The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-11-15
-Dietz on Science
FRENCH DINNER
WITH WINE IS
CALLED IDEAL
Pioneer in Vitamin Study
Cites Variety Giving
Essential Acids.
BY DAVID DIETZ
Seripps Howard Science Editor

seripps- Howard Science Editor
Lysine, cystine, histidine and
tryptophane. Perhaps you never
heard of them before But you are
more familiar with them than you
think. You eat them daily. If you
didn't, you wouldn't stay alive.
They are amino-acids. Unless you
remember a great deal of your
school chemistry, that may not
mean much to you either. Amino
acids are the substances out of
which proteins are composed.
The point is that the proteins
contained in the foods you eat must
be proteins which contain the four
amino-acids already named. Other
wise, no matter how much food you
eat, you won't stay alive.
But before you start worrying, lei
me repeat a conversation I had once
with Professor E. V. McCOllum OF
Johns Hopkins university, one of the
pioneers in the discovery of vita
minis. He told me that the ideal
meal was the French table d'hote
dinner, including the wine. That is
good advice to remember whenever
the conversation gets thick with
talk of proteins, carbohydrates,
fats, mineral salts, and Vitamins A,
B, G, D, E and G..
DR.. McCollum's point was that the
typical French dinner consisted of
a great variety of things and that,
if you got plenty of variety in your
food, you got everything that you
needed.
PrOteinS Important
At time, however, when all the
popular conversation reVolveS around
vitamins, it is interesting to re-
call that there are other important
necessary constituents in our diet.
1t may be a bit old-faShioned to
dwell on proteins, but we need them
just the same.
DR.. D. Breese Jones of the United
States bureau of chemistry and soils
has some interesting things to say
about them in q recent summary
of "the relative nutritive value of
land and water products"
DR., Jones points out that the
food which we eat must fulfill
three functions: Cd yield energy,
90 supply material for the con-
struction of body tissues, and 90
regulate physiological processes.
The chief function of the proteins
in our food is to supply material for
the construction of heterogeneous
tissues, such as muscle, skin and
hair.
Proteins, to a greater or lesser
extent, enter into the construction
of practically every tissue in our
body. The body gets some energy
from it's protein foods but depends
chiefly upon the fats and carbohy-
drateS for its supply of heat and
energy. Proteins constitute the re-
pair material for rebuilding bodily
tissues.
Digestion Makes Acids
But as DR.. Jones reminds us, the
tissues of the body can not make di-
rect use Of the prOteins. During di-
gestion, they are broken down into
about twenty different amino-acids.
The tissues then use these to build
the particular kinds of proteins
which they require. The four
amino-acids named, lysine, cystine,
histidine and tryptophane, are four
which are absolutely necessary.
The following materials, DR.. Jones
tells us, constitute the most i'm
portant land sources of food pro-
teins: Meat and animal products,
milk, cheese, eggs, cereals and seeds,
nuts, vegetables, and forage crops.
Every striking differences in the
nutritive value of proteins are found
i'll some of these food materials" he
says. analyses of the isolated and
purified proteins of meat, milk, eggs
and nuts have shown that these
proteins are INTENTIONALLY complete;
that is, they contain all the known
essential amino-acids in sufficient
quantities to meet the normal nu-
u AplO1lc4 ICNlAlA VI d111IIotlos
Seeds Vary Widely
"The proteins Of seeds, on the
other hand, show striking differ
ences in the nutritive quality. The
chief proteins of most of the cereal
grains are deficient or lacking in
one or more essential amino-acid.
"In contrast to the seeds of cereal
grains, those of the oil seeds and
nuts which have been studied, in
Guiding linsed, hempseed, peanuts,
soybeans, cottonSeed, almonds, Bra
I'll nuts, and others, possess proteins
of high biological value. They con-
tain high percentages of the amino
acids which are deficient or lacking
in the cereal proteinS."