BODY NEEDS IRON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20604, 1 July 1930, Page 5

BODY NEEDS IRON.

METHODS OF COOKING LIVER.

BY B. N. TODHUNTER.

"Have you had your iron to-day?" has become quito a catch phrase; but there are comparatively few people who know where or how to get that iron. Fewer still know if it is really necessary, or if it is just another food fad. There is no fad about it. The need for iron in the daily diet is based on sound scientific fact, and the pale faces and anaemic people that wo too often see around us arc still further evidence that the body needs iron for the blood, as well as to aid ill certain oxidation processes. Until a few years ago, here, in the United States, liver was cheap, and there was little demand in the meat shops for it. Now it is among the high-priced meats, and in somo places it is almost impossible to obtain unless ordered ahead of time. This new demand for liver is a direct result of experimental work Ijegun in 1926 in some of the hospitals and research laboratories in tho United States. It was found that the addition of liver to the diet of patients suffering from pernicious anaemia was successful in tho regeneration of tho red blood corpuscles. Liver is rich in iron, though it has not yet been proved whether the good results obtained from its uso are due to tho iron alone or to presence of another mineral, copper, acting along with it. Many other foods have been investigated. but none has been shown as efficacious as liver. Apricots, peaches and prunes, leafy vegetables such as lettuce, cab' ago and spinach and egg-yolk coino next to liver in importance. The fruits have tho advantage that they can be used in the dried form just as well as when fresh.

This list of foods shows that there need bo no lack of iron in tho diet and children who are to have rosy cheeks must get some iron every day from their food. Their need is greater than that of adults and as milk is low in this important mineral some of tho above foods should find a place in each day's menu. Medical men in tho United States now favour feeding liver even to very young children, if it is well cooked and put through a sieve. There 1 are many recipes available for using liver in different ways, thus adding variety to daily meals, which sometimes tend to become monotonous, as well as adding something which is a real aid to health. Liver and bacon for breakfast is a time-honoured dish, but liver can also bo used as a main raeat dish or as a savcurv for luncheon or the evening meals. For this latter, take ox liver and remove the skin and cook in boiling salted water for 15 minutes. Then chop in small pieces and combine with a white sauce which has been well seasoned. Pour into a piedish and cover the top with breadcrumbs. Bake in a moderate oven half an hour and serve hot. . , For a main meat dish take liver which has been boiled for 15 minutes and put it thrcuqh the mincer. Add seasoning to it, nome chopped onion and breadcrumbs and any left-over vegetables which have been well mashed, or other cold meat which has bee:? minced. Add enough milk or cold gravy to moisten thoroughly and make it. hold' together. Press into a meat tin and bake 30 to 40 minutes in a moderate oven. ~ Use liver, fruits, green vegetables or eces as part of tho daily diet to be sure that you are meeting the body s requirement* for iron.