FACTS ABOUT FRUIT

Hokitika Guardian, 28 August 1920, Page 4

FACTS ABOUT FRUIT

(By Walter M. Gallighan, the Well-

known Dietic Expert).

Fresh friiit is ohiefly valuable as a mild stimulus to the organs of digestion and on account of the beneficient acids and mineral substances that it contains. All the watery fruits, such as strawberries and gooseberries, are useful in the summer dietary and act as substitutes for fluids. They are low in nutritive value, as they contain about 80 pci cent of water.

The most nourishing fruits, the banana, dale, prune, fig, and raisin, have more than twice the amount of bodybuilding material found in tlie apple, pear, greengage, strawberry, or cherry. A certain amount of force and energy is derived from the sugar in ripe fruit, notably in grapes grown under glass and pineapples." Tlie slight percentage of food material in fresh fruit is i educed by cooking. ' In hot weather fruit is most beneficial when eaten soon after gathering and in tho -uncooked state. Unripe

fruits of all kinds are indigestible and often produce stomach and intestinal disorders.

Fruit in summer is alluring to the eye and the sense of smell, and for that reason if must be ranked as a stimulant to the secretion of the “psychic juices,” which tend to promote general wellbeing. Some discrimination in the use of fresh fruit is necessary. When fruit is plentiful and cheap we are tempted to eat it liberally, and excess may result in colic. Certain of the acids in fruit will benefit one person, but injure another.

In strawberries is found the same acid that is contained in apples. Lemons and oranges contain citric acid. These acids undergo a change in the bodily' chemistry, and do not increase the acidity of flic hlood.

The fruit juices are especially wholesome in warm weather. They cool the system and supply the required extra quantity of liquid in a pleasant form. Fruit may be termed “a natural food.” It is always desired by children, who often prefer an apple or an orange to pudding or pastry, bruit alone cannot nourish a child, but fresh fruit should bo a part of a mixed dietary of milk, cereals, eggs, and meat suitable for young children. It is not wise to encourage children to eat fruit in such quantities that they have no appetite for the necessary fatty foods. The best time to cat fruit, is in the morning, and at this time of the yeai some fruit should form a part of the first meal of the day for both adults and children.