205. Regulation Of Diet As To Quantity Of Dry Matter Eaten

The ordinary measure of food consumption is the bulk of material taken into the stomach. This may be a most inaccurate measurement of the actual nutriment consumed. In estimating a given ration, account must be taken of the amount of dry matter it contains. While water is an essential ingredient of our food, and is abundant in the human body, it is not a tissue-builder in the true sense, neither does it supply energy, so that the determination of food values is based on what is left in an article of diet after the water is eliminated.

Table XXIX. Two Meals of Equal Weight, But Greatly Unlike In Their Content Of Dry Matter

1 On strawberries.

2 In coffee.

It is possible to greatly vary the real supply of nutriment, and at the same time maintain a good degree of uniformity in the bulk or weight of food eaten. This is readily observed in an a la carte restaurant where orders like the two on p. 206 are not infrequently noted. These would have the same weight, No. 1 being the more bulky, but they would be greatly unlike in their content of dry matter.

If the above foods were of average composition, Order No. 2 would supply more than twice the dry matter in Order No. 1, although probably less in bulk. This illustrates how easy it is to vary the diet in its essentials, and, at the same time, consume a satisfying bulk of food. Those who feel the necessity of reducing their diet may do. so by selecting foods carrying a high proportion of water. In this way, the meal may be made more satisfying than a much smaller bulk of dry food, and at the same time, hold the intake of nutriment to the desired minimum. The free use of soups and fresh vegetables as against meats, cheese, bread, cake, sweets, and similar materials is wise for those persons who have a tendency to overindulgence in eating. On the other hand, men at severe labor, such as wood choppers and " river drivers," are not permanently satisfied with a food supply containing watery food in any large proportion, but demand the old-fashioned diet of pork and beans and flour bread. Invalids receiving liquid preparations such as beef juice, clam juice, or broths are not as generously nourished as the bulk of food would indicate to the uninformed. While such preparations are admirably adapted to the weak condition of a convalescent and to frequent feeding, the fact that they often contain only from three to four per cent of dry matter shows a very low food value.