon dioxid alone and is excreted mostly through the lungs.

Since the foods richest in protein are the most expensive, those who wish to keep down the cost of living, should provide, at most, no more protein than the system requires. The expensive meat may be eliminated and proteins be supplied by eggs, milk, legumes, nuts and cereals.

The most fundamental thing is to decide upon the amount of protein—two to four ounces, nearly a quarter of a pound a day—and then select a dietary which shall provide this and also supply heat and energy sufficient for the day. If the diet is to include meat, a goodly proportion of protein will be furnished in the lean meat. This will vary greatly with the different cuts of meat as shown on Table IV, page 128. If, as often happens, one does not care for fats, then the starches and sugars must provide the heat. If one craves sweets, less starches and fats are needed.

The normally healthy individual is more liable to supply too much protein than too little, even though he abstain from meat. Yet, as will be shown later, our strongest races, who have lent most to the progress of the world, live upon a mixed diet.

If the diet is to include meat, it will consist of less bulk, because the protein is more condensed; for the same reason, if it includes animal products of eggs and milk and a fair proportion of legumes, it will be less bulky than a vegetable diet. This point is important for busy people, who eat their meals in a hurry and proceed at once to active, mental work. Those who engage in physical labor are much more likely to take a complete rest for a half hour, to an hour, after eating. The thinkers seldom rest, at least after a midday meal, and those who worry seldom relax the mental force during any waking hours.

Where the system shows an excess of uric acid, the chances are that the individual has not been living on a diet with too large a proportion of protein, but that he has been eating more than he requires of all kinds of foodstuffs. His system thus becomes weakened and he does not breathe deeply nor exercise sufficiently to oxidize and throw off the waste. Let it be recalled here that the theory that rheumatism is caused by an excess of uric acid is disputed by the highest authorities. It is accompanied by uric acid, but not supposed to be caused by it.

Every housewife, to intelligently select the daily menus for her family, needs a thorough knowledge of dietetics. She must understand the chemistry of food that she may know food values. The difficulty which confronts the housewife, is to provide one meal suited to the needs, tastes, or idiosyncracies of various members of her household. Peculiarities of taste, unless these peculiarities have been intelligently acquired, may result in digestive disturbances. As an illustration: one may cultivate a dislike for meat, milk, or eggs, as is often the case, and the proteins for the family being largely supplied by these, the individual is eating too much of starches and sugars and not sufficient protein,—legumes, nuts, etc., not being provided for one member. Such an one’s blood becomes impoverished and she becomes anaemic.

The relief lies in cultivating a taste for blood building foods. Foods which are forced down, with a mind arrayed against them, do not digest as readily, because the displeasure does not incite the flow of gastric juices. One fortunate provision of nature lies in the ability to cultivate a taste for any food. Likes and dislikes are largely mental. There are certain foods which continuously disagree and they should be avoided; but many abstain from wholesome food because it has disagreed a few times. It may be that it was not the particular food but the weakness of the stomach at this time. Any food fails of prompt digestion when the nerves controlling the stomach are weak.

Many foods disagree at certain times because of the particular conditions regulating the secretion of digestive juices. Where this condition has continued for some time it becomes chronic and a special diet is required, together with special exercises to bring a better blood supply to stomach and intestines and to regulate the nerves controlling them.

Dr. W. S. Hall estimates that the average man at light work requires, each day,

106.8 grams of protein 57.97 grams of fat 398.84 grams of carbohydrates

These elements, in proper proportions, may be gained through many food combinations. He gives the following:

Bread 1 lb. Lean Meat ½ lb. Oysters ½ lb. Cocoa 1 oz. Milk 4 oz. Sugar 1 oz. Butter ½ oz.

A medium sized man at out of door work, fully oxidizes all waste of the system and he requires a higher protein diet,—125 grams. In such event he does not require so much starch and sugar. If on the other hand he were to take but 106.8 grams of protein, as above, he would require more carbohydrates. One working, or exercising in the fresh air, breathes more deeply and oxidizes and eliminates more waste, hence he has a better appetite, which is simply the call of nature for a re-supply of the waste.

In active work, one also liberates more heat, thus more fat, starches, and sugar are required for the re-supply. If one has an excess of starch (glycogen) stored in the liver, or an excess of fat about the tissues, this excess is called upon to supply the heat and energy when the fats and carbohydrates daily consumed are not sufficient for the day’s demand. This is the principle of reduction of flesh.

It is interesting to note that habits of combining foods are unconsciously based upon dietetic principles. Meats rich in protein are served with potatoes, or with rice, both of which are rich in starch. Bread, containing little fat, is served with butter. Beans, containing little fat, are cooked with pork. Starchy foods of all kinds are served with butter or cream. Macaroni, which is rich in starch, makes a well balanced food cooked with cheese.

Pork and beans, bread and butter, bread and milk, chicken and rice, macaroni and cheese, poached eggs on toast, and custards, form balanced dishes.

A knowledge of such combinations is important when one must eat a hasty luncheon and wishes to supply the demands of the body in the least time, giving the least thought to the selection; but hasty luncheons, with the mind concentrated upon other things, are to be strongly condemned. The mind must be relaxed and directed to pleasant themes during a meal or the nerves to the vital organs will be held too tense to permit a free secretion of digestive juices. Chronic indigestion is sure to result from this practice. Dinner, or the hearty meal at night, rather than at noon, is preferable for the business or professional man or woman, because the cares of the day are over and the brain force relaxes. The vital forces are not detracted from the work of digestion.

Experiments in the quantity of food actually required for body needs, made by Prof. R. H. Chittenden of the Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University, have established, beyond doubt, the fact that the average individual consumes very much more food than the system requires. In fact, most tables of food requirements, in previous books on dietetics, have been heavy.

Prof. Chittenden especially established the fact that the average person consumes more protein than is necessary to maintain a nitrogenous balance. It was formerly held that the average daily metabolism and excretion of nitrogen through the kidneys was 16 grams, or about 100 grams of protein or albuminoid food. Prof. Chittenden’s tests, covering a period of six months, show an average daily excretion of 5.86 grams of nitrogen, or a little less than one-third of that formerly accepted as necessary; 5.86 grams of nitrogen corresponds to 36.62 grams of protein or albuminoid food.

Prof. Chittenden’s experiments of the foodstuffs actually required by three groups of men, one group of United States soldiers, a group from the Yale College athletic team, and a group of college professors, all showed that the men retained full strength, with a higher degree of physical and mental efficiency, when the body was not supplied with more protein than was liberated by metabolic activity, and when the quantity of carbonaceous food was regulated to the actual requirement to retain body heat and furnish energy.

It may be well to call attention here to the fact that the food elements, called upon for work, are not from those foods just consumed or digested, but from those eaten a day or two previous, which have been assimilated in the muscular tissues.

In selecting a diet, the individual must be considered as to age, sex and physical condition, also whether active in indoor or outdoor work, and whether he or she breathes deeply, so as to take plenty of fresh air into the lungs.

The following tables, published through the courtesy of Dr. W. S. Hall, give the rations for different conditions.