Economic and financial section > Problem of nutrition

PART II.
MINERAL AND VITAMIN REQUIREMENTS.
5. The Commission recognises the fact that the deficiencies
of modern diets are usually in the protective foods (foods
rich in minerals and vitamins) rather than in more strictly
energy-bearing foods (rich in calories).
The term protective food denotes a foodstuff which is
especially rich in those nutrient principles, “ good ” protein,
vitamins or minerals, in which the principal foods of any geo¬
graphic area are deficient.
Thus—e.g., in the United States of America, where the chief
constituents of the daily diet are usually white bread and other
foods made from white flour—sugar and muscle meats, milk
and the leafy vegetables form the most important protective foods.
In other regions where the protein content of the diet is either
too low or of poor quality (e.g., Asiatic diets consisting chiefly
of polished rice or soja bean, with a small quota of green vege¬
tables), meat would provide a highly valuable protective food.
In yet other areas where the diet consists almost exclusively
of cooked or dry foods, fresh fruits and/or vegetables might be
the most important protective food.
Among the protective foods are, first and most important, milk
and milk products (including butter), eggs and glandular tissues;
then green-leaf vegetables, fruit, fat, fish and meat (muscle).
Among the energy-bearing foods of little or no protective power
are sugar, milled cereals and certain fats.
Of energy-giving foods, unmilled cereals are not rich in protec¬
tive nutrients and the more they are refined the less is their
protective power. Many fats, especially when refined, possess
little or no protective constituents. Refined sugar is of value only
as a source of energy; it is entirely devoid of minerals and vitamins.