Dried Pulses - Beans, Peas And Lentils

The popular pulses are the cheapest sources of protein, and among the most economical sources of food when the cost does not exceed 2 1/2d. to 3d. a pound. Their extreme richness, however, is greatly modified by the large quantities of water they absorb in the process of cooking. These foods contain from one-fifth to one-fourth their weight in protein, with more than one-half their weight of starch, some fat and mineral salts. It has been said that in spite of the richness of the pulses in protein a large quantity must be eaten to obtain it, and that they may, therefore, be eaten with meat. There is, however, no food so well adapted to replace meat, while to mix the two foods is to increase the protein beyond what nature requires, and to incite in the middle-aged those troubles to which so many are subject. Assuming that all the nutritive matter in haricot beans is absorbed, although it is well known that it is not, 10 oz. would provide all the protein that an average man requires, without trespassing upon another kind of food. It would, however, be necessary for him to consume nearly 2 lb., with 2 oz. of fat, in order to maintain him at physical work. If it became necessary to consume a sufficient quantity of haricot beans, to provide the large proportion of protein which old-fashioned teaching insists is required, a man would need 21 oz., which it would be impossible for him to consume.

Pulses

Pulses are slowly digested. Dried green peas are becoming as popular as haricot beans, but they need equally careful soaking, and the addition of carbonate of soda which some vendors provide with the peas to reduce them to edible softness. It may be added that in using lentil flour for porridge 2 oz. is sufficient to make a good plateful. Although it is sometimes assumed that the non-meat-eater must of necessity eat pulse with regularity for the sake of its protein, this is not really the case, and, substantial as they are, neither dried peas, beans, nor lentils should be eaten too often, but used as a change.

Animal Foods

Eggs

There is no greater mistake than the popular belief in the great nourishing value of eggs. Although most useful as food and in the preparation of various dishes, the egg is a luxury, or, to put it in another way, it is one of the most uneconomical of all ordinary foods, owing to its cost. An average egg weighs two ounces, and costs twopence during a great portion of the year, or one penny per ounce. Such an egg is able to produce 80 units of energy, or 40 for a penny. A pint of new milk, however, costing twopence, is equal to 300 units, or 150 for a penny, so that as a food milk is more than three times the value of eggs when these prices prevail. When, however, an egg costs a penny it is still nearly twice as costly as milk, and eight times as costly as oatmeal or bread.

In a new-laid egg weighing 2 oz. there are over l 1/2 oz. of water and shell, so that the actual food material weighs less than half an ounce, and when eggs are 2d. each this costs over 4d. an ounce. Compared with this the food in milk, costing 2d. a pint in normal times, costs less than Id. an ounce; in rice and bread at 2d. a pound, and in potatoes at 3/4d. a pound, it costs less than a farthing an ounce, while in meat of medium fatness costing 10d. a pound, it costs about l 1/2d. an ounce. On all grounds, then, eggs, popular and useful as they are, are an extravagant food.

The white of egg contains seven-eighths of its weight of water, while water forms one-half of the weight of the yolk. The chief fats of the yolk are identical with the chief fats which form butter, and they are easily digested and assimilated. The yolk is rich in the invaluable phosphate of lime - the great bone-making material - but iron is also present in marked quantity, and for this reason the yolk of egg is of more value than the white. The yolk, too, is moderately rich in protein (albumen), which forms the only feeding substance in the white, if we except the minerals. Eggs are useful for children when mixed with skimmed milk and a cereal for making puddings and dishes which are otherwise poor in protein and fat. It is, however, a curious custom which associates them with bacon and ham, inasmuch as they are rich in the two materials in which these meats are richer still. Eggs leave no residue in the system; they are more easily digested when raw or lightly cooked than when fried, boiled hard, or made into omelettes. They preserve admirably in water glass at very small cost.

Meat

It has often been remarked that we British are a meat-eating people, and that owing to our position on the globe, our predisposition to eat animal food is a natural one, and indicative of the fact that we need it. I can discover no evidence to warrant this belief, but I do remember that in my boyhood the labouring classes ate no other meat than they obtained from their pig, and that this was chiefly very fat bacon. Nor are farm labourers, navvies, and other manual workers great meat-eaters now. I often observe that these men subsist mainly upon bread-and-cheese and fat bacon, which is much more economical as a producer of energy than mutton or beef. Thus, while a cheap joint of boneless fresh meat provides 100 units of energy for a penny, when costing 8d. a pound, fat bacon costing 10d. a pound provides double as many. It has been frequently asserted that fresh meat is essential for building the bony structure and muscular system of the young, as well as for maintaining both in the adult. Some conspicuous writers, however, draw the line at middle age, suggesting that meat is a dangerous food for regular consumption where the system no longer needs the large proportion of protein which it provides either for construction or repair. The reason given is a serious one, inasmuch as it makes demands upon the vital organs with which they are less able to comply; and as age increases, the pressure becomes too great for them to bear, and one or more breaks down.