Maintaining Health (Formerly Health and Efficiency)

by Rasmus Larssen Alsaker

Magnesium is found principally as phosphate in the bones. It is present both in animal and vegetable foods. Its function in the body is not well understood, but it appears to assist the phosphorus.

Silicon is found in traces in the human body. It is supplied in small quantities in nearly all of our foods, and therefore we must take it for granted that it is necessary, although we are in the dark as to its uses. It is very abundant in various rocks. The cereals are especially rich in silicon. In wheat it is found in the bran and is removed from the white flour.

The elements mentioned are the most important in the body, though others are found in traces. We do not find the elements present as elements, but in the form of very complex compounds. Under our present conditions of living, we generally partake of too much carbonaceous and nitrogenous food, and get too little of the salts, except sodium chloride, which is taken in too great quantity. Salt, to most people, means but one thing, sodium chloride or table salt. However, there are thousands of salts, and when salts are mentioned in this book, all those necessary for the processes of life are meant, whether they be compounds of fluorine, sulphur, phosphorus, calcium, iron or magnesium or other metals and minerals.

Salts are not usually classified as foods, but they are essential to life. Supply the body with all the protein, sugar, starch and fat that it requires, but withhold the salts, and it is but a question of a few weeks before life ceases. This is why it is so important to improve our methods of cooking. A potato that is peeled, soaked in cold water and boiled, may lose as much as one-half of its salts, according to one of the bulletins sent out by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Other vegetables not only lose their salts by such treatment, but as high as 30 per cent of their nutritive value.

The lesson we should learn from this is that ordinarily if it is necessary to soak foods, such as beans, they should be cooked in the water in which they have been soaked. Furthermore, where possible, as it is with nearly all succulent vegetables, we should take the fluid in which the vegetables have been cooked as a part of the meal. If the vegetables are properly cooked, there will not be much fluid to take. To pour away the water in which vegetables have been cooked means that perhaps one-third of the food value and one-third to one-half of the valuable salts are lost. Why continue impoverishing foods in this way?

Dr. Charles Page deserves much credit for calling our attention to this fact when most healers neither thought nor talked about it. Now all up-to-date healers with a knowledge of dietetics realize how important it is to give good food. For those who wish more detailed information on the composition of the salts, I insert a table which was compiled by Otto Carque and published in "Brain and Brawn," February, 1913. Those who wish still more detailed knowledge can find it in volumes on food analysis and in some government reports.

MINERAL MATTER IN 1000 PARTS OF WATER-FREE FOOD PRODUCTS.
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P
P M h
o a o C
t C g s S S h
a S a n p u i l
s o l e h l l o
s d c s I o p i r
i i i i r r h c i
u u u u o u u o n
m m m m n s r n e
Total| | | | | | | | |
Salts| K2O |Na2O | CaO | MgO |Fe2O3|P2O5 | SO2 |SiO2 | Cl
—————————————————————————————————————
Human milk 34.70|11.73| 3.16| 5.80| 0.75| 0.07| 7.84| 0.33| 0.07| 6.38
Cow's milk 55.30|13.70| 5.34|12.24| 1.69| 0.30|15.79| 0.17| 0.02| 8.04
Meat (avge) 40.00|16.52| 1.44| 1.12| 1.28| 0.28|17.00| 0.64| 0.44| 1.56
Eggs 41.80| 6.27| 9.56| 4.56| 0.46| 0.17|15.72| 0.13| 0.13| 3.72
Seafish 84.20|18.35|12.55|12.80| 3.28| ….|32.13| ….| ….| 9.60
Cottage Cheese 64.30| 8.50| 0.90|22.50| 1.50| 0.50|24.35| 0.10| ….|11.20
| | | | | | | | |
Apples 33.00|11.78| 8.61| 1.35| 2.89| 0.46| 4.52| 2.01| 1.42| ….
Strawberries 65.00|13.72|18.53| 9.23| ….| 3.73| 7.97| 2.05| 7.82| 1.10
Gooseberries 29.00|11.22| 2.87| 3.54| 1.70| 1.32| 5.71| 1.71| 0.75| 0.22
Prunes 37.75|18.28| 3.41| 4.34| 1.36| 0.94| 6.03| 1.21| 1.19| 0.15
Peaches 17.60| 9.63| 1.50| 1.41| 0.92| 0.18| 2.67| 1.00| 0.26| ….
Cherries 34.60|17.94| 0.76| 2.60| 1.90| 0.69| 5.54| 1.76| 3.11| 0.46
Grapes 25.20|14.16| 0.35| 2.72| 1.06| 0.45| 3.93| 1.41| 0.70| 0.38
Figs 41.00|11.63|10.77| 7.75| 3.78| 0.60| 0.53| 2.77| 2.43| 1.10
Olives 33.40|27.02| 2.52| 2.49| 0.06| 0.31| 0.46| 0.36| 0.22| 0.06
Apricots 33.60|19.68| 3.76| 1.08| 2.89| 0.46| 4.52| 2.01| 1.42| ….
Pears 25.60|14.00| 2.17| 2.05| 1.52| 0.25| 3.90| 1.45| 0.38| ….
Watermelons 40.00|18.00| 3.75| 4.00| 2.10| 1.75| 5.60| 2.10| 7.60| 1.10
Bananas 32.40|16.20| 0.80| 0.25| 0.32| 0.10| 2.03| 0.21| ….| 2.47
Oranges 38.15|18.62| 0.95| 8.65| 2.03| 0.38| 4.70| 2.00| 0.25| 0.29
| | | | | | | | |
Spinach 191.00|21.71|57.42|22.73|12.22| 6.40|19.58|13.18| 8.60|12.03
Onions 48.40|12.10| 1.55|10.65| 2.55| 2.20| 7.25| 2.65| 8.10| 1.35
Carrots 69.00|25.46|14.63| 7.80| 3.04| 0.70| 8.83| 4.45| 1.66| 3.18
Asparagus 86.40|20.74|14.77| 9.33| 3.72| 2.94|16.07| 5.36| 9.50| 5.10
Radishes 110.40|35.33|23.37|15.45| 3.42| 3.09|12.03| 7.18| 1.00|10.10
Cauliflower 91.20|40.46| 5.38| 5.10| 3.37| 0.91|18.42|11.86| 3.37| 3.10
Cucumbers 100.00|41.20|10.00| 7.30| 4.15| 1.40|20.20| 6.90| 8.00| 6.60
Lettuce 180.70|67.94|13.55|26.56|11.20| 9.40|16.62| 6.87|14.64|13.82
Potatoes 44.20|26.56| 1.33| 1.15| 2.18| 0.48| 7.47| 2.89| 0.88| 1.55
Cabbage 123.00|45.33|11.68|21.65| 4.90| 0.86|11.07|17.10| 1.10|10.45
Tomatoes 176.00|82.50|32.90|11.35|13.55| 1.00|10.75| 5.00| 7.75|18.00
Red Beets 41.65| 8.45|21.60| 2.50| 0.10| 1.00| 2.55| 0.50| 2.00| 2.95
Celery 180.00|48.60|65.25|14.70| 6.75| 1.60|14.50| 6.50| 4.30|17.80
| | | | | | | | |
Walnuts 17.40| 2.20| 0.17| 0.97| 2.88| 0.61|10.10| 0.22| 0.12| 0.12
Almonds 21.00| 2.31| 0.38| 3.04| 3.95| 0.23|10.10| 0.96| 0.04| 0.06
Cocoanuts 18.70| 8.21| 1.57| 8.60| 1.76| ….| 2.18| 0.95| 0.09| 2.50
| | | | | | | | |
Lentils 34.70|12.08| 4.62| 2.18| 0.87| 0.69|12.60| ….| ….| 1.61
Peas 30.03|13.06| 0.30| 1.45| 2.42| 0.24|10.87| 1.03| 0.27| 0.53
Beans 38.20|15.85| 0.42| 1.91| 2.73| 0.19|14.86| 1.30| 0.25| 0.69
Peanuts 24.30| 9.27| 0.21| 0.95| 2.29| 0.27|10.60| 0.45| 0.05| 0.23
| | | | | | | | |
Whole Wheat 23.10| 7.20| 0.50| 0.75| 2.80| 0.30|10.90| 0.09| 0.46| 0.07
White flour 5.70| 1.82| 0.08| 0.43| 0.44| 0.03| 2.80| ….| ….| ….
Rye 21.30| 6.84| 0.31| 0.61| 2.39| 0.25|10.16| 0.28| 0.30| 0.01
Barley 31.30| 5.10| 1.28| 0.02| 3.92| 0.53|10.27| 0.93| 8.98| ….
Oats 34.50| 6.18| 0.59| 1.24| 2.45| 0.41| 8.83| 0.62|13.52| 0.03
Corn 18.50| 5.50| 0.02| 0.04| 2.87| 0.15| 8.44| 0.15| 0.39| 0.35
Whole Rice 16.00| 3.60| 0.67| 0.59| 1.78| 0.22| 8.60| 0.08| 0.42| 0.02
Rice, polished 4.00| 0.87| 0.22| 0.13| 0.45| 0.05| 2.15| 0.03| 0.11| 0.01
—————————————————————————————————————

Please remember that most of the salts must be worked into organic form for us by vegetation, and that we are able to take but few elements that have not been thus elaborated.

We need a moderate amount of food to maintain the body in health, but we should be careful not to overindulge.

Perhaps the most injurious errors are made by people who eat because they wish to gain in weight. They consider themselves below weight and they try to force a gain by overeating. This is a serious mistake and leads to much suffering.