South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-06-17
Jam is Rich
In Food Value
Costs Much Less Than But
ter and Creates Twice as
Much Energy.

The value of jam as a food lies in
its richness In sugar, in the minerals
which are present in the skins of the
fruit. in its laxative character and its
mechanical aid to digestion. writes
Prof James Long in the London
Evening News. It's ''toothsomeness"
too is not to be despised, for It ap-
peals to that relish and appetite which
go so far in the maintenance Of
health.
We may fairly assume that. taking
one type of jam with another. one-haIf
its weight consists of sugar. and here
we arrive at test Of its fitness as
food for our Tommies. An average
lump of sugar produces 20 calories OF
energy, and on this the best experts
agree. Thus, a pound pot of jam would
provide 900 Galleries from the sugar
alone, or, assuming a consumption Of
four ounces day. go calories when
adding the value of the fruit. Under
existing conditions a soldier requires
food which will provide 400 calories;
therefore, this small allowance is an
important addition TO his ration.
Five pounds of jam cost no more
than one pound of butter, but what Of
its relative value as food? one pound
of butter provides $500 calories,
whereas five pounds of jam provide
of three and a half pounds of jam is
equal TO that of one pound of butter
and at a good deal less cost
To the man IL the street sugar is
sugar, but there is "a wide difference
in the behavior of that obtained from
different sources. Sugar from the
cane or the beet. which now provides
4
sugar in milk, grape sugar (deXtrOSe)
or the sugar present in fruits
Sugar present in fruit has a re-
maTka bic effect on nutrition and can
be eaten in far greater quantity than
raw or commercial sugar. The latter
eaten too freely-and a small guam
tity is often sutficient-will cause irri-
tatiOn, acidity, pain and the various
freaks of digestion. When, however,
sugar is employed in the manufacture
of jam these phenomena are fewer or
they disappear altogether. The cause
is worth knowing, for the wise man
Will avoid what may cause his dis
tress.
Jam that has been we'll boiled.
like that made by the economical
housewife, contains a large proportion
of ''invert" sugar, which is more freely
digested than raw sugar and can be
eaten with greater impunity
This form of sugar is produced in
making jam by the united action OF
heat and the acids of the fruit. 1t Is,
in a word, combination of grape"
sugar and fruit sugar, but loses some
of its sweetness in the process of cook
ing. Invert sugar is much less of an
irritant than raw sugar and reduces
the troubles caused by dyspepsia.
Honey is an excellent example of IN
vert sugar of which it contains nearly
II ounces to the pound, and Is well
known as a delightful nutritious and
easily digestible dainty, although, as
with everything else, too much can be
eaten at once.
The most nutritious and useful OF
all varieties of jam are those made
from the plum, mixture of plum and
apple. the damsOn, the apricot, the
gooseberry the currant and the
Whortleberry, which is rich in iron OF
special value to the nervy and the
anaemic The plum and the apple
otherwise stand at the top of the list,
hut in all cases the skins and acids,
like the malic acid of the apple, play
an important role in the economy or
health.