Its principal sources outside of yeast are the seeds of plants and the eggs and milk of animals. Meat contains relatively little of this substance but glandular organs such as the liver and pancreas are fairly rich in it. In the seeds the distribution is general throughout the whole body of the seed in the case of beans, peas, etc., but in the cereal grains it is largely restricted to the embryo portion and hence a high degree of milling tends to reduce the per cent of this factor in any highly milled cereal. White flour and polished rice are notable examples of deficiency of "B" vitamine due to this milling process. Fruits such as oranges, tomatoes, and lemons are good sources and there is a fair amount present in the apples and grapes and other common food fruits. Many vegetables show it in fair abundance, notably potatoes, carrots, and turnips, but the rule is not general for beets are extremely poor in this factor. Nuts are also good sources. Eggs, milk and cheese contain it in fair abundance. Cooking temperatures have little effect on this type if the temperature does not climb above the boiling point and if the cooking water is not "alkaline." In the latter case it becomes necessary to determine the extent of destruction and either eat enough to insure protection, or reform the method of cookery.
c. Sources of the "C" vitamine
Its richest sources are vegetables such as cabbage, swedes, turnips, lettuce and watercress; fruits such as lemons, oranges, raspberries and tomatoes. Certain of the vegetables such as potatoes have a substantial value in this respect, but meat and most prepared milks are low in antiscorbutic values. The susceptibility of this vitamine to drying, heat and alkali, make it necessary to scrutinize your cooking methods very carefully in order not to ruin a good source by a poor preparation of it for the table.
CHAPTER VIII
AVITAMINOSES OR THE DISEASES THAT RESULT FROM VITAMINE DEFICIENCIES
A survey of the vitamines would be incomplete without a discussion of the vitamine deficiency diseases in particular, though many of the facts already cited obviously bear on the treatment and prevention of such diseases.
The idea of "avitaminoses" or vitamine deficiency as the cause of a disease of a specific nature was set forth in detail by Funk in his book Die Vitamine. In his discussion of this view he suggests several types that would, he felt, on examination prove to be due to the absence of a vitamine in the diet. Of these predicted types beri-beri was the only one to be established in 1913. Scurvy has now been added to the fold and rickets or rachitis seems well on the way to acceptance though the specific vitamine absent in this case is not yet positively identified. Pellagra still resists the efforts of the vitamine hypothesis to bend it to that theory and its etiology is still obscure.
I. BERI-BERI
This disease while specifically confined to the oriental in the mind of the student can be justly considered of much wider distribution for the mild forms of malnutrition associated with a deficiency in the "B" vitamine are less acute manifestations of this disease. The disease is not likely to become marked in well nourished districts in its acute form, but in famine districts its incidence is always possible. It would be more than possible were it not for the fact that famine tends to eliminate the highly milled cereals and throw the people back on to the whole grain, peas and beans, which are rich in the preventive factor. But when for any reason diets become limited extra attention is demanded in regard to their selection and preparation. The main characteristics of this disease have already been fully covered in what precedes and need not be repeated here.