The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-05-13
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsKIN. Director.
Washington, ID. C.
THE INVALUABLE vITAMINE.

| lack OF those recently discovered Su D.
stances in our food, the vitamines, is
responsible in great measure for the
breakdown in health which now af-
/ flicts European countries is the opin-
ion of many health experts. The fall
| in the birth rate. especially, they say,
| is due to a lack OF vitamines, which are
believed to be necessary to a proper
tunctioning of the reproductive process
| ses.
The Importance of vitamines as an
element of diet is being constantly en-
| phasiZed by the experiments which
scientists are making with them, and
everyone ought to understand the i'm
portant place which these substances
occupy in his vital economy, and how
to insure that his diet contains enough
| of them
BY way of definit.on-vitamine are
accessory substances which occur in
some foods. besides protein and the
/ other elements. and which are essen
tial to health. even to life The exact
nature of vitamines is still very OBJ
scure.
A Red Cross doctor tells of children
| in Ruman'a who were existing on
nothing but little corn meal and very
! thin bran and vegetable soup. Some
mad eye diseases, some \ We're blind.
some had swollen limbs, all were pitt
fully thin. The doctor heard of a ship
at Archangel with a cargo of cod liver
oil. He arranged to take over the
cargo and added a little of the oil to
the ehildren's ration with remarkable
effect. The cod liver oil contained
Vltamines which were lacking in the
other food. Milk or eggs would have
achieved the same result in a more
measurable way. but to the starving
city, fish oil was welcome
Ihru careful attention to balanced
ratlons. Denmark. of all the Euronean
countries, has best survived the war
Following the advice of her food ex-
perts, Denmark killed off about two
thirds of her cattle at the beginning
OF the war. to avoid feeding them. She
gave up her white bread for whole
wheat and rye which contained the
Nltamlnes lacking in white flour. She
painted huge potato crops, for pota-
toes contain vitamines and other vain
able food elements. The result has
peen That in the face of blockades and
shortages the Danes have flourished
while other nations less scientifically
managed are suffering from diseases
of malnutrition.
Many Here Suffer.
PellaSra, beri-beri, scurvy, sound
| IKE diseases OF the Philippine bush
Yet they are all over Europe. 1t is
600 persons in the supposedly well-fed
United States contract pellagra every
year, from a diet deficient in vita
mines and that cases of scurvy
among both adults and infants run
still higher. This is true even with
federal, state and local health authori-
ties actively engaged in teaching the
people the importance of eating
wholesome food in a balanced diet.
thousands of our children, badly
fed, children of the poor and middle
classes alike. are growing up to swell
the ranks of the detectives, the stupid
! the sick. These children NAV be
gorged with food at home, but, be-
cause of ignorance of dietetics. ele-
ments necessary to growth and health
are lacking. In some cases a glass of
milk, or in other cases an orange, or
the juice of a tomato. added to the
menu each day would supply the
vitamine deficiency.
Scientists are not in accord on many
theories about the rather elusive
vitamines, but they all agree as to the
Importance of these substances. Men
of science all over the world are max
ing Vitamine studies. One chemist has
just announced that. so far as it's Vita
mine content is concerned, ounce for
ounce orange juice is more valuable as
food than milk. Other scientists are
making tests to find out whether the
important substances are cooked out
OF existence in the highly heated COM
mercially canned foods, while others
are trying desperately to isolate one
little vitamine so that they can tell
the world exactly what it looks like.
Corn Contains Vitamines.
Vitamines first came into the lime
light about 1911. tho four years before
that their existence was suspected At
that time food was regarded as con-
sisting only of protein. carbohydrate,
fat mineral and water. Then came
series of experiments with cattle in
which the animals were fed on one
kind of grain only. Some were given
only corn, some only wheat, some only
oats. Mysteriously. the cows eating
corn alone remained much moro
healthy on the monotonous feed than
| those fed other grains. Now. science
knows that corn contains a larger
amount of vitamine. Then. the fact
was simply noted that corn seemed to
have something in it which the other
cereals lacked.
Later DR.. Casimir Funk of London
was studying beri-bari, an Oriental
disease. 1t had long been noticed that
the natives who lived on unpublished
rice suffered from beri-beri while
those who ate brown, unhusked rice
did not. Doctor Funk fed some of the
sufferers the polishings removed from
the rice and they recovered He
analysed the husk and found some
thing which he called vitamine, from
the Latin word for life
Since then various fruits and vege-
tables and other foods have been test
ed for vitamines. Some contain them,
others do not. Just what vitamines
are is still obscure. but three kinds
of vitamines are known. namely, fiat
soluble A." water soluble B." and
| water soluble G" All three are nee
essary to life. 1t was A which Nas so
plentiful in the cod liver oil fed to the
Rumanian children. A also occurs in
milk, butter. cheese. and in cabbag e.
| spinach and other greens. Some
scientists say that the large amount of
vitamine A in milk and butter is trans
mitted to them from the grass eaten
! by the COW. and that all vitamines
have their origin in plant life. Vita
mine a is present in oleomargarine
made from animal fats and oils. but
there is almost none in nut marga-