Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1895-08-30
FOOD AND DIGESTION.
THE PROPER COMBINATIONS FOR
PERFECT DIGESTION.
Vegetables Not In Favor with This Au-
thority-rh.y Were Given to the Lower
Animais-The Whoiesomeness Of Fruits.
They, With Seeds, Intended For Man.

thority-ihey were GIVEN To the Lower
Animais-Ths Whoiesomeness Of Fruits.
They, with seeds, Intended For Man.
The comparative dictctic value Of fruits
and vegetables Is "A matter which seems 10
be- very little understood Vegetables are
unquostiOnably "a valuable article of food
but il need. only superficial study of the
subject of dictetics 10 make il clear that
vegetables are very greatly inferior 20
grains in nutritiye value, and In their
composition are far less suited 10 the hui
man stomach than are the seed products
commonly known ~ 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
twlgS, stems ana other products included
un'Sr the general term vegetables An
other fact OF very great interest in this
connection i thai vegetables were not in-
cluded ia tho original bill of fare given 10
man by his Creator a. recorded in the first
chapter Of Genesis. Vegetables were given
10 the lower animals for their SuStenance
and seeds and fruits were reserved for man
Seeds and fruits are unqueStionabiy the
most highly elaborated products of the
vegetable kingdom Vegetables are much
coarser in character and much less per
( tly elaborated Nearly all vegetables
C tain large amount Of woody matter
which requires the action OF very power
full digestive juices and of strong muscular
action on the part Of the digestive organs
to reduce them 20 a fluid state and 10 OK
tract from them the comparatively small
amount Of nourishment which they con-
tain. To "A much less degree is th, the
case with fruits and grains while in tho
cast Of fruits We find food substances more
nearly prepared for assimilation and in a
form more easily attacked by the digestive
organs of man than any other.
The writer has met many cases in which
invalids We're really suffering, and that Sc
riOusy, in ignorance of these facts To a
person in vigorous health and with strong
digestive powers, these principles may be-
ignored with comparative impunity, and
often for a long time but "a person whose
digestive powers are feeble, and especially
one suffering from dilation of the stomach
an extremely common condition, espe-
cidlly among women in consequences 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 tuDers-parsnips beets
turnips and cabbage-are the only articles
which need % be excluded from the diet
ary, while in others even potatoes are q
source Of serious digestive disturbance.
With many persons the principal evils
arising from the Use Of vegetables are rem
dcred 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-
Giles Ot food can be- eaten separately or with
certain others when in other combinations
they prove extremely unwholesOme The
reason for this i the fact that fruits and
vegetables require so different a degree
and kind % activity on the part Of the di-
gestive organs. A ruling principle in rela
ton 10 the combination of food is this:
Those articles of food should be eaten to-
gether which are digested together; in
other words, the bill of fare should be so
arranged that the combination of food sub
stances will harmonic with the action Of
the digestive organs upon those substances.
In applying this principle TO vegetables
we find that the starchy vegetables are
hard Of digestion, and that the large guam
tity Of potash salts which they contain is,
according 10 Bunge, a source of irritation
10 the stomach and interferes with gastric
q .estiun. The coarse woody structure VI
nearly all vegetables also renders necessary
the retention Of the digested mass in the
stomach for long time, thus lengthening
the time OF dislntegration. Thus we find
three reasons for very considerable ex-
tension of the gastric digestion of the vege-
tables
In the case Of fruits, on the other hand,
whom ripe and properly cooked WI 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 APP
pie dgests in one hour. II these two ar
ticles are taken into the stomach at the
same time, both must remain there until
both are digested ~ they will become SD
intimately intcrmingled that they cannot
possibly be separated. The apple, digested
and ready for absorption, If not absorbed
undergoes fermentation II j. a principle
which j. constantly recognizable in rela-
ton % digestion that the delay Of the abb
sorption of food product after II has been
digested Is certain 10 result in is dcteriOr-
alton through fermentation ami Gecompo-
sition which are set up by the numerous
microbes constantly present in the ali
mentary canal. The same j. true If the
digestive product Of one portion of the ali
mentapy canal is not passed along with
due promptncss 90 another part Of the di-
gcstive apparatus where its further elab.
Grafton Is 10 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 person
Of feeble digestive powers. A : 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 delay of the 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 l. quite clear 10 the writer that vege-