Evening star., 1942-05-23
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
By Thomas r. Henru.

A Japanese Army on the move has one
big advantage in not requiring bread.
The same function filled by bread in
the diet of American and European
armies is taken care of with few hand
fuls of brown rice which a soldier can
carry in his pack.
A white soldier cannot be burdened
with four or five loaves Of bread, even
in concentrated FORM and field kitchens
are cumbersome to move.
There is a fundamental difference in
the food habits Of the two people, officers
of the Army Medical Corps explain.
The general food pattern of the white
races said one of them, "is to eat
those foods containing the necessary
elements. proteins and minerals, in the
form Of meats and vegetables. These
may be far from satisfying the appetite
So we fill up on bread or potatoes or
both. This satisfies the cravings of
the stomach.
The Jap, of course. has the same
problem. But he can do the 'filling-up'
with something more economical and
much easier to transport. He needs only
to boil it to give it bulk"
Little is known here on the basic diets
OF the Japanese army-or, for that mat
ter, of the bulk Of the japanese people.
Great secrecy has been maintained ever
since Japan withdrew from the League
Of Nations. Previously she had made
thorough but probably none too trust
worthy reports.
1t is believed, however, that the rice
used is so-called brown rice" with only
the outer husks taken of. This was
first tested in the diet Of the Japanese
Navy nearly 40 years ago and the ex-
pertinent gave an early clue to the ex-
istence in rice polishings Of some SUBJ
stance-now known to be Vitamin B-1
which prevented the deadly Oriental
disease, beriberi.
Brown rice. say the Army experts.
contains about all the B complex of
vitamins except ribofavin, the latest to
come into prominence. 1t is far from a
sufficient diet. however, and must be
supplemented with foods containing
Vitamin E. essential for eyesight and
general health, and Vitamin c for the
prevention Of scurvy. There is little
doubt that the Japanese supply these
substances, as do the Germans.
Rice, Army nutrition. experts believe,
has about the same food value as Amer
lean grains-but no more.
The value of brown rice long has been
recognized in the ration of the Philip
pine constabulary. Each company is
allowed to spend certain part of its
ration money, which ordinarily would
go for bread, for rice. Brown rice Is
not prescribed. but the Quartermaster
Corps has seen that it can be secured
most easily by constabulary mess SER
geants. However, some polished rice and
good deal of bread also is provided
In spite Of the widespread publicity
given brown rice, It is explained, there
can be no question but that most Orient
ais still prefer white rice, just as Amer
leans prefer white flour. and will buy It
when they can get it. 1t never has been
possible, despite a good deal OF propa-
ganda over the years, to persuade the
tax on white rice. There was fear of
too great popular outcry.
If this could have been done, food
experts say, thousands of lives of beriberi
victims could have been saved
Although it has certain military ad-
vantages, medical officers point out. the
Japanese ration would be ill-suited to
American troops who require as filler
something appetizing as well as nutriti-
GUS. 1t never has been the policy to
force on soldiers something they do not
like, since it is recognized that the filler
substance must have satisfactory
psychological as well as nutritional
effect.
The Japanese eat rice because they
like it better than bread. Their tastes
happen to fit well into the present
picture.