Protein is the tissue builder of the body; but the actual amount of
tissue built new each day is very small, therefore the need for a
large supply of protein for this purpose is not apparent. Protein not
only supplies tissue-building material, but it can also supply heat
and energy in a manner similar to the other classes of food elements,
carbohydrate and fat, one ounce of the protein yielding one hundred
sixteen calories of energy. The excess taken in may be used in this
way, as there is no storage of this material in the body. However, to
use this kind of fuel takes more work on the part of the body as a
whole, as the nitrogenous wastes must be eliminated by the kidneys.
One can see, then, that a certain amount of protein is needed to keep
the tissues in good repair, but that it is better to get most of the
heat and energy from the food elements specially designed for that
purpose; that is, carbohydrate and fat.
The Chittenden standard of diet gives ten per cent of the total fuel
value in the form of protein. On the basis of two thousand five hundred
total calories a day, two hundred fifty calories of protein would
be required. This is equal to two and one seventh ounces actual dry
protein. This amount is thought by some to be low, but experimental
evidence seems clearly to prove its adequacy in keeping up nutrition.
_Fats_
The second group of food elements in our classification are substances
having a greasy feeling and taste. They are lighter than water, leave
a grease spot upon paper, are insoluble in water, and soluble in such
chemicals as gasoline and ether.
Fats have in their molecules the chemical elements carbon, hydrogen,
and oxygen. These elements are put together into two groups,
or compounds, glycerin and fatty acids, which, when chemically
united, form a fat. When fats are exposed to the open air, and thus
contaminated with bacteria, they are likely to become rancid; that is,
some of the glycerin and fatty acids are set free from each other.
If butter is the fat so decomposed, it becomes very disagreeable, on
account of the volatile butyric acid that is set free.
Fatty bodies are usually grouped under a general heading called lipins,
but the consideration of the other classes is not essential in this
study.
The vegetable kingdom offers a large list of products containing fats,
many of which are suitable for food. Following are a few examples, with
the percentage of fat in each case: coconuts, sixty-eight per cent;
olives, fifty-six per cent; peanuts, forty-one per cent; cotton seed,
twenty per cent; oatmeal, six per cent; corn, four per cent.
The animal kingdom is also rich in fat products, illustrated by the
following substances used as foods: butter, eighty-five per cent;
bacon, sixty-five per cent; cheese, thirty per cent; eggs, eleven per
cent; cow's milk, four per cent.
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