For Beginners and the Best Cooks 25
THE VITAMINS

‘Very briefly, I will show you how to check up on the foods which are
important, as we know them today, in their vitamin content. We are just
including those that are good sources of one or another of the vitamins.

First I will tell you the very important work these vitamins do in our
bodies. |

Vitamin A is a preventive of malnutrition; also of infections of the eyes,
nose and lungs.

Vitamin B is the ‘ ‘appetite’ vitamin, it helps in the digestion of all our
foods and promotes a healthy stomach and intestinal condition. It is
important to growth and development, and good in cases of nerve trouble.

Vitamin C protects against malnutrition, faulty teeth, sallow com-
plexion, lack of energy and scurvy.

Vitamin D—known as ‘‘the sunshine vitamin”’ is a preventive of rickets,
that dread disease; helps teeth. |

Vitamin E is comparatively rare and offers protection against sterility.

Vitamin G, like A, helps combat malnutrition, is an aid to appetite and
growth, and a preventive of pellagra.

Now to sum up important vitamin-rich foods.

Amongst the cereals, whole wheat bread, cornmeal, rolled oats, un-
polished rice, rye, bran and whole wheat cereal, are important in A and B,
and the germ of wheat is especially rich in B, and is a good source of E.

Fruits of value for their vitamins (A, B and C) are apples, pears, bananas,
- peaches, pineapple, both fresh and canned and prunes; richer still are lemons,
oranges, tomatoes, grapefruit, and fresh pineapple. Raspberries and
strawberries are very strong in vitamin C.

Vegetables claim A, B, Gin asparagus, dried white ee kidney beans,
and C is well represented too in the green vegetables, roots, cucumbers,
white and sweet potatoes, peas, onions—with lettuce, carrots, tomatoes
and spinach carrying off the heaviest honours of all.

Milk in every form but skimmed or buttermilk, is very rich in A, rich
in B, fresh milk alone has C, good D and G and E is present, too. It is
the only food we know to contain all the vitamins. Skim milk and butter-
milk have A and B.

Cream has the first three, with - on A, butter is rich in A, cheese
has A and B.

Eggs have A, B, D and G to their eleoal contained in the egg yolk,
by the way.