Sections:

Friends:

A study of this table will show that on the whole the percentage of protein in the various kinds of fish is as much as that in meat, while in a few instances, it is greater. This proves that so far as the quantity of protein is concerned, these two foods are equally valuable in their tissue-forming and tissue- building qualities. It will be seen also that the percentage of fat in fish varies greatly, some varieties containing more than meat, but most of them containing less. Furthermore, the total food value per pound, in calories, is for the most part greater in meat than in fish, whereas the food value per pound due to protein is equivalent in most cases, but higher in some of the fish than in the meat.

It must also be remembered that the drying or preserving of fish does not in any way decrease its food value. In fact, pound for pound, dried fish, both smoked and salt, contains more nutritive value than fresh fish, because the water, which decreases the food value of fresh fish, is driven off in drying. However, when prepared for eating, dried fish in all probability has more food value than fresh fish, because water or moisture of some sort must be supplied in its preparation.

The method of preparing dried or preserved fish, as well as fresh fish, has much to do with the food value obtained from it. Just as nutritive value is lost in the cooking of meat by certain methods, so it may be lost in the preparation of fish if the proper methods are not applied. To obtain as much food value from fish as possible, the various points that are involved in its cookery must be thoroughly understood. Certain facts concerning the buying of fish must also be kept in mind. For instance, in canned fish, almost all the bones, skin, and other inedible parts, except the tails, heads, and fins of very small fish, have been removed before packing, indicating that practically all the material purchased is edible. In the case of fresh fish, a large percentage of what is bought must be wasted in preparation and in eating, the percentage of waste varying from 5 to 45 per cent.

DIGESTIBILITY OF FISH. --The food value of any food is an important item when its usefulness as a food is taken into account, but of equal importance is the manner in which the body uses the food; that is, whether it digests the food with ease or with difficulty. Therefore, when the value of fish as a food is to be determined, its digestibility must receive definite consideration. As has already been explained, much depends on the cooking of the food in question. On the whole, fish is found to be more easily digested than meat, with the exception perhaps of a few kinds or certain cuts. That physicians recognize this characteristic is evidenced by the fact that fish is often used in the feeding of invalids or sick people when meat is not permitted.