This section is from the book "The Relation Of Food To Health And Premature Death", by Geo. H. Townsend, Felix J. Levy, Geo. Clinton Crandall. Also available from Amazon: Clean Food: A Seasonal Guide to Eating Close to the Source with More Than 200 Recipes for a Healthy and Sustainable You.
Turnips | 18 pounds | 21 pounds | 32 pounds |
25 " | 34 " | 45 " | |
30 " | 40 " | 52 " | |
12 " | 16 " | 21 " | |
23 " | 32 " | 42 " | |
40 " | 55 " | 75 " | |
Asparagus | 23 " | 32 " | 42 " |
Milk | 8 " | 11 " | 14 " |
Skim milk | 12 " | 16 " | 21 " |
Apples | 7 " | 10 " | 13 " |
As all the nutriment, shown by chemical analysis, can never be extracted, this table does not accurately indicate the amount of food required.
Eggs and milk contain the least indigestible matter, while in such foods as cucumbers or pickles it is doubtful if more than half or three-fourths of the nutriment as shown by chemical analysis, is really available for the system. The preceding table is intended to point our the deficiencies of foods as heat or force-producers, and the succeeding one the defects of foods as tissue builders.
Table showing the amount of heat per ounce of the principal foods, and number of ounces of each food from which one ounce of protein can be extracted.
FOODS. | Calories per oz. | Quantity of food from which one oz of protein can be extracted. |
Chuck | 47 | 5 OZ. |
Ribs, lean | 54 | 5.2 OZ. |
Ribs, fat | 96 | 5.7 oz. |
Round steak | 58 | 5.1 oz. |
Canned beef | 88 | 4.1 oz. |
Dried beef | 60 | 2.5 oz. |
Veal | 50 | 5 oz. |
Lamb | 95 | 5.7 oz. |
Pork, shoulders | 118 | 7.6 oz. |
Ham | 121 | 6.2 oz. |
Salt pork, fat | 250 | 12.2 oz. |
Pigs' feet | 56 | 6.2 oz. |
Chicken | 31 | 4.4 oz. |
Turkey | 84 | 4.8 oz. |
Fish | 28 | 4.9 oz. |
Salmon | 58 | 4.8 oz. |
Oysters | 15 | 16 oz. |
Eggs, white | 8.5 oz. | |
" yolk | 6.6 oz. | |
" average | 45 | 7 oz. |
Milk | 20 | 30 oz. |
Milk skimmed | 11 | 30 oz. |
Condensed milk | 89 | 12.1 oz. |
Cream | 57 | 40 oz. |
Cheese (whole) | 123 | 3.9 oz. |
Skim milk | 82 | 3.2 oz. |
Gelatine | 96 | 1.2 oz. |
Lard | 264 | all fat |
Butter | 217 | all fat |
Oleomargarine | 220 | 78 oz. |
Entire wheat | 104 | 7 oz. |
Common flour | 104 | 9 oz. |
Macaroni | 102 | 8.5 oz. |
Barley (pearl) | 104 | 11 oz. |
Buck wheat flour | 99 | 13 oz. |
Corn meal bolted | 103 | 11 oz. |
Hominy | 103 | 13 oz. |
Pop corn | 117 | 11 oz. |
Rolled oats | 116 | 6 oz. |
Rice | 102 | 13 oz. |
Boiled rice | 56 | 20 oz. |
Rye flour | 102 | 14 oz, |
White bread, dry | 75 | 11 oz. |
Soda crackers | 119 | 10 oz. |
Gluten | 24 | 1.2 oz. |
Apple pie | 78 | 30 oz. |
Tapioca pudding | 49 | 28 oz. |
99 | 4.5 oz. | |
Beans, string | 12 | 45 oz. |
Asparagus | 7 | 55 oz. |
Beets | 13 | 90 oz. |
Cabbage | 10 | 48 oz. |
Cauliflower | 11 | 60 oz. |
Celery | 5 | 71 oz. |
Green corn | 22 | 36 oz. |
Greens | 17 | 27 oz. |
7 | 75 oz. | |
Onions | 15 | 60 oz. |
Peas | 102 | 4.1 oz. |
Green peas | 25 | 22 oz. |
Cucumbers | 4 | 125 oz. |
Potato, boiled | 30 | 37 oz. |
Sour Krout | 9 | 67 oz. |
Tomatoes | 12 | 71 oz. |
116 | ||
Apples | 21 | 200 oz. |
30 | 83 oz. | |
Grapes | 20 | 100 oz. |
14 | 125 oz. | |
Strawberries | 11 | 100 oz. |
Rasins | 102 | 40 oz. |
Figs, dried | 87 | 19.5 oz. |
Dates, dried | 97 | 45 oz. |
Chestauts | 71 | 15 oz. |
160 | 4 oz. |
4 oz. bread equals: | APPROXIMATE FOOD EQUIVALENTS. |
4 oz. boiled rice and 1¼ oz. round steak, | |
or I oz. chicken, 4 oz. potatoes, 1¼ oz. butter. | |
or 3 oz. corn bread, 9 oz. cabbage, | |
or 6 oz. boiled potatoes. 6 oz. milk, | |
or 6 oz. " " I oz. steak and I oz. sugar, | |
or 4½ oz, cooked rolled oats, | |
or 4 oz. boiled hominy and 4 oz. milk, | |
or 2 oz. egg, 4 oz. potato, 2 oz. tapioca pudding, | |
or 4 oz. potato, 4 oz, green corn, 4 oz. lettuce, | |
or 4 oz. boiled onion and 4 oz. cucumber, | |
or I oz. ham, 3 oz. rice, 2 oz. skimmed milk, | |
or 10 oz. milk and 2-oz. cream, | |
or 2 oz. eggs, 10 oz. apples, | |
or 2 oz. bread and 12 oz. skimmed milk, | |
4 oz. beef equals: | 22 oz. skimmed milk, |
or 2 oz. beans raw or 4 oz. cooked, 1/3 oz. gluten, | |
or 1½ oz. peanuts and 5 oz. skimmed milk. | |
4 oz. fat beef equals | 3 oz. peanuts. |
4 oz. boiled rice | 7 oz. boiled potato, |
or 4 oz. green peas and 6 oz. apples, | |
or 8 oz. cabbage, ½ oz. bacou, | |
or 3½ oz. cooked rolled oats, | |
or 1½ oz. egg, 2/3 oz. butter, | |
or I oz. steak, 2/3 oz. butter, [bacon. | |
or 6 oz. onions, 6 oz. sour krout, 1/3 oz. lard or | |
4 oz. boiled rice, l-2oz. sugar and 2 oz. milk: | 2 oz. egg and I oz. butter, or I oz. pork |
shoulder and 7 oz. potato. |
2 oz. milk. 4 oz. rolled oats, (8 oz. cooked ) | 4 oz. ham, |
or 3 oz. lean beef, 4 oz. potato,3-5 oz. butter, | |
or 23 oz. whole milk, | |
or 4 oz. cooked beans, 7 oz. potatoes, | |
or 20 oz. skimmed milk, I oz. bacon. | |
or 3 oz egg, 3 oz. bread, ½ oz. butter, | |
or 2¾ peanuts and I oz. potatoes. | |
4 oz. peanuts | 5 oz, round steak and 1½ oz. fat bacon, |
or 28 oz. whole milk, | |
or 4 oz. chicken, 6 oz. potato, 2 oz. bacon, | |
or 5 oz. fish and 2 oz, fat pork, | |
or 7 oz. eggs, I oz. butter and 3 oz. cabbage, | |
or 4 oz. beans, 4 oz. boiled rice. | |
4 oz. beans. | 4 oz. beef, 3 oz. pototoes, 1/3 oz. butter, |
or 5 oz. fat beef, | |
or 3 oz. chicken, 3 oz. potatoes, I oz. butter, | |
or 6 oz. eggs, 2 oz. cream, | |
or 4 oz. bread, 2 oz. fish and I oz. cream. | |
4 oz. eggs. | 17 oz. skimmed miik, |
or 2 oz. lean beef and 2 oz. potatoes, | |
or 2 oz. fish and 4 oz. potatoes, | |
or 3-5 oz. gluten and I oz. oat meal. | |
1 oz. gluten, I oz. butter | 5 oz. medium fat beef steak. |
4 OZ. chicken | 1¼ oz. gluten, |
or 1¼ oz. gelatine, | |
or 4½ oz. fish. | |
4 oz. potato. | 4 oz. banana, |
or 1½ oz. raisins, | |
or 4 oz. apples and 2 oz. skimmed milk, | |
or I oz. green peas and 5 oz. grapes. |
Those foods that are rich in protein, but have but little starch or fat have but few equivalents. The principal foods of this class are Chicken, fish, gelatine and gluten.
It will be well to remember that no foods have perfect equivalents; that each food contains more or less mineral matter peculiar to itself; also that protein, starch, fat and sugar are not perfect substitutes for each other. The same foods vary in their composition, so that the proportions that would ordinarily be equivalents, are not always the same.
It must not be assumed that knowledge of the comparative value of foods is of no benefit, for the needs of the human system, come within certain limits, and it is of greatest importance that all persons select their foods to meet their particular needs, and we should be well enough informed to do this, without any special effort, just as a person should be able to speak grammatically, without stopping to consider all the rules of syntax.
Appetite is seldom, if ever, a reliable guide, though. it may have been so several thousand years ago.
The cheapest food on which one can live, in most portions of the United States, is corn. It does not furnish a perfect food, but one can live on it for months, perhaps many years.
Ten to 16 oz. of corn makes the cheapest meal and the best cheap meal in the world. The cost would be from one half to three-fourths of a cent, and if perfectly cooked it is quite palatable. Ordinarily it is not half cooked, and to prepare it properly, it should be boiled until the grains will scarcely hold together (corn will require from three to five hours), then dried and roasted until quite brown and dry. It may then be ground or eaten whole, but great care should be taken to masticate it thoroughly, although the boiling makes it dissolve very readily as compared with parched or pop corn.
A little butter and salt improves its palatability. Wheat, oats rye, rice, and barley may be treated in the same manner. After parching they may be softened by a few moments' cooking, but it is best to eat them dry. There are no foods so wholesome and nutritious as well boiled and roasted cereals.
 
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