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THE PILLARS OF HEALTH

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Mar 13, 1907

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 33, No. 11.

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THE PILLARS OF HEALTH

By William S. Sadler, M.D.

THE MODERN DAILY RATION.

FOR a long time many physicians have suspected that the old diet-tables provided too much proteid for man's daily ration. But it remained for Professor Chittenden, of Yale University, to finally settle the question by a very elaborate series of scientific experiments.
The amount of food needed is largely regulated by the amount of skin surface, for it is thru the skin that heat is lost, and food is largely eaten to replace this loss of heat. Therefore children need more food in proportion to their weight than adults, because they have a greater skin surface.
The total number of heat units, or calories, in the daily ration should rarely exceed two thousand. What is a heat unit?—The English heat unit is the amount of heat that will raise one gallon of water one degree F. in temperature.
Of course, the number of heat units required in any one day's food will depend upon the weather, occupation, clothing, etc.
The following table gives the number of heat units needed by persons of different years and average weight. This table is given for boys. Girls as a rule weigh a little less, and require from 50 to 150 less calories each day than boys.

TABLE A. BOYS.

Age Height in Inches Weight in Pounds Calories, or Food Units
5 41.57 41.09 816.2
6 43.75 45.17 855.9
7 45.74 49.07 912.4
8 47.76 53.92 981.1
9 49.69 59.23 1,043.7
10 51.58 65.30 1,117.5
11 53.33 70.18 1,178.2
12 55.11 76.92 1,254.8
13 57.21 84.85 1,352.6
14 59.88 94.91 1,471.3

TABLE B.

Table showing amount of food required by Adults weighing from 150 to 260 pounds.
Weight Proteids Fats Carbohydrates Total
150 225 469 1,407 2,101
155 232 479 1,436 2,147
160 240 488 1,464 2,192
165 247 499 1,499 2,245
170 255 511 1,532 2,298
175 262 522 1,568 2,352
180 270 534 1,601 2,405
185 277 545 1,636 2,458
190 285 556 1,670 2,511
195 292 568 1,705 2,565
200 300 579 1,739 2,618
205 307 591 1,773 2,671
210 315 602 1,808 2,725
215 322 614 1,842 2,778
220 330 625 1,874 2,831
225 337 637 1,910 2,884
230 345 648 1,945 2,938
235 352 660 1,979 2,991
240 360 671 2,013 3,044
245 367 682 2,048 3,097
250 375 694 2,081 3,150
260 390 719 2,156 3,265

How to Find Out How Much Food You Have Eaten.

In order to find out how much one has eaten at a meal, that is, how many calories they have taken, it is only necessary to ascertain how many calories there are in an ounce or pound of the food, and then know by weight how much has been eaten.
We do not believe that normal, healthy people should be constantly weighing their food, or engaged in doing anything else that will call attention to their stomachs, and thus bring their mind into a state that will most likely produce indigestion; but it would be a good plan for those who have stomach trouble, or other difficulties in metabolism, to examine into their dietetic habits, and ascertain if they are eating too much; especially if they are over-eating in proteids.

TABLE C.

Table showing number of food units or calories in each ounce of certain commonly used foods.
Food Proteids Fats Starch and Sugars Food units per oz.
Almonds 24.5 146.4 20.2 191.1
Apples .5 1.3 16.6 18.4
Asparagus (cooked) 2.5 8.8 2.6 13.9
Bananas 1.5 1.6 25.7 28.8
Baked Beans (canned) 8.0 6.6 22.9 37.5
Beans, Lima (canned) 4.7 .8 17.0 22.5
Beans, String (cooked) .9 2.9 2.2 6.0
Beets (cooked) 2.7 .3 8.6 11.6
Blackberries 1.5 2.6 12.7 16.8
Blueberries .7 1.6 19.4 21.7
Brazil Nuts 19.8 178.1 8.2 206.1
Bread, Corn 8.5 12.3 52.0 72.8
Bread, Graham 10.4 4.8 60.8 76.0
Bread, White 9.3 3.7 63.4 76.4
Bread, Whole Wheat 11.3 2.4 58.0 71.7
Butter 1.2 226.6 227.8
Buttermilk 3.5 1.3 5.6 10.4
Cabbage .8 3.0 1.9 5.7
Cake (sponge) 7.4 28.5 76.8 112.7
Cantaloup .7 10.9 11.6
Cauliflower 1.0 3.9 3.0 7.9
Celery 1.3 .3 3.9 5.5
Cherries 1.2 2.2 19.5 22.8
Corn Flakes 10.8 1.4 91.3 103.5
Cornmeal Mush, Baked 2.8 .5 24.1 27.4
Cottage Cheese 24.4 2.6 5.0 32.0
Crackers, Graham 11.7 25.1 86.1 122.9
Cream 2.9 49.3 5.3 57.5
Custard, Plain 7.6 3.8 28.4 39.8
Dates 2.5 7.5 91.5 101.5
Egg 16.3 32.0 48.3
Egg (white) 14.4 .5 14.9
Egg (yolk) 18.2 88.8 107.0
Eggs, each 26.3 41.9 68.2
Figs 5.0 .8 86.6 92.4
Granola 15.6 1.1 85.0 101.7
Grapes 1.5 4.3 22.4 28.2
Hickory Nuts 18.0 179.7 13.3 211.0
Honey .5 94.7 95.2
Lemonade 11.4 11.4
Lentils (cooked) 8.5 .3 22.9 31.7
Macaroni 3.5 4.0 18.4 25.9
Maple Syrup 83.0 83.0
Milk (Pasteurized) 3.8 11.0 5.8 20.6
Nut Butter 34.2 124.0 20.0 178.2
Olives, Ripe 2.0 69.1 5.0 76.1
Oranges .9 .5 13.5 14.9
Peaches .9 .3 11.6 12.8
Peanuts 30.1 102.9 28.5 161.5
Pears .7 1.3 16.5 18.5
Peas, Green (cooked) 7.8 9.1 17.5 34.4
Pecans 11.2 188.0 17.8 217.0
Pie, Custard 4.9 16.8 30.5 52.2
Pie, Pumpkin 5.4 17.4 55.8 78.6
Plums 1.2 23.5 24.7
Popped Corn 12.5 13.3 91.8 117.6
Potatoes (baked) 3.4 .4 28.9 32.7
Potatoes (mashed), Creamed 3.0 8.0 20.8 31.8
Prunes .5 85.5 88.0
Pudding, Bread 6.6 9.4 25.6 41.6
Puffs, Graham 10.1 7.4 60.6 78.1
Raisins 3.0 8.8 88.8 100.6
Raspberry, Black (sauce) 1.6 2.2 27.5 31.3
Rice (boiled) 3.3 .3 28.5 32.1
Soup (bean and tomato) 4.6 1.0 14.2 19.8
Soup, Cream of Rice 1.9 6.6 11.4 19.9
Squash, Baked 1.6 2.2 16.0 19.8
Strawberries 1.2 1.6 8.6 11.4
Sugar, Granulated 116.6 116.6
Sweet Potatoes (cooked) 3.5 5.6 49.1 58.2
Tomatoes (fresh) 1.0 1.1 4.5 6.7
Walnuts 19.4 169.1 18.8 207.3
Watermelon .5 .5 7.8 8.8
Zwieback 11.4 26.4 85.8 123.6
(Note.—It would be well to preserve these tables for future reference.)

How to Use the Tables in Diet Study.

1. Find out how much you weigh, then refer to Table B, and see how many calories a day you should eat, according to the new food ration. For instance, suppose you are an adult, and weigh 170 pounds. By reference to the table you will see that you need 2,298 calories a day.
2. Having found that you need, on average work and under average conditions of temperature, 2,298 calories a day, then weigh your food for a single day, and find out how many calories you are eating; and by referring to Table C, you find out just what percentage of your food is fat, carbohydrate, proteids, etc.
3. These tables do not refer to food that is moistened with water, unless in those cases where it is spoken of as cooked food—baked beans, etc. They refer in other instances to dry food.
These new investigations afford a valuable opportunity for studying stomachs that are not working properly, and for helping the victims of indigestion to get their diet on a correct basis without starving themselves or otherwise injuring their health. But nature has herself provided a great regulator of diet. God Himself has created and placed in man a monitor of metabolism, which if it is normal, is a pretty safe guide as to the quantity and quality of food to be eaten. We refer to the sense of taste; but unfortunately for man, his sense of taste has become blunted and impaired, and even partially destroyed,and is no longer reliable, unless it can be restored to a sense of acuteness far above that of the average individual. Concerning methods for restoring the taste to a normal condition, we will write next week.