The usual addition of common salt (sodium-chloride) to boiled potatoes is
no proper substitute for the loss of their natural saline constituents.
Natural and properly cooked foods are so rich in sodium chloride and other
salts that the addition of common salt is unnecessary. An excess of the
latter excites thirst and spoils the natural flavour of the food. It is
the custom, especially in restaurants, to add a large quantity of salt to
pulse, savoury food, potatoes and soups. Bakers' brown bread is usually
very salt, and sometimes white is also. In some persons much salt causes
irritation of the skin, and the writer has knowledge of the salt food of
vegetarian restaurants causing or increasing dandruff. As a rule, fondness
for salt is an acquired taste, and after its discontinuance for a time,
food thus flavoured becomes unpalatable.
Organic Compounds are formed by living organisms (a few can also be
produced by chemical means). They are entirely decomposed by combustion.
The Non-Nitrogenous Organic Compounds are commonly called carbon
compounds or heat-producers, but these terms are also descriptive of the
nitrogenous compounds. These contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen only, and
furnish by their oxidation or combustion in the body the necessary heat,
muscular and nervous energy. The final product of their combustion is
water and carbon dioxide (carbonic acid gas).
The Carbohydrates comprise starch, sugar, gum, mucilage, pectose,
glycogen, &c.; cellulose and woody fibre are carbohydrates, but are little
capable of digestion. They contain hydrogen and oxygen in the proportion
to form water, the carbon alone being available to produce heat by
combustion. Starch is the most widely distributed food. It is insoluble in
water, but when cooked is readily digested and absorbed by the body.
Starch is readily converted into sugar, whether in plants or animals,
during digestion. There are many kinds of sugar, such as grape, cane and
milk sugars.
The Oils and Fats consist of the same elements as the carbohydrates,
but the hydrogen is in larger quantity than is necessary to form water,
and this surplus is available for the production of energy. During their
combustion in the body they produce nearly two-and-a-quarter times (4 :
8.9 = 2.225) as much heat as the carbohydrates; but if eaten in more than
small quantities, they are not easily digested, a portion passing away by
the intestines. The fat in the body is not solely dependent upon the
quantity consumed as food, as an animal may become quite fat on food
containing none. A moderate quantity favours digestion and the bodily
health. In cold weather more should be taken. In the Arctic regions the
Esquimaux consume enormous quantities. Nuts are generally rich in oil.
Oatmeal contains more than any of the other cereals (27 analyses gave from
8 to 12.3 per cent.)
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