Mineral matter. This is as necessary to health as are the above men-
tioned foods. It is found in all digestive fluids, making it necessary for
digestion. No tissue can be built without it. In cooking foods contain-
ing mineral substances, care should be taken that they do not lose their
food value in cooking, for most of them are soluble in water.
WELL-BALANCED MEAL 28 E
Green vegetables, roots and tubers, raisins, eggs, oranges, and most
cereals are rich in mineral matter, and most of them contain salt
in solution.
Water. The body is composed of nearly 60 per cent water. It is
absolutely essential to life. Among its uses in the body are: reducing
food to liquid condition so that it may be more readily digested; diluting
the blood and helping to carry the food supply to parts where it is
needed; and carrying off the waste. It also helps to regulate the
body temperature and keep the alimentary canal clear. Too much water
cannot be taken into the system.
Outside of the water we drink, plain and in beverages, all of our
food contains some water. Whole milk is 87 per cent water, eggs are
74 per cent, celery is 95 per cent, potato 78 per cent, and string beans 89
per cent water.
Another element which plays quite a prominent part in our eating,
but which is not a food proper (for it neither supplies heat and energy
nor builds tissue), is cellulose. It is the cell walls of cereals, and
although it does not digest at all, it stimulates the muscles of the stomach
and intestines into action, aiding digestion. This is the reason that bran
bread is preferable to white bread. It is rich in ballast.
From this discussion we can see that a well-balanced meal requires
a variety of food. Digestion is more complete when the diet is mixed,
for if carbohydrates alone were eaten, they would leave the stomach so
quickly that one would feel hungry too soon, although the body might be
kept warm enough from them. If the meal consisted only of fat, the
digestion would be so slow that a person would not have an appetite for the
next meal, and therefore would not eat enough to be nourished. Protein
alone would not be sufficient, for there would be no heat and energy.
For the meal to be well balanced there must be food for fuel, a
good percentage of proteid, ash, and water, and the whole selected and
combined to tempt and nourish the ones for whom it was prepared.
LESSON III
PLANNING THE MEALS
There are many considerations to be kept in mind when planning a
meal. It should be attractive in appearance to stimulate the appetite; it
should be well balanced, containing a variety of appetizingly made dishes ;
and it should be of moderate cost.
To have regular meals is important. The digestive organs can take
28 F WELL-BALANCED MEAL
care of a limited amount of food and do it well. They can best work
when trained to take care of practically the same amount each day, at
regular intervals. To eat between meals is doing the digestive system
a great harm.
Plan to have the meal served when the members of the family are
not overly exhausted. To get proper nourishment from a meal, a person
should be in a pleasant, quiet state of mind. Worry, extreme exhaustion,
irritableness, excitement, and anger, all retard the flow of the digestive
fluids and prevent normal digestion.
Page 20
Presented as published in 1917. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Mineral matter. This is as necessary to health as are the above mentioned foods. It is found in all digestive fluids, making it necessary for digestion. No tissue can be built without it. In cooking foods containing mineral substances, care should be taken that they do not lose their food value in cooking, for most of them are soluble in water.
WELL-BALANCED MEAL 28 E
Green vegetables, roots and tubers, raisins, eggs, oranges, and most cereals are rich in mineral matter, and most of them contain salt in solution.
Water. The body is composed of nearly 60 per cent water. It is absolutely essential to life. Among its uses in the body are: reducing food to liquid condition so that it may be more readily digested; diluting the blood and helping to carry the food supply to parts where it is needed; and carrying off the waste. It also helps to regulate the body temperature and keep the alimentary canal clear. Too much water cannot be taken into the system.
Outside of the water we drink, plain and in beverages, all of our food contains some water. Whole milk is 87 per cent water, eggs are 74 per cent, celery is 95 per cent, potato 78 per cent, and string beans 89 per cent water.
Another element which plays quite a prominent part in our eating, but which is not a food proper (for it neither supplies heat and energy nor builds tissue), is cellulose. It is the cell walls of cereals, and although it does not digest at all, it stimulates the muscles of the stomach and intestines into action, aiding digestion. This is the reason that bran bread is preferable to white bread. It is rich in ballast.
From this discussion we can see that a well-balanced meal requires a variety of food. Digestion is more complete when the diet is mixed, for if carbohydrates alone were eaten, they would leave the stomach so quickly that one would feel hungry too soon, although the body might be kept warm enough from them. If the meal consisted only of fat, the digestion would be so slow that a person would not have an appetite for the next meal, and therefore would not eat enough to be nourished. Protein alone would not be sufficient, for there would be no heat and energy.
For the meal to be well balanced there must be food for fuel, a good percentage of proteid, ash, and water, and the whole selected and combined to tempt and nourish the ones for whom it was prepared.
PLANNING THE MEALS
There are many considerations to be kept in mind when planning a meal. It should be attractive in appearance to stimulate the appetite; it should be well balanced, containing a variety of appetizingly made dishes ; and it should be of moderate cost.
To have regular meals is important. The digestive organs can take
28 F WELL-BALANCED MEAL
care of a limited amount of food and do it well. They can best work when trained to take care of practically the same amount each day, at regular intervals. To eat between meals is doing the digestive system a great harm.
Plan to have the meal served when the members of the family are not overly exhausted. To get proper nourishment from a meal, a person should be in a pleasant, quiet state of mind. Worry, extreme exhaustion, irritableness, excitement, and anger, all retard the flow of the digestive fluids and prevent normal digestion.