The herald., 1895-08-14
PROPER FOOD FOR MANKIND
The Desirable Combination to
Secure Digestion
VEGETABLES ARE NO GOOD
Potatoes and Cabbages Only Good for
Horned Cattle
Fruit Is Wholesome and Was Intended by
the Creator for the Sustenance
Of Mankind

The comparative dietetic value OF fruits
and vegetables is a matter which seems to
be very little understood. Vegetables are
unquestionably valuable article of food,
but it needs only a superficial study Of the
subject of dietetics to make 1t clear that
vegetables are very greatly inferior to
grains in nutritive value, and in their
composition are far less suited to tho hu-
man stomach than are tho seed products
commonly known as fruits and grains An
interesting fact, Also is that, considered
from the standpoint of comparative anat-
omy, mans digestive organs are very diff
ferent in structure from those of animals,
which subsist upon roots, leaves, buds,
twigs stems and other products included
under tho general term vegetables. An
other fact of very great interest in this
connection is that vegetables were not in
cluded in the original bill Of fare given to
man by his Creator as recorded in the first
chapter of Genesis. Vegetables were given
to the lower animals for their sustenance,
and seeds and fruits were reserved for man.
Seeds and fruits are unquestionably the
most highly elaborated products of the
vegetable kingdom. Vegetables are much
coarser in character and much less per-
fectly elaborated. Nearly all vegetables
contain large amount of woody matter,
which requires tho action of very power
full digestive juices and Of strong muscular
action on the part of the digestive organs
to reduce them to a fluid state and to ex-
tract from them the comparatively small
amount of nourishmcnt which they con-
tain. To much less degree is this the
case with fruits and grains, while in the
case of fruits we find foed substances more
nearly prepared for assimilation and In
form more easily attacked by the digestive
organs of man than any other.
The writer has met many cases in which
invalids were really suffering, and that Sc
riously, in Ignorance of these facts. To
person in vigorous health and with strong
digestive powers, these principles may be
ignored with comparative impunity, and
often for long time, but a person whose
digestive powers aro feeble, and especially
one suffering from dilation of the stomach
An extremely common condition, espe-
cially among women, in consequence of
their injurious mode of dress-often suf-
fers seriously in consequence of the great
labor required of the digestive organs in
the use of such coarse vegetable products
as celery and salads of various sorts. In
some instances the etubers-parsnips, beets
turnips and cabbage-are the only articles
which need to be excluded from the diet
ary, while in Others even potatoes are
source Of serious digestive disturbance.
With many persons the principal evils
arising from the use of vegetables arc rem
dered conspicuous only when these articles
are consumed in connection with others
with which they do not well agree. Many
persons have recognized that various arti-
Cles Of food can be eaten separately or with
certain others when in other combinations
they prove extremely unwholesomo. The
reason for this Is tho fact that fruits and
vegetables require so different a dogree
and kind of notiyity on the part Of the di-
gestive organs ruling principle In rela-
tion to tho combination of food is this:
Those articles of food should be eaten to-
gethcr which arc digested together; in
other words, the bill OF fare should be so
arranged that the combination Of food sub
stances will harmonize with tho action of
the digestive organs upon those substances.
In applying this principle to vegetables
we find that tho starchy vegetables are
hard of digestion, and that the large guam
tity of potash salts which they contain is,
according to Bunge, source of irritation
to tho stomach and interferes with gastric
digestion. The coarse, woody structure Of
nearly all vegetables also renders necessary
the retention of the digested mass in the
stomach for a long time, thus lengthening
the time of disintegration. Thus we find
three reasons for q very considerable ex-
tension of the gastric digestion Of the vege-
tables.
In the case of fruits, on the other hand,
when ripe and properly cooked we have
substances which are digested and assim-
Hated with very great ease. The time re-
quired for the digestion Of cabbage is be-
tween four and five hours, while a ripe ap-
pie digests in ono hour. II these two ar
ticles are taken into the stomach at the
same time, both must remain there until
both are digested, as they will become SO
intimately intermingled that they cannot
possibly be separated. The apple, digested
and ready for absorption, If not absorbed,
undergocs fermentation. 1t Is principle
which is constantly recognizable in rela-
tion to digestion that the delay of tho ob-
sorption of food product after it has been
digestcd is certain to result in it's deterior-
ation through fermentation and decompo-
sition, which are set up by the numerous
microbes constantly present in the ali
mentary canal. Tho same is true II the
digestive product of one portion Of the ali
mentary canal Is not passed along with
due promptnoss to another part Of the di-
gestive apparatus, where its further clab-
Grafton is to take place preparatory to alb
.sorption.
The combination of fruits and vegetables
for the reasons given form one Of the most
unsuited of all combinations for a person
Of feeble digestive powers. AS before re-
marked, persons with dilated stomachs are
especially likely to suffer from the use of
vegetables and still more so from the COM
bination of vegetables with fruits, for the
reason that with these persons there is a
great dolay Of tho food in the stomach in
consequence Of weakness Of the muscular
walls of the, stomach, and hence inability
of the organ to empty itself with due
promptness.
1t is quite clear to the writer thatevege-
tables might be wholly eliminated from
the bill of fare of human beings without
any serious loss. Still, for healthy persons
these esoulents are sometimes valuable, as
they afford an opportunity for an agreeable
change in the bill of fare, and also in fur
nishing suitable bulk for the alimentary
mass. thus stimulating peristalsis, which
is likely to fail when too concentrated
diet Is employed The same difficulty may
be avoided by the employment Of grains
In more nearly neutral condition, not
excluding the woody, outer portion of the
grain, which seems to be intended by ma
turc as natural stimulus to peristalsis.
Modern Medical Review
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Treading Water.
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