MINERALS IN NUTRITION 5 



ing by soil treatment, if that can be done. A number of minerals and a 

 fairly wide selection of crops were investigated. 



Mention has already been made of the belief that deficiency of minerals 

 in the diet may be a cause of arthritis which is responsible for a substan- 

 tial amount of suffering and disability throughout our country. Section 

 III reports a study of scurvy, based on the assumption that this disease 

 might precede arthritis. It is well known that a lack of vitamin C in the 

 diet will cause scurvy, and the resulting swelling and pain in the joints 

 resemble symptoms of arthritis. In this section of the research, a study 

 was made of the use of iodine and of kelp for the prevention and cure 

 of scurvy. Kelp has a fairly high content of minerals, including iodine. 

 Guinea pigs were used as experimental animals because experience has 

 shown that they are particularly good subjects for use in studying scurvy. 

 Iodine was fed to them in milk, and kelp was mixed with their dry feed. 

 The study failed to show that either iodine or kelp had any value in pre- 

 venting or curing scurvy induced by a ration deficient in vitamin C. 



Reports indicate that the vitamin B complex (which contains two sep- 

 arate vitamins: Bi, and B2 or G) has been used successfully in treating 

 arthritis. It was tried here on guinea pigs suffering from scurvy and 

 failed to prevent the development of the disease. Vitamin C in the diet 

 is the usual cure for scurvy, but in these experiments it was found that 

 the use of the vitamin B complex or of vitamin D with vitamin C was 

 more effective than vitamin C alone in curing scurv3^ Since larger 

 amounts of vitamins appear to be needed for the cure of scurvy than 

 the body requires for normal maintenance, the authors suggest that 

 large amounts of the several vitamins should be used in treating arthritis 

 and other degenerative diseases. 



The studies reported in section IV were concerned with the efifect of 

 iodine and other minerals on hardening of the arteries (called atheroscler- 

 osis in section IV, and also commonly called arteriosclerosis). Harden- 

 ing of the arteries may be produced artificially in rabbits by feeding them 

 large amounts of cholesterol. This is a fatty substance that occurs nor- 

 mally in human and animal bodies, and especially in bile. 



When iodine (as potassium iodide) was fed to rabbits along with 

 cholesterol, the damage to the arteries seemed to be greater than when 

 cholesterol alone was fed. Kelp with cholesterol appeared to lessen the 

 severity of the damage done by cholesterol alone. When the ash of kelp, 

 containing its mineral salts, was fed with cholesterol, there was no ap- 

 parent lessening of the cholesterol damage; but when a mixture of pure 

 salts, identical with those contained in kelp, was fed with cholesterol, the 

 damage from cholesterol feeding was lessened. It appears that kelp feed- 

 ing has some value in preventing severe damage but the nature of its 

 action is not known. 



Since there has been considerable research as to methods of adding 

 iodine to milk, it seemed advisable to study the effect of iodine on the 

 enzymes of milk, on human and animal digestive enzymes, on the fecal 

 flora of animals fed with iodized milk, and on bacteria in milk. 



Section V reports studies concerning the efifect of iodine on milk 

 enzymes and on enzymes found in human and animal digestive systems. 

 Milk itself contains certain enzymes which some authorities consider ben- 

 eficial to the health of the consumer. References to such opinions are cited 

 in this section. Among the enzymes normally occurring in milk are 



