Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1906-01-11
BREAD THE BEST OF FOODS.
Physician Says that 1t Is More Nh.
tritious than Meat.

I
tritiOus than Meat.
According to Dr. Robert Hutchin-
son, of the London hospital, who sup
piled evidence regarding food supply
to d royal commission, bread is the
most important of all the common
foods Of the people. AS a yieIder of
energy one pound Of bread is more
valuable than a pound of meat. Its
chief deficiency, however, is its pow
erty in heterogeneous matter and it
therefore has to be supplemented with
articles that remedy this defect. Life
could be sustained for long periods on
a diet OF bread, with a few beans or
a little cheese.
A man in time Of scarcity of general
food could subsist upon two pounds of
bread a day, says DR.. Hutchinson. He
would begin to suffer from lack of en-
ergy if he got less, but could go con-
siderably below the two pounds for
bare subsistence in times of great ur-
gency, such as garrisOns undergo in
time of siege. Under these conditions
it is disease that carries men off rather
than starvation.
One interesting point on which DR..
Hutchinson insists is the value of or
binary white bread. Rye, he says, is
lower in nutritive value than wheat
The next most important article of
diet as a source of energy is sugar. In
commenting on this DR.. Hutchinson
makes an interesting statement on the
duties of food.
The unfortunate thing about sugar
is that it contains no heterogeneous mat
ter at ALL" says the expert. Bread
does contain some. Without nitro
genOus matter one cannot get on at all.
1t is absolutely necessary.
There are two sorts of food. The
two things that food does are-first it
keeps the body in repair; and, second,
it supplies it with energy. Some foods
can supply it with energy, but cannot
do anything to keep it in repair. Bread
can do both, but it is better as a source
of energy than as a repairer."
Among the heterogeneous foods in
stanced as good adjuncts in supplying
the defects of bread are beans, cheese
and fish. The white of an egg is stated
to be an essential element of food. If
no meat is available at any time bread,
sugar and eggs are all that is wanted
for "a very respectable support for the
body" Under conditions of compare
tive scarcity if a child is given it's
slice of bread with molasses I'VE are
doing as well as we can for the child"
Another illustration of the marvel
Gus value of bread as a food is given
by Dr. Hutchinson. "One pound of
beef is only about half as valuable as
a source of energy as ar equal guam
tity Of cheese, while a given weight of
bread yields a third more energy than
it's equivalent in beef"
The amount of food required by an
ordinary person is somewhat remark
able when comparison is made with
an engine. A man requires to be sup
piled with about 1900 foot-tons of en-
ergy a day. That is to say, his food if
consumed in an engine would raise
1900 tons weight one foot high every
day. This does not allow for waste.
THE human body is rather a waste
ful machine" says DR.. Hutchinson.
THAT is to say, an enormous amount
of energy Is not turned out as work,
but is lost in heat" Considered as a
heat machine, the human body is de-
scribed as being more effective than
the best engine.