Evening star., 1933-08-20
Blasting Popular Ideas About Your Diet

There was time not long ago when .
careful mother snatched an olive away from
a child who was experimenting with its taste.
Today the Federal food specialists can assure
her that there is nothing about olives to hurt
children and much to benefit them. Both
green and ripe olives contain abundant amounts
Of vitamin A. About seven medium sized olives
will supply as much vtamin as an eighth
Of cup Of whole milk or a serving of the
bleached lettuce leaves that usually appear on
a salad.
How about hot breads? Do they really play
havoc with your digestion as some people be-
neve? The prejudice against eating them 10
possibly due to the fact that mullins and bis
cults are soft and not always well masticated.
The fact that they are hot is not a legitimate
factor against them. After ALL most of our
foods are eaten hot without disastrous results.
The official Government judgment is: Care
fully prepared and we'll chewed hot breads are
not detrimental to the health
It is also true that fried foods, because a
poor frying methods have come into some dis.
favor. But frying, the bureau specialists point
out, gives texture and flavor not obtains
able by any other methods of cooking. In deep
fat frying, temperature is the biggest factor,
and the next factor is the preparation of the
food for frying Whatever fat is used do not
heat it until it smokes. And in preparing
the food for frying use as little fat as possible.
The food will taste better and be more
digestible.
A SOMEWHAT similar prejudice exists IN
the case of iced drinks. Now if cold
beverages really hurt anybody it's probably
because they've been guped down too fast. II,
on the other hand you sip cold drink 4
coos the mouth and throat and long before
the beverage reaches the stomach it's tempera.
ture approximates that of the body heat And
this, of course, is not harmful
For some mysterious reason there's wide>
spread impression that you should not eat
pork in the Summer. Yet hundreds of people
in the United States, notably in the South,
seem to thrive on exclusive meat diet of
pork throughout the year. Pork it is true, u
rather rich meat but you needn't eat the
richer cuts in the Summer. Select. instead,
the leaner cuts. Indeed, there's reason why,
if carefully selected, properly cared for and
prepared, pork cannot be eaten all the year
round
Just what are vitamins? Real things or just
hypothetical substances? DR.. Hazel E Num-
sell, bureau technician and specialist the
subject points out these facts
Until few years ago vitamins were unhearo
Of Then it was demonstrated that natural
focds-thatis, unmanufactured foods-contafn
certain substances hitherto unrecognzed but
without which animal and human beings fan
i'll in various ways. Just exactly what these
substances are, nobody knows, any more than
science knows exactly what electricity is. Si1
vitanins-A, B. C, D, E and G-have been
identified but it is probably because they stin
are somewhat mysterious that they called
by letters of the alphabet
What is known about vitamins, as about
electricity, is what they do. Experiments have
shown that without vitamin A in the diet
humans are particularly susceptible to baca
terial infection, especially in the lining q
the air passages glands of the mouth lungA
he
the reproductive organs and the bladder.
The major question most of Us want An1
swered is: What foods should eat ]
be sure of the proper amount and pro-
portions Of vtamins for my body needs?e
Considering vitamin first of all. Although
this vitamin can be stored in the body tSsue1
in considerable amounts, it is important tha9
the diet contain at all times much more than
will merely prevent the aforementioned hs
fections. Among the common foods, tn
richest source of vitamin Is liver, WITH
spinach next and with cheese and butter fol-
lowing in close order.
Vitamin is also plentiful in milk 0he mi4
fat. Next in the list come carrots, AnerA
can cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs and prunoA
r. Summing up vitamin A. authorities say thsk
good diets furnish probably 5000 to 1900
units Of vitamin- A per person per day, and
a well-balanced diet includes besides the vitap
mins starch, sugar, fat protein and mineral
salts. If you want to keep your costs down
select the foods that contain most vitamin ~
Milk, butter cheese, eggs, liver green loa1V
vegetables and other vegetables Of green -
yellow color.
THE list of foods that furnish vitamin , y
long one. Good milk Cfresh. evapo.
rated or dried) eggs, citrus fruits. tomatoes.
green leafy vegetables of all kinds, potatoeA
bananas apples. peaches, grapes fresh prunes
and other fresh fruits-all these furnish vita
min B. Whole grain cereals also. such -
whole wheat, whole corn and brown rice, aDe
rich in this vitamin. Rice polish is also good
source.
A shortage of vitamin is thought , b
an important factor in tooth decay ah1 II
much Of the so-called rheumatism as well e