FOOD VALUE LEAGUE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 106, 6 May 1943, Page 3

FOOD VALUE LEAGUE

CARBOHYDRATES AND FATS

At the monthly luncheon of the Food Value League, at which Miss Maindonald presided, Mrs. H. Priestley, Dip.H.Sc, spoke on "Carbohydrates and Fats." Mrs. Priestley is a foundation member of the British Dietetic Association and of the New Zealand Dietetic Association. Carbohydrates, the speaker said, were a combination of elements. We knew them as starches and sugars, and they released heat and energy. The lower income groups spent a bigger percentage of their available incomes on carbohydrates, and so spent less on protective foods. This could be partly remedied by the use of unrefined cereals. Starchy foods took longer to digest than sugars, and of these glucose and honey were the most quickly digested and so gave quicker stimulation. Carbohydrates needed long, slow cooking. Of tfe fats, the speaker went on to say, butter, especially New Zealand butter, was a good food. Fats gave two and a quarter times as much energy, weight for weight, as carbohydrates. Climatic conditions affected the intake of fat. Lower income groups spent less on fats, but New Zealanders on the whole were inclined to eat tco much fat. Animal fats were more easily assimilated than vegetable fats. The speaker illustrated her talk with diagrams, showing the advantage of using whole cereals.