=Beer and Wine as Foods.=--It was once thought that beer and wine were good foods, but hundreds of late experiments show that these drinks are very poor and expensive foods. A half glass of milk is of more use to the body as a food than a full quart of beer. The use of much wine or beer may seem to satisfy the appetite because they deaden the real feeling of hunger. Neither of these drinks can be used by the young without danger of doing much harm. [Illustration: FIG. 11.--The little glass of milk contains nearly twice as much food for building flesh and blood as the large glass of beer.] PRACTICAL QUESTIONS 1. Why does the body need food? 2. Why do you weigh less after working? 3. What is oxygen? 4. From what do we get body-building foods? 5. In what is starch found? 6. How much water does the body need? 7. Where have people been made sick by using bad water? 8. How can we prevent sickness from bad water? 9. What harm does overeating do? 10. What can you say of beer as a food? CHAPTER IV FOOD AND HEALTH =Meats.=--Beef is the best of all meat for food. Nearly one fifth of it can be used to repair the worn-out parts of the body. Mutton, the meat of sheep, is almost as good for food as beef. Veal and pork also contain much body-building matter, but the stomach must work hard to prepare them for use. Fish is an excellent food, but it has only little more than one half as much flesh-building matter as good beef. Poultry is a healthful food, especially for the weak and sick, but it is more expensive than the other meats. Oysters are largely made of water and do not contain much to strengthen the body. In all meat there is some waste matter. This may harm the body if we eat too much meat. It is no longer thought healthful for most persons to eat meat more than once a day. Too much meat used daily for several years is likely to cause disease. [Illustration: FIG. 12.--Each of these articles costs the same, but the bread will furnish four times as much food for the body as the cabbage, more than twice as much as the fish, and nearly twice as much as the milk.] =The Cooking of Meat.=--The best meat if poorly cooked is unfit for eating. Broiled and roasted meats are more healthful than boiled or fried meat. Meat is broiled by holding it in a wire frame over a flame or hot coals. It is roasted by placing it in a covered pan in a hot oven for two or three hours. It is boiled by keeping it in hot water several hours. Meat is fried by cooking it in lard or other fat in a pan. Only those who have strong bodies should eat fried meat. The cheap cuts of meat from the neck, breast, and legs have about as much food matter in them as the more costly parts. Such meat may be made more tender by boiling than by roasting.