Why? The Science of Athletics

FOOD, FADS AND FACTS Mrs. Y, upon the other hand, does not believe that she is getting the best unless she pays through the nose for it, and the shopkeeper charges her accordingly. There you have the fallacy that a food-stuff must be good because it is expensive. It is the nutritive value of food in relation to its cost which must be studied. Cheese, for ·example, is about half the price of English beef; cheese contains 33 per cent protein and beef about 20 per cent, but no coach in his right senses would think of feeding his charges entirely on cheese ; or, again, a high-class cheese such as Stilton, a good Cheshire or Cheddar, is far more expensive than American cheese, but contains no more nourishment. Animal proteins are better than vegetable proteins for the athlete, because they are mor-e readily digested, where– fore it is true economy to pay more for the former than less for the like food value of the latter, where athletes are concerned. The coach should also take into account the actual food values in the production of energy of protein– rich foods. For example, I lb. of moderately fat meat, 8 eggs, and 2 -quarts of fresh milk would each give a couple of ounces of protein, but the meat, having the larger pro– portion of fat, produces three times as much energy as the milk, and nearly three times as much as the eight eggs. It should be remembered, also, that vegetables and cereals contain a higher percentage of proteins in their raw state. In the process of cooking they increase in bulk by absorbing water. The main sources of carbon are the fats and the carbohydrates, and here the coach must be careful ; for the latter, although cheaper, are more bulky, but the former, although more expensive, are highly essential to the athlete's well-being. Again, cli– matic conditions must be taken into consideration. The coach to a team in Northern Europe would naturally rely mainly upon fatty foods in planning a training dietary, whereas a coach in Japan, India, or even, possibly, South America would realize the value of rice, which is rich in starch but deficient in fat. Even in England and America