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Show WHAT to EAT and WHY 4jou.ton (foudfoi ffelciiltel the Place of Fats in the Diet Nationally Known Food Authority Compares the Different Cooking Fats and Shortenings By C. HOUSTON GOUDISS East 39th St.. New York CS.tr. THERE are, perhaps, more false notions concerning fats than any other class of foods. Some homemakers, considering them as "fattening" only, try to eliminate them entirely from the diet. Others have the impression that foods containing fat are difficult to digest, and for this reason deprive their families of many delicious and healthful foods. Both' points of view arise from ignorance of dietary facts. - Fats Are Necessary io Health Fats have a number of important im-portant functions to perform. They are a concentrated fuel food, having more than twice the energy value of an equal weight of protein or carbohydrate. carbohy-drate. One-half ounce of fat, that is one tablespoon, yields 100 calories, and were he able comfort and speed with which the digestive organs carry on their work, it is conceded that fats in general retard the secretion of the gastric juice and thus cause food to remain longer in the stomach. On the other hand, most fats have such a high coefficient of digestibility, that under normal conditions only about one-twentieth of the fat eaten escapes digestion. diges-tion. Experiments indicate, for example, ex-ample, that the coefficient of digestibility di-gestibility of oleomargarine is 97.55 per cent. It is sometimes erroneously stated that pastry is indigestible. This statement is without foundation, founda-tion, provided the pastry is made from a high grade shortening and is properly baked. Similarly, fried foods come in for a great deal of criticism that should not be charged to the use of fat, but to incorrect methods of cooking. If food is properly cooked in fat that has a high smoking point, there will be no opportunity for decomposition decom-position products to develop. Much Fat? Nutritionists have ample evidence evi-dence that health is best served when 30 to 35 per cent of the total energy value foods is provided in the form of fat. This will include the fat of meat and the fat used in cooking the many delicious fried and baked foods which make eat-ing eat-ing a pleasure. i ; to eat it, a man could obtain an entire en-tire day's fuel from three-fourths of a pound of fat. It is interesting to note that it would require re-quire nearly eight pounds of cooked rice to give the same number of calories. use to which the product is to be put. The various forms of edible fats and oils are derived from both animal ani-mal and vegetable sources. They include butter, margarine, lard, compounds, which are a mixture of animal fats and vegetable oils, hydrogenated fats, and the liquid vegetable oils. Butter and margarine are used chiefly as a spread, and it is interesting in-teresting to note that the annual per capita consumption of margarine mar-garine is steadily increasing, as homemakers have discovered that the use of this less expensive product prod-uct releases more money for milk, fruits and vegetables. Margarine is interchangeable with butter for dressing vegetables and in doughs containing spices, fruits and chocolate. choc-olate. Its shortening power and keeping qualities are similar to those of butter. Lards, compounds and other shortening fats are useful not only as a means of increasing palata-bility palata-bility and food value, but to add flakiness to baked foods and to produce a crisp coating which seals in the minerals and vitamins of fried foods. Lard is used chiefly as a shortening short-ening for pastry, and a good grade will be found to be white and free from objectionable odors. The highest grade, called leaf lard, is produced from the leaves of fat in the sides of the hog. When made by a reputable manufacturer, man-ufacturer, the compounds prepared pre-pared especially for cake making, for shortening pastry and for deep-frying, are wholesome, highly high-ly nutritious and give most satisfactory satis-factory results. They are a most economical form of shortening. of Fats Because of their ability to retard re-tard digestion somewhat nd thus give satiety value to a meal, the impression has grown up that fats are "difficult" to digest. This results re-sults from confusing the length of time required for digestion and the completeness with which a food is digested. When "digestibility" is regarded regard-ed in the popular sense of the ease, In Oriental countries, coun-tries, where large populations live in great poverty, fat is usually scarce and it is necessary to consume con-sume huge quantities of food in order or-der to meet the daily fuel requirements. require-ments. As a result, most of the people develop distended abdomens. abdo-mens. -- Children Must Have Fat Because fat is such a compact food, nutritionists agree that for growing boys and girls, and men engaged in strenuous physical exercise, ex-ercise, fat is almost essential, if they are to get enough total calories. cal-ories. There is also experimental evidence evi-dence ti-at at least a small amount of one or more of the unsaturated fatty acids must be supplied by tide food if normal nutrition is to be maintained. And two competent compe-tent investigators fonnd, experimentally, experi-mentally, that the presence of fat in the diet tends to conserve vitamin vita-min B in the body. Some fats, especially those from animal sources, are rich in vitamins vita-mins A and D, and fats made from vegetable oils may contain vitamin E. Fat and Hunger Perhaps the greatest service performed by fat is its ability to give "staying power" to the diet to satisfy hunger. In this respect, it directly affects the disposition and may influence the ability to enjoy life. The shortage of fats in European countries during the World war graphically demonstrated how a deficiency of this class of foods can destroy the morale of entire nations. With supplies cut off or very I greatly curtailed, the warring countries found it necessary to ration ra-tion fats closely. As a result, their people were always hungry and dissatisfied, even when their actual needs were satisfied. In this connection, it is interesting to note that a slice of bread and batter bat-ter or margarine will delay the onset of hunger longer than a slice of bread and jam, even though the number of calories may be the same. -- Different Fats Compared As sources of energy, the different differ-ent food fats are' very similar. Thus, the homemaker's choice may be determined by preference, convenience, economy, .and the |