Evening star., 1936-01-22
Indispensable Group of Food Elements Needed by Man
Home Economics Bureau
Suggests Best Sources
Of These Body Builders
Oysters and Shrimp Claim Distinction of
Being Only Foods to Contain All
Three Types.
Types.

ticular element-partly because the
body needs so much. The bones and
teeth, where calcium Is 50 largely
needed, constitute big part of the
body bulk, and calcium is unevenly
distributed in the common foods.
Children particularly need plenty
of calcium. A shortage of calcium or
phosphorus in children's food means
stunted growth. The bones either do
not develop, or they are weak and
fragile and the child may develop
rickets-a wholly preventable disease
which leaves crooked bones or other
deformities for life.
LAS both these minerals are plenti-
fully supplied by milk more easily and
economically than by any other food,
nutritionists recommend plenty Of
milk in the children's diet-a quart q
day is best, they say, to make good
strong. straight bones. Adults need
calcium to keep bones and teeth in
repair and it is hard for anybody to
get enough calcium without using milk
in some form-either to drink, or in
soups, chowders, cheese, or sauces.
Vitamin D is necessary, too, for bone
building.
so milk is at the top Of the list Of
foods rich in calcium-and this means
skim milk and buttermilk, as well as
whole milk, fresh, evaporated, or
dried, and it means cheese also. Then
come the greens-beet tops, cabbage.
caulif1ower, chard. collards, dande.
lions. kale. mustard and turnip tops.
Some Of the sirups. too, are good for
their calcium-sorghum sirup, sugar.
cane sirup and molasSes.
Iron Is not so easily supplied. There
is no one food that can be depended
upon to furnish the days quota of
iron. The best sources Of iron among
foods from animal sources are egg
yolks; meats, particularly liver, kid
ney. brain and heart, also lean muscle
of beef. veal. pork, lamb, and dark
meat of poultry, oysters and shrimps
In the vegetable kingdom. the best
foods for iron are the green leaves,
particularly turnip and beet tops, dan
delion and mustard greens, water
cress and spinach, also kale and broc-
coli leaves; dried fruits, particularly
apricots, peaches. currants and dates:
also figs, prunes and raisins; whole
grain flours or cereals, particularly
whole wheat. barley. rye and oats: mo-
lasses, sorghum sirup and sugarcane
sirup; beans and peas of all kinds,
fresh or dried; and nuts. particularly
almonds and haZelnuts, also walnuts,
pecans and hickory nuts.
Each of these various types OF
food contains little iron-but it takes
days supply. for there must be plenty
of iron in the diet to make good red
blood.
phosphorus is found in many foods
Particularly rich in phosphorus are
milk and cheese, eggs, meat, fish, oys-
tiers. lobster, shrimp. clans, beans and
peas. whole grains, cornmeal and some
of the greens-so many different kinds
of foods that we are almost sure to
get enough phosphorus.
Although most foods contain at
least trace Of all the food minerals.
foods rich In all three of the essential
minerals here discussed are excep-
tional. Two sea foods, oysters and
shrimps, are rich in all three-cal-
cium. phosphorus and iron. Milk is
rich in both calcium and phosphorus,
and so are clans and Holsters. As to
calcium and iron together. only the
green's and the sirups (molasses, sor-
ghum sirup and sugarcane sirup) are
rich in both these minerals. A good
many foods are rich in phosphorus and
iron, but this combination is less i'm
portant because phosphorus is abun-
dant in so many foods"