p. 181 | Tissue Builders by A. R. Olsen

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 20, 1913

Tissue Builders

By A. R. Olsen

Their Selection, Composition, and Preparation

A. R. OLSEN, M. D., D. P. H.

BUILDING and repair foods are of vital importance to the body because in them we find the one essential element for tissue construction and the support of life. Without the presence of this all-important element, nitrogen, all other foodstuffs are absolutely valueless for nutrition. If an animal were freely fed with sugar, starch, fats, and various food salts and acids, but without any nitrogenous food whatever, it would very quickly perish, much sooner, indeed, than if completely starved.

Nitrogenous Food

Fortunately, all natural foodstuffs, whether animal or vegetable, contain varying amounts of protein food in a varying form. Some, such as nuts and pulses, are particularly rich in nitrogen; while others, such as rice and most fruits and vegetables, contain but a comparatively small amount. Most nuts make a very concentrated food, and they are rich not only in protein, but even more so in oil, and make a very pure, nourishing food. Ripe nuts do not require any further preparation than thorough mastication, for they have been baked by the sun and are ready for the table. But thorough and prolonged chewing is essential to insure easy digestion and complete assimilation of their nutritious material. Speaking of nuts, Prof. W. G. Thompson, of Cornell University, tells us that “eaten with fruit, they are an excellent form of food; and if carefully selected and thoroughly masticated, their coefficient of digestibility is high for persons in health, and they furnish very little residue of waste.”

A handful of almonds and raisins makes both a tasty and a sustaining lunch. For those who have poor teeth, nuts may be cooked in various ways, and thus made still more digestible. There are, however, some nuts, such as coconuts, Italian chestnuts, and litchi-nuts, which contain less protein and a far larger proportion of sugar and starch, thus more nearly resembling rice, than do almonds or walnuts. The following table gives the composition of some of the more common nuts according to C. F. Langworthy, with the exception of the pine-kernel:—

	Water %	Protein %	Fats %	Sugar & Starch %
Almonds	4.8	21.0	54.9	17.3
Brazil-nuts	5.3	17.0	66.8	7.0
Filberts	3.7	15.6	65.3	13.0
Hickory-nuts	3.7	15.4	67.4	11.4
Pecans	3.0	11.0	71.2	13.3
English walnuts	2.8	16.7	64.4	14.8
Chestnuts (fresh)	45.0	6.2	5.4	42.1
Beechnuts	4.0	21.9	57.4	13.2
Butternuts	4.5	27.9	61.2	3.4
Walnuts	2.5	27.6	56.3	11.7
Coconuts	14.1	5.7	50.6	27.9
Pistachios	4.2	22.6	54.5	15.6
Peanuts (roasted)	1.6	30.5	49.2	16.2
Litchi-nuts	17.9	2.9	.2	77.5
Pine-nuts	6.4	33.9	49.4	6.9

Pulses or Legumes

The pulse family includes beans of all sorts, lentils, peas, and peanuts, all of which also make a concentrated form of diet with an abundance of nitrogen. Some sedentary persons find the pulses too hearty a food, and can take them only sparingly with advantage. Unlike nuts, the pulses require most thorough cooking in order to render them palatable and digestible. According to M. H. Abel, “the percentage of protein in legumes exceeds that of the best beef.” Professor Thompson tells us that “Hindus rely upon the lentil for its staying power when undertaking arduous journeys.” Egyptian lentils are said to be particularly rich in iron, while haricots, or the ordinary kidney-beans, are “the cheapest and best of all pulses.” Their composition is given in the following table taken from Dr. Robert Hutchison’s book on “Food and Dietetics:”—

	Water %	Protein %	Fat %	Sugar & Starch %	Mineral Matter %
Green peas	78.1	4.0	0.5	16.0	0.9
Dried peas	13.0	21.0	1.8	55.4	2.6
Lentils	11.7	23.2	2.0	58.4	2.7
Horse-beans	13.1	25.5	1.7	50.9	3.3
Broad beans	8.4	26.4	2.0	58.6	3.6
Haricots	11.7	23.0	2.3	55.8	3.2
Butter-beans	10.5	20.6	2.0	62.6	4.3
Soy-beans	11.0	32.9	18.1	28.7	4.9
Peanuts	8.3	24.0	44.3	17.0	1.9

Cereals

In the grains and cereals we find some of the most perfectly balanced articles of diet obtainable. Wheat, rye, oats, and barley, which are perhaps the most important as well as most widely distributed grains, contain not only the maximum amount of nutrition, but also as far as starch and protein are concerned, nearly the ideal proportion. Well-baked wheat-meal or rye bread may be truly regarded as the staff of life, and, with butter and the addition of a little fruit or vegetables, contains the essential elements for the sustenance of life. Furthermore, grain foods are among the cheapest as well as the most nutritious and well-balanced articles of diet, and they can be prepared in a very large variety of wholesome and attractive dishes. Oats are richest of all cereals in both protein and fat, and poorest in starch, while rice is richest in starch and poorest in both protein and mineral matter. We give herewith a table of some of the leading grains and cereals and their composition, also from Dr. Hutchison:—

	Water %	Protein %	Fat %	Sugar & Starch %	Calcium %	Mineral Matter %
Wheat-meal	12.1	12.9	1.9	70.3	1.6	1.2
Oatmeal	7.2	14.2	7.3	65.9	3.5	1.9
Rolled oats	7.2	15.4	7.2	64.8	3.5	1.9
Barley meal	11.9	10.0	2.2	71.5	1.8	2.6
Pearl barley	12.7	7.4	1.2	76.7	0.8	1.2
Rye flour	11.4	15.3	2.1	66.7	2.3	2.2
Corn-meal	11.4	8.5	4.6	72.8	1.4	1.3
Buckwheat flour	14.0	7.1	1.2	75.9	0.6	1.2
Rice (unpolished)	12.0	7.2	2.0	76.8	1.0	1.0
Millet	12.3	10.4	3.9	68.3	2.9	2.2

Dairy Products and Flesh Foods

Both milk and eggs contain an ample amount of nitrogenous food, and when eggs are fresh and the milk is clean and free from germ contamination, they make wholesome and nutritious foods, and add much to the amenities of the vegetarian diet. Eggs may be taken raw or cooked, but are usually most easily digested in the raw state. It is not wise to use them freely, and as a rule only one egg, or at the most two, should be taken daily.

There is not the slightest doubt that the milk which is ordinarily served in our towns and cities is the dirtiest and oftentimes the most dangerous food that comes to our tables. If we expect to go on using milk freely, we must revolutionize our dairy methods, for otherwise we shall never be able to conquer tuberculosis and some other preventable diseases. Of course, we can render the milk less dangerous by sterilizing or cooking it, but it is not pleasant to think that one might as well, as far as filth is concerned, take sterilized sewage as sterilized milk, for that is what it amounts to from the bacteriological standpoint.

Animal flesh of all kinds consists essentially of nitrogenous matter and fat. Strictly speaking, we may regard flesh-meats as second-hand food. Originally the elements which compose it were taken from the vegetable kingdom, for few persons, without necessity, care to

eat carnivorous animals. Considering that disease is so prevalent among animals, and considering also the constant presence of more or less poisonous waste material in all forms of flesh, we do not hesitate to condemn the flesh of animals as a poor food, only to be resorted to when purer and more wholesome food is not available. The following data from Dr. Hutchison give us the composition of some common animal foods:—

	Water %	Protein & Gelatin %	Fat %	Sugar %
Beef	76.5	20.0	1.5	..
Mutton	65.2	14.5	19.5	..
Pork	60.9	12.3	26.2	..
Fowl	70.0	23.3	3.1	..
Fish (fresh)	44.0	10.5	2.5	..
Milk	87.5	3.0	4.5	4.5
Eggs	73.7	14.8	10.5	4.5

The following table of the composition of fruits, taken from “Food and Dietetics,” was intended as a portion of the article on “Fuel Foods,” in the issue of February 6, under the subhead “Selection of Sugars:” —

	Water %	Protein %	Fatty Matter %	Sugar & Starches %	Acids %
Apples	82.5	0.4	0.5	12.5	1.0
Apples (dried)	36.2	1.4	3.0	49.1	3.6
Pears	83.9	0.4	0.6	11.5	0.1
Apricots	85.0	1.1	?	12.4	1.0
Peaches	88.8	0.5	0.2	5.8	0.7
Green gages	80.8	0.4	..	13.4	1.0
Plums	78.4	1.0	?	14.8	1.0
Nectarines	82.9	0.6	?	15.9	..
Cherries	84.0	0.8	0.8	10.0	1.5
Gooseberries	86.0	0.4	..	8.9	1.5
Currants	85.2	0.4	..	7.9	1.4
Strawberries	98.1	1.0	0.5	6.3	1.2
Whortleberries	76.3	0.7	3.0	5.8	1.6
Blackberries	88.9	0.9	2.1	2.3	..
Raspberries	84.4	1.0	?	5.2	1.4
Cranberries	86.5	0.5	0.7	3.9	2.5
Mulberries	84.7	0.3	..	11.4	1.8
Grapes	79.0	1.0	1.0	15.5	0.5
Watermelons	92.9	0.3	0.1	6.5	..
Bananas	74.0	1.5	0.7	22.9	..
Oranges	86.7	0.9	0.6	8.7	1.7
Lemons	89.3	1.0	0.9	8.3	..
Pineapples	89.3	0.4	0.3	9.7	..
Dates (dried)	20.8	4.4	2.1	65.7	..
Figs (dried)	20.0	5.5	0.9	62.8	1.2
Figs (fresh)	79.1	1.5	..	18.8	..
Prunes (dried)	26.4	2.4	0.8	66.2	2.7
Prunes (fresh)	80.2	0.8	?	18.5	..
Currants (dried)	27.9	1.2	3.0	64.0	..
Raisins	14.0	2.5	4.7	74.7	..

Caterham, England.