CEREJAL FOODS. I3I 



The advocates of these foods lay much stress upon the large 

 amount of mineral constituents (ash) which they are said to 

 contain, and which are so largely lacking in white flour. Phos- 

 phorus is formed in the brain and other tissues ; phosphorus and 

 lime are especially abundant in the bones ; iron occurs in the 

 hemoglobin of the blood. These elements are much more abun- 

 dant in the seed coverings and in the germ of the cereal grains 

 than in the endosperm. The oat and wheat breakfast foods con- 

 tain from i^A to 2 per cent of ash constituents, graham flour 

 carries an equally large amount, while patent flour contains only 

 about one-half of one per cent. Hence it is said that we should 

 eat the coarser flours ; or, if we persist in eating bread of patent 

 flour, we should supplement our diet by the use of cereal break- 

 fast foods. 



If there is any force in this argument, it lies in these two 

 assumptions : First, that wdiite flour as now milled no ^onger 

 contains enough ash constituents to satisfy the needs of the body. 

 Second, that bread flour and the cereal breakfast foods are the 

 only sources from which the body may derive mineral matters. 

 In point of fact, an average diet, even though it does not include 

 coarse flour and cereal breakfast foods, probably carries the min- 

 eral salts in quantities largely in excess of our needs. 



While the modern methods of milling cereal breakfast foods 

 have changed the mechanical condition of the cereal, and in many 

 cases the form of the carbohydrates as well, yet the actual nutri- 

 tive value is for the most part a characteristic of the cereal itself, 

 and is changed but little by its method of preparation. Com- 

 parisons made by the^torrs Experiment Station* showed that 

 the average of 26 analyses of several different brands of rolled 

 oats was almost exactly the same as that of 18 analyses of old 

 fashioned oatmeal. 



It has been claimed that cooked or partially cooked cereals 

 possess superior keeping qualities. If this be true, it is probably 

 due to the sterilizing eflect of the heat employed in their prepa- 

 ration and the greater dryness of the product. 



I 



^Sto^^3.(Conn.) Expt. Station, 16lb Annual Report (Ut04), p. 12-2. 



