Vegetarianism is not a fad. • It is a great system of diet, based on scientific principles, and when adopted, insures a clearness of mind and a restfulness of spirit which make for renewed strength and a fitness for life's duties. It is full of promise for bettering the spiritual, physical, and economic conditions of both men and nations. V. BALANCING THE FOOD "Of right choice of food are his meals, I ween." LATENT energy is just as surely found in foods as in wood and coal. Like them, foods are only waiting- to be oxidized that they may be converted into heat and energy. The fuel value of foods is expressed in heat units. This is determined by their oxidation outside the body in the apparatus known as the bomb- calorimeter. The calorie is the unit measure of heat used to denote the energy-giving power of food, and is equivalent to the amount of heat necessary to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water one degree centigrade, or about one pint of water four degrees Fahrenheit. The following general estimate has been made for the energy furnished to the body by one gram of each of the different classes of nutrients: I gram1 protein yields 4 calories of fuel value. i gram carbohydrate yields 4 calories of fuel value. I gram of fat yields 9 calories of fuel value. — Bulletin No. 1W, United States Department of Agriculture. By the figures at the right of the chart is represented the total number of calories, or food units, contained in one pound of the various foods under consideration, the building material (protein) being represented by the diagonal lines, the fats by the dotted space, and the carbohydrates by the crosshatching. 1 28.3 grams equal 1 ounce. 53 SCIENCE of FOOD and COOKERY From this chart, it will be seen that the most abundant element of grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables is carbohydrate, while fats predominate in the nuts, protein also being large; and that protein is the chief element in animal flesh, fish, and eggs, there being no carbohydrate at all in these. The carbohydrate of milk consists of milk sugar, no starch being present. Careful experiments have demonstrated that the body is best sustained in health, strength, and endurance by a diet containing a proportion of about one ounce of protein to nine ounces of carbo- hydrate and fat. In an approximate day's ration of 3,000 calories, 10%, or about 300 calories, should be protein. The remainder, or 90%, may be divided, according to individual need or personal preference, between carbohydrates and fats, provided some of each is used. About 25% -of fat and 65% of carbohydrate is consid- ered a good proportion. As to the protein requirement in a day's ration, a well recognized authority on the subject has the follow- ing to say: "Foods should be so selected as to give the ration the right amount of protein, or repair foods, on the one hand, and of fats and carbohydrates, or fuel foods, on the other. A certain amount of protein is absolutely essential. . . . The right proportion of protein has been the subject of much controversy. According to what are regarded as the best investigations, it is generally about 10% of the total number of heat units consumed. This does not, of course, mean 10% of the total weight, nor 10% of the total bulk, but 10% of the total nutriment ; that is, ten calories of protein out of every one hundred calories of food.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Vegetarianism is not a fad. • It is a great system of diet, based on scientific principles, and when adopted, insures a clearness of mind and a restfulness of spirit which make for renewed strength and a fitness for life's duties. It is full of promise for bettering the spiritual, physical, and economic conditions of both men and nations. V. BALANCING THE FOOD "Of right choice of food are his meals, I ween." LATENT energy is just as surely found in foods as in wood and coal. Like them, foods are only waiting- to be oxidized that they may be converted into heat and energy. The fuel value of foods is expressed in heat units. This is determined by their oxidation outside the body in the apparatus known as the bombcalorimeter. The calorie is the unit measure of heat used to denote the energy-giving power of food, and is equivalent to the amount of heat necessary to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water one degree centigrade, or about one pint of water four degrees Fahrenheit. The following general estimate has been made for the energy furnished to the body by one gram of each of the different classes of nutrients: I gram1 protein yields 4 calories of fuel value. i gram carbohydrate yields 4 calories of fuel value. I gram of fat yields 9 calories of fuel value. — Bulletin No. 1W, United States Department of Agriculture. By the figures at the right of the chart is represented the total number of calories, or food units, contained in one pound of the various foods under consideration, the building material (protein) being represented by the diagonal lines, the fats by the dotted space, and the carbohydrates by the crosshatching. 1 28.3 grams equal 1 ounce. From this chart, it will be seen that the most abundant element of grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables is carbohydrate, while fats predominate in the nuts, protein also being large; and that protein is the chief element in animal flesh, fish, and eggs, there being no carbohydrate at all in these. The carbohydrate of milk consists of milk sugar, no starch being present. Careful experiments have demonstrated that the body is best sustained in health, strength, and endurance by a diet containing a proportion of about one ounce of protein to nine ounces of carbohydrate and fat. In an approximate day's ration of 3,000 calories, 10%, or about 300 calories, should be protein. The remainder, or 90%, may be divided, according to individual need or personal preference, between carbohydrates and fats, provided some of each is used. About 25% -of fat and 65% of carbohydrate is considered a good proportion. As to the protein requirement in a day's ration, a well recognized authority on the subject has the following to say: "Foods should be so selected as to give the ration the right amount of protein, or repair foods, on the one hand, and of fats and carbohydrates, or fuel foods, on the other. A certain amount of protein is absolutely essential. . . . The right proportion of protein has been the subject of much controversy. According to what are regarded as the best investigations, it is generally about 10% of the total number of heat units consumed. This does not, of course, mean 10% of the total weight, nor 10% of the total bulk, but 10% of the total nutriment ; that is, ten calories of protein out of every one hundred calories of food.

Science of food & cookery