VITAMINS: THEIR DISTRIBUTION

Our knowledge of the accessory food factors, commonly spoken of as vitamins, is so recent, comparatively speaking, and the exact nature of these factors still so enveloped in mystery, that it was inevitable that the public’s lack of knowledge on the subject should be capitalized. It is not surprising that there are on the market a number of preparations of the “patent medicine” type that are being sold under the claim that they are rich in vitamins—although the exploiters of these fail to explain which, if any, of the three accessory food factors their products contain. The renaissance of yeast as a therapeutic agent has given an opportunity to the manufacturers of this product of unduly stressing the fact that yeast is particularly rich in the antineuritic vitamin (water-soluble B). Because milk and certain milk products are rich in the fat-soluble A factor, the dairy interests would apparently have the public believe that this particular vitamin is to be obtained only from their products. Thus, a journal devoted to the dairy interests recently claimed that those who want vitamins must get them in their milk, butter, cheese and other milk products. The truth is, the accessory food factors are so well distributed throughout the dietary of modern man that, generally speaking, the individual who uses ordinary judgment in selecting his food is in no danger of suffering from a deficiency of any of these three factors. It would be well if every physician might read the excellent monograph on the present state of knowledge concerning accessory food factors written by a committee appointed jointly by the Lister Institute and Medical Research Committee. In this report the distribution of the vitamins in our common foodstuffs is thus briefly summarized: “... broadly speaking it is safe to say that the individual always finds sufficient supply of vitamins in his food so long as that food is reasonably varied and has received no artificial or accidental separation into parts, and so long as no destructive influence has been applied to it.” At the end of the committee’s report is a table (reproduced on page 562) which shows the distribution of the three accessory factors in the commoner foodstuffs.—(Editorial from The Journal A. M. A., Aug. 13, 1921.).

Distribution of Three Accessory Factors in Commoner Foodstuffs

Classes of FoodstuffFat-Soluble
A or Anti-
rachitic
Factor		Water-Soluble B
or Antineuritic
(Antiberiberi)
Factor		Antiscor-
butic
Factor
Fats and Oils:

 Butter

+++

 Cream

++

 Cod-liver oil

+++

 Mutton fat

++

 Beef fat or suet

++

 Peanut oil

+

 Fish oil, whale oil, etc.

++

 Margarin prepared from animal fat

Value in
proportion
to amount of
animal fat
contained

 Nut butters

+
Meat, Fish, etc.:

 Lean meat (beef, mutton, etc.)

+++

 Liver

+++++

 Kidneys

+++

 Heart

+++

 Brain

+++

 Sweetbreads

+++

 Fish, white

very slight,
if any

 Fish, fat (salmon, herring, etc.)

++very slight,
if any

 Fish roe

+++

 Canned meats

?very slight
Milk, Cheese, etc.:

 Milk, cow’s whole, raw

++++

 Milk, skim, raw

++

 Milk, dried whole

less than +++less than +

 Milk, boiled, whole

undetermined+less than +

 Milk, condensed, sweetened

++less than +

 Cheese, whole milk

+
Eggs:

 Fresh

+++++?

 Dried

+++++?
Cereals, Pulses, etc.:

 Wheat, maize, rice, whole grain

++

 Wheat germ

+++++

 Wheat, maize, bran

++

 Linseed, millet

++++

 Dried peas, lentils, etc.

++

 Soy beans, haricot beans

+++

 Germinated pulses or cereals

+++++
Vegetables and Fruits:

 Cabbage, fresh (raw)

++++++

 Cabbage, fresh (cooked)

++

 Cabbage, dried

++very slight

 Cabbage, canned

very slight

 Swede (rutabaga) raw expressed juice

++++

 Lettuce

+++

 Spinach (dried)

+++

 Carrots, fresh raw

+++

 Carrots, dried

very slight+

 Beetroot, raw, expressed juice

less than +

 Potatoes, raw

++

 Potatoes, cooked

+

 Beans, fresh, scarlet runners, raw

++

 Onions, cooked

+ at least

 Lemon juice, fresh

+++

 Lemon juice, preserved

++

 Lime juice, fresh

++

 Lime juice, preserved

very slight

 Orange juice, fresh

+++

 Raspberries

++

 Apples

+

 Bananas

++very slight

 Tomatoes (canned)

++

 Nuts

+++
Miscellaneous:

 Yeast, dried

+++

 Yeast, extract and autolyzed

?+++

 Malt extract

+ in some
specimens

Our Knowledge of Vitamins

Commenting on the trend of medical research concerning vitamins, the latest report of the British Medical Research Council says:

The present situation is a curious one, upon which posterity will probably look back with great interest. We still have almost no knowledge of the nature of these elusive food substances or of their mode of action, but we have gained empiric knowledge already of the greatest practical value for the prevention of scurvy and of other grave diseases and for the promotion of health and beauty in the population.

This statement, it will be noted, emphasizes the foundation on which rests our present use of vitamins. From time to time The Journal has commented on our lack of actual knowledge of these mysterious substances, emphasizing particularly the generally accepted fact that the taking of a well-balanced diet results in providing the individual with such vitamins as are necessary to his growth and nutrition. Last week appeared a brief report of a meeting of the Chicago Medical Society devoted to this subject, and it was gratifying to have the conservative view which The Journal has emphasized substantiated by many of those who took part in the discussion. Moreover, the British Medical Journal, in its leading editorial for February 11, reiterates that an abundant supply of vitamins exists in all fresh vegetables, and that a considerable quantity occurs in milk and meat, provided the latter substances are obtained from animals fed on fresh foods. “A normal adult,” it says, “living on an ordinary diet containing a reasonable proportion of fresh vegetables is, therefore, certain of obtaining a plentiful supply of vitamins.” Of all the mass of evidence which has accumulated relative to these substances, this fact is the point of greatest importance. It is, however, very unfortunately, the one point which those commercially inclined are unwilling to recognize.—(Editorial from The Journal A. M. A., March 11, 1922.)

The Demand for Vitamins

Thus the British Medical Journal in its current issue:

In spite of the fact that ordinary fresh foods are the simplest, cheapest and richest sources of vitamins, the public apparently demands to be supplied with vitamins in the form of medicinal products.

The public “demands” vitamins in pill form! Why? For the same reason that the public, lay or medical, demands many things today that it does not need—because the whole trend of modern advertising is toward creating demands, rather than supplying needs. Vitamin concentrates are being “demanded” by the public because shrewd and forward-looking “patent medicine” exploiters are using all the subtle arts of modern advertising to convince the public that it is in serious danger of vitamin starvation, and that the only hope lies in buying these alleged concentrates to make up a hypothetical deficiency. It seems inconceivable that a rational man would pay a tremendously high price for certain food factors which are already present in his ordinary diet. But he will; and advertising is the reason. Advertising campaigns such as these of the vitamins constitute a vicious circle; an artificial demand is created and then the manufacturer excuses his business on the ground that he is merely supplying a demand! As our British contemporary says, “ordinary fresh foods are the simplest, cheapest and richest sources of vitamins.”—(Editorial from The Journal A. M. A., March 18, 1922.)