Page:The Road to Wellville (1926).djvu/28

 The young must have all these important vitamins to build healthy bodies with strong resistance. But the adult, subjected to the strains and artificialities of modern life, needs them also. Vitamin-bearing foods there must be in right quantities each day to aid both old and young along the Road to Wellville.

Food for body fuel, to give it energy for maintaining its warmth and for providing it power to work, must be had in adequate amounts each day. The body is dependent upon protein, fat, and carbohydrates (starches and sugars) for its energy supply. Protein foods, selected primarily for building purposes, supply some of this energy, but it is inadvisable to take more protein into the body than is required each day to build needed tissues or repair worn tissues. Considerable energy may also be had from the fruits and vegetables selected primarily to supply mineral salts or vitamins and from fats chosen chiefly for the vitamins they possess. Under normal conditions, however, the amount of energy obtained from these foods will not be sufficient for the day’s requirement, and they must be supplemented by carbohydrate foods if the body’s energy demands are to be thoroughly satisfied.

For every motion we make, from turning the head to the most violent exercise, and for all the internal workings of the body in digestion and assimilation, tearing down old tissues, building up new ones, and eliminating waste—for all this we need energy. And we get energy from the food we put into our bodies, as we get warmth