Show WHAT T TO TOAI EAT 7 JA 1 11 T AND WHY ff a noted authority dj food describes the need for IRON and COPPER shows how you can help to avoid anemia by including these blood building minerals in the diet by C HOUSTON GOUDISS 6 east street new york city F ALL the nutrition problems that challenge the homemaker 0 OF none is more important than supplying her fam ilys need for iron this mineral is sometimes described as the supreme element in nutrition because it is an essential 4 ho how blood Is constructed if you should examine a drop of blood under the microscope you would observe that it is composed of red cells and white cells in norm normal al blood there are about 25 million times imes a million red blood corpus cles owing their color to the iron be bearing aring protein hemoglobin they carry oxygen to all the body tissues and remove the c carbon a r b 0 n dioxide formed during the combustion of body fuel A reduction in the amount of hemoglobin in the blood may cause shortness ness of breath quickened respiration and an accelerated cele rated heart action lack of appetite weakness and a slowing of all vital functions may also result from the diminished supply of oxygen to the tissues lack ack of 0 iron may lead to anemia in many young people the blood does not bunc function tion normally though frequently parents are unaware that anything is wrong you may scold them for being lazy for lacking interest in their work or never heeding the things you tell them when the real trouble is due to iron starvation which I 1 if f long continued may lead to anemia anemia the person who has a tendency I 1 toward anemia usually tires aas ily and lacks lack pep complains of cold hands and feet worries over trifles and may have a complexion that is anything but rosy the great danger of an iron d deficient efi clent diet is that it deprives the body of its chief defense against disease for when the quality of the blood is poor one becomes an easy prey to infection moreover if a serious illness occurs lowered resistance makes it difficult to fight it off on two forms of anemia anemia may be due to loss of blood deficient blood for formation mation I 1 or to increased blood destruction in the body the different forms of the disease are arc sometimes classified as primary and secondary anemia primary anemia is usually known as pernicious anemia it is a grave condition in which the marrow of the bones has lost its power to make red blood cells secondary or nutritional anemia may result from loss of blood in an accident or it may follow a long infectious illness for any infection lowers the iron reserve in the body but the most common cause is a diet lacking in sufficient iron over a long period of time how much iron it is believed that about 10 per cent of the total hemoglobin in adults is destroyed daily and for this reason iron rich foods must be included in the diet every day investigators have found it difficult to determine the exact iron requirement but according to the latest estimates from fro ay 1 12 to 15 milligrams a day will not only provide adequately for bodily requirements quire ments but will allow a reasonable reserve I 1 women need more than men women require more iron than men in proportion to the body weight to make good the losses that occur during the menses expectant mothers need a generous amount of iron not only to provide for their own needs and for the normal development of the fetus but to create a reserve supply in the babas hotly body which will last through the period of lactation the percentage of iron in the babas body is about three times that of the adult nature has wisely designed this reserve to make up for tile the low iron content of milk which constitutes the chief food during the first six months of life nutrition authorities believe however that better health results when an iron rich food such as egg yolk is introduced very early into the diet this helps to prevent the slight anemia which was formerly regarded as unimportant por tant but which is now recognized as making the baby more susceptible to infection and retarding growth childrens requirement high it is desirable to keep the iron intake at a high level throughout childe childhood for it has been discovered that better health results when a surplus is allowed above the daily requirement but there is a very special need for iron in girls from the beginning of ado fl les cence through the eighteenth year iron rich foods to maintain top health and prevent the possibility of nutritional anemia the homemaker must learn to meet the daily iron requirement qui rement of her family and not leave this vital matter to chance iron rich foods include egg yolk liver molasses dried beans and peas whole grain cereals lean meat and green leafy vegetables while milk has only a small amount of iron experiments show that its iron is readily absorbed and is utilized to good advantage eggs are such an excellent source of iron that one egg yields about one tenth of the standard requirement lean meat furnishes a considerable amount but liver is so much richer that it should be eaten frequently dried beans are inexpensive and when baked with molasses become a good source R of iron B it is a pity that parsley is so often used only as a garnish because it has a higher iron content than most green leafy vegetables though potatoes contain only a moderate amount of iron they are usually consumed in sufficient quantities to make them a significant source copper also necessary investigation has demonstrated that adequate iron along alone is not enough to prevent nutritional anemia for the body cannot convert iron into blood pigment unless copper is also present therefore in order to obtain the full benefits of iron the diet must contain sufficient copper foods that supa sup A B ply copper in abundance are liver W sl nuts dried beans and peas smaller but significant amounts are provided by whole grain cereals dried fruits and poultry I 1 shall gladly send to every homemaker a list of foods rich in both iron and copper an and also sample menus showing how to plan a balanced blood building diet I 1 urge you to write for this material and keep the blood building foods in mind when planning menus never forget for an instant that good blood is the best form of life insurance C houston cordiss 1938 12 |