THE FOOD WE EAT

Grey River Argus, 8 November 1939, Page 12

THE FOOD WE EAT

IBv Professor F. P. Worley, M.A., D.Sc.J The percentages of calcium in. some typical staple foods are given in the following table: —

Beef, all lean e.UU( Cheese 0.J31 Wheat, entire grain 0.045 White flour 0.020 Rice polished 0.009 Oatmeal Dried beans 0.160 Cabbage 0-045 Carrots O.Oab Potatoes o° l4 ■turnips 0.064 Apples Bananas 0.009 Oranges 0.04 b Almonds U ’n-i Meat is singularly deficient in calcium. It is to be noted that carnivorous animals eat not only the flesh, but devour also the bones. We do not eat the bones, and should cut down our meat and increase our milk supply. Iron: Space does not permit of more than a brief mention of this important ’constituent which, for the formation 'of haemoglobin, must probably be ItaKen in the form of natural foods. Some of the foods richest in iron are egg yolk, some vegetables—notably spinach, oatmeal and wheat grain, "rhe latter contains live times as much as does white flour. Green vegetables are an important source of iron supply. ! Phosphorus in Foods: ! The importance of phosphorus, though not necessarily greater than that of many other inorganic ele’ments, is nevertheless more striking .on account of the general distribution of phosphorus in the system. It is one of the chief constituents of bone more than 90 per cent, of the total phosphorus of the body being i contained in the skeleton. It is an essential of the muscle, of the brain, of the nerves and of the sexual elements, being in fact a constituent of every cell nucleus. Malnutrition is not infrequently due to deficiency of phosphorus, not to inadequate quantity of food, and it is therefore of interest and importance to consider the phosphorus content of some staple foods. In the following table are given the percentages of phosphorus in the edible portion of a number of typical foods:--Meat 0.14 to 0.22 Jf ish 0.16 to 0.23 Eggs 0.180 Egg yolk 0.524 ! Milk •• • • 0.093 I Cheese 0.683

Wheat, entire grain .... 0.423 White flour 0.092 Oatmeal 0.392 Rice, polished 0.096 Dried beans 0.471 Potatoes 0.058 Carrots 0.046 Turnips 0.046 Pumpkin 0.059 Cabbage 0.029 Apples 0.012 Oranges 0.021 Bananas 0.031 Prunes 0.105 Almonds 0.465 Peanuts 0.357 The high phosphorus content c r cheese, yolk of egg, and oatmeal, is to be noted, but the most interesting fact revealed is the enormous difference between white flour and who'e wheat. The germ of the wheat and the bran, which are discarded in th'O manufacture of patent white flour, are particularly rich in phosphorus; containing over 1 per cent. In order to obtain the samq amount of phosphorus from white bread as from wholemeal bread, four and a half slices of the former must be eaten for every slice of the latter. If the public, however, prefer white flour, the millers cannot be blamed for supplying it.

Value Our Phosphorus!: As phosphorus is continually be* ing excreted it is essential that phos» Iphorus must be regularly supplied ill .the food in adequate amount. A‘“ 1 [ though many of the foods in theprevious list are rich in protein, the phosphorus is by no means proper? . tional to the protein, and care should J be taken that foods fairly rich in ;’ phosphorus should form an adequate , part of the daily diet. Are we cer-' 1 tain that they do? Judging by the ; popularity of hypo-phosphite tomes , they do not. The removal ol phos- 1 phorus compound from staple foods [ should certainly not be freely tolerated. •