Lyman, John F.

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FOOD FOR FREEDOM BULLETIN 54 OF nm AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE, THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY VITAMINS Prevent Disease Build Strong Bodies Guinea pig with scurvy, caused by lack of vitamin C in the diet. (Com-pare with animal on right) • Increase Vitality Protect Against Infection Guinea pig fed same diet as one on left plus orange ,ittice, which fon.iish.ed the essential vitamin C. Fig. i.-Chil<lrcn and adults react to a vitamin-rich diCio'illudl li'lk guinea pigs. By John F. Lyman Department of Agricultural Chemistry The Ohio State University Revised January, 1943 THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, COOPERATING WITH THE u. s. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE, H. C. RAMSOWER, Director, Columbus, Ohio Printed and distributed in furtherance of Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914 VITAMINS How many vitamins exist? At present, twelve vitamins are thoroughly established, and their exact chemical natures known. All but one of these vitamins are found in foods, as described in the list below. Several other vitamins also are known to occur in foods, but as yet these have not been isolated in pure form and tested for their biological effect on the human body. Eight of the twelve vitamins are manufactured synthetically. Vitamin con-centrates and synthetic vitamins represent a major line of business in the modern drug store. THE TWELVE KNOWN VITAMINS Vitamin A - and its parent substance, Carotene, the yellow pigment in green leaves, yellow vegetables, egg yolks, and butter. Br or THIAMIN- most abundant in whole-grain cereals, lean pork, egg yolks, liver, nuts, beans, and peas. C or AscoRBIC Acm - also called the Anti-scorbutic vitamin, most abundant in fresh fruits and vegetables. D- the anti-rachitic vitamin, found abundantly in cod-liver oil, and in small amounts in egg yolks and butter. E - the anti-sterility vitamin, most abundant in the germs of seeds and in leafy vegetables. G or B2 (Riboflavin) - a yellow substance found in milk, cheese, lean meat, liver, eggs, beans, and greens. B6 - au anti-dermatitis factor, found abundantly in egg yolk, lard, and vegetable oils. NIACIN- formerly called nicotinic acid, and also the pellagra-preventing vitamin, found most abundantly in liver, milk, eggs, and meat. PANTOTI:zy:NIC Aero, the anti-gray hair factor, found in egg yolk and beef, and less abundantly in many other foods. K - the vitamin necessary for coagulation of blood, found abundantly in green leaves. BIOTIN, formerly called vitamin H, a vitamin recently obtained from egg yolks and milk. CHOLINE, the vitamin concerned with fat transformations in the liver. 2 VITAMINS ARE INDISPENSABLE FoR HEALTH The idea that the function of food is to satisfy the consumer's taste has been replaced by the theory that the composition of food is more important than the taste if a healthy, vigorous life is to be lived. There-fore, it is unwise to choose only what we like, without thought of what is good for us. A health-giving diet is one that is adequate in vitamins; all of the vitamins are growth and health promoting, but each one seems to do some specific work for the body (as explained on page 2). The demonstration by food chemists that vitamins are very unequally distributed in seeds, fruits, vegetables, meat, milk, eggs, etc., shows the importance of a well selected diet in order to supply enough of all of the vitamins. Therefore: Eat the Health-Protecting Foods That You Should then Eat What You Want! A new kind of starvation, hidden hunger (also called malnutrition), has been added to the long-familiar famine type of starvation, now called "hollow-hunger." The victim of hidden hunger, although he may be eating his fill of appetizing food, falls prey to disease, brought on by a lack of some vitamiJ,1 or other food component, because his diet is not well balanced by a proper selection of food types. Fig. 2.-Malnutrition is more common than many people, especially mothers, would care to admit. Under-nourished children may eat large meals. But, they do not eat the right foods. This may be due to personal preferences. More often it is caused by poorly planned meals. 3 \V°HAT EFFECTS Do VITAMINS HAvE? Each vitamin has characteristic functions, so that definite disorders and diseases result from eating food too low in a particular vitamin. Several vitamins take an important part in the life processes by which the stqred energy of the food is released to supply power for the production of muscular work and bodily heat. Vitamins are necessary for normal growth and for the maintenance of structure and function of the body. For example: Vitamin A deficiency is followed by changes in the epithelial mem-branes of the respiratory and digestive passages. A normal retina of the eye and sharp vision depends on a plentiful supply of Vitamin A in the diet. Lack of G, or B2 (riboflavin) leads to derangement of the cornea of the eye, with resulting poor eyesight. Lack of Vitamin C brings on a softening of the material that holds the cells of the body together, which results in rupture of the walls of the small blood vessels and produces inflamed joints and sores some-what like boils. Vitamin D deficiency (rickets) is character- Similar flock to that on left, fed same ra-ized by poor growth of bones, shown above. tion, plus cod liver oil, furnishing vitamin D. Fig. 3.-Vitamin D helps to regulate the formation of bones in the young, and to maintain normal bony structure in adults. Vitamin D takes part in the mineralization of bones. Its lack in infants leads to rickets. Vitamin K is essential for normal blood clotting. Pantothenic Acid, in addition to other functions, seems to be required to prevent the hair from turning gray. Vitamin E affects the reproductive and muscular systems. 4 MEALS FoR HEALTH Doctors and food chemists who have carefully studied the problem have concluded that one-fourth to one-third of the American people live on sub-standard diets, low in vitamin and mineral content. A health-giving diet, adequate in vitamins, should include for each day the following: I. At least a pint of milk or its equiv-alent in cheese. 2. Leafy or green or yellow vege-tables; one or more servmgs. 3. Citrus fruits, to-matoes, or other vitamin C foods; one or more servmgs. 4. Eggs, one daily; at least four a week. 5. Whole wheat bread or "en-riched" bread; at least two serv-ings daily. Fig. 4.-A healthy baby is happy and acrive. 6. Meat, fish, or poultry; at least once a day. 7. Potatoes; one or more servings daily. 8. In addition to the health-protecting foods listed in the first seven rules, other wholesome foods such as vegetables, fruits, cereals, fats, etc. should be used as desired. ~[ If these eight rules for eating are observed, ]J vitamins and other food factors will be plen-tifully supplied; and health, efficiency, and comfort will improve. 5 DAILY VITAMIN REQUIREMENTS FOR MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN Exact vitamin reqmrements are unknown; but enough information has been gathered to make a foundation for practical recommendations. The Committee on Foods and Nutrition of The National Research Council recommends: DAILY VITAMIN REQUIREMENTS =---=--~ Units M1lhgrams [ Milligrams M1lhgrams A of B1 ofC I of R1bof!avm of N1acm For a 154-pound man: Moderately active . I 5000 600 75 2.7 18 Very active ...... 5000 766 75 3·3 23 Sedentary ... .. 5000 500 75 2.2 15 For a 123-pound woman: i Moderately active ..... 5000 500 70 2.2 15 Very active .......... 5000 600 70 2.7 18 Sedentary ..•.•. .. 5000 400 70 r.8 12 Pregnancy (latter half) 6000 600 IOO 2.5 18 Lactation .............. 8000 766 150 3.0 23 For children, daily: Under l year ...... 1500 133 30 o.6 4 I to 3 years ....... 2000 200 35 0.9 6 4 to 6 years ..... 2500 266 50 I.2 s 7 to 9 years ...... 3500 333 60 r.5 IO 10 to r2 years .... 4500 400 75 r.S 12 For children over 12: Girls, 13 to 15 years 5000 466 So 20 14 Girls, 16 to 20 years 5000 400 So r.8 12 Boys, 13 to 15 years .. 5000 533 90 24 16 Boys, 16 to 20 years 6000 666 IOO 30 20 VITAMINS SUPPLIED IN ONE DAY BY THE FooDs SPECIFICALLY RECOMMENDED FOR HEALTH " Fooo Unm I Umt; Milligram> Milligrams , M1lhgrams of A of B1 of C of R1bof!a vm l ofN1acm l pmt of milk •.... 765 54 3 .84 I I.O I l cup spinach or greens. 8400 35 75 ·35 I I.2 1 Tomato f •••• 2000 26 27 .II I .6 l Egg ......... 500 25 0 .18 I.O 4 slices whole wheat bread Trace 120 0 .12 I 3.0 8 oz. beef or meat equivalent ... 47 158 3 ·74 9.0 S oz. potatoes 60 IOO 25 .13 I 2.3 Total. II2I2 4S9 133 2.47 I 1S.r 6 SUMMARY OF VITAMIN REQUIREMENTS The total vitamins supplied by the foods recommended by the Com-mittee on Nutrition, as shown by the table on the preceding page, are nearly sufficient to meet the en-tire needs of most people. The remaining requirement must be supplied by other foods-such as other fruits, vegetables, cereals, etc. The importance of green leafy vegetables as a source of Vitamin A is indicated by the large amount of A in one serving of spinach. For example, a mother nursing a child requires 8000 units of vita-min A. This amount is somewhat over-supplied by one cup of spin-ach or greens. Similarly, the table shows that Vitamin C comes mostly from fruit and vegetables. Whole wheat bread, meat, and potatoes are major sources of B1 ; Fig. 5.-Refrigeration insures the preservation while meat and milk are the prin-of vitamin values in foods. cipal sources of riboflavin. VITAMINS LosT IN CooKING, CANNING, AND STORAGE Some of the vitamins dissolve readily in water and thus may be removed from foods by soaking or cooking in water. To avoid this loss, soaking operations should be eliminated as far as possible and cooking water should be kept down to as small a quantity as is practicable. If the cooking water can be used in soups, gravies, etc., this lost vitamin can be reclaimed. Some of the vitamins are rapidly destroyed by heat, particularly if exposed to the air at the same time, hence over-cooking and undue stirring should be avoided. Most foods slowly lose vitamins on storage. This is particularly true of vitamin C in fresh fruits and vegetables. Acid foods retain vitamins in cooking better than neutral or akaline foods. Hence the addition of soda in cooking may lead to loss of vitamins. 7 Bulletins of the Agricultural Extension Service, Ohio State University No. ro4 Hol\rn CANNING 1·01t BETTER FA.MILY MEALs: Alma L. Garvin and Christine Carlwn, Extension Specialists. ro6 P1cKLc.s AND RhLlSHEs: Alma L. Garvin and Christine Carlson, Extension Specialists. II6 Hol\rn GARDENING: J. H. Boyd, Extension Specialist in Vegetable Garden-ing and H. D. Brown, Professor of Vegetable Gardening. I2~ Hol\IL STORAGE OF VhGETABLES AND FRUITs: Joseph H. Boyd, Extension Specialist. 133 TIIRLE MEAL<; A. Dw: Hughina McKay, School of Home Economics. I 38 THE HoMLJ\I \KCR PL',NS COMMUNITY ME us: Alma L. Garvin and Christine D. Carlson, Extension Specialists. I56 THE YouNG CHILD AND His FooD: Osee Hughes, Division of Food and Nutrition. rfo QurcK BRE\Ds: Osee Hughes, Division of Food and Nutrition. I97 Fooo FOR HEALTHFUL L1vrNG: Alma L. Garvin and Christine Carlson, Extension Specialists. 202 EIGHTY-FIVE 'vVAYs OF Us1NG APPLh>: Horticulture and Nutrition Specialists. 206 EGG>: A DozEN Rr:ASONS AND DozENs OF 'vVAY> To UsE DoZENS OF EcGs: Christine Carlson, Extension Nutritionist. 217 PLA.N ! THEN PRonucE Foon FOR THE FAMILY. 224 Fooo PRESERVATION BY FREEZING. 228 MrLR. AS Poon. Extension Bulletins are distributed by the Extension Agents in each county. 8 

Vitamins

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Vitamins

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