ALCOHOLOGY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 103, 9 August 1910, Page 7

ALCOHOLOGY.

IS IT A POOD? (Published by Arrangement). The question is, Is Alcohol a food Not whisky, or wine, or beer. The firs is merely alcohol and water—roughly 4< per cent alcohol; the second is, o: course, of less alcoholic strength an< contains a, small amount of sugar ant dextrine; the last—beer—is 90 per cent water, about 5 per cent, alcohol, and the . rest extractive and a little sugar. It is the alcohol that does the mischief, and for that the drinker takes it. The liquor is called good or bad, mainly for its al coholic strength, and so we confine oui attention to that element in all the liquors referred to. If a man were to attempt to live on beer only, as some do on milk only, Ihe would have to take it in enough water to very seriously inconvenience him, to say nothing worse—and enough alcohol daily to poison several men. Now to our query: IS ALCOHOL A FOOD? A food may !be defined as: "Any substance which, when absorbed into the blood, will nourish, repair; waste and furiMi force and heat.to the body without causing injury to any of its parts, or loss of functional atcivity." On this definition alcohol may be tested in two ways: by analysis, or by experience of its effects in actual use. The analysis shows that it does not contain the necessary elements to make up a food, or the various substances used by the body to maintain strength or repair wiaste. In actual use it is sometimes argued that, because it is in some measure oxidised—that is, split up into its elements, and not wholly passed off from the body unchanged—it is therefore to be classed as a good substance. This cannot be unless we also admit, that morphia, phosphorous and chloroform are foods; for they also are oxidised in the human body. There are four "questions to be put regarding alcohol if we want to know if it is a food: DOES IT SUPPLY ENERGY?Horsley and Sturge say: "Alcohol Ms never been shown to produce energy for muscular work; in fact, the exact opposite -has been proved." Does it give 'bodily heat? Some say because it is in part oxidised it does produce heat. But it is found that all it gives is lost, 'because of its action on the skin and the nervous system. But even if the heat generated were not thus thrown away it would be foolish to use it because of the harm it does to the protoplasmic cells of • the body. The Lancet says: "Sea water may be used in the boiler of a steam engine, and the steam from its evaporation will transmit the energy of the fuel to the revolving wheels, but its corrosive action on the steel forbids its use except in emergencies." DOBS IT BUILD UP TISSUE? •This is partly answered above. Dr. Liebig, the great chemist, says: "Nine quarts of the best ale. contain as much nourishment as would lie on the point of a table knife." , Of course we see men get fat when drinking beer; that is because the waste matter which ought to be got rid of is retained in the 'body, owing to the alcohol having delayed the ordinary processes by which the worn-out matter should have ibeen disposed of. DOES IT PROTECT TISSUE? That is, does it save food? The latest 1 and best authorities say K No!" On the contrary, they say it leads to increased i wearing away of tissue. On all these ) four points alcohol is condemned as a i food'; it cannot be so regarded.- The 1 popular belief is explained by the fad that it deadens the sense of hunger which the drinker mistakes for food; time soon showis his mistake, because h< is soon weaker than ever. The truth if that the effect of real food on the one •hand and of alcohol on the other art totally different. Meat, bread, and fat at once begin to be digested and assimilated by the body and so maintain heal and repair waste. Alcohol, on the other hand, is very different in its action. It is not digested in the stomach, but passes into the blood unchanged, and at once interferes with the ordinary action of the brain and other organs. It also hinders the normal chemical processes of the body in such a marked manner that it cannot be regarded as a.food.