Chapter 7

MEATS, SUGARS AND MILK

First in the list of foods the writer would place those nitrogenous substances commonly eaten that belong to the class of albumins. That these substances are in reality the most important of all food-stuffs there can be no sort of question, since they, of all things eaten by the human being, are alone absolutely essential for his well being and even his existence. They are the substances that almost exclusively go to make up the muscle and tendons. Along with the lime-salts they enter largely into the composition of the bones and cartilages, brain, spinal cord and nerves. Other foods are incapable of taking the place of the albumins, so that they are absolutely essential for normal life in the human being.

The amount of albumin necessary for the normal adult has been variously estimated, the tendency at the present time being to place the quantity needed somewhat lower than was at one time done. It is probable that about two ounces of pure albumins is somewhere near the amount required in twenty-four hours by a normal adult.

It is well, since we are so dependent on foods of this class, that we have two quite distinct sources from which they may be taken. The great bulk comes to us in the form of meats, including poultry, game, oysters and fish of various kinds, in addition to beef, mutton, and hog-meat in its several forms. Of animal origin also we have eggs, which are among the most valuable of all foods of this class on account of their high digestibility.

From the vegetable world we get albumins known as legumins, which differ somewhat from those obtained from animal sources, though taking their place in the economy in all essential particulars. Unfortunately the legumins are usually so mixed with starches and other vegetable substances less digestible, that it is necessary to take a large bulk of foods of this latter class in order to secure anything like the requisite amount of the former.

Before taking up individually the various albuminous foods, the writer would again direct attention to the chapter on cooking, and would strongly urge upon the reader the proper methods of preparing nitrogenous foods therein stated. Where the albumins are in a nearly pure state, as in milk and eggs, they are slightly more digestible when raw, but all meats should be cooked until only the faintest tinge of red remains if we wish to have them prepared in the most wholesome way for those with delicate digestions. Meats are, as a rule, most wholesome when cooked "very done."

It has long been the cry of sentimentalists that no living being should die in order that man might exist. Unfortunately for such theories, the stern and unbending edict of nature has negatived views of this kind ages before the altruistic philosopher came on the scene, and we are daily constrained to bow to this mandate of one of the primal laws of existence. However much we might desire it otherwise, it has been written that "only in death is there life;" nor may any animal being disobey and continue to exist. As has been already explained, the human being cannot thrive on vegetable substances alone; from them he may get a certain amount of nitrogen in the form of legumin, but there is not enough to make up for the waste of this substance that constantly goes on in the body.

Theoretically it is of very little importance which of the meats are selected to supply our nitrogenous food, but it is unfortunately true that such foods vary much in digestibility, and it will therefore be necessary to consider them separately.

_Beef._--When tender and cooked to a proper degree, beef is considered one of our most wholesome of meats. Like other foods of this kind, it should not be fried, but should be broiled or roasted, and a certain amount of fat may be eaten along with the lean portions without injury, and in many persons unquestionably with benefit.

_Mutton._--Of all the coarser meats, mutton is unquestionably the most digestible, and when cooked in the same way as directed for beef is eminently wholesome.

_Hog-meats._--On account of the large portion of fat between the muscle-fibers, hog-meat, particularly when fresh, is not usually regarded as being digestible. Some persons eat it with impunity, but for the vast majority it should be taken only in small quantities. It should not be fried. In the form of ham, hog meat is more wholesome than when fresh, but even in this condition many dyspeptics find much difficulty in digesting it. The best method of cooking it is to boil thoroughly. After being cooked in this way and then broiled, it is most appetizing, and is much more wholesome than when broiled without being previously cooked. As bacon, hog-meat enters largely into the dietary of a great portion of the laborers of this country, and there can be no doubt that on the whole it answers the purpose of a staple food admirably. It contains even more fat than nitrogenous substances, and may therefore be looked upon as a mixture of butter and meat. Dyspeptics cannot eat it with impunity in many instances, though it agrees far better with them than does ham or the fresh meat. If it were generally eaten boiled it would provoke less trouble than when fried. At this point the writer would repeat his warning concerning the indigestible character of melted grease, of which the gravy from bacon is a striking example.

When "cured" in a somewhat different way hog-meat as "breakfast-bacon" is very generally used throughout the civilized world, and is one of its most wholesome forms. This when broiled is both appetizing and wholesome, and should form a part of the daily dietary of everyone able to afford it.

_Poultry and Game._--Among the more delicate and most wholesome forms in which albumins are taken we find poultry and game well up toward the head of the list. Meats of this character should be very thoroughly cooked by being either baked, smothered or broiled.

_Fish._--Fish of almost all kinds are wholesome provided they be fresh and properly cooked. The culinary artist prepares of them most appetizing and nutritious dishes, and they are therefore properly to be recommended as among the best of the albuminous foods.

_Oysters and Clams._--Oysters and clams are usually considered somewhat apart from the generality of the foods of this character. When fresh they are wholesome and delicious when eaten raw, and may be cooked in a great variety of ways. The reader should be especially warned that fried oysters are not so wholesome as when they are prepared by other methods, for the reason that they are surrounded by a batter containing quantities of melted grease.

_Eggs._--Among the most delicate, digestible, and nutritious of all foods we may place eggs. Though somewhat more digestible when raw, they agree, as a rule, even with the most fastidious stomach, however cooked, even when hard-boiled. Eggs lend themselves readily to the formation of many delicious dishes, such as omelets, souffles, etc.; but unfortunately they do not contain nutriment in a very concentrated form, and where an adult is living on them alone it requires from one and a half to two dozen daily to furnish the necessary amount of food.

_Fats._--Under the term "fats" are included all oily substances, such as butter, lard, olive and cotton-seed oils, and to a great extent the fat contained in meats. These substances are closely related to starches and sugars, and undoubtedly play a more or less similar role when taken into the body as food. From the standpoint of heat-producing capacity they more than double, weight for weight, meats and starches, and are, therefore, instinctively highly prized by dwellers in cold countries where much heat is necessary. In warmer countries the necessity for excessive heat-production in the body does not exist.

While oily substances are certainly capable of adding to the cushion of fat commonly found beneath the skin in normal individuals, they are not looked upon as being to any extent tissue-builders, resembling in this particular the starches and sugars.

When fats are to be eaten, care should be taken that they be as fresh as possible, or, if this is not feasible, they should be preserved in such a way as to prevent their becoming rancid--a condition which is the result of the formation of fatty acids, lending a peculiarly unpleasant odor and taste, and producing a decided decrease in food-value. This alteration may be largely prevented by keeping fats in a refrigerator at a low temperature, and may also be greatly retarded by the addition of salt. In this country butter is usually treated with a very considerable amount of salt, but in Europe it is universally served fresh. Within recent years facts have been established that show that Americans use an excessive amount of this substance--possibly causing disease in some cases; and doubtless we would be better off if we were to follow the European practice.

Oily substances when in good condition are certainly of high value as foods, but should be taken more or less with an eye to the climate, and to the season of the year. When placed on cold bread and eaten along with it they are extremely palatable, and may be taken in reasonable amounts with decided benefit to the whole body. In temperate climates it is generally estimated that about three ounces is a desirable amount for the average adult. In this connection it may not be out of place to mention that the various preparations of cod-liver oil, advertised so freely in the lay press, in some instances actually do not contain a single particle of the substance that they are supposed to be principally composed of; and it may be further stated that there is no good reason to believe that bulk for bulk oils of this kind are in any way superior to those fats commonly eaten. The writer often recalls the saying of a very wise old physician of his acquaintance that "cod-liver oil is nearly as good as butter."

_Sugars._--This term includes the large number of different substances of a more or less sweetish taste that belong to the group of carbohydrates. They are closely related to the starches, and it is generally assumed that they play much the same part after being taken into the body. Some of these are of animal and some of vegetable origin--but except the sugar found in milk, the only ones commonly consumed are those derived from cane, beets, and fruits; the sugar from the first two is known as cane sugar or dextrose, and that from the latter as grape sugar or glucose. Like albumins they may be eaten without having been previously cooked, and are unique in that they undergo no chemical change whatever as a result of ordinary degrees of heat.

While the consumption of sugars in all civilized nations is rapidly increasing, there can be no question that, irrespective of fruits, they are, of all foods, the most frequent causes of digestive disturbances. It is only within comparatively recent times that mankind has possessed means of separating sugars in any great bulk from the plants containing them, and as a consequence they have only entered prominently into our every-day diet for a relatively short period of time. Before this, it is true, they were consumed to a greater or less extent in various fruits, but the quantity was insignificant as compared with the amount now universally eaten. As a result of this we are now confronted with a new dietetic problem. For ages the human stomach has been accustomed to deal with only small quantities of these substances, and developed accordingly a capacity to digest them proportionate to the amounts then eaten. Now, however, we constantly call upon our digestive organs to deal with large quantities of such foods, and it is not strange that there has been more or less rebellion on their part.

Experiments have shown that a small amount of sugar assists in the normal chemical changes that go on in the body, and it is, therefore, obvious that nature intends us to take a certain quantity of it. Moreover it is true that sugars while being burned in the body give off much energy--mainly manifested in muscular power; where then we are taking active physical exercise foods of this kind are peculiarly appropriate. It would, therefore, not be wise for us to leave this food entirely out of the dietetic list, but to use it only in small amounts--particularly where we lead sedentary lives. Sugar and alcohol play a more or less similar role in the animal economy. It is well known that those who do not use alcohol are peculiarly prone to consume considerable quantities of sugar; and it is equally a matter of common observation that those who habitually take alcohol rarely eat sweets to any extent.

When sugar is properly assimilated, as seems to be done most easily by children, it is an excellent food, but where sweets are over-eaten, and not properly digested, they give rise to a great accumulation of gas in the intestine, and produce in many persons a marked acidity of the stomach, frequently accompanied by severe insomnia. Nothing so quickly relieves such sleeplessness, caused by a "sour stomach," as allowing ten or fifteen grains of ordinary cooking-soda to slowly dissolve in the mouth and swallowing the saliva rendered alkaline in this way.

_Milk._--Milk may be looked upon as an ideal food, it being composed of water carrying in solution the three great natural foods--albumins in the form of casein, carbohydrates as milk-sugar or lactose, and fat. Mixed in the proportion in which they here occur, they are most admirably adapted to the delicate digestive apparatus of the infant--the relative proportion of the different substances even gradually changing as the assimilative powers of the youthful organism increase; it is thus seen that milk itself is not of constant composition, even in the same animal, and that it alters in such a manner as to meet best the needs of the delicate being depending upon it for proper sustenance. It is also the case that the composition of milk varies in different animals--showing again how admirably nature exerts its powers in meeting desired ends.

The lesson of practicable importance that we learn from this is that the milk of one of the lower animals is not in its natural state quite suited to the delicate stomach of the growing infant, and that if it be substituted for the mother's milk it must be more or less altered, depending upon the age of the child. It is particularly important that sweet milk be taken slowly, as otherwise large curds, difficult of digestion, form as soon as it gets into the stomach.