HEALTH AND VITAMINES.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 September 1920, Page 6

HEALTH AND VITAMINES.

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OP GROWTH & NUTRITION. (Article published under the Authority of the Education Department.} In a previous article it was stated that parellel with the attention to a rational or hygienic diet care must be displayed in the choice and preparation of foods in order that those substances which have been found by experiment to be necessary to the proper growth of the body shall not be either absent or destroyed by heat in overcooking. During the last 14 years, and more especially during the last ,the years, startling, discoveries have been made concerning the foijd requirements for the nourishment and proper growth of the human body. It has been definitely proved that besides the usual substances in our daily food already known to be necessary to sustain life, there are at least three other substanwhich must be present if normal development is to be obtained. These substances are called "Vitamines." Their true nature is not at present fully understood. They have their origin in the tissues of plants whence they pass into the tissues of plant-eating animals, in which class man is included. Many hundreds of experiments have been carried out with animals fed on food devoid of these substances, and the results have been extraordinary and varied, showing that the absence of the vitamines causes severe diseases, now classified as diseases of malnutrition, besides grave physical disturbances which appear to have their counterparts in the many vague illnesses common to mankind, 1 In a varied diet the average individual will generally find a sufficient supply of tjhese substances, so long as the food consumed has not been artificially separated into parts or subjected to I great or prolonged heat during preparation. It should be borne in mind that green vegetables are rich in these substances, this being one reason for their special value as articles of diet. Let-' tuee talc en as a salad is specially valuable 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 minutes only. All vegetable foods subjected to great or prolonged heat during cooking are rendered much less valuable than when eaten in the raw state. Butter is of very great value, likewise milk and cream. Margarine made from vegetable fats has very little value in this particular respect. Wholemeal bread retains the nourishment derived from the living grain. In bread made from white flour this is entirely absent. In a later article opportunity will be taken to show the distribution of these essential substances in all foodstuffs common to our diet at the present time.