Nutritional deficiency

“ When food is filtered into the body after having become liquified and made alkaline, or, at least neutral, by saliva, the appetite is given a chance to measure the needs of the body and to discriminate against excess. As soon as the point of complete saturation of any one deficiency is reached, the appetite is cut off, as short as possible to imagine, with no indication of stomach fullness. It will welcome a little of proteid in beans, cheese, eggs, or in some other of its richer forms, and then turn to sugar or fat in some of their numerous forms. ”

“ If this is not done the appetite is deranged, and often craves the very article which is necessary to supply the deficiency. After the component parts of the organism have assimilated the nutritious elements of particular kinds of food for a certain length of time, they lose the power of effecting the necessary changes for proper nutrition, and a supply of other material is imperatively demanded. When the diet has been long restricted to proteids, consisting largely of salt meats, fresh vegetables and fruits containing the organic acids, become indispensable ”

“ As a rule their skin presents evidences of the need of proper diet, for it looks unhealthy and is often covered with boils. But apart from these cases, which so plainly indicate the origin of the poor condition of the blood, there are many instances in which, from the want of vegetable food and fruit, the system becomes greatly deranged. moreover, what is known as the blood being "out of order" is mostly due to an unsuitable diet, consisting of animal food in excess, and a corresponding deficiency of the other essentials. ”

“ This loss may be caused by the expectoration and night-sweats, or it may also be produced by defective mineral nutrition, either from deficient supply in the food, or from non assimilation. But, whatever causes this deficiency, it is universally acknowledged that it is essential the food should contain a proper supply of the mineral elements. If the body is well nourished, the resisting force of the system is raised. ”

“ The work of Osborne and Mendel, and McCollum and Davis in this country, of Schaumann, Funk, Stepp and others, all led to the conclusion that purified diets are unable to satisfy the nutritive requirements of rats or mice, and that extracts of the natural foods suffice to render the diet adequate.
The same rule holds for man, who, when deprived of these vitamines, develops the so-called deficiency diseases—typically modern disorders. Regarded as a group, they are a consequence of our altered mode of life and peculiar civilization. ”

“ And the principal protein retained lacks one of the greatest essentials for growth while the vitamines have all been practically eliminated with the grain germ. Intelligence tells us then that if, having formed the habit, we will persist in our appetite for white flour we must see to it that the protein deficiency of the latter and its lack of vitamines is compensated for by supplementing the diet with the food-stuffs in which these are rich. ”

“ Some of the mineral salts are more widely distributed in food than others, and the danger arising from their deficiency in the diet is not so great as is the case with others; hence attention is called to those found by investigators to be most often lacking or deficient in the average diet; i.e., calcium, phosphorus, and iron. ”

“ The value, therefore, of some general knowledge of the chemical constituents of food is obvious. The diet [Pg 74] must be properly balanced, that is, the food eaten must provide the nutrients the body requires, and not contain an excess of one element or a deficiency of another. It is impossible to substitute protein for fat, or vice versa, and get the same physiological result, although the human organism is wonderfully tolerant of abuse, and remarkably ingenious in its ability to adapt itself to abnormal conditions. ”

“ Ignorance respecting these highly important facts has been responsible for a great number of failures in attempts to adopt a non-flesh dietary. A diet consisting of cereals and fruits, as for example a bread and fruit diet, while apparently satisfactory for a brief period, must inevitably result in failure because of lack of lime, iron and special vitamines found in the green leaf. The same deficiency exists in flesh foods. The soft parts of an animal, fat and lean meat, are almost wholly lacking in lime and vitamines. ”

“ The use of a high fat diet in the treatment of diabetes is based primarily on one fact—namely, that if the food eaten is not sufficient for the needs of metabolism, the body itself supplies the deficiency. Fat is used as long as it lasts, body protein being drawn upon for fuel when this is exhausted. It is of distinct advantage to the patient to have a diet of sufficient fuel value to run his body machine and permit him a moderate degree of exercise. ”

“ Among the wealthier classes, imperfect nutrition most generally arises from excess in quantity, or a too stimulating quality, of food; but among the lower classes from deficiency in quantity or quality, added to scantiness of clothing, want of cleanliness, and imperfect ventilation. ”

“ Just as energy foods and proteins must be adjusted in the dietary to safeguard the health of the body, so the mineral salts must be adjusted for a like purpose. Studies made of the dietaries of a number of families brought to light the fact that the children more often suffered from a deficiency of calcium, phosphorus and iron in their diets than they did from too little protein, [25] proving that it is quite as essential to adjust the mineral salts in the diet as it is that of the organic constituents. ”

“ These days, farming technology with its focus on bulk yield and profit, degrades the nutritional content of our entire food supply. Even commercial organically grown food is no better in this respect.
Sub-clinical, life-long, vitamin and mineral deficiencies contribute to the onset of disease; the malnourished body becomes increasingly enervated, beginning the process of disease. Vitamin supplements can increase the body's vital force, reversing to a degree the natural tendency towards degeneration. ”

“ Tankage for young pigs and meat scraps for chickens are high-grade proteins and are of animal origin.
It is no less important to get the necessary vitamins—those mysterious substances that keep the body healthy and promote growth and well-being. Scientists claim that many diseases are food-deficiency diseases—the body gets out of order because these peculiar vitamins are lacking in the food. Children require about one or two quarts of milk a day, fresh fruits, cereal breakfast foods, leafy vegetables as salads, and cooked vegetables. ”

“ Phosphorus and Calcium Requirements.—If, for example, the mother’s diet is lacking in those materials which produce growth, or is deficient in those mineral salts, such as those of phosphorus and calcium, which are requisite and necessary for the growth of bones in the infant, the mother’s bones and teeth will show this loss and in all probability the baby will sooner or later also show a like deficiency. However, it must be remembered that the pregnant woman is under a strain, both physical and mental. She must not be encouraged to eat beyond her needs or the digestion will be disturbed. ”

“ A supply of water prolongs the duration of life, to as much as three times what it would otherwise be. Good nourishment doubles the power of resisting disease; while deficient food prepares the way for many diseases. A large share of the decline in the English death-rate during the last forty years is due to free trade, and the great cheapening of wholesome food which has resulted from it.
An ill-balanced is more frequent than a deficient diet. Deficiency of fat is more serious than deficiency of carbohydrates, and deficiency of proteid is most serious. ”

“ Severe colics are usually the result of derangements of the liver, and when mothers are badly nourished, the child is frequently born with the trouble. The condition is largely due to a deficiency of nitrogenous elements and phosphates in the food. The system is over supplied with carbonates in the shape of starch, fats and sugar, and deficient in elements that build up the tissues, such as gluten, fibrin, albumen, etc. The mother partakes of food that produces an inflammatory condition, and lacks in that which makes muscle, bone and nerve. ”

“ A surprisingly small amount of each of these substances is sufficient to meet the needs of an individual, but no one of these, even in this small amount, can be safely dispensed with, for if the diet is deficient, or lacking in one or more of them some form of nutritional disturbance will result. It may be severe enough to be diagnosed as a disease, or it may be only enough to keep the individual below a normal state of health. ”

“ Dietetic Treatment.—The following points must be kept in mind in formulating a dietary for patients suffering from a deficiency of hydrochloric acid: (1) boil the drinking water to destroy any bacteria which may be present; (2) use carbohydrates in the form of starch rather than sugar, since starch is less liable to fermentation from bacteria than sugar; (3) limit the foods which delay the passage of the food mass from the stomach; fats pass into the duodenum more slowly than other foods and when fed with other foods delay their passage materially ”

“ Diseases of many different organs, a run-down nervous condition, too much hard work and too little rest, improper food, and disorders of the digestive tract are among the causes that may produce malnutrition, and the first measure adopted by the painfully thin person should be a frank talk with her family physician, as the diet required may not be that intended especially for increasing weight, but one that shall improve nutrition by remedying the defective working of some organ or system of the body. ”

“ But if the scales do not tell a too startling story, the chances are needed weight can be taken on or surplus fat taken off simply by paying more attention to diet.
Remember, however, in either event, we must not tamper with the proper supply of proteins, vitamins, and minerals. The body does not store proteins and must have its adequate supply each day. To fall below the right daily amount of vitamins and minerals also is to court trouble. ”

“ There are clear-cut cases, for example, of vitamin deficiencies that result in symptoms of psychological disturbance. The majority of these cases involve people who suffer from very evident malnutrition.
Unfortunately, the connection between nutrition and mental health is still vague; biochemists are becoming more aware of the need to take into account individual variations. It is not always possible to specify exactly how much of a mineral, a vitamin, or an amino acid a person requires for good health. Some people, for many different reasons, cannot effectively utilize the food they eat. ”

“ A mere excess of food, even of the non-nitrogenous variety, must entail a large amount of unnecessary work, thereby using up a proportional amount of energy for its own disposal, since once introduced into the body it must be digested and absorbed, otherwise it undergoes fermentation and putrefaction in the stomach and intestines, causing countless troubles. When absorbed in quantities beyond the real needs of the body, it may be temporarily deposited as fat ”

“ For malnutrition does not necessarily describe a simple condition due to an insufficient amount of food, but to any one of several complex conditions due to a lack in the food of one or more essential substances.
One may eat a large amount of food and even have a well-padded body and yet be seriously in need of certain food factors—in other words, be incompletely nourished in some particular. ”

“ If the food is concentrated, or contains the quantity of nutriment which the system requires, in small bulk, the stomach and intestines will need the stimulation of distention and friction, which is consequent upon the introduction and transit of the innutritious material into and through the alimentary canal. If the food is deficient in innutritious matter, the tendency is, to produce an inactive and diseased condition of the digestive organs. For this reason, nutrient food should have blended with it innutritious material. Unbolted wheat bread is more healthy than hot flour cakes ”

“ In addition, we must not overlook the great loss of energy to the body in handling and getting rid of the surplus of unnecessary food of whatever kind introduced into the alimentary tract, to say nothing of the danger of intestinal putrefaction and toxæmia when from any cause the system loses its ability to digest and absorb the excess of food consumed. ”

“ A child must have protein food in order to grow; an adult must have it in order to replace the tissues worn out by daily work. Also, there are certain peculiar and so far little understood elements, called vitamines, found only in certain kinds of food, notably fats, milk and the green vegetables, which are essential to the proper metabolism of the body. ”

“ Waste amino-acids are excreted through the kidneys, and excessive waste throws excessive work on these organs, which may lead to defective excretion, and thus cause one or other of the numerous forms of ill health which are associated with this condition. Again, excessive consumption of protein greatly adds to the cost of the diet, for protein costs nearly as many shillings per pound as starch or sugar costs pence. ”

“ Heating food does two harmful things: it destroys many vitamins, enzymes and other nutritional elements and it makes many foods much harder to digest. So no cooked vegetables or fruits are allowed because to maintain health on this limited regimen it is essential that every possible vitamin and enzyme present in the food be available for digestion. Even though still raw, no starchy or fatty vegetables or fruits are allowed that contain concentrated calories like potatoes, winter squash, avocados, sweet potatoes, fresh raw corn, dates, figs, raisins, or bananas. ”