HEALTH AND VITAMINES.

Otaki Mail, Volume XXVIII, 17 September 1920, Page 4

HEALTH AND VITAMINES.

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF GROWTH AND NUTRITION.

Article Published under the authority of the Education Department.

In a previous article it was state!

that parallel with the attention to a rational or hygienic diet care must bo displayed in the choice and preparation of foods in order that those substances which have'been found by ex-

1 periment to be necessary to the proper -j growth of the body shall not be either absent or destroyed by heat in over- ! cooking. During the last 14 years, and more especially during the last five years, ;. startling discoveries have been made

. | concerning the-food requirements for ““l j the nourishment and proper growth of I tiie human body. It has been dcfin--1 ; itely proved that besides the usual 5 substances in our daily food already 1 i known to be necessary to sustain life. | j there are at least three other sub- - stances which must, be present if nori mat development is to be obtained, i These substances are called “Vii.v t I mines.” Their true nature is not at j 1 | present fully understood. They hav<> - j j their origin in the tissues of plants 0 | whence they pass into the tissues of j I plaat-eating animals, in which class s 1 j man is included. Many hundreds of experiments hav ■ I been carried out with animals fed <e | food devoid of these substances, and the results have been extraordinary and varied, showing that the absence of the vitamines causes severe di--eases. now classified as diseases of malnutrition, besides grave physical I their counterparts in ihe many vagu- ! I illnesses eonimon to mankind, j In a varied diet the average individual will generally find a sufficient | supply of these substances, so long as the food consumed has not been arti’i «... einlly separated into parts or sub .. jeeted to great or prolonged heat dur- @ ing preparation. Sf it should be borne in mind that jg green vegetables are rich in these sub- ®- stances, this being one reason for their •Ja special value as articles of diet. I.et<g ittce taken ns a salad is specially vain fit able in this direction. Cabbage also is very important, and in order to avoid destruction of these vital properties by over-heat in cooking it should be §' finely sliced and boiled for a few fV; minutes only. of All vegetable foods subjected to gj g/eat or prolonged heat during eooking are rendered much less valuable Jg than when eaten in the raw state. Butter is of very great value, llkeH wise milk and cream. Margarine made & from vegetable fats has very little g value in this particular respect. '* Wholemeal bread retains the nour--5 ishment derived from the living grain. _ In bread made from white flour this is entirely absent. In a later article opportunity will :s be taken to show the distribution of c. j these essential substances in ail food(2 J stuffs common to our" diet at the prep sent time.