These foods should supply most of the body's energy, because starch is the cheapest and most abundant of all fuel foods, and furthermore the body can use more of this fuel than any other without danger of injury. All the starch eaten is changed to a form of sugar called glucose, before it reaches the blood stream. This change occurs slowly, and under normal condition the machinery of the body is amply able to handle and transport to the tissues the small amounts of sugar produced at any one time.

The starch-rich foods are: Cereals and cereal foods of various kinds, such as breakfast foods-oatmeal, cornmeal, wheat, rice, rye, barley-and breads; macaroni, tapioca, and other manufactured foods; legumes, such as dried peas, beans, and lentils; vegetables rich in starch, such as the potato and the dasheen.