HEALTH NOTES

Hutt News, Volume 16, Issue 5, 1 July 1942, Page 5

HEALTH NOTES

YEAST By 11. K. & D. \V. Adamson, (Osteopaths). We are often asked lor an opinion in regard u> (lie present craze for yeast. In the first place, yeast provides ihe most, concentrated source ol supply of one of the essential food factors vitamin 15-1. This vitamin is one of several essential food factors, but. we would point out there would tie no need for concentrated (ioses of this vitamin, or tor that matter any other vitamin, if we human beings consumed our J food in tin,; manner in which Nature prepared them for us. But. we don't. In fact, the more modern we become, the more v/e depart, from tiie natural. We consume more and more foods that have been processed and refined to such an extent that, they bear little recognition to what was once the grain of the field or tiu.' fruit of the trees. These pro cesses may certainly improve the keeping qualifies of a food, but the keeping qualities are only attained at. the expense of the nutritional qualifies. la each process through which food passes from the time it is harvested till the time it is consumed, there is a loss of something that is essential to human functioning. The mere cooking of food is alone sullicient. to destroy some of thc.ro substances. The preserving and storing' of food is capable of destroying others, bi/. the greatest loss of tlie vitamin B-l substance takes place in the refining or so-called puritying processes through which the cereal foods pass. Side by side with the enormously increased consumption oi tnese reri:ied loods, i here has arisen a host, of disease symptoms to which nutrition scientists have given the name

''Deficiency Diseases." favourably situated native races never suffer i rom these diseases, because they have never learned to rob Hit: foods with which Nature has provided thefii, of these vital substances. .Note thai, we mentioned "favourably situated natives." We mention this to emphasise the fact that, not all native race.s possess immunity from deficiency diseases. Such immunity depends entirely upon an adequate food supply and as everyone knows the distribution of food suitable for human beings lias been anything buL impartially distributed over (ho land masses of the globe. W'e civilised beings have all tlie advantages of a plentiful and varied food supply, but we negative ilw value by subjecting the main items of consumption, viz., the cereais, to refining processes which extract many of the essential special food substances and vitamin J I-1 in particular. Faulty preparation of vegetables for cooking as in peeling potatoes, discarding the water in which vegetables are cooked, etc., produce other los.ves, and the net result is a list of food deficiency diseases, or at anyrate, a host of physical defects and weaknesses which aviso as a result of the absence of a sufliciency of these iub-

stances. Sometimes it may ho a luck ol' 0110 vitamin, .soiiiclimcs it may bo a lack of anothor, but invari ably there is an insuiliciency of several ol' tliesp I'ood factors. 15-1 is the name given to one ol' several vitamins and in the absence ol' sutlicient wholemeal products, green leaved vegetables and other vegetables, yeast, or one oi' the several yeast products, oilers the easiest and cheapest source of supply. It is the solution to all vitamin B-l problems, but remember, it is not a solution to the more vital problem oi a general vitamin deliciency. Now there are several brands oi yeast being marketed and although the vitamin B-l content oi all these is very much higher than the coiltent oi this vitamin in any of the foods in general use, none of them is even comparable with the vitamin content of brewers' yeast nor in iact to that oi fresh home-made yeast. The following" list gives a comparison of the vitamin B-l content, in international Units per hundred grams, of some of the yeasts with that of some of the common foods, taken at random. White bread 3d units Wholemeal bread . . (!U to ( JU units Wheat germ *100 to 2000 Milk «0 to 100 Asparagus 100 to 150 Walnuts HO to 1 MiFish oils nil Beans fresh string . . GO to 7 5 Cauliflower GO to 110 Biver 4 5 to 150 Other meats -5 to 7 5 Yea.°l, bakers dried . IMO to 'lf>o Yeast, brewers .. ..1200 to (join) Yeast, home-made .. .H'oo to -15.hi The yeast preparations which servo as cultures for the making oi I'i'esh yeast, are, apart from brewers yeast and the yeast which may be made from any home cookery recipe book, are easily (he mo.sl. valuable. The cull ure is easily prepared and develops quickly overnight, if the directions regarding warmth are coinplied with. Of the commercial yeasts, I here are a t least three which can be highly recommended. Two of I hose are in a. dr\ form and are put lip in tins, whilst the other is the well-known compressed yeast done up in small packages. In addition lo these there is the well known yeast, concentrate in the form of a paste which when available was used extensively in coups and for sand-

wic.li lill in. To &vl I lie greatest value from any of 1 host' \east preparations, one should always add the juice of half a lemon or other citrus fruit, and thereby t;;ii 11 a valuable addition in vitamin Don't. take for r;1111'mI ail thai you hear from (lie advertisers about, their yeast products. One wellknown foreign variety thai, was much in the public esteem a a ear or two a)-;u, contained bromides. Yoasl. is valuable in all affect ions of the nervous' system and in the various forms of neuritis, multiple neuritis, etc., and in all fevers. Wast stimulates the appetite. In fact, lack of appetite is one of the earliest symptoms of the need for this vitamin.