THE STARCH FOODS

Hutt News, Volume 13, Issue 21, 1 November 1939, Page 1

THE STARCH FOODS

(By H. K. arid D. W. Adamson)

(Dietitians.)

We have a letter from a- reader who is greatly perplexed over the question of the starches. 'Should starches be cooked, or indeed, should they be eaten at all," she writes, "as many of my dietetically interested friends say they cause acidity and are fattening."

There is, in fact, a great deal of confusion existing in the minds of many people about the position of starch foods. Most people consider that they must be thoroughly cooked in order to make them digestible, but some, and these include many who had dabbled a little in dietetics, regard them with the greatest suspicion. Some even going so far as to say that starch foods should not be eaten at all.

However ,the fact is, the starches are a concentrated carbohydrate, and as such provide the body with heat and energy. Furthermore, the main starch containing foods, viz., the grains and all the grain products such as bread, etc., along with potatoes, have provided the human family with the bulk of its heat and energy producing food for centuries past. Even to-day they constitute the cheapest and most convenient form of carbohydrate (energy) food for most people.

In making this statement we want to make it clear that we do not consider that the starch containing foods are to be included amongst the "best" carbohydrate foods, but, for economic reasons as well as from the point of view of their nutritive qualities, they will always play an important role in human nutrition.

Now, carbohydrate is the name given to a group of food substances of which the starches and sugars are familiar examples. They consist of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen, and are classed into groups according to the grouping of these primary elements. For convenience sake, we may consider them as simple and complex sugars. Fruit sugars are all "simple" sugars. All the starches are "complex" sugars, and as all carbohydrate has to be converted into "simple" sugars by our digestive organs before the body is able to utilise them as producers of heat and energy, it must be obvious that the use of fruit sugars, which are already "simple" sugars, would promote a higher working efficiency of the bodily functions. In other words, they are the most efficient heat and energy producers. These substances (carbohydrates) are burned in our muscles much in the same way as petrol is burned in an internal combustion engine. At any rate, both require oxygen for their combustion, and in each case the end products are identical, viz., chiefly carbon dioixide and water. And as the heat or energy producing qualities of petrols vary considerably, so do these qualities vary in the different kinds of human fuels. As already mentioned, the starches are complex sugars, and the first phase of the refining process which converts them into simple sugars takes place in the mouth, providing we masticate

them thoroughly. The saliva which converts starch into a sugar 1b the only digestive agent over which we have direct control, and if we fail to make use of it, by thoroughly chewing our food, then the starch passes on without being adequately refined or digested.. All the grams or cereals and their products are concentrated starch foods. Potatoes, kumeras, parsnips and other root vegetables also contain starch, but not nearly to the extent of the various breads and other cereal products. It is rather amusing, by the way, to note the number of people who eat bread regularly, but will not eat potatoes because they are fattening. Potatoes are only about one-third as fattening as bread.

All fruit sugars, hofney, cane sugars, are Classed amongst the "simple" sugars, and therefore their heat and energy contents are more readily available than those of the various starches. Fruit sugars are the most readily available of all, and if it comes to a case of splitting hairs, then it must be admitted that such dried fruits as the various raisins, the dates, figs, etc., must be given the palm for being the "best" carbonhydrate foods. The sugars they contain require no refining at all, and may be utilised by the body with the minimum amount of effort and delay.

The superiority of the fruit sugars (including honey) over the starches, is not confined merely to the more readily available nature of their energy content. All the cereal or grain starches leave a preponderance of acid forming substances following their digestion and consumption, and consequently they need to be properly balanced with sufficient alkaline foods. On the other hand, all the fruits, with | the exception of prunes, are a rich source of the alkaline elements which preserve the purity of the blood and thus maintain the perfect functioning of all the organs. Potatoes are an exception amongst the concentrated starches, in that they may be ranked with the fruits and vegetables as amongst the very best alkaline foods. Cane sugar ranks with the cereals as an acid former. Although cane sugar is one of the most concentrated of the heat and energy foods, it is woefully lacking in the essential basic mineral salts. Wholemal breads, and "brown" or so-called "raw" sugar (which is anything but "raw") are infinitely better than the refined articles, nevertheless they are all sufficiently acid forming to require proper balancing with non-acid forming foods. However, it must not be imagined that because a food is acidforming, it has to be condemned. Practically all protein foods are highly acid forming, but we cannot get along without them. The main thing is to balance our diet in such a manner as to ensure complete harmony. It is even possible to go to the other extreme and suffer alkalinosis, which may be just as serious as any acidosis.