The Morning examiner. [volume] (Ogden, Utah) 1904-1910, 1909-06-13
NUTRITIVE VALUE OF BEER.
(F'rom The Literary Digest, May 20.
1qOq)

1909
Some years aeo a great outcry was
raised over Professor Atwaters dis
covery that alcohol in small quantities
was oxidzed in the human system
ana produced heat, and was therefore
q food After a long and acrimonious
discussion, in which the professor was
called a number of hard names. IL
dawned upon his detractoTs that this
scientific fact did not In any way
deny the evils Of intemperance or
oppose their advocacy Of total abStin-
ence. 1t was. indeed. merely sclen-
tlllc truth, with no moral bearing one
way or the other a somewhat SINH
lar report has just been made PUBIC
by a special government commission
In England in which a good word Is
uttered for the nutritive value oil peer
The general idea that beer Is pri-
mnrlly an alcoholic drink Is opposed
In this report, which holds that, when
well and properly made, 1t Is a beVe-
rage containing a very small amount
of alcohol and relatively large
amount of nutritive material. Says
The Hospital" Gondon. May II in
an editorial about the report.
"It Is time that the erroneous view
that beer has no nutritive value In 1t
self, and merely consists of beyer-
age upon which a certain portion of
the community intoXicates Itself,
should be exposed and discredited.
The results Of our commission show
that beer is par excellence the nutri-
tive alcoholic beverage. All beyer-
ages because they contain alcohol
should not be regarded in the same
light. The spirit -nipper is committing
quite a different act from the beer
drinker; in fact, beer Is much farther
removed, from the point of view of
It's alcohol content, from some wines
and all spirits than it is from ginger
beer.
when n man drinks good beer he
drinks and eats at the same time. Just
as when he eats bowl OF soup The
terms eat and drink are curlously
but inconsistently used as connoti1g
the difference between what Is merely
quenching our thirst and what is ac-
tually consuming nourlshment- Our
commissioners point out man might
more properly be said TO eat beer than
10 eat certain kinds of soup, or In
deed watermelonS, Their report VIII
enable members of the medical pro
fesslon and the public to understand
clearly what constitutes good beer,
and where and how they may obtain
t.. Beer-drinkers. the numbers of
whom we hope will Increase consider
y, of ha raCnarnha- IF
our commissioners, are now in posi-.
tion TO protect themselves from bad
beers, and we hold the View that It
would be Indefinitely better for the
well,belng of the people OF these is
lands as a whole If they were to Sc
lect beer as their habltual drink rath-
er than wines OF spirits Climatic
conditions have n good deal TO do with
the detetic value of substances used
for allayine thirst Our commission
ers properly drive home that when a
man drinks beer or stout habltually
he is not only drinking but eating. n
fact which had not been sufficiently
recognized In recent years, These
beverages contain all the elements OF
n typical diet with the exception of
fat, and in A proportion approximate
" physiological Our commissioners
remind us that If the worth of food
Is measured by its calorimetric value
the fact Is that a glass of good ale Is
approximately as nourishing as a
glass of milk, and that a quart OF
good beer is nearly equivalent to Il
quarter OF pound OF beef"
These remarks must not be mis-
construed We are quite alive as our