The philosophy of eating. By Albert J. Bellows, M.D.

258

NUTRIMENT LOST IN COOKING.

servator sufficiently large to supply him with all the
perishable articles of food which his family needs.
This would also lead to a consideration of the "Philosophy of Eating," and thus be of incalculable advantage, not only as a means of enjoying, to the highest
degree, the pleasures of eating, but as a means of
preserving his health and prolonging his life almost
indefinitely.
Elements of Food Lost in Cooking.
In another chapter (page 16) it is shown that food
must contain three classes of elements, those which will
feed the brain and nerves, those which feed muscles
and tissues, and those which furnish heat and fat.
These elements may be found combined so as to be
soluble in water, cold or hot, or both, and therefore,
if cooked in water, are lost. The muscle-feeding elements of all meats and fish consist in fibrin and albumen (see tables, page 77), and in the flesh of all
young animals, as veal and lamb, and in all kinds of
fish albumen predominates.
Albumen is soluble in cold water, but coagulates
and becomes solid in hot water. For example, the
white of an egg, which is albumen, may be dissolved
and lost in cold water, but on being dropped into hot
water immediately coagulates and becomes insoluble.
All meats, therefore, lose a portion of their nutrition,
and some a very large portion, by being soaked in
water, or by being put into cold water to boil, and if
boiled at all, should be put into boiling water, unless