Mary A. Boland

“ The body creates nothing of itself, either of material or of energy; all must come to it from without. Every atom of carbon, hydrogen, phosphorus, or other elements, every molecule of protein, carbohydrate, or other compounds of these elements, is brought to the body with the food and drink it consumes, and the air it breathes. Like the steam-engine, it uses the material supplied to it. Its chemical compounds and energy are the compounds and energy of the food transformed (Atwater) . A proof of this is seen in the fact that when the supply from without is cut off, the body dies. ”

“ No one can explain all the different intricate changes which a particle of food undergoes from the moment it enters the mouth until its final transformation into tissue or some form of energy; but by comparing the income with the outgo, ideas may be gained of what goes on in the economy of the body, and of the proportion of nutrients used, and some of the intricate and complex chemical changes which the different food principles undergo in the various processes of digestion, assimilation, and use. ”

“ Probably [56] hundreds of changes take place in the body, in its various nutritive functions, of which nothing is known, or they are entirely unsuspected, so that if we do our utmost with the present lights which we possess for guidance to health, we shall still fall far short of completeness. The subject of food and nutrition, viewed in the light of bacteriology and chemistry, is one of the most inviting subjects of study of the day, and is worthy of the wisest thought of the nation. ”

“ So mysterious are the properties of the molecules of albumen and fat, when once they have been thrown into the whirl of the living organism, that we must strive to deviate as little as possible from the exact forms given to us in nature, if only because we do not know what remote effects might result from the deviations. If nature provides the albumen of milk and a living fluid, we cannot expect the same results from any other albumen, or from long dead organic matter, as condensed milk. ”

“ Salt is intimately associated with water, which plays an intermediate part also in nutrition, being a bearer or carrier of nutritious matters through the body.
Salt seems to regulate the absorption and use of nutrients. It is found in the greatest quantity in the blood and chyle. It doubtless facilitates digestion by rendering foods more savory, and thus causing the digestive juices to flow more freely. Sodium chlorid is contained in most if not all kinds of food, but not in sufficient quantity to supply the wants of the body; it therefore becomes a necessary part of a diet. ”

“ That tea and coffee furnish us each day with a certain amount of wholesome liquid in which all organic life has been destroyed, remains a fact; they may be, in addition, when properly made and of proper strength, of great value on account of their warmth, good flavor, and invigorating properties. There is no doubt that it is of the greatest importance that tea and coffee be used of proper strength; for if taken too strong, disorders of the system may be produced, necessitating their discontinuance, and thus depriving the individual of a certain amount of warm and wholesome liquid. ”

“ Perhaps the most important point in all such work is the recognition in certain cases of the necessity for particular dishes, and the reasons for, and the value of, their ingredients. Why one kind of food is better for one person and a different kind for another is, without doubt, an essential point in all such study.
A system depleted by disease, exhausted by long-continued illness, is an exceedingly delicate instrument to handle. It requires the greatest wisdom and good judgment on the part of physician and nurse to restore a patient to health without a lingering convalescence. ”

“ The little knowledge of bacteriology that it is possible to give in a course in cooking, will enable her to understand that many animal foods, such as oysters, fish, and lobsters, [6] are extremely prone to decay, and, although apparently good, may have been the camping-ground of millions of organisms which have produced such changes in them as to render them suspicious articles of diet. She will, therefore, always endeavor to have such food alive if possible, or at least fresh, and to keep it in such conditions of temperature as shall preserve it in a wholesome state. ”

“ Nutriment exclusive of air is received into the body by means of the alimentary canal. The great receiver of air is the lungs, but it also penetrates the body through the pores of the skin, and at these points carbonic acid is given off as in the lungs. The body is often compared to a steam-engine, which takes in raw material in the form of fuel and converts it into [55] force or power. Food, drink, and air are the fuel of the body,—the things consumed; heat, muscular and intellectual energy, and other forms of power are the products. ”

“ In order to understand the difference between the proper cooking of starch and the simple bursting of the grains, let us consider the changes which take place in starch when it is subjected to different degrees of heat, and also those which are produced in it during the process of digestion. All starch in food is changed into dextrine and then into sugar (glucose, C6H12O6) in the process of digestion. Glucose is a kind of sugar, resembling cane-sugar, but it is not so sweet. ”

“ One must therefore ever bear in mind the seeming paradox that coffee should reach the boiling-point, and yet not boil.
We do not estimate highly enough the value of flavors. It is a well-demonstrated fact among a few persons that many dishes containing actual nutritious principles are but partially or imperfectly digested, because of their lack of good flavor, either from want of proper preparation, lack of seasoning, or poor cooking. There is no doubt that many people suffer from indigestion after eating such food. ”

“ Now, unless the amount of oxygen is what it should be, the blood will not gain from an inspiration the amount it should receive, consequently it will be but imperfectly purified and able but imperfectly to nourish the body. So the whole system suffers, and if a person for a long time continues to breathe such an atmosphere, the condition of the body will become so reduced as to produce disease. Even though in other ways one lives wisely, all the factors of health multiplied together cannot withstand the one of impure air. We eat food three or four times daily. ”

“ A cup of chocolate in pale pink or dull red, coffee in buttercup yellow, especially when served without cream, and green tea in Nile green, appeal to the eye as well as to the taste, giving double pleasure—gratifying two senses instead of one.
Color plays a very important part in serving food. It produces strong effects in some persons who are deeply moved by harmonies or discords in it, as others are by harmonies or discords in music. Color appeals to the esthetic side of some natures much more forcibly than many of us are aware. ”

“ Mutton requires more care in cooking than beef, or, in other words, it is more easily spoiled in that process; but when done with due consideration, it is a most acceptable meat. A thick, carefully broiled, hot, juicy mutton chop just from the coals is a very delicious morsel. The same piece with the adjectives reversed,—that is, done without thought, perhaps raw in the middle, charred on the outside, and cold,—is far from being acceptable to even a healthy person. ”

“ An element then may be defined as a simple substance, which cannot by any known process be transformed into anything else; that is, no matter how it is treated, it still remains chemically what it was before. Gold, silver, copper, iron, platinum, carbon, phosphorus, calcium, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and chlorin are examples of elements. Once it was believed that there were but four elements in the world—earth, air, fire, and water. ”

“ Good and careful feeding is infinitely better than nursing a baby upon impoverished milk, even if the quantity seems sufficient. A mother, in nursing her child, should do so at stated regular intervals. If it is injurious for a grown person to eat at odd times all day long, it is far more injurious for an infant. It will not hurt a child to be occasionally hungry, or even to cry, whereas it will hurt it seriously and perhaps induce life-long dyspepsia if food is introduced into the stomach while there yet remains in it that previously taken in an undigested, or partly digested, condition. ”

“ A Harvard professor is credited with saying that no man could be a gentleman without a knowledge of chemistry; and forthwith all the students took to chemistry, for all wanted to be gentlemen. Would that somebody would authoritatively declare that no woman could be a lady without a knowledge of the chemistry of the household—what a glorious prospect [3] would there be opened for the future health of the nation! ”

“ A badly prepared or unwholesome dish, no matter how beautifully it may be presented, is worthless—perhaps even worse, for it may prove a positive source of evil. An indifferently done steak, served on a silver platter, is less acceptable than one perfectly cooked on plain china, or a bit of burned toast on Dresden ware than a daintily browned piece on a common white plate. Put the force, therefore, of your efforts on securing that which is wholesome in itself, adapted to the needs of the patient, and perfectly cooked ”

“ It is probable that the fat which is used in the body either to be stored away or for energy, is derived from other sources than directly from the fat eaten. From experiments made by Lawes and Gilbert on pigs, it is evident that the excess of fat stored in their bodies must be derived from some other source than the fat contained in their food, and must [62] be produced partly from nitrogenous matter and partly from carbohydrates, or, at least, that the latter play a part in its formation. It would appear from this that life might be maintained on starch, water, salts, and meat free from fat ”

“ Food, during the various digestive processes, becomes reduced to a liquid, and is then absorbed and conveyed, by different channels constructed for the purpose, into the blood, which contains, after being acted upon by the oxygen of the air in the lungs, all those substances which are required to maintain the various tissues, secretions, and, in fact, the life of the system. ”

“ There is a custom prevalent in many kitchens of using what is called "cooking" butter—that is, butter which is off taste or rancid—for cake. It is but poor economy, even if it can merit that name at all. If you have no other butter for cake, don't make any. Sweet butter and fresh—not "store"—eggs are absolutely necessary. Also, a dainty worker to mix the ingredients with accuracy and care, and to oil the pan [247] in which the cake is to be baked, so that the outside shall not taste of fat. ”

“ In the economy of the body starch is eminently a heat producer. Pound for pound it does not give as much heat as fat, but owing to its great abundance and extensive use it, in the aggregate, produces more. (Atwater.)
Starch is an abundant and easily digested form of vegetable food, but it is incapable of sustaining life. It contains none of the nitrogenous matter needed for the nutrition of the muscles, nerves, and tissues. Indeed, it is said on good authority that many an invalid has been slowly starved to death from being fed upon this material alone. ”

“ The necessity of the protein compounds is emphasized when we realize that about one half of the body is composed of muscle, one fifth of which is protein, and the nitrogen in this protein can be furnished only by protein, since neither fats nor carbohydrates contain it. It is therefore evident that the protein-containing foods, such as beef, mutton, fish, eggs, milk, and others, are our most valued nutrients. Our daily diet must contain a due proportion. ”