756 Rex\ding- Course for Farmers' WivEg. 



doubt but that for one accustomed to a heavy meat diet a radical change 

 to a meatless diet might result in unpleasant symptoms. Meat is a 

 stimulating food and to withdraw its stimulating qualities would have 

 much the same effect as leaving off the accustomed cup of coffee or tea. 

 Do we need the constant stimulant ? 



Mineral Matter. — The foodstuffs we have thus far considered, the 

 fats, carbohydrates and proteins, while essential to the body, are not 

 sufficient for all of its needs, since only five elements, carbon, hydrogen, 

 oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur are represented. A diet containing only 

 fat, carbohydrates and protein would be so deficient as to cause starva- 

 tion even more quickly than if all food were withheld. 



The remaining elements, together with sulfur, are often grouped 

 under the head of mineral matter, ash or salts. Mineral matter is there- 

 fore a vital consideration in the human dietary. It is frequently over- 

 looked because there is so little definite knowledge of the needs of the 

 body for the elements represented. These elements are as necessary 

 in building and repairing tissue as nitrogen. 



While we consider mineral matter as a separate foodstuff, it is not so 

 easy to understand as the fats and the carbohydrates, sugar and starch, 

 or the various proteins, for we cannot see it. It is not always a definite, 

 tangible thing. One salt with which we are all familiar and the only one 

 which we knowingly add to the diet is common table salt, which is made 

 up of the two elements, sodium and chlorin. The presence of other 

 ash constituents of mineral matter we shall have to accept on faith and 

 depend upon the chemist to tell us in which foods the various ones are 

 to be found. That we need knowledge of these important foodstuffs, 

 and should give greater consideration to their abundance in the dietary, 

 a brief mention of some of their functions will show. 



Phosphorus is essential to the development of all the cells. If the 

 food of the growing child is deficient in phosphorus-containing com- 

 pounds, growth becomes stunted. Foods that may be added to the diet 

 to increase or keep up the amount of phosphorus are milk and cream, 

 whole eggs or the yolk of the egg, meat, whole wheat, oatmeal, dried 

 peas and beans. 



Calcium (lime) is very important in the growth of the bones, and 

 serves many other important uses in the activity of the body. If lime 

 is not present in sufficient amounts in the diet of a growing child, the 

 bones and teeth do not develop properly and normal growth may thus 

 be interfered with. Anything which interferes with the health of the 

 bone is likely to interfere with the production of the red corpuscles, for. 

 as has been previously pointed out, they are produced by the red marrow 



