A Comparison of Cereal and Non-Cereal Diets in the Production of Rickets

Abstract

Rolled oats, wheat, yellow corn, dextrinized cornstarch and sucrose have been compared with respect to their ability to promote calcification by feeding them as supplements to a basal mixture consisting of alcoholic extracted fibrin, carotene and a salt mixture complete except for calcium and phosphorus. With the calcium content of the diet high (3% calcium carbonate) and no phosphorus added, rolled oats and wheat definitely produced more calcification than did corn or either of the non-cereal rations. When the calcium carbonate was reduced to 1%, calcification on all of the cereal diets was considerably increased whereas there was no apparent increase associated with the dextrin or sucrose diets. Quite similar results were obtained when the calcium was omitted entirely, although the difference in calcification between the cereal and non-cereal diets was less. When phosphorus was added to the low-calcium diets, there was no detectable difference in the calcification produced on any of the diets. The above data are discussed in regard to the relation of the amount of calcium and available phosphorus in the diet to calcification in the rat. No evidence was obtained in support of the view that cereal grains contain a specific anti-calcifying factor.