Abstract
Experiment was conducted to study the effects of improved rice diet on growth, kidney and blood pressure, by increasing protein and vitamin B and decreasing sodium chloride in diet. Young rats were divided into 4 groups and given the following 4 kinds of diet, respectively. Diet for group 1 consisted of 5% congealed soybean curd and 2.5% NaCl; for group 2, 5% congealed soybean curd and 1% NaCl; for group 3, 15% congealed soybean curd, 1% NaCl and 5% beer yeast; and for group 4, 30% dry skim milk. All diets were made to 100% with washed dried milled rice. Per 100g of diets 0.1mg of thiamine and 500 IU of vitamin A were added. In early part of the experiment, rats in groups 1 and 2 exhibited a sign of deficiency of pantothenic acid and riboflavin. At autopsy, rats fed soybean curd were found to have enlarged thyroids, indicating the deficiency of iodine. Severity of glomerulonephritis and tubular nephritis were greatest in animals of group 1 and were less in those of group 2, while almost normal in those of groups 3 and 4. From the data presented in this paper it is clear that the improvement of rice diet should be directedfor increasing protein and vitamin contents together with supplementation of iodine and for decreasing sodium chloride.
