Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1909-01-21

milk rs o food for adults, called at
tention to its deficiency In iron. which
gives that sand" That Il necessary to
bring the moral qualities into play.
Now the standard analyses show that
the percentage OF Iron IN whole wheat
Is more than double that In su-
perfine white -four. Sulphur and chlor-
Inc, highly essential elements OF the
blood, are entirely eliminated from
white -four. and only trace OF sodium
10 left--which cannot be naturally
supplied In common salt.
The ordinary white -four contains
less than half as much fat as whole
wheat, and only one fourth the min
eral matter.
or course the deficiency Of mineral
elements OF nutrition In white bread
can be made up by. eating potatoes,
green vegetables, beans, eggs and
meat. Indeed, II is probable that the
general use Of this broken stan OF
life-white four-is one Of the causes
OF the abnormal craving for variety"
Variety is the only salvation Of him
who depends upon white bread for his
staple nourishment.
But granting that variety is desir-
able-though for reasons already
given in the article on "The Simple
Diet" I think It is not-it does not
then follow that the substitution Of
white bread for whole wheat Is ad-
visable.
The greatest enemy the physician
has to fight In some severe digestive
disorders is fermentation; and OF all
the elements that favor continuous
destructive fermentation in the food
tube the worst is wheat starch-not
excepting the putrefying tendency OF
meat In the lower intestine. Anyone
who has made -four paste knows how
quickly 1t spoils and becomes a
source OF contamination.
The condition most necessary to the
digestion Of bread is that 1t be fully
exposed to the action OF the digestive
fluids. White bread forms in pellets,
especially when eaten fresh; the
whole wheat is much more open to the
circulation of those fluids; 1t cannot
form dough pellets.
It is urged by those who favor white
bread that tests show a larger per.
centage Of waste in the excreta from
whole wheat bread; in other words,
the fine white bread is more complete
~ assimilated. This Is the truth, but
not the whole truth.
The whole wheat flour contains
everything that the fine white -four
contains, and some very valuable ele-
ments not in the white flour.
It Is true that the elements OF food
of which the largest percentages are
needed in the daily ration are carbon
and nitrogen, and that white bread
contains these in larger percentage,
because excluding some valuable ele.
ments Of nutrition found in the whole
wheat. But the exclusion Of these
elements breaks the staff Of life. A
man might have a perfect stomach,
perfect lungs, perfect kidneys, with
abundance of food, and yet his death
within 60 days from starvation might
be necessary conclusion from con.
sideration Of all the facts.
Prof. Magendie, a distinguished
French physician, fed two dogs, ap.
parently in equal health, one on
white bread and the other on entire
wheat bread, allowing both plenty oil
water and keeping the conditions
otherwise as nearly equal as possible
The dog fed on fresh white bread was
dead in about 30 days, while the other
remained in his usual health.
The highest authority on health In
the world, the British Medical asso
citation, has declared itself in favor Of
the coarser breads made from the full
grains. The London Lancet, the great
est medical journal in the world. re
Gently expressed the opinion that the
great increase in appendicitis IN
Britain is due to the increased use Of
fine white bread.
Appendicitis results from the pu
trefaction in the large intestine oi
masses Of incompletely digested food
No one can doubt the tendency oil
white bread to mass and putrefy.
/ have said that peanuts should mol
be roasted because albumen, Of which
the peanut largely consists, coagulates
at 100 degrees, and is then assimilated
! with difficulty. The same applies tt