The New York herald., 1922-07-09
Vitamines and the Diet.

When DR.. CAsIMIR FUNK announced
the discovery of the mysterious vita
mines he gave them the name which
still clings to them, assuming cor
rectly that they were essential in the
chemical processes of life but incor-
rectly that they were in the class OF
chemical substances called 'amines."
For want Of better method Of NAM
ing the individual members Of the
group the letters Of the alphabet are
now commonly used.
An experiment made several times
illustrates the result Of depriving food
Of it's vitamine content. Domestic
fowls were fed exclusively on white
flour-wheat or rice-and water.
Very quickly they began to droop and
in few weeks most Of them were
half conscious and partly paralyzed.
When q portion. Of bran or the polish
ings of rice was added to their food
they began at once to recover.
The symptoms of the disorder did
not differ from the symptoms of the
disease beriberi. Indeed, this expert
ment had much to do with the con-
clusion that beriberi was a deficiency
ailment. Human beings living on
robbed food diet suffer similarly.
Up to the present time five men,
bers Of the vitamine group have been
discovered, the fifth having been an
nounced only lately. Vitamine A is
found in the green leaves of various
plants, in the glandular tissues of
animals and in many animal fats.
MIX and it's products contain it gen.
erously. Butter fat especially is rich
in it. Codliver oil. the richest SUBJ
stance known, contains, according to
the British Medical Journal, more
than 200 times as much of this vita
mine as butter fat Olive oil and,
indeed, most vegetable oils contain
but little of vitamine A. 1t resists
the temperature at which foods ordi-
narily are cooked rather better than
do other vitamines; kept in codliver
oil it retains its properties for long
time. When butter fat turns rancid
it's vitamine content is destroyed.
Privation of vitamine A is fol-
lowed by the breaking down of the
tissues of the eye as one Of the first
symptoms. 1t is now thought to be
the cause of ricketts,, the children's
disease.
vitamine B, now shown to be two
separate substances, is intimately as
sociated with the grains employed as
breadstuffs. The bolting of wheat
-four, the polishing of rice and the
pearling of barley remove the cortex
of the grain; the process carries with
1t most of vitamine B as well. Among
Oriental peoples whose food is re-
stricted almost wholly to polished
rice the disease beriberi is common.
Beriberi is an Oriental disease ac-
companying disordered condition Of
the nerves. Not much was known
about it in the medical practice OF
the United States until the world war.
Fabricated flour was probably re-
sponsible for its outbreak.
Because Of the shortage Of wheat
the choice of the housekeeper and the
baker lay between a so-called whole
wheat -four, consisting largely of oat-
meal, and a mixture composed chiefly
of cornstarch and rice -four. Because
of its whiteness the latter usually
was chosen. The outbreak of beri-
beri followed its use. The disease
disappeared when wholesome wheat
-four reappeared.
vitamine B seems to be most abun-
dant in the germs of grains, but 1t Is
plentiful in peas and in eggs. Oat-
meal being a whole grain contains 1t
abundantly, and this fact possibly
accounts for its popularity. Long
continued cooking tends to destroy
it's vitamine contenti
Yeast is very richj in 1t, and pos
sibly supplies in bread the part which
Is lost in the manufacture Of white
-four. Freshly baked bread contains
all. the yitamine b which the human