New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-10-20
VALUE OF PROPER FOOD
WHAT THE HOUSE MOTHER SHOULD
KNOW-DISEASE LARGELY DUE TO
ERRORS IN DIET-SUGAR AS
A NUTRIENT
A NUTRIENT.

The opportunity and responsibility of the house
mother occupied much Of Mrs. John Kendall Dunn's
recent address on The Composition and Value OF
Foods" before the domestic science department of
the Brooklyn Institute. The housewife she said
provides not simply meat, flour, vegetables, etc.
but in reality supplies the personal fuel energy
and ability of each member of her family Not
withstanding Mrs. Ellen H. Richards's statement
that sit is not nearly difficult to acquire a
working knowledge of food value as of whist or
gof.' the speaker declared that the amount Of
knowledge required of the hoUsekeeper Of to-day
was discouraging. She believed that the house
wives two generations hence would have learned
in their childhood the physiological values of foods
as generally as the children Of to-day acquire the
principles Of arithmetic Mrs. Dunn further stated
The supply Of food in the household is governed
principally by the likes and dislikes Of its mem
bers, by the material which may for the moment
attract the attention of the buyer by estab-
nshed family routine, which is adhered to because
is the best sir Henry Thompson declares that
more than half the diseases which embitter the
errors in diet and that more mischief in the form
OF avoidabe disease, of impaired vigor and short
eneo lie accrues 70 civilized man from erroneous
habits of eating than from the habitual of
health. happiness and finest energy? In the light
Of present knowledge. we may well feel that
to pry up stones with cambria needles for levers,
realized how and with y1faT roaterjai 70 Do the
work htted 10 give sound minds in sound bodies.
The speaker then considered the cIassihcatfons
of food in reference TO its in forming the
terials Of the body and repairing its waste, and
in the building, repairing and energizing prtn-
ciples
In ordinarily healthy person." she said,
the demands of appetite seem correspond close
y with the necessities OF the system. A tawny,
tropical child in the Philippines would scarcely
consider a tallow candle a dietetic luxury, while
the Arctic babe Of Iceland would welcome it with
avidty a midwinter breakfast may comprise
fat bacon, but heat producing food of the kind
in midsummer would be unpalatable.
"A certain amount of fat in the daily dietary
seems to be necessary to proper digestion, and it
is asserted that the faulty nutrition which re-
suits in tuberculosis is caused by a deficiency of
oily substances in the diet. For that cod
liver oil and similar remedies prescribed the
disease. In proof Of this theory 1t is stated that
although in Iceland every circumstance favors
scrofulous conditions. the people remarkably
free from them. This is probably due TO their
fatty diet
"a physician reports that nine-tenths Of the peo-
pie who die Of consumption between the ages OF
fifteen and forty-hve years have never used fat
meats"
Regarding the nutritive value of sugar Mrs
Dunn thought that, since sugar is practically the
same substance that which results from the
digestion Of starch before it is utilized In sys-
TEN, its substitution for starch would lessen the
burden Of the digestive organs. The speaker added
The value OF sugar is evident in cold climates
where FOODS containing starch are not produced,
ana sugar Is now given an important place in the
Sugar, however, becomes most important in warm
countries where very little fat is used In India IT
is said, an employer must furnish food we'll
Soned with sugar or Lose his Workmen. Certain
rowing clubs in Holland use large amounts Of sugar
while training, with the result that they have
superior endurance. Charles E Courtney, trainer
Of the Cornell University boat crew that the
men in training seem TO crave sugar, and
allowed all that they want in tea coffee
cereals. The Swiss guide considers sugar and high
~ sweetened chocolate an Indispensable part of his
outfit The amount OF sugar TO be given TO children
and the best form in which TO provide 1t i'm
portant questions Sugar seems TO be a food es-
pecially adapted TO them because of their great
activity and proportonately greater need of heat
and energy. Those who have studied the food
should be withheld from the staple food of the
child in milk and cereals, and should be fur
nished in Jumps or in homemade candies
We live not simply by what We eat, but upon
what we digest. Many a family would be healthier,
and consequently better mentally and morally, If
this truth could be inscribed its dining
wall for Americans as a rule eat too much.
The staple articles of food few, their pro-
portions are easily learned. II understand in
general food values and food ratios II will serve
to provide We'll balanced diet; that is. which
has the right ratio OF proteine to the fats and
bohydrates In this country, where brings
so large variety Of food material 10 every market
the proVider OF the family has for giving
upon thousands OF patent medicines on the market
bear witness TO the eagerness with which try
10 mend health, when should Their preserve it.
II the wise house mother viii properly the
health Of her family she may Ike Macbeth throw
Dhysic to the doge."