Help Yourself to Health

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 263, 24 November 1939, Page 3 (Supplement)

Help Yourself to Health

POTATOES

JOTATOES, along with breads of various kinds, constitute the bulk of the starch eaten in this country; probably no food in common use is the subject for so much discussion among those with a smattering of dietetic knowledge. Much misinformation exists about potatoes and the alleged merits and demerits are confusing to anyone not having a complete grip of all the facts. Here are a few ideas commonly held about them. They are a very starchy food, and, therefore, unsuitable for those wishing to reduce. They are very filling, one 01 two medium sized ones producing a feeling of fulness and possibly causing digestive upsets later. That it is immaterial whether one peels them or not, potatoes are just potatoes no matter how prepared (this latter view is fortunately very rare among averagely informed people nowadays). That they are just “balls of starch,” and yield little else of value. I would like to make mention here, before dealing with the above statements, of the common conception that starch foods have some mysteriously harmful property about them and their use in any quantity is sure to exact a dire penalty. Now, while this is 100 per cent, true regarding the devitalised starches, notably white bread and polished rice, it certainly does - not hold when referring to the unprocessed foods. Tubers of all kinds, whole-grain cereals, whether wheat, rye, barley, oats, or rice, and other foods with a lower starch content from the vegetable kingdom, all have their use. and for generations have foimcd the staple of millions of people throughout the world. Though not an absolute necessity, starches are a convenient food and a ceitain amount seems advantageous to the human economy. One can live without any at all, deriving the necessary carbohydrate from fruit sugars and fats, but .in average conditions of working and living, starch seems indicated.

Now let us deal with the first of the ideas set down at the beginning of this article. Biscuit manufacturers have taken advantage of the popular conception as to the high starch content of potatoes, and have marketed various forms of whole wheat or rye wafers, double cooked to assure lightness and digestibility, and advertise these as being suitable for those on a reducing diet, being “ less starchy ” than -heavier foods. A comparison of the analysis of these and of potatoes proves this to be erroneous. Most of the biscuits average about 78 per cent, carbohydrate, practically all of which is starch (do not believe all you read of “ dextrinizing ”), while potatoes yield from 18 to 20 per cent. It can be seen then, that one can eat about four times as much potato by weight as one can of these biscuits, without adding any more to the calorific content of the diet. I often use potatoes in reducing diets, partially for their bulkiness, and therefore higher satiety value, but mainly because their reaction is alkaline. Now, anyone eating insufficient carbohydrate to maintain weight (reducing), draws on stored fat for. .use as ehe raw food; wh<fn fat state of KfetoSrtVof acidity arises, and this J must be combated by keeping the whole diet preponderantly basic, or alkaline. Many are the wrecks made so by starting on a system of reducing without sufficient knowledge of the matter, and for this reason weight control by diet has become to be looked on as a

By PENROD TERRY, D.D.L., Dietitian.

dangerous undertaking. The fact is that scientifically done, it is a very safe and pleasant procedure, resulting always in a marked increase in health, and bestowing on the patient a feeling of strength and well-being, never before experienced.

Potatoes are vei-y filling, and a cause of indigestion. Yes! if you eat them as most people do. All starches should be given good mouth treatment, that is to say, well chewed and insalivated, the reason being that ptyalin, a ferment found in the saliva, is necessary to primarily break down this class of food. Starch not dealt with in this way can be digested in the small intestine, but experience shows it is far better to relieve the body of the necessity for doing this as much as possible; do you chew your starch then, or do you place a piece of potato on your- fork, spear a chunk of meat, and swallow the whole morsel with scarcely any chewing. The chances are that you do, or if you don’t actually put meat and potato in your mouth at the same time, then you thoroughly moisten it with gravy, making salivation impossible. Those with indifferent digestion would do well to eat potatoes in some simple combination, making a meal of a large raw vegetable salad, and a serving of tubers only, dressed with butter. An amply satisfying menu.

To peel or not to peel. This is the question, the most important one of the lot. Just under the skin of potatoes is found a rich store ot mineral salts, particularly potash and others of an alkaline nature, and it is these that place the potato high up in the list of foods “ with honourable mention.” When the skin is discarded practically all these are lost, and with it the health givingqualities. Potatoes are unique in that they present a starch with an alkalising reaction, as I mentioned farther back, and to peel them, thus making- them highly ::'acid-forming, is a real culinary sin. Another important property sure to be lost by peeling is the anti-scorbutic vitamin C. It is.this part of their makeup that places them as a valuable food for those undertaking long sea voyages in small boats, where fresh vegetables and fruits are apt to run short. A pound a day will yield a prophylactic amount of vitamin C. It is interesting to know that the raw skin was used with success in Gold-Rush days in the Frozen North to cure scurvy. To return to sea voyaging, Captain Slocum, the originator of the small boat for extended cruising idea, called potatoes a “ sailor’s luxury.” I wonder if he had a prophetic mind and could sec the price we are paying for them now! Although definitely low in protein, this varying from one to

three per cent., recent investigation has shown the protein to be of a very high biological value, quite suitable for body-mainten-ance, though not for ' building, purposes. Taken with some first-class protein food, such as meat, fish, milk, or cheese, potatoes constitute almost a complete diet. Apropos of this, I know of a man, disgusted with the inabiltiy of orthodoxy to cope with a certain disease he had, bought a launch and went to live on the Manukau. Ignoring all advice, he did just as he liked, and instead of eating, drinking and sleeping to schedule, relaxed in every way and set out to enjoy himself, so far as his complaint let him. He could not but help to get plenty of fresh air and sunshine, and his diet consisted of potatoes cooked in their skins, and fish, caught fresh from his launch. Six months of this life saw him completely cured of his trouble, and the healthful life led had built up a good reserve of health which is standing him in good stead to-day. Last week I mentioned an experiment conducted on -.myself, where the only foods taken were milk and bread. I would dike to say here that had potatoes been better than they were. \YY all know of the sturdy Irish peasant, with his cheery optimism and remarkable good health, due in a great measure to the way he eats, his main foods being potatoes and milk, or buttermilk. A further illustration from a survey of tjie health of the people of Tris-

tan da Cunha, a lonely island cut off from the world, and, fortunately for the inhabitants, largely front supplies of modern food, reveals the fact that here is a people who have no need of doctors, dietitians, or dentists. Their well being is remarkable, and to the president of the Dental Society, and -the surgeon lieutenant of the Royal Naval Hospital of Cape Colony, men who have had opportunity of studying them, it is unaccountable; they confess themselves “ non-pluss-ed.” To anyone with a knowledge of nutrition, it is perfectly clear. Their food is such as would preserve health, and the extreme shortage of destructive foods, such as white flour, sugar, and similar civilised items (a small quantity only of which is sent once a year or so, by well meaning people who feel sorry for them), is not sufficient to seriously alter the balance of the foods commonly used. The staple diet is potatoes, fish, milk and eggs; an interesting point is that all the inhabitants follow a certain custom when eating, and this is to use one food on])- at a meal. “In living on potatoes chiefly, as they do, the Islanders consume “ bare ” potatoes, without salt, and unaccompanied by tea or anything else. Fish they eat by itself, and penguin eggs, perhaps three at a time, they take alone also.” Which would please Dr. Hay!

You will see then, that the evidence in favour of potatoes — cooked and eaten with the skin, and well salivated proves beyond question the value of this food. A move towards achieving a balanced diet, would be to substitute potatoes for at least half of the cereal used. I recommend that you have a serving of potatoes once every day (if you are in normal health).

for certain brackets. As a result they were quoted on the open market at 105. But since the end of June the Government have been selling these Certificates Class 1 at par to everybody and anybody in any desired quantity. At the same time it refused to accept them in payment of anything but taxes when they fell due. The open market quotation, therefore, sagged to 99.

Tax Certificates 11. met with acool reception from the very beginning, although they can be used for the payment of taxes after three years and carry interest equivalents of 4 per cent. Their circulation is entangled in so many technicalities that the banks were reluctant to accept them from their clients. They were soon quoted on the open market at 97; by July at 93.5. The purpose was to keep them in the hands of private individuals, but before long the banks had to intervene with purchases of them on the open markets to bolster up their quotations.

The experiment with the Tax Certificates has failed, and now State Secretary Rheinhardt announces that in 1940 the “New Plan” will be replaced by yet another (the third in less than a

year and a half) the details of which are still a secret.

But' no matter how the financial virtuosi of the Nazis may wriggle, no matter what fancy measures they may devise, the fact is that they have bumped their heads against a real lack of capital. Whatever the State issues in payment of its extravagant expenditures is the product of the printing presses, and sooner or later the fictitious character of the swollen credit structure must find expression.

The semi-annual report of the Reich Credit Association defines the dilemma as follows (“Frankfurter Zeitung”) :

“The limits of production in Greater Germany are in sight, but constantly greater demands are being made on the productive apparatus. . . . Further extension of the volume of credit is permissible, and even then with the greatest precaution only when the productivity of industry is increased sufficiently to yield a greater quantity of ‘marketable’ products.”

Goods produced for the private market are primarily those destined for consumption and export. To increase the role of these sec-

tors, of the country’s economy would necessitate slashing the expenditures for war production. Under Nazi rule this is an illusion. The Kreditgesellschaft goes on to propose an increase in prices to come to the aid of German agriculture. A further 4,300,000,000 RM must be added to the present 9,500,000,000 RM that the farmers receive for their products. This, however, would require a rise in prices of over 40 per cent. Hitherto the State had “fixed” prices. But its inflatory policies must sooner or later affect the price level. Totalitarian States can delay the workings of economic laws; but when they begin asserting themselves they do so with all the greater violence. The financial blind alley into which the Nazis have led Germany exerts its influence on international politics in two ways. At the end of her resources, Germany cannot afford to dally while the democratic nations employ their wealth to strengthen their war inachines. Hitler must rush into foolhardy adventure as the only alternative to collapse. But the Reich will enter a war with its reserves exhausted, the stamina of its human material

impaired by years .of Goebbels may yet“cannon instead of b ba.d slogan. Butter is quired to lubricate ca