Food study

Since man excretes every day a large amount of mineral matter, this loss must be replaced. The necessary amount of mineral matter is found in an ordinary mixed diet. Common salt, sodium chloride, is the only mineral which is added to food, but it is probable that there would be enough of this furnished in the food of a mixed diet. In fact, it is possible that large quantities of salt are really bad for us rather than helpful. People, like the Esquimaux, who are unaccustomed to its use easily detect the addition of an exceedingly small amount and dislike it, but those who are habituated to its use crave it. Salt seems to accentuate flavor. * Metabolism includes all the processes which food undergoes after it is digested and absorbed and before it is excreted. In the metabolism of proteins, mineral acids are formed which must be neutralized by such basic substances as sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, in order to preserve the alkalinity of the blood. As these basic elements are abundant in vegetables and fruits, it is necessary that the diet should contain liberal amounts of both and not consist too largely of meat. The modern diet is likely not to be well balanced in this respect, because it consists of liberal amounts of meat, fats, and sugar, all of which contain insignificant amounts of mineral salts. At first thought it seems strange that fruits should be added to prevent over-acidity when fruits themselves are acid; but the acids present are organic acids, such as citric, malic, tartaric, and oxalic. Some of these are decomposition products of starch and are oxidized by the body to produce energy and are then given off as carbon dioxide and water, just as starch is metabolized. Mineral acids cannot be oxidized in the body and must be neutralized into salts and then excreted, and that is why they require basic elements with which to unite to become salts. It is important to remember the need for generous amounts of vegetables and fruit in the diet, for these often seem expensive materials in comparison with the amount of energy and of building material which they contain, and the poor are tempted to leave them entirely out of their rations. Ohio Agri. Exp. Station (Wooster) Bulletin 201. "Mineral Elements in Nutrition." Ohio Agri. Exp. Station (Wooster) Bulletin 207. "The Balance between Inorganic Acids and Bases in Animal Nutrition." U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Farmers' Bulletin No. 73, pp. 23-27. "Losses in Cooking Vegetables." U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Office of Exp. Station Bulletin No. 43. "Losses in Boiling Vegetables." Journal of Home Economics, Vol. 4, No. 5, "Losses in Boiling Vegetables." 1. Are mineral elements so abundant in foods that they do not need to be taken into consideration in menu making ? 2. What foods contain iron ? What special use has the body for this substance ? 3. Why is milk so valuable a food for babies ? 4. How may carelessness in preparation waste or lose the salts contained in foods ? 5. Discuss the boiling, baking, and steaming of vegetables from this point of view. 6. What uses may be made of the water in which vegetables have been cooked ? When is this worth while ? 7. Do canned and dried vegetables retain their mineral salts ? BREAKFAST