Health Notes

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23109, 6 August 1938, Page 6 (Supplement)

Health Notes

What Are These Vitamins?

lI—HotV to Correct T

.Special to the New Zealand Herald by M. J. O'SULLIVAN, B.Se.

TAST week, I discussed some of tho commonest "deficiency" diseases and the general effects of a lack ot vitamins in the diet. This week let us consider vitamins A, B and C in more The first, vitamin A, is essential for growth and the maintenance of good health. The body's resistance to bacterial infection, particularly cold and chest infections, is greatly lowered by a deficiency of it. A marked deficiency is also responsible for certain eye troubles; bo much so, that during the war a number of young children in European nities where food was severely rationed were rendered blind by xerophthalmia, I Another recent discovery is that a considerable proportion of apparently normal individuals shows a defective power of adaptation to dim illumination. I his night blindness is rapidly improved by treatment with vitamin A. Foods Supplying Vitamin A Vitamin A is derived from carotene, which gives the orange colouring to carrots, v.nd which is found in hll plants and in all fruits containing yellow and green colouring. Animals nave the power of changing carotene to vitamin A and of storing it in their livers. Jt has been found most abundantly in the liver oil of fish—ling, shark, halibut and cod in that order—in which it is accompanied by vitamin D. It is also abundant in the livers of ox, sheep and pigs, from which vitamin D is absent, and is moderately abundant in green vegetables, milk, butler, eggs, and certain roots, such as carrots, and to a moderate extent in citrus and yellow fruits. Tho vitamin A content of milk, butter and eggs is much lower in winter than in summer, and much lower in pale yolk eggs than in rich coloured eggs." The daily requirement of an adult is 2000 international units, arid for a child 3000 units, but as much as 40.000 units nan be taken. Two thousand units may bo obtained from: J teaspoon of rod liver oil. l-100th ' teaspoon of halibut liver oil, 3oz. of winter butter, ioz. of summer butter, pints of winter milk, 1 pint of summer milk, soz. of carrots (fresh or boiled), lib. of cabbage (fresh or boiled), l}lb, of string beans (fresh or boiled). Foods That Cause Acidity The main point in the recent history of vitamin B is its complexity. To-dav there are recognised at least six divisions of vitamin B. Usually several of these substances occur together. Although a deficiency of vitamin B causes' beri-beri in many Eastern countries, and a shortage of B6 causes pellegra, a Rkin disease, in the maize-eating areas of Central Europe, acute troubles due to a deficiency of the B complex are seldom found in New Zealand. Some workers to-dav claim, however, that a deficiency of B renders' a child more susceptible to infantile paralysis Then numerous other ills are with a deficiency of these substances, such as ill-health of the nervous system. unhealthy skin conditions, poor appetite and an unhealthy condition of tho alimentary system (in prolonged

shortage gastric and duodenal ulcers), all of which produce loss of vigour and vitality without any definite cause. Vitamin B 1 (mineral) lias been isolated from rice polishings and its composition fully determined. _„i_ ltl . B2 is lactoflavin, the_ yellow colouring in milk and liver oils, and it also occurs m grain polishings. _ B3 B4 and 85. Little is known of these' except that they all occur in yeast, and have a beneficial efiect in certain types of anaemia. 86, from grain polishings, has not yet been isolated. . , ... As processed grains and white hour nro attractive to eat and are also very cheap, their use in the modern diet has become excessive, and as they contain f nothing of the B complex, most dietaries are deficient in this group. Moreover as the 3 complex is absolutely essential for the proper digestion and use of the carbohydrates, such as starch and sugar, the refined foods produce a harmful acid condition in the body. 'The richest sources of the B complex are the bran and germ of dry cereals, such as wheat and rice; yeast and yeast extracts; and (in lesser quantities) eggs, liver, tomatoes, meats, fish, milk, cheese, vegetables, fruit and nuts_ _ Little is known about the quantities of each needed daily, but sufficient vitamin B 1 is supplied by: lib. red meat, 11 oz. of pork. 2-5 pints of milk. 9oz. of wholemeal, Boz. of oatmeal, 4]b. of fruit, Hlb. of vegetables. 2oz. of compressed yeast. Vitamin C for Teeth This vitamin prevents the onset of scurvy and. although scurvy is rarely encountered to-day, _ except during famines, pre-scorbutic symptoms in children and adults are quite common, particularly toward the end of tho winter. The tiny blood capillaries of tho human body are liko pijies built of bricks (cells), and these bricks nre held together by mortar (collagen). Without vitamin C this collagen does not hold, and haemorrhage occurs. In Auckland many nose-bleeds in early spring are undoubtedly due to this deficiency. Moreover, evidence is not lacking that chronic if slight deprivation of vitamin C adversely affects dentition in children. The most abundant source of vitamin C is the common red pepper, paprika, so widely grown and used in Central Europe. Another excellent source is in tho citrus fruits, particularly lemons. Still another valuable sourcfl is tho tomato, which has the advantage of being unharmed if tinned whole. Then again tho vitamin is abundant in passion fruit, swede turnips, pineapple and trreen vegetables, particularly cabbage and watercress; but as it is tho most easily decomposed by heat, very little is left in boiled cabhage, particularly if soda is added to keep it a good colour. Milk from pastured cows contains appreciable quantities. The daily ration is: For children, one six-hundredth of an ounce, or 1000 international units; and for adults, about half this quantity. One thousand units can bo obtained from l-3rd cup of lemon juice.. J cup of orange juice, Mb. tomatoes. 4oz. cabbage, 4oz. spinach, 4 apples, lloz. onions, or 1$ pints of raw milk from pastured cows.