Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-05-01

Nutr1ttve Properties and Digestibilty o
Various Articles Of Food.

AT recent meeting OF the Massachusetts So
ciety of Arts, Prof. w. o. Atwater, of Wesleyan
university, gave an interesting lecture on "The
Chemistry OF Foods and Nutrition" This sub
ject, said the speaker, has occupied great deal
OF attention, and has been Investigated partic-
culary during the last two or three decades.
The subject has occupied great attention the
last decade, and o vast amount of the energy
has been directed to every day life. The SUBJ
1ect has been investigated, both physiologically
ana pecuniarily. Foods may be classified
follows: Edible substances which are COM
posed of nutrients and water and refuse. Nu-
trfents are divided into four classes-the pro-
teins, fats, carbohydrates and mineral matters
The protein includes a class to which various
names are applied. This class contains all the
heterogeneous matter. The fats include the fat
proper, butter, olive Oil, the OIL of corn, meal,
etc. The carbohydrates are the starches and
sugars. Potatoes come under this class. The
mineral class includs the calcium and magne-
SUM compounds, the phOsphates, chiorides, ETC.
Prof. Atwater took the common foods, and on
the basis of 100 parts showed the available nu-
round, there arc 50 parts OF protein, In sirloin
little less, about the same quantity in the beet
sirioin. Fat pork contains Il large amount of
nutriment. Fish is less nutritive than the
meats. but five pounds of nutritive material
being obtained from 100 pounds OF material.
1t usually contains about per cent. Salt
mackerel Is among the most nutritive,
| and founder is one of the poorest But ii we
remove the bone and waste, we get more nutr-
tive matter III proportion. In pint of milk
and pint of oysters there is the same amount
OF nutrment, although the oysters contain
more protein, and the milk contains more tat.
Cheese contains a large amount of nutrition.
Pe'e psa mas Sa per cent OF nntritiye matter
| the same value i'll this matter. The breads rep
resentlng the carbohydrates contain about
| 33 or 35 per cent OF water, flour from
to ID per cent, corn and maize meal still
more water. They have less protein and
more fat; oatmeal has, on the contrary, more
| a ,is ole
contains most all nutritive material and but
little water. "A pound OF potato. however,
but little protein. The figures on which
| the statements are based are not SO satisfac-
tory as could be desired, as most OF the expert
ments have been carried on in Europe, espec-
tally those of the animal foods. The vegetable
! foods have been more Investigated in this
country than the animal. The digestibility Of
foods has been experimental upon extensively
by Prof. Voit OF Munich, who has arrived at
some satisfactory results. 1t depends on the
| lastly, the relation of food to the pecu-
liarity OF the individual and the suit
G oed 0fsadi ne
The method of experiment in this line has
been fraught with serious difficulties, and
Is very complicated at best. The basis OF
the experimentation is, from the amount OF
| food consumed, to subtract the amount undi-
gested, the difference being that digested
fully upon the "diner of the laboratory, who
survived, however, under all the experiments,
|
days, and again meat of the kind for GER
tam Time. AS ~ result OF these experiments it
was learned that both lean meat and fish
were thoroughly and completely digest.d.
Most all OF meat, milk and eggs are dgested.
OF the fats from 80 To 81 per cent are di-
gcsted. The whole OF the wheat, the speaker
said should be eaten because of the large
amount OF protein in the husk: but the eco
nomical difference is but very little. In short,
| animal foods are more completely digested
| than the vegetable foods. The amount OF
| experiment In this direction. is not sutfi-
| Gent, however, to warrant generalization. The
| pecunlary economy Of foods may be studied in
| several ways. We can take the separate ingre-
dients and figure the cost OF food, or we can
take the comparative cost OF u pound OF pro-
| TEN from beef fish, etc. The cost OF one pound
OF protein from sirloin beef at rs cents a
pound is sl.O6; from mutton at % cents,
81 cents; from beef neck at . cents, 33
cents; from tenderloin beef at 90 cents,
S2.35. Hence it will lie seen that the
to buy to get the protein. So in beef we can
get IT from .33 to $3.50, according as we buy
the cheap or expensive parts. III veect:,bie
| foods the protein Costs much less. In fish
the cost runs from "A cents to S5.1l, which Ii;
the price paid for it in early salmon; in eggs
at 20 cents per dozen, 81 Oh milk at 3 cents a
quart, 81 cents. III ine cereals the cost of
the protein is far different, costing but 10
cents in wheat at cents per pound; in oat-
meal, IL cents; in flour at S6 per barrel, II
cents. y chart was shown showing the guam
uty OF uutriinent purchased for 20 cents OF the
of nn 1 foods; me't; are very expensive
| economical. For example, 25 cents will buy
seven pounds OF protein in Indian meal at =
| cents per pound, While but fraction of q
pound is 10 be obtained from the meats in
general, except in fat pork. Thus animal
foods are inucn more expensive. The protein
OF the food is that when contains the nitro
gen and forms the heterogeneous matter in the
| Dody, that Is, the blood. the muscle, skin and q
| large part OF the principal tissues. A part of
| tine fat OF the body comes from the protein
which also contributes 10 the supply of heat and
energy. Protein thus serves to buiid the tissues
ana supply the energy. The lat of foods serves
us tat ON the body. anu furnishes the heat OF the
| body. 1t also serves food. The carbOhy-
drates, sugar and starch, are transformed into
| ats