Evening star., 1914-03-04
Chemistry of Food.

y puzzled and inexperienced housewife
wrote most pathetic letter the other
day. 1t ran in this fashion:
II should know about what is called
the chemistry of food. I read books full
Of scientific terms. but nobody tells me
Just the simple why of things and that is
what want to know
SO in order to help this one, and per
haps other housewives, few simple ex-
plantations may be given
II is perfectly well known that man
may eat his fill and leave his body hun
Sry, for it is quality. not quantity. which
counts in making healthy blood and It's
sue.
We know that varying conditions oil
climate and occupation demand different
diets. For instance, an Eskimo could not
live on a diet of fruit, or a worker IN
the Canal Zone on whales blubber
When Commander Peary goes to the
north mole he takes with him heat-pro-
ducing foods, but if he spends the winter
in Florida his wants are dlferent.
The child must not have the same diet
as the adult or the laborer onsthe rail-
road try to live on what professor vi
writer would find sufficient. In ehe cheiIii-
cal laboratory various agents are COLI
come known as laws. for they are con-
stant and Interchangeable.
So il Is with food and the human body
We know what will produce heat. Wnat
will have a cooling effect. What VIII lllahe
muscle. what will feed the nerves. what
produces pure blood, and we have oeen
able to arrive at these positive conclu- :
sions by the study of the cause ana enect
which constitute a law, as much 10 ne oe-
pended upon as the one useu LII 'ie 'e'
oratory experiment.
90 no housewife can be called efficient
either in the line of cooking or providing
for her family. who does not know
little about food elements and What tneS
do when they are taken INTO the oodS.
Another most important consideration
is the economy which the ever-increaSlnS
cost Of living has forced upon so many
families, and the difficulty of obtaining
pure food at any price.
1t seems sometimes as If the future
strength and usefulness of the race IL
self are being threatened by the inability
of so many parents to provide FOR their
children the adequate muscle and nerve
building foods which the developing Or
ganSmS demand
So is it not important that each house
wife should know a little about the re
sponse the body makes to certain KINDS
of food. and just how much return, IN
nourishment and good health, may be eA-
pected from them?
person takes into his body daily through
the lungs and mouth. eight and one,
quarter pounds of dry food, water and
the air necessary for breathing.
| The same amount is given off as waste
through the pores of the skin lungs. kid
| neys and intestines. so that the likening
| of the human body to a machine Is the
| truest possible comparison.
It is a highly complicated and delicately
adjusted mechanism, and fuel must DC
supplied in exact proportion to the de
mand and be of quality to secure results
| lust as in the case of the motor in an
automobile If the gasoline is adulterated
or the supply runs short the machine
| will not travel far. So greater knowl-
edge of what the body requires will cause
| the housewife to provide the food which
will carry vigor to every muscle and
nerve.
In the first place, food must be thor
oughly masticated. 1t is serious error
| to throw food into the stomach without
chewing it properly. We may laugh when
people fell US to "Fletcherize.' but it Is
both q necessary and scientific proceed
| ing.
In mastication the food is not only
softened and moistened by the saliva. but
is acted upon chemically by the acids ir
the saliva, and the starches, fats ano