Proportioned Bills Of Fare

THE following schematic or proportioned Bills of Fare include raw diet in its purity, and raw diet modified, both with and without animal foods. There are those who take an extreme attitude, refusing milk, butter, cheese or eggs - that is any product of animal life. There are others who have a more diversified diet. There are endless combinations. Those given here are exceedingly plain and can readily be extended to suit the individual taste. Each list of the appended bills of fare is sufficient for one meal; two of such meals are sufficient for each day.

The proportion of flesh-meats, nuts or other pro-teids to the whole meal should be about one-tenth, cereals and fruits constituting the remaining nine-tenths.

The quantity of dry food ordinarily required for an individual at each meal is about one-half to three-quarters of a pound, proportioned as follows: -

Carbohydrates, 10-ozs.; Fats, 3/4-oz.; Proteids, 1 1/2-oz.

(Continued on page 94.)

"As An Egg Is Full Of Meat."

EGGS may be regarded as a complete or almost complete food, resembling nuts in their composition. Eggs are a perfect substitute for meat, and are, seemingly, not so inclined to the production of impurities as meat, notwithstanding that they contain xanthin compounds, which are more or less allied to uric acid. The food value of eggs is great; their digestibility in the raw or natural state is almost perfect. When perfectly fresh they do not contain uric acid, and of all the animal foods eggs are undoubtedly the best. Eggs begin a slow process of deterioration, probably within one or two days after being laid, and for this reason eggs administered to invalids should always be fresh, not more than two or three days old.

An average egg weighs 1 1/2 ounces, contains one ounce of white and 1/2-ounce of yolk; the white of egg is about six-sevenths water, one-seventh albumin; while the yolk contains one-sixth of albumen, one-third fat, and one-half water. Eggs contain sulphur, sodium, iron, lime, and phosphoric acid in quantities. Some persons seem unable to take eggs in any form without being unpleasantly affected. This must be from taking them in excess, or in connection with other forms of proteid or albuminous foods. It must be remembered that eggs are a highly concentrated albuminous food, and hence when used, one, or at most two eggs are quite a sufficient number to take at one time. Not only this but they require thorough insalivation and mastication. Eggs should be used sparingly when taken in connection with any of the other proteid foods, and are best used in connection with cereals and fruits; or fruits and some of the green vegetables. One can easily make a breakfast, or luncheon, on one or two eggs thoroughly beaten up, and to which a pinch of salt and a little lemon juice be added; a delightful and nourishing fluid-meal is thus made.

The well-known lait de poule is made by beating up the yolk of egg in hot water, adding orange flower water, or sometimes a little rum or cognac flavour, with or without sugar. Egg-nogg is made by whipping or beating an egg very lightly, to which is added half a pint or more of sterilized milk, flavored with nutmeg or other aromatic to suit. All these semi-fluid egg preparations should be slowly and thoroughly insalivated before swallowing, and under no circumstances should they be gulped down.

Eggs are best preserved or kept, by packing fresh eggs only, and always placed upon their small ends in dry whole oats or slaked lime and bran, in a cool dry place where the temperature is regular; and not moved more than necessary. Eggs are easily affected by extremes of heat and cold. A fresh egg is a live young animal in embryo; a stale, decayed or dead egg is poisonous and unfit for food, decomposition having set in. As an article of diet, fresh eggs, always, should be used or none at all.

Eggs are most digestible in their raw or natural state, best well beaten up or whipped; soft poached eggs are next in the order of digestibility, while fried eggs, omelets and hard boiled eggs are usually extremely difficult of digestion. Hard boiled eggs, if first finely divided and then eaten with some dry article of food, zweiback, salted wafers or stale bread, become fairly digestible as a result of the thorough mastication. In this way they are permissible. The yolk of egg is deemed unsuitable in the uric acid diathesis, Bright's or other kidney diseases.