The Topeka state journal., 1914-02-05
NUTRIENTS FROM PLANTS.

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NUTRIENTS FROM PIAANIs.
Without discussing the advantages
and disadvantages Of the use Of foods
Of animal and vegetable origin, re-
spectively. we are bound to admit that
man and animal alike are dependent
on plants for nutrition. A recent
writer has said that man is a parasite
living on the plant kingdom. In 80
far as mankind obtains energy by con-
suming the flesh of the domestic ami
mails. only a fraction OF the supply
taken by the latter in the plant prod
ucts can ever reach the sphere OF USE
fulness to man. The animals which
furnish food to man are expensive
converters Of the energy OF plants into
form directly available for his uses.
Only q very small residue Of the total
energy-intake Of such animals is left
in the tissues which they furnish as
food to man: the great bulk Of what
has been consumed has become lost in
the processes OF animal life during the
long periods Of growth and MAIN
tenance before the animal food-prod-
ucts can be marketed. To appreciate
this. one need only consider the enor-
nous amounts Of vegetable food
necessary to produce the flesh Of cat
tie for human consumption. A COW
eats a liberal plant ration daily during
several years before she II ready for
the market.
It IL evident that II would be an
advantage II man could utilize more
directly the energy which he now Sc
cures only after It has been converted
by animals into the forms that suit his
preferences. Our vegetarian friends
will at once remind W. says tho Jour
nal Of the American Medical associa-
ton, that 1t has repeatedly been found
quite compatible with health and hap
piness to provide for human nutritive
needs directly and entirely from the
plant kingdom. Hitherto the contri-
butiones Of the plant world to the hu-
man dietary have consisted Of the
parts Of plants which serve as storage
depots-as reserve supplies for subse-
quent growth. Seeds, roots, tubers
and fruits represent the chief types of
plant products which find their way
into the ration Of mankind. These are
by no means all well adapted for food;
but the progress of science and the in
dustries and the ingenuity of the do
mestic arts have little by little so i'm
proved the form in which such ma
terials as cereals, nuts. ETC.. are pre-
sented for human consumption, that
their utilization has become greatly
enhanced. Processes for grinding,
cooking and baking are not natural
operations; they have been evolved by
the genius of man SO that he might
readily take direct advantage of the
energy which nature has stored up.
The indigestibility of raw" starch, as
in the potato, is overcome by cooking:
the resistance Of grains to digestion is
minimized by grinding and cooking.
The struggle to wrest energy from
plant-products has been a long one.
There are other plants which ami
mails use freely, but which mankind
has not yet employed. The green
parts Of plants, rich in food material
contain 80 much cellulose that they
can be utilized only to a small degree
and with enormous waste. We may
soften them by cooking and mastica-
ton, without liberating their food
stuffs to any extent.
1t has long been believed that it
may be possible to utilize green vege-
tables so as to render them more
available for digestion and assimila-
ton by man. Some experiments In
this direction have recently been car
ried on in Germany. The outcome has
been decidedly gratifying and may
pave the way for useful innovations in
the use Of vegetable foods. It has
been found that bean powder fed to
man in the form of a puree contains
far more nourishment than string
beans served in the usual form. Spin
ach, carrots. cabbage. etc. similarly
prepared, were enjoyed with singular
freedom from the troublesome intes-
tinal symptoms which so often follow
, their use. The usefulness OF these
plant-products appears to have been
augmented by their preliminary treat
ment. group of vegetable products
has thus been converted into a source
of nutriment. The efficiency here re-
corded is rendered the more striking
by the report from the Altoona clinic
that ten ounces per day of vegetable
powder, equivalent to six pounds OF
fresh plant, may easily be assimilated
an amount which in the natural
state could not be tolerated. Possibly
by suitable preparation, such plant
products as grasses. which have hith-
erto been excluded from the dietary
! Of man, may yet be used as direct
sources of energy in human nutrition.
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FARMS AND TRAFFIC.
| At A. recent meeting of the Maasa-