Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Faulkner family dinner conversation.

Spinach 4 yes 1 no
Broccoli 5 yes
Sprouts 4 yes 1 no

I owe my entire existance to Marmite, yes its true. When my great grandad was in a Jap POW camp during WW2, he caught Berri berri (sp?) very early on when Red Cross packages still were getting through. He was given a jar of Marmite and told to eat the whole thing due to its high vitamin content etc. He did and he survived unlike many others who caught the disease. So they you go I am here today thanks to marmite.

Laura M wrote:I owe my entire existance to Marmite, yes its true. When my great grandad was in a Jap POW camp during WW2, he caught Berri berri (sp?) very early on when Red Cross packages still were getting through. He was given a jar of Marmite and told to eat the whole thing due to its high vitamin content etc. He did and he survived unlike many others who caught the disease. So they you go I am here today thanks to marmite.

I found this, I thought you might be interested.
Beriberi is a deficiency diease of thiamine, one of the B vitamins. Marmiteis indeed chock full of it. Looks like your great grandfather (and by extension you) are very lucky to be here.

http://www.cofepow.org.uk/pages/medical_beriberi.html

Cool, that is interesting now I actually know what beri beri is and how to spell it. (I had often wondered what it was exactly)

Laura M wrote:Cool, that is interesting now I actually know what beri beri is and how to spell it. (I had often wondered what it was exactly)

Not as well known as scurvy in the West becasue until recently bread was always made with the whole grain.

Just checked my Marmite pot (i had it on toast for breakfast) and 100g contains 500% RDA of thiamine. The smallest pot contains 120g so I suppose about 1g per serving.

englishangel wrote:Just checked my Marmite pot (I had it on toast for breakfast) and 100g contains 500% RDA of thiamine. The smallest pot contains 120g so I suppose about 1g per serving.

What is a serving of Marmite? I have often wondered when reading labels of that and other things.
Have you tried it under scrambled eggs yet, Mary?

Not yet.

I don't eat a lot of eggs. Mainly becasue there are never any left as they are something the young Faulkners eat a lot of, easy for them to cook.

I bet his mouth must have been on fire for eating a whole jar of marmite!

Not all at once, surely , Laura??!!

I believe so, he definatly didn't have anything to go with it, he mentions how he was handed a jar and a spoon by a friend of his.

Laura M wrote:I believe so, he definatly didn't have anything to go with it, he mentions how he was handed a jar and a spoon by a friend of his.

You wouldn't happen to know what camps he was in do you? My grandfather was a Jap POW doctor and spent a long time trying to keep the troops alive - it's possible that he dispensed the 'medicine'!

If you're interested, CH sold copies of his book - Prisoner Doctor.

I know he and a POW botanist, also devised a system of making yeast from rice, to supplement B vitamin deficiency.

Not off the top of my head, I can find out though.