TAKING VITAMINS AND MINERALS

Articles In This Section:

· PROPER DIET

· DIMINISHING THE APPETITE

· TAKING VITAMINS AND MINERALS

· NUTRITION FACTS

· SPECIAL MENTION OF CERTAIN FOODS

· AN OCCASIONAL CIGARETTE

· DRINKS THAT ARE BENEFICIAL

· YOGA PRACTICE OF FASTING

There are many vitamins, minerals and other elements neeessary to human diet, and if you wish to know them in detail any good book on nutrition will list them for you. In a general way, though, all you need to remember is how to cater to the body's three vital vitamin needs—how to supply it with sufficient amounts of Vitamins A, B and C and give it enough protein and mineral. A good rule to remember is that few foods are so specialized they give you one thing only. You are more than likely to get adequate amounts of everything your body requires if you make sure that its main demands are cared for through a balanced, common-sense diet.

Vitamin A is what enables the body cells to resist infection. It is contained in green and leafy vegetables, dairy products, fruit and meat, especially liver and lamb. Along with this vitamin you will be absorbing calcium, iron and the much-needed body-building proteins. And if you substitute fish for some of the meat, you will be getting precious iodine without recourse to iodized salt, which sometimes makes the skin break out.

The Vitamin B-Complex influences digestion. Whole wheat is one excellent source of this vitamin. Unfortunately, bread made with commercially-prepared flour is hopelessly impoverished. It is, in fact, almost wholly devitalized, its bran, natural minerals and semolina removed, the living wheat germ isolated and sold separately for good money while the "dead" flour must now be artificially "enriched" or "fortified," another process that adds to its cost. Thus white bread is virtually valueless nutrition-wise. Your best available sources of Vitamin B, in this day and age, are dark bread, nuts, peas, beans, lentils, cabbage and Brussels sprouts, soy beans and yeast; also the dairy products and liver already listed under Vitamin A.

Digestion is not the only thing controlled by this Vitamin group. As you probably know, massive doses of the B-Complex, given by injection, have proved effective in the treatment of arthritis and that little-known degenerative disease of the nerve endings, multiple sclerosis. For regeneration of tissues and maintaining healthy nerves scientists recognize it as being of paramount importance. And more is being learned about its importance every year.

Vitamin C is the youth-preserver as well as the substance that keeps you from getting colds, and helps combat them if they settle in. The best source of this vitamin is the citrus fruit family—oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruit. These should be squeezed fresh and never strained, for the pulp is too precious to throw away. Tomatoes and tomato juice are a second good source. Lacking either, there is some Vitamin C in potato jackets and also in turnip greens and spinach. But remember, this is a volatile vitamin which does not keep, nor can it be stored in the body. Consequently, you need your daily allotment regularly.