Wichita eagle., 1888-07-12
WHAT WE SHOULD EAT.
WHAT PROFESSOR ATWATER SAYS
ON THE SUBJECT.

lions OF Nutriments In Various Articles
Of Food-Important Facts
The main difference between the diet Of
people Of moderate mean. here and In Eu-
rope is that the peopls here eat more meat
and other animal foods and more sugar. The
European wage worker usually has but little
meat, butter or sugar. In England he often
enjoys richer diet, suppose, but on the
continent ordinary people live mainly upon
the cheaper vegetable foods Meats and fish
supply good deal Of protein and fat The
fats, including butter, are rich IN energy,
and sugar supplies more energy than most
vegetable foods. While the energy In the
working peoples dietaries In England,
France, Germany and Italy. as reported BY
Playfair, Moieschott, Volt and others, ranges
from $500 calories or less to maximum OF
500, those that have found il this country
range from minimum of {, 500 to 5000, and
even higher. The differences In the protein IN
American and European dietaries are similar
though not quite as large. Without doubt
we waste more of our food than the Euro
peans do, but the amount which we do eat q
evidently very much larger. And though
many Of rs eat far too much meats and
sweetmeat, for the good Of our health or OUR
pockets, the evidence seems to me TO imply
very clearly that we must keep ON eating
more than our transatlantic brethren If we
are n keep on working az intensely and as
productivity as we now do The question Of
high wages and short hours is largely oues-
ton of nutritious diet Meat, eggs, milk,
butter and sugar can be bad, when there is
money te pay for them They are tooth
md ho-D< rte ~ cyot their,
eat a great deal They are easily digested
ana rlcb IL protein and energy, and hence
sustain high degree Of activity.
The standards for proportions Of nutrients
help te explain why we need combinations Of
different food materials for nOurishment
Almost any one kint Of food would make
one sidec diet Suppose, for instance,
workingrnan is restricted &c single food ma
teriaI, as beef or potatoes A pound and
thirteen ounces Of roast beef, Of the compo
sirior here assumed would furnish the re-
quirec l25 grams O2S h. OF protein. and
With it 1T Id of fat, but it has no carbohy
drates Yet nature has provided for the use
OF thes. II Giz food Three pounds Of corn
meal would yield the protein and with 1t
large excess of caroChydrates-over two
pounds 4 pound AID three-Quarters Of cod
tisb would supply the same protein, but it
would nave very little fat ana no carbohy-
drates &c furnish the body With heat and
strength Potatoes or rice would have even
a greater excsss OF the fuel which the beef
and tlsh Lack than has corn meal Assuming
that the man needs !, SIC Galleries OF potential
energy In his daily food the oae ana three
quarter pounds of salt Goldfish which would
furnish the needed protein would supply only
$40. while tc get the needed protein from the
fat pork would require 9.s pounds, which
would supply ~ pounds Of tat and over
&, OOC calorieS of energyi
Putting the matter in another way, we
might estimate the quantities OF each ma
ueriaI which would furnish the required
energy, ration made up exclusively Of
either kind of food would De as one sided IL
this case as before The fish would be mostly
poruein, the fat pork nearly all fat, and the
potatoes or rice little else than starch With
almost any one Of these food materials, in
quantities to meet the demand Of his body
for heat and muscular strength, the man
would have much more or much less protein
than he would need to make up for the con-
sumption CT muscle and other tissues Ii he
were obliged TO confne himself to any one
food material, oatmeal would come about as
near to our standard as any Wheat -four
with a little fat-in other words, bread and
butter-woUld approach very close to Voit's
standard for European working people, with
chiefly vegetable diet, but it would need a
little meat, fish, eggs, milk, beans, pease or
other heterogeneous food TO bring it to the pro-
portions that the American standard calls
for.
Rice, which Is the staple food Of large
portion Of the human race, IS very poor in
protein; beans have q large quantity. The
different plants which are together called
pulse are botanically allied TO beans, and are
similar n chemical composition We have
here very simple explanation Of the use of
pulse by the Hindus with their rice. The
Chinese and the japanese, whose diet is al
most exclusively vegetable, follow similar
usage.
The Goldfish and potatoes and the pork and
beans which have long been so much used in
and about New England form a most eco
nonical diet; indeed, scarcely any other food
available in that region has supplied so much
and so valuable nutriment at so little cost
The combination is likewise in accord with
the highest physiological law. Half pound
each Of salt Goldfish and pork, two-thirds of a
pound Of beans and three pounds Of potatoes
would together supply almost exactly the
125 grams Of protein and $500 calories Of
energy that our standard for the days food
Of a workngnan calls for.-Professor ". o.
Atwater in The Century.
-r.ur. ING .N MOROCCO.
Crossing the Sbou River-Arab Stupidity.
Praying and CursinC.