HEALTH NOTES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5322, 5 September 1928, Page 3

HEALTH NOTES.

FRESH FRUITS. ’DIETARY VALUE. (Contributed by -the Department of Health.) There is oftqn a very sound foundation for popular phrases, and epigrams, and am’ong such we can include the well-knowh jingle “An apple a day kqeps the doctor awiay.” The date on which this sayhijg originated is unknown, but it certainly has been in common use for some generations, and indicates that, like many other popular beliefs; experience and observation taught our forefathers facts which science has since confirmed. As both scientific observation and da.ily experience agree in giving the apple a high place both as a food and as a preventative of ill-health, we can accept this ay a fact and cojnfin,e ourselves to, inquiring, as to the; factors which gave this fruit its virtues. PREVENTS DENTAL DISEASE. Leaving the physician to attend to those who have failed to stick to the. apple a day rule we. hurry to the dentist and a-'k him what he thinks of this fruit. He, will tell us firstly of the mechanical advantages to the teeth which are enjoyed by those whq make q habit of biting into, fruits which have the firm consistency Ojf the apple. Many people rarely use those nice; chisel-ljk-'. incisbr. teeth which form tihe front rank in our mouths, and the' teeth follow the rule found all through Nature—that disuse means decay. Among primitive peoples who know not the tooth-brush and the dentrifice good teeth a,re' the rule, and 1 this is because they make the usej of their teeth to bite' and chew for which Nature designed them. The apple offers for children a simple: and attractive method of cleaning their teeth and stimulating them by use of development and repair. RESULT OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH The, dentist will then go on to, tajlk like the- doctor, of “necessary factors” in nutrition, but as he is too busy repairing the defects of those: who have not,used the daily apple he will refer us on to the. scientific researcher, to learn about these accessories. This latter gentleman will take us. to his laboratory to show, us cages full of rats, or cats-, or. guinea, piss, some looking well-fed an.d happy, others looking stunted, misshapen and:miserable. The former he, will tell us have a well-balanced d'let, but the latter, a diet Jackinc, the “accessory factors.” which are also known as “vitamins.” And he will proceed to show'by actual experiment that all the other virtues of fruit in our di’et pale into insignificance beside, the value of these! mysterious “accessories.” Mysterious they are; foy they are so mihjute in a.mo,unt that" the chemist i'; unable to give much information as to their composition, yet they are; so potent th.a.t in their absence even the richest and most copious diet cannot eqsufie continued -health and development. VITAMINS. Their existence had been vaguely known for a very lang time, or at least the' evil effects of their absence, since such diseases as scurvy, rickets, the beriberi which affects, the nca-v--ou; system. It w;a,s found tq arise among peoples whose: main diet is rice, ,a;qd then only when the rice grain is so treated: in manufaeture that the inner, husk is wholly removed. Thus it became evident that there existed in the rice husk some neceisary element • which was beyond the power of chemical: analysis tq reveal. On ■the same theory other- deficiency dis■eases were investigated, and to a svries of five vita,mins, labelled A, B, C, D, anjd E, have been found-. Each is essential to, complete health and development, but no one foodstuff contains them all in sufficient amount to serve. ,the full needs of growth from infancy to adult life. The one which we. supply through the addition of fresh fruit and vegetables to the diet is known, as. vitamin 0, And if it be deficient the result in its grossest form is the disease called scurvy, which used to, be; the o;nemy of the, seafarer. But apart from this, effect vitamin C is essential to the growth and development of the, young, and if it be lacking we find irritability, lack of stamina, a.nd retarded growth, while, if the body hte deprived of this accessory for. long perio Is- the result is ,a,n increased: susceptibility to infectious dlseaiSA -Here; then, in j deed, is an important rteaqon why the apple, cap keep the d'octQ(r away, for we find this useful vitamin C present in sufficient amount ini this fruit for the needs of the body. PREVENTION OF SCURVY.

So far back as the ytear 1747 we learn that a surg.eon qp/ a ship reported on various diejts which he tried out in the cure of scurvy. One group of sufferers rapidly improved when oranges were added to the diet, and the only Ojther group which, showed marked benefits from his treatment were those who were given: cider ! The British Navy so early as 1804 mane the use of lemo-n juice compulsory ohi long voyages—an order, which later was changed injerror to lime juice, a fruit which is less effective than the lemon as a ca.rrier of vitamin C. In the. orange this! vitamin is mopt abundant, and' for this reason the juice is used to supplement milk in feeding, babies, for milk, which is most nearly the perfect food, is no ( t too well supplied with this particular vitamin. The appl«r, though the amount of this subotan.ce is less, has this advantage over the; orange : it has mode nutritive properties and is more valuable, as a laxative. Also, in this country the co'-t of the orange is so high that the apple must take precedence as being the more available fruit ito most householders. Vitamin C is. present ini green vegetables in satisfactory amqunt, but most vegetables require to be cooked, an.d cooiking destroys the vitamin to a considerable extent. Even if the fruit is cooked before eating, the cooking process; is lesfe destructive, to, vitamins than in the case, of vegetables. The great advantage which fruits have is that, they can; be eatep in their natural state with the vitamin undamaged, and there is no loss of

potency in keeping even for many months. VALUE OF THE APPLE. In. the apple we have a, mass of living active tissues, for. it doe|s not die when picked, but goes on living and storing up vitamins during the process of ripening. Besides this allpowerful vitamin, it has a nutritive value-, a laxative value, and a value in keeping up the alkalinity o,f the blood. We have seen! that when eaten in its natural state it is a potent cleanser of the teeth. It has also apo t t,her virtue which we have not so far; mentioned, and that is the. delicate ethers which give it its attractive taste. These to be properly enjoyed require that the apple should be eaten skin and a,ll. as the best flavour, is jutt below the sikin, and, moreover, the skin, ‘s of value, in giving that stimulus' to the bowels which we spoke of earlier. A pleasant flavour in our food has a real advantage in that all things agreeable to the palate tend to Stimulate digestion. We may regard the apple as a pill containing yalluabie medical substances, and it is a pill which is very readily takeJn by the children; No wonder, then, that it S?easily takes the place of the doctor.