WHEATMEAL BREAD

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 38, 13 August 1921, Page 9

WHEATMEAL BREAD

ITS NUTRITIONAL SUPERIORITY

(Published under the authority of the Department of Health.)

In view of the fact that recently opinions have been appearing in the public press op the above subject, differing from those expressed from time to time by the Health Department through the same channel, the following statement is made, based on the modern opinions of accepted authorities.

To the general community bread is a food the nutritive value of which is of the greatest importance, forming as it does the ground .work of the diet. This is especially so in the case of growing children.

The nutritional superiority of. wheatmeal over white bread is an established scientific fact, proved by experiments upon many different species of animals and by the observed effects upon tiuniau beings. Professor Hutchison's statement of the composition of white and brown breads has been quoted. This is accepted as far as it goes. As quoted, however, it is misleading, implying as it does that the nature and proportions of the salts in wheatmeal and white flour are practically the same.' No account is thus taken of the common salt added in bread-making, the nutritive value of which is very different from that of the highly-organised phosphates and other salts of the germ and outer layers of wheat. 'At least two-thirds of these natural salts are removed in the milling of white flour according to Professor Hutchison's own table, which is appended:— Whole Wheat. White Flour. Salts 1.91 0.6 While no doubt use may be made of Professor Hutchison's published statements as in some way, perhaps, not supporting the use of wheatmeal bread, nevertheless his present opinion is best shown by the fact that he is one of the signatories to a recent memorial presented to the British Minister of Health urging the importance to the community, and especially to the children, of a greater proportion of the {wheat grain being included in bread. ' ; Some of the newspaper correspondents on this subject are evidently not aware that recent biological experiments have shown that mere chemical analysis fails to give a true estimate of the actual nutritive value of foods. For instance, 1 the Medical Research Committee's Report on Vitamines gives the vitaminecontent of wheatmeal products as ascertained by biological experiment as follows:—' ; - - ' "X "B" Vitamine. Vitamine. Wheat germ xx xxx Wheat bran v .. x xx Whole wheatmeal .. x x White flour 0 0 The number of crosses indicates as accurately as it has been possible to measure them the amounts of these essential substances. Experiments in the past have been carried out mostly for the purpose of ascertaining the actual amount of the various constituents and . their digestiy bility, and, having been of short dura{ tion, are misleading. In these experiments the presence or absence of the allessential vitamines is not 'taken into account. The material absorbed from white bread during a brief experiment is not of so much consequence when it is realised that a diet of white bread and water causes death in an animal in a shorter time than when wa^er alone is , given, and that whole wheat bread sustains life, and health for a considerably longer period. . Again, it has been proved by experiments recently carried out in England j that objections to wheatmeal on the score of its imperfect absorption have been satisfactorily overcome by grinding to a uniform fineness. Reform along these lines is being urged in an organised manner in England at the present time by Sir James Crighton Brown; Professor Hutchison—whose figures have been quoted above—and pther leading medical and scientific people. . ' . ■ It is, of course, possible to quote medical opinions published six or eight years ago, which may appear to be adverse to the present reform, but critics who do so are referred to the more modern' opinions of such authorities as Professor Starling, Professor F* Gowland Hopkins, and Drs. Eddie, Simpson, and Benjamin Moore, of the research staff of the Biochemical Department of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, one of whom, Professor Hopkins, is briefly quoted:— "The superior value of whole wheat- | meal lies in the fact that it retains certain food substances whose, presence allows our systems to make full use of the tissue-building elements of the grain. All my work to date confirms my belief in the superior food value of whole wheat bread. ... The substances of unknown nature may need to be present in very small amount, but if j the necessary minimum is not available, the utilisation of other constituents in tissue growth or repair is infallibly deficient.. . -. . In the process of converting the wheat grain to fine white flour these elements are lost or destroyed. It follows that no matter' how much nourishment they might otherwise contain/ our system cannot make the best use of such nourishment; owing to the absence of these elements necessary to their assimilation." In view of the facts as stated, the School Medical and Dental Divisions of the Health Department are urging this reform, having for its object the elimination of some at any rate of the disease and suffering which' is everywhere associated with, and by leading authorities attributed to the artificial refinement of food and other wrong methods of civilisation. The Department is, moreover, in a posiion to show that the people are awakening to the great importance of this matter, and that there is a growing demand for bread which may more justly claim the title of the Staff of Life.