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Food Values and Adulterations: Chittenden

By reference to the standards given on page 618 it will be seen that the body requires, according to Chittenden, about one part proteid to three parts fat and six parts carbohydrate.

Hence foods constituting a naturally well balanced ration appear toward the bottom of the food map. Here they fall within what is called the "normal rectangle" shown in the accompanying illustration. The position of all possible combinations of food can be worked out upon the 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 P F 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 C Food map showing normal rectangle for a balanced diet, Chittenden's standard (Dr. Irving Fisher.) food map and thus a perfectly balanced diet can be calculated. But the process is too complex for the ordinary person.* Standard Portions. - Dr. Fischer has adopted for the purpose of calculating food values, a unit which he * Those who wish to give the subject further study should send 10 cents to the American School of Home Economics, Chicago, for its bulletin, "Food Values."

FOOD VALUES AND ADULTERATIONS A calls the "standard portion." This is a quantity of each kind of food which will produce 100 calories of energy. The "calory" is the unit of measurement of heat, just as the pound is the unit of weight, or the acre the unit of land measure. calory is approximately the amount of heat that is required to raise the temperature of one pound of water 4° F. The figures after the names on the food maps give the weight of "standard portions" in ounces. They are useful as a means of comparing the values of different kinds of P 100 90 BO 70 60 50 40 30 20 BREAD 10 BREAD & BUTTER 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 F Food map showing combination of one "portion" of bread and one "portion" of butter. (Dr. Irving Fisher.) foods, since the value of food to the body is determined by the number of calories of heat or energy that it can produce. Referring to the food map "Flesh and Cereals," for example, it will be seen that 1 ounces of white bread are the equivalent of 21% ounces of round of beef (uncooked), and many other interesting comparisons are suggested. A few words about each of the principal kinds of nutrients and a brief discussion of each of the chief classes of food from which they may be obtained-with the aid of the food maps for purposes of comparisonwill enable any housewife to provide a reasonably well balanced diet.

KINDS OF NUTRIENTS Water.-Water makes up a very large part of many kinds of food, such as milk, fresh meat, and fresh fruits and vegetables. It is present in practically all food products.

Roughly speaking, over one-half of fresh lean meat and fish, and about three-fourths of fresh fruit and vegetables are water. It forms over 60 per cent by weight of the average human body and is a component part of all the tissues. It is thus an important constituent of our food. But it cannot be burned and hence does not yield energy to the body. For this reason the water contained in foods is usually set aside together with the refuse and nutrients not available to digestion. Only the values of the digestible solids need be calculated. To the housewife, the presence of water in foods is of importance chiefly in comparison of cost by weight. Oysters, for example, are an expensive food as compared to sirloin of beef at the same price per pound, since they contain 36 per cent more water. In other words, watery foods are dilute and bulky and must be paid for and eaten in far larger quantities to yield an equal amount of nutrient. - Mineral Matter or Ash. When food or body material is burned, a small residue of mineral matter remains as ash. This constitutes some 5 per cent or 6 per cent of the body by weight. It is found principally in the bones and teeth. It is, however, present in other tissues and in solution in the various fluids. Mineral matter yields little or no energy, yet is indispensable to life and health.