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THE NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF
VEGETABLES AND FRUITS
None of the storage or
other organs of the plant enjoys this same distinction. The ability of
human beings to subsist upon a strictly vegetarian diet is
unquestionably dependent upon the inclusion of leafy vegetables in this
diet. Although nutrition experts generally recommend a mixed diet of
vegetable and animal foods because of the bulk of an adequate vegetable
diet, the value of the leafy vegetables is emphasized for the reasons
aforementioned.
The foods in the broad
classification of leafy, green, and yellow vegetables are generally high
in their content of iron. Although the work of numerous recent
investigators has shown a wide difference between the utilizable quality
of iron in different foods, with iron in the vegetable foods not ranking
generally so high as that in meat, the vegetables nevertheless are
valuable sources of this nutrient even though they may not be the
equivalent, weight for weight, of meat in this respect.
Tomatoes
and citrus fruits
rank at the top among the sources of vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, the
anti-scorbutic vitamin, which now is known to be intimately related to
many physiological functions, including the well-being of the teeth and
bones as well as of the soft tissues of the body. Tomatoes also furnish
small amounts of riboflavin, a vitamin having some function in the
oxidation processes of the cell; it is one of the vitamins formerly
included in what is now known as the B-complex. The location of
riboflavin throughout the common foods has not yet been thoroughly
investigated, and it is probable that it will be found more generally
throughout the vegetable kingdom as further investigations are made.
Dried fruits
are sources of many nutrients. Moreover they can be purchased cheaply or
produced at home as a part of the Victory Garden Program.
The
potato
is a relatively high energy food, with but little supplementary value as
a protein. It makes some small contributions to the mineral and vitamin
content of the diet but is not outstanding in any one respect. It should
be borne in mind, however, that small additions of the various nutrient
factors from many foods help to swell the daily total supply of food
factors; and an article of diet which makes contributions to many of the
body needs, even though the amount of each contribution is relatively
small, has some general value in the dietary.
With respect to the
common belief that potatoes are fattening, it may be said that they are
no more so than an equivalent amount of calories from any other source.
No food is fattening unless it is added to a diet which is adequate
without it.
Other fruits and
vegetables include a wide variety
of foods which those interested in simplifying nutritional information
for the benefit of the housewife untrained in dietetics have not marked
for particular distinction, but which are valuable for the wide variety
of contributions which they make to the day's dietary. In using the
12-class arbitrary grouping system under discussion, those dealing with
lay groups emphasize the value of choosing regularly from each of these
groups so that all of the nutrients needed for the growth and
maintenance of the human being will be supplied. |
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click for larger photo
Victory Gardens
Handbook of the
Victory Garden Committee
War Services, Pennsylvania
State Council of Defense
April, 1944
TABLE OF CONTENTS
page v
page vi
page vii
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