Show WHA T to EAT eal and WHY ff taz 1 r place of fats in the diet nationally known food authority compares the different cooking fats and shortenings Shorten ings by C HOUSTON GOUDISS 6 east st new york city THERE athan HERE are perhaps more false notions concerning fats fati 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 mahy delicious and healthful foods botho botha points of view arise from ignorance of dietary facts fats are necessary to health fats have a number of important functions to perform they are a concentrated fuel food having more than twice the energy value of an equal weight of protein or carbohydrate one oie half ounce of fat falp that is one tablespoon yields calories and were he able to eat it a man could obtain an entire days fuel from three fourths of th a pound of fat it is interesting to note that it would require nearly eight pounds of cooked rice to give the same number of calories in oriental countries where large populations live in great poverty fat is usually scarce and it is necessary to consume huge quantities of food in order to meet the daily fuel requirements As a result most of the people develop distended abdomens 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 fat is almost essential if they are to get enough total calories there is also experimental evidence that at least a small amount of one or more of the unsaturated fatty acids must be supplied by the food if normal nutrition is to be maintained and two competent investigators found experimentally that the presence of fat in the diet tends to conserve vitamin B in the body some fats especially those from animal sources gour ces are alerich rich in vitamins 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 t the he 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 greatly curtailed the warring countries found it necessary to ration 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 butter 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 food fats are very similar thus the homemakers choice may be determined by preference convenience convenience economy and the use to which the product is to be put the various forms of edible fats and oils are derived from both animal 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 te to note that the annual per capita consumption of margarine is steadily increasing as homemakers have discovered that the use of this less expensive product releases more money for milk fruits and vegetables margarine is interchangeable with butter for dressing vegetables and in boughs containing spices fruits and chocolate 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 palatability 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 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 the compounds prepared especially for cake making for shortening pastry and for deep frying are wholesome highly nutritious and give most satis factory results they are a most economical form of shortening digestibility of fats because of their ability to retard digestion somewhat and thus give satiety value to a meal the impression has grown up that fats are difficult to digest this results from confusing the length of time required for digestion and the completeness with which a food is digested when digestibility is regarded in the popular sense of the ease 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 eth of the fat eaten escapes digestion experiments indicate for example that the coefficient of digestibility of oleomargarine is per cent it is sometimes erroneously stated that pastry is indigestible this statement is without foundation 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 tat fat that has a high smoking point there will be no opportunity for decomposition products to develop x how much fat nutritionists have ample evidence 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 abat and the fat used in cooking the many delicious fried and baked foods which make eating a pleasure 0 Q C houston goudiss 1938 13 |