The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1941-05-15

OUT lear Oh COIlli dulCIlOIi, lIldt IL y
person eats an average diet in the
United States, it is pretty hard not
to get enough vitamins.
DR.. Scale Harris, of Birming-
nam, Alabama, recently said,
"There are a hundred times as
many vitamins prescribed as there
are indications for their use" He
also said that vitamins should be
obtained in food and that expen-
sive, synthetic vitamins are valu.
able only in emergencies.
DR.. Harris has recently written
a book on one Of the vitamin def
cheney diseases, pellagra, and it is
interesting to find him say that
there has never been a case Of
pellagra cured with yeast, nico-
tinic acid, liver, or anything else,
without improvement in all items
Of the patients food intake.
Necessary Elements
A diet which contains meat at
least twice a week, eggs at least
.hree times a week, milk once q
Jay, whole wheat cereals, fruits
and vegetables, is almost certain
to contain all the necessary ele-
ments in nutrition.
The fundamental minerals are
calcium, phosphorus, potassium,
sodium, chlorine, magnesium, sui
phur, iodine and iron. The trace"
elements include manganese, zinc,
cobalt, copper, silicon, aluminium
and arsenic.
Zine has-been attacked fere--
ciously and is the subject of a
number of misconceptions. AS a
matter of fact, zinc occurs in prac-
tically all animal tissue, especially
liver and pancreas, both of which
are considered to be protective
foods. The first milk the baby gets,
coiostrum, contains three times
the amount of zinc present in nor
NAL milk. 1t is also present in the
secretion from the pancreas.
A recent scarehead has taken
people off spinach because it con-
tains oxalic acid, which is said to
interfere with the metabolism of
calcium. AS a matter Of fact, it
would be pretty hard to make up
a diet in which oxalic acid was not
contained in some food or other.
Practically all fruits and vege-
tables contain small amounts Of
oxalic acid.
Fallacy About Tomatoes
The same thing may be said
about the campaign that tomatoes
should be eliminated from the diet
because they contain copper. In
this food, and in many others,
copper is useful and important
food element because it influences
blood formation favorably.
The tendency towards whole
cereals or whole wheat bread is
decidedly healthy one provided
not too much Of them is taken and
provided the individual is able to
stand the amount of roughage
which many of these foods contain.
The principal lesson to be
learned from the many pronounce
ments that are made about food
requirements nowadays, is that q
little knowledge is a dangerous
thing. 1t is not necessary to make
special efforts to procure all the
food elements mentioned in the
books on nutrition. Anyone who
follows his instinct and eats a
general diet is bound to get enough
Of all the elements.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Reader:-"Will you tell through
your column how Tonga cold or
flu germ would be active? For in
stance, how long after using
would a glass, or spoon, or a
handkerchief used by one with .
cold or flu transmit the germ to
one using or handling these ar
ticles?"
Answer - No definite answer
can be given to this question. How
ever, it may be said that the or
binary washing Of dishes and eat
ing utensils in scalding water and
the laundering Of a handkerchief
will kill the germs. 1t is believed
now that the incubation of a cold
is quite long and symptoms do not
appear until perhaps two weeks
after exposure.
ed. Each Of 'em thinks he has his
present home district under his
thumb and he greatly prefers not
TO be dumped into a statewide