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Our Daily Food Requirements
ood materials vary greatly in the amount of protein, fat, and carbohydrate which they contain. Some have only one kind of fuel, others two, and some all three, and these in varying proportions. The fuel value of a given food material is then the amount of energy it is capable of yielding in the body.The CalorieThe calorie is the standard unit of measurement used for measuring the energy or fuel value of different food materials. One calorie represents the amount of heat needed to raise one pound of water four degrees Fahrenheit. Let us not make the mistake of thinking it is also the measure of all food values, or that it tells us about a food’s building ability or its general wholesomeness.
We may hear the number of calories needed by an individual each day referred to in a way thatmight lead us to think that energy were our only need. This, of course, is a mistake. It would be quite possible for a person to eat enough sugar or fat alone to supply all his energy. But how disastrous this would be. The resultant lack of tissue building foods, regulatory foods, and vitamins would bring a certain penalty in shattered health. However, when foods supplying these vital es-[ 20 ]
