THE LUNCH MENU

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10314, 25 January 1927, Page 8

THE LUNCH MENU

KNOWLEDGE NEEDED-OF WHAT TO EAT. It would be tTue to say that the average business man pays uttle attention to the progress or modern research into the values cf the food he eats. He knows what he likes and leaves it at that.

In consequence his lunch hour is too often a struggle between appetite and common-sense.

After a hard morning’s work he goes out hungry. But as he ploughs his- way through his steak and floury potato, through hunks of white bread and boiled inni roll, he has the uneasy feeling that all this food will make him drowsy and unable to concentrate on the labors of the afternoon.

The uneasy feeling is subsequently justified, and lie sallies out the next day to lunch frugally (and foolishly) off cut lean ham between two desiccated slices of white bread. A little knowledge of what- to eat and wliy would enable him to compromise with very much more success than at present. The discovery of vitamins, those mysterious food factors about which we hear so much nowadays, has completely revolutionised the science ot dietetics.

Research has definitely proved that foods -which lack these substances fail to nourish the body in an adequate manner.

Tiie three most important vitamins are 'known as A. B. .and 0. respectively. and of these the most important to the average town-bred city man is vitamin B.

Modern processes of refining and milling have combined to rob many of the everyday foods of this most essential food factor, absence of which in the diet causes that feeling of general debility which, especially in the winter, plays havoc with business efficiency.

Thus a greater attention to lunch houi* menus from the point of view of nourishment, and not merely from “What you feel like,” would literally he a paying proposition. White bread, lean meat or boiled fish, potatoes, and heavily, boiled vegetables are the foundation of most city lunches, whether they be light or heavv.

All these foods are either definitely lacking in vitamins or possess them in an absolutely .inadequate degree. A smaller quantity of food, knowledgeably chosen, would be more really "nourishing, cheaper, and far .-tore beneficial to the general health. The vitamin content of all foods has been worked out in a series of extremely interesting tables, but this article is not the nlace for them. It will suffice if a few hints are given which will enable the .busy man to supplement and discriminate with advantage when choosing his lunch. Wholemeal bread is more nourishing than a similar quantity of white bread, which has had the husk of the wheat, containing all the vitamin B properties, removed. Yeast, in any form, is the richest known food in vitamin B. Raw fruit and vegetables are far more healthful than when they have had all their vitamin content boiled or stewed away. Eggs are rich in vitamin*: A and BInternal organs, such as liv.er, sweetbreads, etc., are richer in vitamin B than lean “cuts from the joint.” Remember that bulk is not necessarily nourishment. Choose your food with discrimination. It pays mentally, morally, and in hard cash.