BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF VITAMINS 



This should not be disturbing if the findings are properly applied. 

 The practical problems will involve economics as well as chemistry 

 and physiology. In the field of medicine, the doctor will continue to 

 prescribe vitamins for deficiencies which are clearly diagnosed, and in 

 some cases he will try vitamins to determine if any beneficial effects 

 can be obtained. If the patient recognizes some benefit, the use of 

 vitamin supplements will be continued for some time; if no benefits 

 are recognized, the box of capsules will probably remain on the shelf 

 of the medicine cabinet. A certain group of people will buy vitamin 

 preparations on their own initiative but few will take capsules con- 

 tinually for any length of time. 



Extension of the use of vitamins will probably ha\c to come by 

 way of the addition of vitamins to widely used foods. The supply of 

 niacin did not become critical immediately after the discovery of its 

 role in curing pellagra; but the supply was critical within a few weeks 

 after the introduction of flour enrichment. If my calculations are 

 correct, 1,000,000 pounds of niacin is almost sufficient to su[)ply the 

 minimum requirement of all the people in the United States for one 

 year, an amount which the annual production is now reaching. What 

 will happen now that war is over and synthetic niacin will be in direct 

 competition with niacin in meat, and synthetic ascorbic acid will be in 

 competition with vitamin C in oranges, tomatoes, etc.? Will industry 

 be willing to control the pioduction of synthetic vitamins in relation 

 to the true demand for these products? I would be greatly disturbed 

 by an extensive advertising campaign advocating greater use of syn- 

 thetic vitamin C by the public at a time when the orange crop is rotting 

 in orchards. On the other hand, if the synthetic vitamins are used to 

 supplement rather than replace our food supply, we can plan for this 

 country — yes, even the world — a continuous supply of nutrients which 

 will be. little affected by crop failures. I hope such a plan can be 

 made and executed before the problem becomes so acute that govern- 

 ment may have to step in. At present, the use of vitamins is promoted 

 largely among people who are rather adequately fed. What results we 

 could expect from the proper use of vitamins in the contiol of famines 

 in India ! It is true that vitamins cannot replace other food nutrients 

 but certain vitamins at least increase the elliriency of utilization of the 

 total nutrients and may also help in the synthesis of other vitanuns m 

 the intestinal tract. 



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