The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1943-11-27


and everyone ordered his own.
From a scientific standpoint, what
these experts ate was pure horror.
Most of our food habits are
based on prejudice, many formed
carly IN. life and can almost be
called hereditary. My mother, be-
lieyed cucumbers we're bad for her
and proclaimed this belief in no
uncertain terms, and my father
thought tomatoes were poisonous.
These pref JUDGES Influenced me for
many years and prevented my
consumption Of dish | now enjoy
very much.
X. NJ. Dorcus, who has made
study Of food habits found that u
per cent of 5000 persons exam
incd thought meat hard TO digest,
so per cent avoided it because they
thought il fattenlng. As a matter
of scientific fact meat is one of
the easiest things that man digests,
and whether a substance is fatten
ing or not depends on how much Of
1t you eat.
But meat has been called one
Of the high emotional foods"
Diet For Average Person
Tn, Food and Nutrition Board
OF the National Research Council
have published lists of diets which
they consider yardsticks for sci
entifc dletetic intake. There are
several Of these lists suited TO
various people doing work of varl-
Gus degrees Of strenuousress, but
a general summary for ar aver
age person Is as follows;
pint of milk.
serving Of meat, hsh or poul-
try.
. to slices Of whole wheat or
enriched bread.
. to tablespoonfuls Of butter,
cream or fortified oleomargsrlne.
. servings of vegetables.
. servings of fruit Zone citrus
orange. lemon or grspefruit).
s to 5 eggs weekly.
On the basis Of this as a stand
ard two Philadelphia researchers
questioned SIS adult patients, male
and female. of various ages, Sc
lected at random, about their die
tsry habits.
They found that very few
Americans instinctvely select
well balanced diet.
For instance. 40 per cent did
not eat enough protein (repre-
scented IN the dietary by milk,
eggs and meat Seventy five per
cent didn't get enough to eat, 2
per cent got too much. Seventy
four per cent did not get enough
water, and only l per cent drank
too much water. Thirty-four per
cent did not eat foods that gave
them enough iron tprominent
among iron-containing foods are
eggs, oatmeal, whole wheat, beans,
peas, spinach, almonds. Forty
eight per cent had a deficiency of
calcium calcium containing foods
are cheese. milk, eggs, beans,
prunes, carrots.
Deficiency in vitamin intake is
estimated all the way from 81 per
cent of patients who were not get
ting enough Vitamin B to Is per
cent who we're not getting enough
Nitamin c.
Improved General Health
The deficiencies were explained
70 the patients who in most in
stances co-operated TO correct the
deficiencies with a reported i'm
provement in general health.
Such is the story and presum-
ably there are great many
Americans who do not eat a strict
ly scientific diet, and a few who
eat a diet that is so grossly off
balance as to injure their health.
But ] confess to considerable
skepticism in regards to the bad
effects of a slightly or somewhat
unbalanced diet. Dietitians and nu-
tritionists lean towards being too
rigid when they compose their sci
entiic tables. There is nothing
which will upset a mans soul like
worrying constantly about vheth-
er he is eating the right thing.
,rnn.laM anL ND nrLan a 70 m a