This and the fact
that some grains contain also a large amount of fat account for the high
energy-producing quality of cereals. While it is safe to say that
cereals are chiefly valuable for their starch, the tissue-building
material in some grains, although in small proportion, is in sufficient
quantity to place them with the protein foods.
10. MINERAL MATTER IN CEREALS.--Cereals contain seven or eight of the
minerals required in the diet. Such a variety of minerals is sure to be
valuable to the human body, as it is about one-half of the whole number
required by the body for its maintenance. Since, as has already been
explained, much of the mineral matter lies directly under the coarse
outside covering, some of it is lost when this covering is removed. For
this reason, the grains that remain whole and the cereal products that
contain the entire grain are much more valuable from the standpoint of
minerals than those in which the bran covering is not retained. If a
sufficient percentage of minerals is secured in the diet from
vegetables, fruits, and milk, it is perhaps unnecessary to include whole
cereals; but if the diet is at all limited, it is advisable to select
those cereals which retain the original composition of the grain.
11. WATER IN CEREALS.--Cereals contain very little water in their
composition.
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