The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1911-11-16
THE FOOD VALUE
OF A FRUIT DIET

Frujt as the main element Of diet is
the remedy recommended for many OF
he evils from which we suffer, by DIR.
Josiah Oldfeld, senior medical officer
az Lady Margaret Frutarian Hospital
al Bromley, Kent. England. 1t IS
growing in favor as food, just as the
supply is Increasing and the price
falling, while the supply OF other food
products is diminishing and the price
rising. This is to the great advantage
10 Oregon, for not only can the people
I Of this state secure an abundant home
supply Of apples. pears, peaches and
other fruits for their own consumption,
but they can produce an unlimited sup
Div of an kinds for lands which are
] less favored.
I DR. Oldfeld finds the food value of
fruit attested by the diet Of an infinite
( number Of races under the most varied
conditions in an infinite number OF
countries and climates Both history
and science contradict the popular idea
/ that fruit has only to do with pleasure
and nothing to do with nutrIment ;
"that dessert is only an after-dinner
dalianee, whereas. in effect, the hest
and hardest work can be done on
/ fruit meal.
DR. Oldheld describes the food value
of fruit in these words There are
several ways in which fruit is import
ant as food. First, by itself, it is
| itself a food, and, if rightly selected,
complete and full nutriment-for
every condition of the body in every
climate and under every condition of
work and of constitution and of health
and Of digestion can be obtained from
fruit dietary. Second, fruit is OF
essential value in assisting other foods
to be digested. Third, fruit is of the
utmost value if helping the body to
eliminate waste matters. which pro-
duce debility ana old age. Fourth,
fruit is almost the only food possible
i'm some forms of disease, and is largely
curative as we'll as nutritive.
"In the first place, when rightly
selected, it forms a complete nourlsh-
ment for the body in most assslmil-
able form. The elements necessary
for bodily sustenance have been classi-
fed by many authorities in various
WAYS, but the one which IS most gen
orally accepted divides food into the
following classes of matter: (D The
aqueous; ~ the saccharine; (3) the
oleaginous (D the albuminous; (5)
the saline.
"Many beginners in chemistry take
eooseberries, for example. and hind
they contain only 81 per cent OF
albuminous matter, ana therefore they
argue that if man were frultarlaf
he would have to eat three pounds OF
gooseberries per day to get the neces.
sary amount of nitrogen for his dally
sustenauce 1t would be just as wise
to argue that if a man eats meat he
would have to get 20 pounds of beei
per day to get the necessary amount Of
carbohydrates.
"Water is an essential of life, an(
water should be of the purest eharac
ter. There is no water more pure thar
that which has been distilled iron
dew, and trebly distilled from thu
clouds of heaven and stored within thu
dainty myriad tanks of an apple or
near. There is no fear of hard O
chalky water or typhoid germs. Fresl
fruit Juice gives pure water at its best
Watermelon contains aLout % per cen
water; blackberries and currants, .
to 81 per cent; grapes and cherries
(which people wrongly think are tn
most watery, from 7S to 80 per cent
4 "In fruits the saccharine matter
in the form of grape sugar or glucose
into which starch is converted by tn
saliva and pancreatc and intestins
Juices. The most important poin
about this class of nutrient elements
that they do not pass into the exeretio
or put any strain on the excretor
organs, but are oxidized and passe
into carbonic acid and water as thei
! ultimate products, and are therefor
great heat factors, and not exhaustin
a elements of excretion. - Oregonan,