Victoria University College

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 74, 28 March 1936, Page 14

Victoria University College

SARAH ANNE RHODES FELLOWSHIP IN HOME SCIENCE

S.A.R. ARTICLE

THE PREVENTION OF GOITRE

Goitre is largely duo to the lack of iodine in tho diet, but if tho following precautions are put into practice the trouble would bo lessened. 1. Use of iodised salt (‘Windsor’ is the best brand) for both cooking and table use. N.B. lodino medicines and thyroid extracts should not be taken except under the instructions and supervision of a doctor. Tho uso of iodised salt is a simple and inexpensive way of protecting our health. 2. Use a good supply of milk, eggs, wholo cereals and green vegetables. Analysis of the soil in different high and low goiterous districts has proved this:— that in every case where soil iodine is high, goitre is low: where soil iodine is low, goitre figures are high.

If the soil is rich in iodine the products, bo they vegetables, -fruit, grain, milk or eggs, will contain more iodine products than those grown in soil deficient in iodine. Peoplo eating these products of tho land will, in the first case, receive enough iodine to meet tho body’s needs, and in tho other case there will be insufficient, so that in one place goitres are rare and in tho other very common. The body needs very little iodine, but that amount, small though it is, it must have if goitre and its resulting ills are to be prevented.

Avoid loss of iodine from foods by steaming or baking (in preference to boiling)., Root vegetables lose onethird of their iodine when boiled ir. water, and green vegetables lose twothirds of their iodine when boiled in water, therefore uso the water for sauces, soups, or gravies. Then possibly, use some iodine containing manure, e. g. Walpole Island Guano or Chilian Sod. Nitrate, on the garden. Vegetables that contain iodine (when available) are asparagus, beans Scarlet runner), beetroot, cabbage, carrots, garlic, lettuce, melons, parsley, peas, pin-apple, potatoes, radishes, silverbeet, spinach, tomatoes, turnips, watercress. 3. Fish should be served in generous quantities at least once per week. Kelp-feeding, shell and tinned fish ar« the richest in iodine, e. g. green-bone, blue cod, oysters, toheroas, salmon, sardines. Trout, being a fresh-water fish, is not a good source of iodine. 4. Use edible sea-weed, e. g. Irish Moss or Carageen, for making milk puddings, jellies, drinks, sauces, etc. Irish Moss weighs very lightly, and cost from 4di to (id. per oz. It can bo gathered as a pale grey moss-like seaweed on many of our coasts. If washed, it can be dried in a muslin bag, stored away when dry, and it will keep for months.

This Irish Moss is very rich in iodine, even richer than green-bone. The iodine and a gelatin-like substance can be extracted from the moss by heating it for some time with milk or water. This liquid, when the moss has been drained off, will “set” and can be used in all sorts of ways, as a substitute for gelatine, cornflour, and other thickening agents. People who live near the sea can collect large quantities of the moss on the beach late in January and February, and when washed and dried it can be hung up in a muslin bag and will keep indefinitely. It would be a very profitable industry or exchange to both parties concerned, if those who are able to collect the Irish Moss could arrange to send it to those who live inland in goiterous areas, and who cannot procure it for themselves, but have to buy it from a chemist. Here are some recipes for Irish Moss desserts, etc.: — Irish Moss Blancmange. One-third cup of Irish Moss, J oi teaspoon of salt, 4 cups of milk, It teaspoon of vanilla. Method: Soak the moss 15 minutes in cold water to cover. Drain, pick over and add milk. Cook in double boiler (or over a slow heat) for 3ft minutes, when tho milk will seem but little thicker than when put on, but if cooked longer the blancmange will be too stiff. Add salt, strain, add flavouring and re-strain. Fill mould, first dipped in cold water. Surround with thin slices of bananas or any other fruit, and place slices on top. Serve with sugar and cream. Variations: Melt It ozs. of unsweetened chocolate. Add -I cup sugar

and one-third cup boiling water. Stir until 'perfectly smooth. Add this to the Irish Moss Blancmange mixture just before removing from the lire. Chill and serve with sugar and cream. Or, garnish tho blancmange with anj stewed fruit in season. Irish Moss Jelly. Jj oz. of Irish Moss, 1 dessertspoon of lemon juice, 1 pint of water, sugar to flavour. Method: Wash the moss thoroughly, and soak in cold water for 15 minutes. Strain and put into a saucepan with the water and simmer gently for 2 hours. Add water to make up to 1 pint. Strain and sweeten to taste, add lemon juice and pour into damp mould. Irish Moss Lemonade. One-third cup of Irish Moss, juice of $ a lemon, 1 pint of water, sugar to flavour. Method: Blanch the moss and pick it over, Stand it in cold water for half an hour, drain the water from the moss and add 1 pint of fresh water. Cook about 20 minutes or until dissolved, stirring frequently, then strain. Add to juice of lemon and a little sugar. Another method is to cook as above and use for a hot drink by adding one or two tablespoonfuls to a hot lemon and water as required. Carageen Cream. 1 oz. of sea-weed. 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 pint of milk, salt, 1 or 2 eggs and essence. Method: Wash sea-weed and soak about half an hour in warm water. Lift out of the water and cook in the milk very gently for about 30 minutes. Beat the egg and sugar and pour on the strained milk. Return to the saucepan and cook very slowly for about 10 minutes or until the mixture coats the stirrer. The mixture must not boil. Add salt and essence, and out into a wet mould to set. To Thicken Fruit Juice. After cooking tho fruit, lift carefully on to a glass dish. Add 1 piled tablespoonful of washed and soaked seaweed to the fruit juice, and cook very gently for about 10 minutes. Strain over the fruit.