EATING AND WEIGHT CONTROL: VITAMINS
These are food substances that are essential for growth, health, and life itself. You need them only in tiny quantities, but you cannot get along without them. Vitamins help to change the food we eat into bones, skin, muscles, nerves, and other parts of our bodies. A basic, balanced diet, such as those I describe in this chapter, provides all the vitamins and minerals you need. Thousands of dollars are spent on vitamins every year in this country. Much of that money is spent by perfectly healthy people who have been convinced by high-powered advertisements that they need extra vitamins. Your doctor will certainly tell you if you need a supplement to the vitamins present in your normal diet. Consult the entry on vitamins in the encyclopaedia section for information about the various vitamins and the deficiency diseases that result if certain vitamins are lacking in the diet.
Salt and other minerals
The body requires salt (sodium chloride). This is obtained in sufficient quantity from the average diet except when a person sweats profusely. Salt is lost in the perspiration, and during hot summer days, everyone, especially workers, athletes, and lively children, should have more than the usual amount of salt. They can salt their food liberally, eat a few salted nuts or biscuits, or add salt to tomato juice. If salt tablets are taken, they should be specially coated ones that do not irritate the stomach or the digestive system.
In addition to vitamins, the body needs small amounts of other valuable materials. Only a small fraction of an ounce of iron is required, but without this, the body develops a form of anaemia. The blood’s rich redness is produced by haemoglobin containing iron and protein. Foods rich in iron include kidney beans; liver and other meats; turnip tops, beetroot, and spinach; whole-wheat bread; and molasses. A trace of iodine is necessary to prevent goitre; this can be obtained easily by the regular use of iodized table salt. The body also requires small quantities of magnesium, manganese, copper, and other substances. Nature provides these for us in balanced diets.
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