Help Yourself to Health

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 260, 17 November 1939, Page 3 (Supplement)

Help Yourself to Health

[jOR a period of three to four thousand years, since man became civilised in his eating habits—that is to say, ceased being a mere nomad ranging through the woods and existing on what he could gather in the way of fruits, berries, leaves, nuts, wild honey, and-pos-sibly eggs—two foods, bread and milk have formed the basis of his diet. By developing wheat growing land and keeping domestic animals he freed himself of the responsibility of seeking food all the time and thus left opportunity to develop in other ways. One might say culture had its beginning when this emancipation took place. This choice of foods was a wise one, as is borne out by experience in actual feeding; they supply so many factors valuable in human nutrition. During an experimental period of six months, the writer lived on two items of food alone, except for the addition of a certain mineral concentrate supplying no food value whatever. Two meals a day were taken, one of milk, and one of bread and butter alone. For the whole of this time, health was very satisfactory, there being no lack of energy or any other adverse symptom at all, proving very fully just how effectively all the essential protein, fat and carbohydrate, as well as most of the subsidiary elements of nutrition, were supplied by this regimen. As the subject of bread was covered last week, this article will concern a few aspects of the nutritive value of milk. That there are many ways of obtaining adequate nutrition is proven by the health of peoples on widely varying diets, from

the Eskimos, with their large intake of animal foods and a few vegetables such as lichens and mosses, to the South Sea Islander, with his diet made up largely of fruits ancl starchy vegetables, fish being practically the only animal food used; one can then, eat almost anything, provided the food supplies certain elements in a proportion suitable to the climate and individual concerned. The Eskimo derives his energy ration from fats and the breakdown of proteins, while the Islander gets his from fats, starches, and fruit sugars. In temperate zones we can use many different foods and still keep well, but the most difficult to dispense with is milk, . and foods derived from it, since it so completely supplies factors apt to lie lacking in other foods taken; it is a safeguard against possible deficiencies, and so is called a “ protective ” food. Now let us see just what milk gives us that makes it so valuable. Once regarded as a drink,. it is now recognised to be a highly concentrated food, and even though a liquid, supplies more solids' than many non-liquia jioods. Apples, by the way, and ,/nany vegetables such as onions and carrots, have a higher percentage of water. A pint of good milk supplies all the, following necessities:—Twenty grams of first-class protein, in this respect bejng equivalent to a quarter of aJpound of steak! ; An ounctEof /as much as is /fired >iW iff!.vitamins A. and D., though not nearly enough of this latter. Almost an ounce of lactose, or milk sugar, a so-called “ energy” food Supposing the protein to be used for tissue growth or maintenance, the remaining fat -and sugar together supply carbohydrate equal in value to two

~- ■ ■ Facts Concerning Milk as a Fooc

By PENROD TERRY, D.D.L Dietitian.

thick'slices'f bread and butter; so you set a pint of milk is almost a mil in itself, yet it is not for itscalorific nor bodybuilding proerties that we rank it so high i a food, since these can be ready supplied in other ways, but IV the mineral salts it contains, irticularly calcium and phosplvus, which arc associated as ccium-phosphate. ft is very diffiilt to obtain enough of this factr in a civilised diet, unless .mil lc,or products such as cheese or mk powder, is used, f call this tin “ master ” mineral, since it is he foundation upon which all e;e depends, making available tothe body everything that is ingsted. Without a sufficiency, balth is impossible. From concption to death, through vigeous youth to a longdeferred old ge, this is the vital key that unlcks the door to real health. A lek will result, in almost any disease, from just that “ tired fcling ” to serious deviations frqn the normal such as tuberculosis. duodenal and stomachic ulcers, failing eyesight and otheh. Milk has /rather wonderful vitalising properties, and in certain cases it fi the only food that can be used I'o build up those in a depleted condition, for when vitality is very low, heavier foods arc not readily tolerated. In treating many chronic diseases, including i kidney trouble, blood pressure, 1 nervous prostration, sciatica, rheumatism and others, I have folild milk to be an indispensable phrt of the regimen. It has I been called “white blood,” anil this is rather an apt description, since analysis shows it to contiin all the elements of the blood /stream of the animal from which it is drawn, without however, the toxic by-products of metabolism. It is this purity that makes milk f unique as a food; all others of animal origin have a certain amount of toxic substances, which naturally detract from their value, and make the giving of them to sick people rather a risky procedure. Another point in its favour is that the reaction is slightly alkaline, whereas fish, meat, and eggs, are highly acid-forming, a factor unfavourable to health-building once illness is manifest. The above facts relate to raw, clean milk, from cows correctly fed; the question, of pasteurisation versus non-pasteurisation

must be briefly covered. For many years, particularly among the medical profession, the view was held that the treated milk was the only safe supply, but now the best informed men on the subject i all agree that the opposite is true. The main point is that pasteurisation kills off the protective, lactic-acid-pVb-clucing organisms, and does little else, practically nothing by way of making the milk sterile. It has been claimed to be a protection against typhoid germs, but these can thrive at a temperature of over two hundred and twenty, fifty degrees above pasteurisation heat. Raw milk, when left, will turn sour, and is still a good and safe' food to use; indeed, soured milk, particularly Acidophilus is • used extensively in therapeutic dietetics, with very good results where gastrointestinal trouble is present. Now pasteurised milk will putrify, or in plain English rot, when left a day or two. I have already mentioned the vitalising effects of milk; this property is entirely absent from the “ cooked ” product, as the formative forces inherent in all living matter are considerably weakened by heat. Again, the value of the calcium-phosphate content is greatly diminished, being rendered less soluble to the digestive processes. The non-absorbed portion remaining is a prevalent cause of constipation in infants and young children. Vitamin C. is entirely destroyed. What we must agitate for is clean, not cleansed milk. As is the case with all foods except those derived from the sea, the method of production is another very important point. Cows grazed on mineral-rich grasses will naturally produce a more wholesome milk than those indifferently fed. Analyses .of samples from different districts show an amazing variation in the mineral content, a very serious aspect. We are giving our school children a daily milk ration to supply calcium-phos-phate mainly, and if this can be in such unstable proportions it can be seen that it is rather a hit or miss method; A Bureau of Food Values, as has been advocated by Dr. Guy B. Chapman. could to a great extent standardise important foods as milk, and we would then know exactly where we stood. Because milk is such an easy food to take, requiring a mere swallowing action, it is often given in cases of acute disease, where the patient is too weak to chew anything more solid. Nothing could be more harmful, and when to this is added beef tea and similar broths, . a mixture more, deadly than poison is generated in the intestines. Milk and meat proteins, taken together by anyone with a temperature make a perfect pair to generate intestinal putrefaction; toxins are absorbed by the bloodstream, and chances of recovery greatly nullified. As one writer puts it “many people have been floated along to death on seas of beef tea and milk.” Anyone who has seen a dead pneumonia case after treatment in the orthodox manner with forced feeeding cannot help to notice the poisoned effect of the body. They do not die, they are fed to death. So much for “ keeping the patient s strength up.” To sum up, raw, clean milk, from cows properly ( fed, is a very valuable food, and -correctly used and combined will do much to build and maintain health. Incorrectly used, it can, like every other food, produce disease, and possibly death. hind out then, how to eat so as to promote, not dissipate health.-

Cryptographers easily worked out its meaning. General Joffre swiftly changed his plans. The French army swept from Paris into the Battle of tlse Marne, and the Germans were defeated.

- At almost the same time the German armies on the eastern front were Using exactly the same method to rout the Russians. Russia, rather cannily, had used her old, pre-war code right up until the beginning of hostilities. Her generals realised that the German intelligence officers were quite familiar with it, but they waited until the last minute to put their new war code into use. Unfortunately, their methods were less efficient than their plans. Two Russian armies took the field, but only one command had the new cipher. The other army, didn’t even have the old cipher, since all copies had been destroyed.

The result of this was that on the night of August 20th, 1914, amazed German wireless men heard the two armies discussing their plans with no attempt at secrecy. .

“At first they couldn’t believe the Russians were publicly announcing their plans in this fashion,” Mr. Pratt writes. “But

aeroplane and cavalry reconnois-

sance confirmed the fact Hindenburg switched his divisions towards Poland along excellent German military railways, and, on 'August 26th, was in position against Samsonov (the Russian general commanding one of tjie two armies), gripping him tight in front with strong forces encircling both flanks.

In the surprise massacre that followed, 100,000 Russians were killed or taken prisoner.' Samsonov shot himself. Three weeks later the other Russian army was crushed.

On the sea the Russian fleet captured the German light cruiser Madgeburg in a fog, and, because * the officer entrusted to jump overboard with the , Germau code books didn’t sink, Russia was able to give England the complete German naval code.

The very unsuccessful Battle of Jutland finally convinced the Germans that their messages were being read. They changed their ciphers, and it wasn’t until one of their submarines sank in shallow water that the British Admiralty’s famous “Room 40” was able to confuse them again. A British diver dropped to the submarine to inspect it for new

developments. The diver wasn’t looking for code books, but he found one in a water-tight compartment near the conning tower. After that all German submarines which sank in shallow water were thoroughly searched 'and curiously enough the systematic Teutons always kept their code books in the same spot.

In the matter of sending their own secret messages, Germany hit upon a novel, and for a time, very successful scheme. The, Allies realised that something of the sort was going on. Each evening, after the great German radio,, station at Nauen had completed its regular broad- ' cast/ a lot of what was called “lightning gibberish” flowed out over the ether. Too fast to be understood, let alone deciphered, this “static” continued for months.

The Allies recorded it, played it over, but still remained entirely in the dark as to its meaning. That is, they remained in the dark until a group of bored British naval officers gathered in the wardroom of their small vessel in a hot Eastern Mediterranean harbour.

drinks and listening t able gramophone. Fi: last, tune had been pla;

“Nothing left but son ings of that Nauen gibberish,” one officer a

“Put,; it bn. Anythin than nothing.”

The refcord was put c gramophone wasn’t v The blurred signals s came clear. A code o was there, sat up exci recognised the old pre man cipher; long ago < the Allies. The messr record was from th High Command to a East Africa. The Gen had simply been to ..message as one woulc phone record; then to five or six times its no over the air. By faili

the gramophone,. tl officer had reduced th; normal and solved the

It’s a dangerous an ihg and very importa to the of tin this art of cryptogram are sprung and vict when secret writin secret. Heads and

With no place to go and nothing to do, they sat, sipping long

countries fall when tl