Note 41 — Chapter VIII · THE PHYSIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY OF WORK AND FATIGUE
Reading edition
The question as to whether alcohol is a food is too large to discuss here. There is nothing to show that alcohol itself contributes to the building up of the body. Breaking down in the system into carbonic acid and water, it supplies warmth, thereby aiding the vital force; and by sparing the fat which should perform this function, and allowing it to be deposited in the tissues, it adds to the body weight, and is therefore indirectly a food.